Sometimes Even "Thank You" Isn't Enough

"Killing someone is worse than dying yourself."

My late father answering my first question about what he went through in World War Two.

He was a good man.

My heartfelt thanks to him, my brothers Kevin and Bruce (both Navy veterans), Bruce's father in law Bob (retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer), my paternal grandfather (Navy veteran World War One), my late Uncle Rick (shot down flying a P-38 fighter in World War Two), my Uncle Bob (Navy veteran World War Two), my cousin Rick's stepfather Rodman (father of his stepbrothers and stepsister) (World War Two) my Uncle Bill (Korean War veteran), my maternal step grandfather ( Army veteran World War Two), Christine's father (Navy veteran World War Two), my cousin Doug (Vietnam veteran Vietnam War), my cousin Roddy (Vietnam veteran Vietnam war), my niece and nephew in law (Iraq/Pakistan Wars), my sister in law Donna, her sisters Debbie and Robin, and their mother Ruth.

Ruth and Donna, and her sisters have had to persevere watching Bob, Bruce, David and Lins get thrown in harm's way. While I'm not shorting the other members of the family, The Marklands (Bob, Ruth, et al.) have had more than their share of deployments in ANY one family. They are an amazing family. We're lucky (as Walkers) to have them in our sphere.

I'm very proud of them.

If anybody wants to know what "tough" is, I present to you the women who were left to worry about all the men (and Sissy Bop/aka Lins) above.

Thank you, one and all, for your sacrifices.

Until the next time, all y'all take care.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

Lard Ass My Butt

Okay, here's something I'm not proud of.

Oh, then there's something I really am proud of.

Once upon a time, back when I was still gainfully employed, I had to give a Comair regional jet a delay time from "Flow Control" as they were taxiing out for their flight to CVG (the Cincinnati International airport that's not even in Cincy OR the great state of Ohio).

Me: "Comair 2831, Memphis Ground."


"Ground, this is Comair 2831, go ahead."


Me: "Comair 2831, I have good news and bad news to tell you. Which do you want to hear first?"


"Ground Control, go ahead and give us the bad news first."


Me: "Comair 2831, time now 2-2-3-0 Zulu, expect a 3-0 minute delay with a *wheels up* time of 2-3-0-0 Zulu."


"Geez, Ground, that's horrible. We'll just pull off to the right here and hold short of Taxiway Mike Nine."


Me: "Comair 2831, that's approved."


"Hey Memphis Ground, Comair 2831?"


Me: "Comair 2831, Memphis Ground. Go ahead."


"Um, yeah Ground.........what's the good news?"


Me: "The good news is I'm a very handsome man."


Female Co-pilot: "Can I get your phone number?"


Me: "I'm sorry ma'am but today's my anniversary, and my wife is going to be your Departure Controller."


Female co-pilot:: "Damn, this day just keeps getting worse."


Me: "Roger. Monitor tower on frequency 1-2-8 point 4-2."


I told you that story to tell you this one.

The bad news is that by this Winter past, I reached an all time high in pounds. I wasn't tipping the scales, I was busting them to tiny pieces.

If not for something Christine told me, I might have already stroked out.


She told me about the Weight Watchers *point system* diet. Being a complete knucklehead (pronounced "Walker"), I had to modify it immediately. Nothing says, "Don't mess success, you idiot!!!!" like getting in touch with your inner moron (pronounced "Walker"), messing with it and "Walkerfying" it.


Damned if it isn't working in spite of my best efforts. 


I basically just cut down all my portions in half.

The results?

The good news.

Damn! How did that get on this blog?

Like Otto says, "Once you see it, you can't unsee it."

My bad.

Here. Feast your eyes on this.

Size 46 shorts, that were too tight last year.

My 2x bathing suit is so baggy it darn near fell off me with just the weight of my key chain at the pool today.

Thirty pounds..........gone.

Thirty more to go.

It feels good to feel good again.

Oh.......the belt?  It's on it's last notch.

I'm not determined.

I'm pissed.

Anyone who knows me, knows "pissed" means I'm going to get my way and I'm going to do it my way.

But the credit goes to the lovely Miss Christine.

She's the best.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

Dog Daze

Let me begin by saying I'm fighting a miserable Spring head cold since Wednesday.

I actually felt it coming on Sunday night when my throat started getting that scratchy feeling. In keeping with my tradition of not wanting to go to the doctor until I'm on "Death's Doorstep" with one foot in and the other on a banana peel, I cancelled my scheduled 8:20 am appointment at my General Practitioner's office.

I can handle my own colds most of the time.

Besides, I knew by Monday morning that I'd have an "Over the Counter" medicine plan in place.

Monday went by and Tuesday came. Cousin Beth and I had made plans for lunch over at Harry's Seafood Grill in Wilmington, DE.

I figured that would be a good day to do so. I'm sure Christine had heard enough of us talking about the Walker family at the horse races on Saturday afternoon.

I'm holding off on doing a family blog until after Beth, my brother Kevin, our cousin Rick, and I get a chance to scan in some old family pictures and compare family notes.

Looks like at least a four part series at a minimum.

Suffice it to say Cousin Beth and I had a great time. We spent the better part of four hours talking family stuff and our personal histories.

More to follow on that at a later date.

Wednesday and yesterday I was down for the count. Bad sinuses, hacking cough, a touch of vertigo.....I was on a roll. Christine's sister called and wanted to know if she wanted to go to a New Jersey State Bar Association dinner being held last night. It was held at the Borgota Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

I was actually glad for her to go. I didn't want her catching my cold. Besides, when I'm sick I just want to be left alone.

Unfortunately, I wasn't alone.

I was here herding three Dachshunds and a "Chorkie".

They are actually pretty low maintenance as dogs go.

I'm not sure, but I don't think it is cheating if one times their dogs' "rest breaks" outside with taking one's medicine.

Today I feel a lot better. Not 100%, but not too bad. I think the sunny, 75F, and low humidity day has a lot to do with it.

To make it up to the dogs, I let them run around in the backyard for about 45 minutes.

What happened next was quite unexpected.

A Dachshund "Pose Down" war broke out.

"Butter" started it.

She fired off her tribute to Greta Garbo with her famous, "I vont to be aloooone." pose.

Butter went right to her "A" game.

Can't say as I blame her.

She knows from her days as a "Dog String Art" performer that starting off weak is a great way to finish out of the money.

"Mercedes" was not about to take that pose from "Butter" standing up.

She chimed in with her patented, "Sun Goddess" pose.

Now there was NO way "Billy" was going to let the out of town relative or the newcomer take HIS crown.

"Billy" took advantage of his exceptional good looks and came back with, "Smoldering Eyes".

I just sat down.

Nothing I could do.

It was "game on".

"Millie" asked "Butter" if she could join in the competition.

I'm not so sure it wasn't a set up, because "Butter" came right out with one of her more devastating moves.

A VERY sarcastic rendition of, "Laughing Hyena".

It was pointed out to "Millie" by "Butter" that you can not spell "Dachshund" using "Chorkie".

"Mercedes" was not happy with "Butter's" attitude towards "Millie".

"Millie" and "Mercedes" are very close in age. "Mercedes" had to stick up for her generation.

She took her revenge on "Butter" the only way she knew how.

"Dachshund Falls Off Building (See, We Really Don't Land On Our Feet)" was a show stopper.

"Butter" knew she'd just lost First Place, but her shock only intensified after "Billy" pulled off his next move.

"Billy" came back with an unexpected, "Dead Dog (Left 90 Degree)" combination Dachshund pose and "Dog String Art" move.

That's when "Butter's"  "Pose Down" world came crashing down around her.

Not only did she not win, she didn't even finish in the "Top Three".

Under the official rules of "Dachshund Pose Down":

Rule 19: Contest Awards
A). "When the field of competitors numbers two or three,  one winner shall be declared"
B). "When the field of competitors numbers four or five, one winner, one runner up, and one
        best in show shall be declared."
C). "When the field of competitors numbers six or more, one winner, one runner up, one 
        second runner up, and one best in show shall be declared.
D). "In the event of a tie, it shall be reconciled with a "Sudden Death Pose Off".
E). "All decisions of the judge(s) shall be irrevocable and final."


It was obvious that "Mercedes" had unseated "Billy" as Grand Champion.

It was obvious that "Billy's" last move had made him a very close second to "Mercedes".

What wasn't obvious to any of the three was that when I'm judging a "Dachshund Pose Down", I include all dogs present for the "Best in Show Award". That's my decision as judge and under "Rule 19E)." I am within my rights to do so. Under "Rule 19B)." that means the actual field of competitors is four for the purposes of judging.

Therefore, although I had to disqualify "Millie" from the "Pose Down" portion on the technicality that she's not a Dachshund, it did not mean I had to disqualify her for "Best In Show".

Dachshund Pose Down Official Results:


WINNER: "Mercedes"


RUNNER UP: "Billy"


BEST IN SHOW: "Splitty the Maul"

Best  In Show?  How you might ask?

Hey, any maul that can whip up a perfect, mesquite wood, smoked picnic shoulder deserves some sort of award.

I think we're going to have a good old Memphis BBQ salad for dinner tonight and just take it easy.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

Opening Day

Yesterday was as fine of a Spring day anyone could ask for.

Sunny, mid 70's, and a light breeze.

What could make a day like that even better?

How about spending the afternoon on the first day of the thoroughbred racing season at Delaware Park with Christine and my cousin Beth.

Cousin Beth is actually my second cousin. Her grandfather was my father's middle brother. I learned recently that Beth and her father were tracing family histories including that of the Walker clan. I'm more than happy to fill in the details regarding my father's branch of the family tree.

Not surprisingly, we talked non-stop telling each other family stories and history.

Air Traffic Mike and Cousin Beth.

(Note: this is the first time in many years I failed to give "Bunny Ears" to someone in a picture.)

I actually had not seen Beth since she was a baby. The Walker family had drifted apart over the years. However, it was clear that we were kin. We have a very similar laugh that's unique to the family, the same quirky likes/dislikes, the same warped sense of humor, and eerily similar gregarious personalities.

Sadly, we also share the loss of a younger brother at a young age. Her brother Jeffrey was killed at age 17 in a car accident. The loss of my brother at 24 in a car accident is well known to my readers. As we were discussing the two brothers we realized that they were extremely similar to one another while alive. It took years, but I can finally tell stories about my late brother Gary without crying. I think because both Beth and I have the same experience, it makes it easier for us to share stories of our brothers.

Today she's spending Mother's Day with her mother.

Christine and I decided we'd celebrate Mother's Day with her mother a couple days ahead of time.

Mother's Day, like Easter Sunday, is a terrible day to go to a restaurant. Every place will be crowded. The servers stressed to the max. Customers will be bitchy because they fail to realize that they are one table out of one hundred and fifty, all filled with other bitchy customers.

Christine suggested we take her mother out to lunch on Friday.

It was a brilliant idea.

I took the ladies out to Christine's and my favorite seafood restaurant, Harry's Seafood Grill in Wilmington, DE.

This was taken at the dessert course.

Christine and her mother both ordered the same item, but the kitchen jazzed Mary Jane's up.

That's one of the things I like about Harry's.......their attention to detail and service is outstanding.

One of the other things I like about Harry's is their wine list. It's not overly large, but very comprehensive.

1999 Vintage Veuve Clicquot French Champagne. I can't make a steady diet of over the top champagnes, but a nice glass with a seafood appetizer every once in a while is nice. Mary Jane ordered 1/2 chilled lobster, Christine ordered an Ahi Tuna appetizer, and I had 1/2 dozen freshly shucked raw clams.

For our main courses I ordered something that would pair well.

I figured with Mary Jane's Lobster Roll, Christine's Crab Cake Salad, and my Thai Jumbo Lump Crab Meat Salad, an nice, crisp Sauvignon Blanc would fit nicely.

It did.

We weren't through with Mother's Day on Friday. Yesterday we picked up Mary Jane and took her to a Mother's Day fundraiser breakfast. Christine's two brothers and a sister in law joined us. Mary Jane was pleased to have 3 of her 4 children at breakfast.

On the way home we stopped by St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery so I could pay my respects to my late mother and brother.

Believe me, after that an afternoon of fun at the horse track was good therapy.

Cousin Beth even got to meet a celebrity at the track:

Splitty the Maul.

Unfortunately, Delaware Park has a "No Guns, No Splitting Mauls" policy.

Fortunately, Splitty the Maul is the strong, silent type. He doesn't mind hanging out in the AirTrafficMobile.

He's also a "chick magnet".

With all of our Mother's Day events taken care of, we're just going to kick back and relax today.

I'm going to fire up the smoker and cook a pork shoulder.

The new smoker is working out great.

Friday night I smoked a boneless, skinless pair of turkey breasts.

Before and after.

Turkey breast doesn't take very long to smoke.

Pork shoulder on the other hand, takes a long time to smoke properly.

On that note, it's time to hit the backyard.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

Really, I Only Went To The Supermarket For Five Things

What should have taken five minutes took forty five minutes.

The items I initially stopped in for should have fit into one of those little plastic baskets the store provides.

Unfortunately, I had already grabbed one of the big, new shopping carts.

Even more unfortunate, I had to stop in the meat department.

As y'all are well aware of by now, I have a new smoker.

I tried not to look over at the pork shoulders and turkey breasts as I was headed for the beef chuck roasts.

Matter of fact, I did really well keeping my focus squarely on the case holding the various cuts of beef. After all, all I needed from the meat department was two chuck roasts to make a big pot of chili with.

I was doing so well. Then a couple went past Christine, myself, and our shopping cart. A nice pork shoulder was sitting proudly in the baby seat of their cart.

Damn.......game on.

I spun around and walked over to the pork section. One pork shoulder later I was on my way to the poultry section. Fortunately there were no fresh turkey breasts. Unfortunately I asked a meat department associate if they had any. She guided me to the frozen meat section.

One ten pound turkey breast later we were on our way to the rest of the store.

A full blown shopping trip had broken out.

Five items that should have cost around $30.00 became a shopping cart full of stuff totaling just under $195.00.

A blog featuring the smoked shoulder and smoked turkey breast will be in another post soon.

However, today's blog features chili.

My chili.

Last time I made chili, I did my dad's version. My dad made excellent chili. This time I wanted something different.

Dad's chili always started with ground chuck.

Mine starts with me hand trimming two large chuck roasts cut into cubes. In this case each roast weighed just about 2.75 pounds each. After trimming, the yield was just about 5 pounds of lean beef.

I looked at the pile of beef cubes. This was going to require some of my larger cookware.

I broke out my 15 quart pot. It's my favorite for making chili, stews, and gumbo. It has a nice heavy 18/10 stainless steel bottom, a "bucket" handle, and a side handle. It's designed for use on an induction stove as a pot to process jarred foods, but cooks really well on any stove.

It cost me $10.00 for it and a matching lid in 1995 at a Williams-Sonoma outlet in East Memphis.

I'm pretty sure I've got my money's worth out of it.

Anyway, I browned the chuck cubes in two batches.

Then I chopped up two medium onions and four cloves of garlic. The onions and garlic were sauteed until translucent and covered with 8 quarts of cold water. Cold water aids in "deglazing" the pan, that is, get the crusty parts of seared meat off the bottom of the pot.

After the liquid/onions/garlic reaches a simmer, I returned the meat to the pot.

After the pot returned to a simmer, I added a 28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes and a 6 ounce can of tomato paste.

I let it simmer for a bit and then added three tablespoons of chili powder, one tablespoon of ground cumin seed, and two double cans of light kidney beans. The kidney beans HAVE to be drained and rinsed. If you don't, there's a high probability that the bottom of your pot will scorch due to the starch in the bean packing liquid.

Now, all there was left to do was let it simmer down (with occasional stirring).

Two hours later.........

Four hours later (with 1.5 tablespoons more of chili powder and 1 tablespoon more ground cumin)....

Six hours later.........DONE!

By this time it was 1:30 am. Not that it mattered. Christine and I had an early dinner. She had a class to attend last night.

Besides, as we all know, chili gets better after it sits for a while.

The really nice thing is that tonight's dinner is all set to go.

Now then, it's time for me to wash my cooking gear and kick back.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

On This Day In 1983

Twenty nine years. It seems like a lifetime ago, yet it seems just like yesterday as well.

May 8, 1983 was a special day in my immediate family's history.

It was an extraordinary day.

It was a sunny, mild, perfect Spring day.

In fact, it was a great day to sit outside for a while just to watch people.

Especially if those people you were watching included the first of your sons to graduate from college.

I had to double clutch my emotions as I walked across the stage to accept my diploma from the President of the college.

Sure, most of my family was there to see it.

Kevin couldn't get off work to make it up for the weekend.

Of course, Dad passed away a little over three years prior. However, instead of feeling sad he wasn't there to see it, I was actually pretty happy.

I'd promised him on his grave that come Hell or high water I would find a way to finish my degree. It took a lot of hard work outside of school and some student loans, but I did it.

I finished with a solid 3.45 GPA and was named one of the "12 Outstanding Seniors" by the faculty and administration. It was based on GPA, community service on campus, and community service in the local community.

Somehow, in between jobs and school, I had been able to squeeze in some volunteer work every year. What was a few hours a month with everything else going on?

I walked across the stage. I shook hands with the Dean of Students (Ed Kolek, my boss as an RA on campus), the Dean of Academics (whose name escapes me right now), and Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame) who was our commencement speaker. Instead of getting the standard handshake, I received a big hug from President Hannah McCarthy. Hannah was a terrific lady and an outstanding leader. She was appointed President in our Sophomore year. Hannah knew what I had gone through in order to get my degree after Dad died.

She was also a big fan of the trio I played guitar with and sang with, "The Bavarian String Quartet". Among the framed items on her office wall were the words to one of our original songs, "Cooking With Cats (Can Be Fun)" and a copy of this picture:

Not all of the "AK" members were present for the yearbook picture above. However, all were present when we had Art Guimond (bald fellow, lower right in the vest) open up the main hall so we could fill the Dean Ed Kolek's office up with just over 5,000 balloons. One of the secretaries' office was right next to Ed's office. We removed a ceiling tile from her office ceiling and one from Ed's.

It took us a little over three hours to blow all the balloons up and load them over the wall.

The main hall also housed the campus cafeteria. It wasn't any big deal for us all to be up in the main lobby when Ed arrived to work from his on campus apartment.

What surprised him was the fact he could not get his office door open.

He pushed the door as hard as he could. It was then he noticed all the pretty colored balloons.

I think our laughter gave us away.

It was quite the spectacle. Professors, hearing the laughter came out to see what had happened. President McCarthy came out of her office to see what the ruckus was.

Ed went to the President's secretary's office. Marion was an ambitious knitter. Ed borrowed one of her knitting needles and got down to the business of popping balloons. He didn't pop them all, but he was quite busy until around 9:00 am.

Getting back to May 8, 1983.

There were other things to celebrate that day. My late brother Gary turned 20 that day. The night before, he opted to stay on campus with me in my dorm room. In hindsight I think he probably would have liked to take that one back. 

Nothing says, "We're drinking a lot of beer!" like a group of graduating Seniors. Gary called for a game of "Quarters". "Quarters" is a drinking game where a group sits around a table and one by one try to bounce a quarter into a six ounce glass of beer. If the person sinks the quarter, he/she gets to pick who drinks the beer. The only ways out of the game is if a person passes out, pukes, or accidentally pees themselves. Bathroom breaks are always approved, but occasionally someone gets a little too far in and, "OOPS, There It Is!".

Needless to say Gary wasn't feeling his best early the next day. He would recover in time for celebratory drinks at dinner. 

That was little comfort as he sat in the audience for the graduation ceremony.

The best thing about May 8, 1983 wasn't just my graduation.

The best thing about May 8, 1983 wasn't just my graduation and Gary's 20th birthday falling on the same day.

The best thing about May 8, 1983 was that I graduated from college, Gary turned 20, AND it was Mother's Day.

Of course, Gary pointed out that, "Every day is Mother's Day when you have kids like us, Mom!".

Gary always had a way with words.

In spite of Gary's take on the situation, Mom couldn't have been more pleased that day.

Today, instead of focusing on anything negative, I'm going to celebrate.

May 8, 1983 was a great day.

No reason May 8, 2012 can't be as well.

Cheers, Gary!

Cheers, Mom!

Cheers, Daniel Webster College Class of 1983!

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

On Top Of Old Smokey

Saturday night's chicken run on the smoker was a practice run for me.

I have logged thousands of hours on smokers. Smokers ranging from my old Kamado, to steel drums and oil tanks converted to smokers, to even being the head chef for a competition BBQ team for a number of years.

Still, every smoker has its own idiosyncrasies. The goal in smoking is to keep the meat cooking in a range of 210F-225F. Even though this smoker has a general temperature gauge, the level of heat on the grill top varies depending on how close the meat is to the firebox. The purpose behind the chicken was to determine the optimum location on the grill top to smoke meat.

Besides, who doesn't like an edible experiment?

Armed with the results from Saturday night, I hit the backyard with a marinated beef brisket and a marinated slab of pork spare ribs in hand yesterday at noon.

You'll notice I cut the ribs up into sections. I do that for three reasons. 

1.) It makes them fit into a one gallon Ziploc bag for marinating.

2.) It allows the marinade to better penetrate the meat.

3.) It allows the smoke to better penetrate the ribs.

In case you missed it yesterday, here's the recipe for my marinade:

- 2/3 cup dry red wine (I use an inexpensive Chianti or Merlot)

- 1/3 cup low sodium soy (green cap Kikkoman)

- 2 tspn dried thyme leaves

- 1 tspn rubbed sage

- 1 tspn ground Summer savory

- 1 tspn black pepper

- 1 tspn garlic granules

- 1/2 tspn ground cayenne pepper (1 tspn if you want it hotter)

- 4 dashes Worcestershire sauce

Marinate the meat in the refrigerator overnight, turning the bag over occasionally.

I started with lump natural charcoal cover with wet chunks of hickory. I like using lump natural charcoal. It catches faster than regular charcoal briquettes, burns hotter, and has no chemical binding agents.

Now here's my technique for doing anything on the smoker.

I make extra marinade and put it in the soy sauce bottle. Because the marinade in the bags becomes contaminated with raw beef/poultry/pork, I toss the bags and used marinade in the trash. As the smoke wanes from the first round of wet hardwood, I raise the top, sprinkle the meats with the fresh marinade, turn the meat over, and sprinkle more marinade on the first smoked side. Close the lid, go to the firebox, and put some more wet hardwood over the hot embers.

Back to smoking.

Now I don't really like my beef brisket cooked to shreds. I like it cooked more like a steak. As such, it takes less time than pork spare ribs.

I took the brisket off at 3:00 pm.

I left the ribs on until 4:30 pm.

How well did the smoker do?

If you click on the pictures of the beef and the rib you'll see a rink of pink just below the surface of each. That's what's called the "smoke ring". The "smoke ring" shows just how far the smoke penetrated the meat.

Now the most important thing, especially on ribs, is how tender they are. The meat on spare ribs is really tough. That's why slow, low cooking is key to making tender ribs.

The meat on a well smoked rack of ribs should come right off the bone.

Like I said folks, this ain't my first rodeo.

The other thing about having BBQ for dinner is having some nice side dishes. I baked some small Russet potatoes in the oven. With greens still being in season, I opted to cook some fresh Spinach.

Three strips of bacon, fat rendered out. Drain the excess fat off.  I covered the bacon with 1.5 quarts of cold water and added one container of Knorr's Homestyle concentrated stock. The stock comes in a four pack of approximately 1 ounce containers. If you can't find them, just use a quart of chicken stock and 1/2 quart of cold water.

Bring the water/stock/bacon strip mixture to a rolling boil.

Add two pounds of fresh, washed spinach.

Bring pot back to a rolling boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes. Add 1/2 tspn black pepper, 1 tblspn red wine vinegar and 2 tblspn brown sugar. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Done.

This recipe works well with any other greens such as turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, and kale.  The only exception when cooking collard greens and kale is the cooking time. Both are hardier greens. They require an hour cooking time.

Now that I have a feel for the smoker, it's on to two of my other favorites: Boneless skinless turkey breast and whole pork shoulder. 

The nice thing about the turkey breast is that it doesn't take very long.

I also have an incredible smoked turkey breast sandwich recipe that I'll share with y'all when I cook it.

The nice thing about whole pork shoulder is that it takes a very long time. It also makes a lot of pulled pork for BBQ pork sandwiches.

Wait until you see my take on a BBQ pulled pork sandwich. 

You'll never look at an Italian hoagie roll the same ever again.

Today, some fine leftovers from yesterday's dinner.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

 

El Pollo Smoko....................

There are many good reasons why my Spanish is so poor.

Probably starting with the fact I took five years of German in high school.

Neither of those statements has anything to do with this blog, I'm just stating them for the record.

Over the last few day I've been wanting to buy a smoker. For many years (approximately 18) I owned a Kamado. Kamado is a Japanese word meaning "dragon". Far from being an actual dragon, a Kamado is a top end Japanese earthenware smoker. These days a company markets them in America as "The Big Green Egg".

I was the third owner of my Kamado. A couple in San Antonio purchased it in 1977. In 1982 they gave it to a fellow named Paul. In 1984, when I got to New Orleans International Airport as a rookie air traffic controller in training, Paul had just certified as a full performance level controller. He lived in the same apartment complex as I did. He cooked a lot of meals on the Kamado for he and his girlfriend and me and my girlfriends. By 1986 I had become quite adept at cooking on the thing. When Paul transferred to Houston in 1987, he gave me the Kamado. He had decided to buy a new one when he got back to Texas.

I kept the Kamado until 2003 when my ex-wife and I divorced. It was too large to fit on the balcony of my condo. In keeping with tradition, I gave it to a friend of mine.

He still has it and it still works beautifully.

I told you that story to tell you this one.

Yesterday, I could no longer stand it. I've been cooking on Christine's gas grill for the last two years. Gas grills are okay. They do a reasonable job on steaks and chops. They aren't bad when used in conjunction with a cast iron griddle for blackening fish or chicken. However, I prefer to slow cook meats over natural lump charcoal and hardwoods for smoking.

We had to make a vitamin run to GNC yesterday morning. Walmart is in the same complex. I ran in, picked up our order of vitamins and it was off to look at smokers.

Of course, I mean "look at" in the guy way.

That means "purchase".

Being a typical guy, I spotted and seized on the heaviest one they had.

The box weighed around 75 pounds.

It didn't fit in any shopping cart they had.

In a word.........PERFECT!

The box was so cumbersome it took both of us to load it in the back seat of Christine's Toyota Corolla.

We were lucky the back doors barely closed.

Now that we had a backseat full of heavy steel parts, there were two things left to do.

1.) Go to Lapp's Dutch Market and pick up some meat to smoke on it.

2.) Assemble the smoker.

There's a tradition in my family, started by my father, when assembling something with a million parts.

It involves huffing in frustration, then muttering under our breath, and finally outright cursing.

Every bad word I ever learned, I learned from watching Dad build one of the many bicycles we had as children.

Except for the "F*** Bomb".

I learned that when Dad stubbed his toe coming up the stairs from the recreation room.

Christine and her mother had a "Kentucky Derby Hat" event to go to yesterday afternoon. That left me time to cut the grass and then open up the smoker and get to work on it.

I figured it would take about 30 minutes to assemble.

After all, how many parts could there really be?

I skipped "huffing" and went straight into muttering.

By the way, the other 80 parts are off to the left outside of the camera view.

Fortunately, I didn't have to tackle this alone.

Splitty the Maul was standing by to help.

The first few steps were pretty easy, so I didn't need any help. Splitty was just sort of hanging out and drinking beer.

I had the base of the unit assembled. The next few steps were sort of involved so I sat down to read the directions a couple of times to make sure I had them clear in my head.

Suddenly, I heard an odd noise.

Splitty yelled out something about "being in an iron lung".

I was not in any sort of mood for buffoonery.

Splitty got out and returned to drinking beer.

The "half hour" estimate ran into about one hour and fifteen minutes.

However, I finished the project with no left over parts.

That's a "win" in anybody's book.

Splitty had to jump into the picture at the last minute.

Mauls dig getting photographed.

Who knew?

Anyway, the smoker was done and that meant only two things.

1.) A celebratory beer for me.

2.) Fire up the smoker.

The BBQ'ed chicken came out smoky and very moist.

By the way, that's mesquite chunks soaked in water over the natural charcoal in the second picture.

Later today, I'll be putting on some spare ribs and a beef brisket.

Both are marinating as we speak.

I have a marinade I developed over the years.

Here it is:

- 2/3 cup dry red wine (I use an inexpensive Chianti or Merlot)
- 1/3 cup low sodium (green cap) Kikkoman soy sauce
- 2 tsp dry thyme leaves
- 1 tsp rubbed sage
- 1 tsp ground summer savory
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper (use 1 tsp if you want it hotter)
- 4 dashes Worcestershire sauce


Mix ingredients in a 1 gallon Ziploc Freezer bag. Add meat to bag. Close bag and shake to mix ingredients and coat the meat. Place bag in refrigerator overnight, turning occasionally.


Grill/smoke as desired.


Pretty simple, but it yields great results on smokers.

Okay, time for me to get this day started.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.