The End Is Near...

Yes...it's that time of year when the end is near. A new year and a new journey awaits us. But first, let us reflect on the year past.

Pretty much in a nutshell...It sucked for me.

Rain
Heatwave after heatwave
12 hour shifts for 6 months
Got fed up with peoples constant bitching
Developed a very negative attitude myself
I didn't enjoy cooking anymore

Then...

...it was because of that, that it was time to take a breath and refocus.

I was not the happy laid back grouch I normally was. I couldn't make plans. I hated my job and people were idiots. I was drinking more to drowned out the people and the noise in my head. When I did cook, it was a chore, not a comfort. That right there...was the breaking point.

I have loved to cook or grill since I was 19 years old. It has never been a chore, always a pleasure for me. Work was running my life...not me. It was time to get the noise out of my brain and refocus my anger. Anger had built up inside of me once before years ago, I couldn't let that happen again. It all most destroyed me...

...I won't let that happen again.

As luck or fate would have it...we went back to 8 hour shifts.

Maybe because we were about fed up with being treated like a bunch of 4 year olds in a prison camp. They knew we were ready to lay down on them and shut an assembly plant down. Bless their little black hearted souls, they do care about us.

So...

With a new mind frame and thicker skin, I journey into the new year with a new attitude and new resolutions and a new tattoo.

Want ta see it?



Happy New Year!!!

B.D.

This & That...

How do things get started? Simple things...

A desire turns into a need? A need becomes a desire? A desire becomes an obsession? An obsession becomes a need?

Whoa...timeout B.D. what in the hell are you talking about?

Pigs...

Pigs?

Pigs...

Okay, I'm lost. A pig is a pig. Is a pig really a pig or not?

What? No, no, no...

It started a few years ago. We would see a stuffed piggy somewhere and would say: Ah, look at the cute piggy! And it would go home with us.

Now, we have piggy's everywhere. How did a desire become an obsession?

We can't stop...

Ah...look at the cute little piggy. Who's a cute little piggy?




You are...

And now, we're buying squeaky piggy toys...for the dog!

B.D.

Weekend Report...

It's over...almost...

What a whirlwind of a week. Let's see if I can remember everything.

Julie and myself, meeting with Vicky and Tracy Wednesday night for our annual Christmas foray at Darfons Restaurant & Lounge Good food, good friends, a good night out.

Seeing everybody Thursday night at Tusculum Lanes

Christmas Eve, my mother-in-law taking a misstep on some steps. Resulting in a hair line fracture in her foot. She still made it over to our house, with the rest of the family.

Snow Christmas Eve...

Not a heavy snow. Actually, it started out as sleet. Then changed to a light snow.

A White Christmas for much of Tennessee.



The roads were fine...

So, we all got together at the in-laws for Christmas Dinner. My mother-in-law usually does the honors but she had to sit most of this one out. So the sisters, Lynn, Julie, and Blondie stepped up and maned the kitchen.

The girls did a fine job and everybody was stuffed. But by then, the temperature had started to drop and the roads had begun to freeze over and it was time to head home...

Sunday, will be cold and windy all day. Today will be...just a lazy day.

Now, I'm sure I left things out, or missed a detail here or there, but all in all, it was a great White Christmas.

One thing I do want to tell you is although I've already thanked him on Facebook, I'll thank him here as well.

My good friend Robert of WhiteTrashBBQ sent me some cookbooks and other goodies for Christmas.

I like and respect Robert because he is a good old no holds barred tell it like it is writer, cook, father, and family man.

Now, you might ask yourself...how can a grouchy old Southern Hillbilly from Tennessee and a Northern Yankee from Brooklyn be friends?

That's easy...

For one...our hearts are in the right place.
We have the same love and passion for great barbecue
We both tell it like it is. If you didn't like the answer you should have asked someone else. We'll tell you the truth.

We both learn from our cooking triumphs and learn from our mistakes.

And the most important reason for why we are friends. We show and have respect for one another.

That's what old school barbecue cooks do. That's what human beings do. That's what friends do...

So...

Now you know why we are friends. Thanks Robert, it was and is, much appreciated.




B.D.

Merry Christmas...

From all of us here at MacDaddy's Grill...

Big Daddy
Julie
Robyn
Sweetie

...and Jethro

Merry Christmas!!!

'Twas the Night before Christmas...

It was the night before Christmas, when all thru the abode
Only one creature was stirring, and she was cleaning the commode.
The children were finally sleeping, all snug in their beds,
While visions of Nintendo 64 and Barbie, flipped through their heads.
The dad was snoring in front of the TV,
With a half-constructed bicycle on his knee.
So only the mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,
Which made her sigh, "Now what's the matter?"

With toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,
She descended the stairs, and saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes and soot, which fell with a shrug.
"Oh great," muttered the mom, "Now I have to clean the rug."

"Ho-ho-ho!" cried Santa, "I'm glad you're awake."
"Your gift was especially difficult to make."
"Thanks, Santa, but all I want is some time alone."
"Exactly!" he chuckled, "I've made you a clone."

"A clone?" she asked, "What good is that?
Run along, Santa, I've no time for chit-chat."
The mother's twin. Same hair, same eyes,
Same double chin.

"She'll cook, she'll dust," She'll mop every mess.
You'll relax, take it easy, Watch The Young & the Restless." "Fantastic!" the mom cheered. "My dream come true!
"I'll shop. I'll read., I'll sleep a whole night through! "

From the room above, the youngest began to fret.
"Mommy?! I scared... and I am wet."
The clone replied, "I'm coming, sweetheart."
"Hey," the mom smiled, "She knows her part."

The clone changed the small one, and hummed a tune,
as she bundled the child, in a blanket cocoon.
"You the best mommy ever. " I really love you."
The clone smiled and sighed, "I love you, too."

The mom frowned and said, "Sorry, Santa, no deal. "
That's my child's love, she's trying to steal."
Smiling wisely Santa said, "To me it is clear, "
Only one loving mother, is needed here."

The mom kissed her child, and tucked her into bed.
"Thank you, Santa, for clearing my head.
I sometimes forget, it won't be very long,
When they'll be too old, for my cradle-song."

The clock on the mantle began to chime.
Santa whispered to the clone, "It works every time."
With the clone by his side Santa said, "Goodnight. Merry Christmas, Mom, You'll be all right."

Is that you Santy Claus???

B.D.

Simply Monday...

As most of you know, I do a Wordless Wednesday. When I do this, I always put a quote under a picture of some kind.

Wordless Wednesday, was created to show pictures of food...thus, being wordless. As time went on, I started adding quotes with the pictures. Here of late, I have not been posting Wordless Wednesday for one reason or another.

This, by no means...means that Wordless Wednesday is history.

It will return...

I try to find quotes (when I have the time) that mean something, or makes the reader reflect upon something. A feeling, a moment in time, our daily life, our pain, our love, our heart break, or our courage.

Some quotes I find, some are my own and some make us think and wonder, was this meant for me? The famous line...Are you talkin' to me?

This quote I'm about to post is profound and far reaching. We've all been to the edge of the light and seen the darkness of our soul. Faith...must be pure and unquestioned by the heart. Our mind will always ask questions.

Our soul...will always find the answers.


When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.

B.D.

Happy B-Day...

Happy B-Day to my wife Julie. This is her day...

Now, Julie only has one B-Day wish. That wish is that it snows on her birthday. We got the snow earlier in the week. But I do remember back in 2006 it was 72 degrees on this day.

I was loving every minute of it...

Julie was hating every minute of it...

When it's your wife's birthday wish for snow and you're doing the 'happy dance' because it ain't...well...

It's a good thing she loves me.

But back in 2006, she could have killed me with that look. You know that look you get from women sometimes when you are really happy, but she is really pissed...

Yes, THAT look.



Hope you get your wish honey, but if not, don't blame me...

B.D.

Simply Thursday...

Somebody has a B-Day coming up Sat.

Could that somebody be my wife? Could be...

Will I have to put on my Sub Zero Thermal Underwear and venture outside to fire up a grill or a smoker? Could be...

Will it be cold outside? Could be...

Stay tuned...

B.D.

This & That...

It's coming...

...bad weather. Snow, freezing rain, bone chilling cold and wind chills below ZERO!

Great...

The winds are up now. Gust as high as 35 mph with nothing between it and us but cold air. Snow is in the forecast for today and Monday. Freezing rain and sleet on Wednesday.

Now, I can deal with snow. Snow is not that hard to drive on until it turns to hard packed slick snow. Then it might as well be ice down here. You see, we have hills and valleys all over Tennessee. Very few straight roads...

There is a hump, a dip, a drop, a hill, a slope, a curve, something...in almost every road in every direction you travel. Snow makes driving bad. But freezing rain, is the worst thing that can happen to hill country.

Now, I will admit that Southern drivers are not made well for this kind of weather. We can handle pouring rain, mud slides, and dodging skunks, possums and squirrels and sometimes deer, (although I think deer take out more cars than slick roads do) but we just ain't good at driving in cold bad weather.

It's like asking a dog to stop lickin'...it ain't going to happen.

We don't...(what's that word?) adapt well...to snow and ice or cold weather. Sure we loved it as kids, but having responsibility now, it's like night and day, hot and cold. I don't do cold well...

If you may remember in Jan. of this year, I slipped and fell flat on my back re fracturing two ribs I had fractured 30 years before in a car wreck. That fall on ice in the parking lot at work, took me 6 months to recover from. I still feel those ribs today...

I see why bears go into caves and groundhogs go into dens.

For the same reasons we Southerners have two simple words run through our minds every time winter comes through our part of the woods.

What are those two simple words...you might ask?


Screw this...

B.D.

Weekend Report...

This is the NOAA forecast for Nashville...yea...

Today: Rain, mainly after noon. High near 54. South wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Tonight: Rain before midnight, then snow. Low around 27. South wind around 10 mph becoming west. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Sunday: Snow showers. High near 29. Windy, with a west wind between 15 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 15. Northwest wind around 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 23. Northwest wind between 10 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 10. North northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 26. North northwest wind around 5 mph.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 18. East wind around 5 mph.

Wednesday: A slight chance of rain, freezing rain, and sleet. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. Southeast wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Wednesday Night: A chance of rain showers and sleet. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Thursday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49.

Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 42.

Weekend Report...

Well...I believe Old Man Winter has finally won the 'tug of war' with Sister South Breeze.

Dang if it ain't got cold down here.

Stop whining B.D. it's December! It's supposed to be cold.

I know that Jethro...I just don't like and never will like cold weather. If I did, I'd move to the Arctic Circle and dance the "Happy Dance" of the Madman.

The what?

Never mind...

The South has always been famous for a lot of things. Our food, our hospitality, our humid Summers, our storms and tornadoes, our Fall colors and our loathing of cold weather and our liquor. I think that's why corn liquor was invented. That slow burn kept a body warm and toasty during the cold winter weather.

But, when corn liquor was made illegal, we rose to the challenge and invented Long Johns or Thermal Underwear, as they are called today.

And if you had Long Johns and corn liquor...well...you didn't care if it stayed cold until next June.

Today, we have the modern marvels of Sub Zero coats and gloves and ear muffs and boots and socks and underwear.

It takes two hours to put this stuff on and you waddle like a Penguin, but you're nice and toasty and...MAW, I GOT TO GO POTTY!!!...warm.

"Happy Dance" of the Madman

B.D.

This & That...

Consensus Reality

From the moment we draw our first breath to the moment we release our last, we are conditioned to define and measure ourselves by one thing only: our relationship to all that is outside of us. We are systematically trained and conditioned by those who raise and nurture us to enter into a “consensus reality,” or “group agreement,” that many times has nothing to do with whom we are, and everything to do with the customs and belief systems that conditioned our parents and grandparents, who were in turn influenced by the society in which they were raised.

Consensus reality is a very powerful influence. It structures our relationship to and with all things outside of us. More importantly, it conditions and severely limits our understanding of the relationship we have with our self.
- Jim Self