Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Beef & Bacardi


Where did the weekend go? Saturday, Sunday and Monday have simply flown by. I’m hoping today will go a little more slowly. Our nephew & his family left yesterday afternoon, so the house is relatively quiet.

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Sunday was supposed to have been a small barbecue for us, our nephew’s family, and a friend of mine (and his wife/kid) who had just moved back into town. Well, I’ll have to tell ya, it wasn’t so small:

Thirty-four people, forty-plus pounds of meat, and lots of beer and booze do not a small barbecue make. I started the grill at 9:15a.m. The last piece of meat came off around 8:45p.m.

I smoked a 15lb beef brisket that was met with rave reviews by all. It really was a masterpiece. It's pictured here about four hours from being done.

I also smoked an assortment of chicken, sausage and beef fajitas.

The Warden also put together a potato salad of sorts that was out of this world. I did them on the barbecue too. The recipe, which she got of the ol’ tee-vee, didn’t call for a mesquite smoking, but it should have. They were delicious (sliced), topped with cheese, chives, and bacon.


My fun-meter pegged at around 2:30a.m. Actually, my tummy was feeling a little woozy, so I quietly slipped away to our room. The Warden came looking for me and, after learning of my gastronomic distress, fetched some Pepto and some ice water for me. My savior! It took a few minutes for the spinning and turmoil in my stomach to lessen, but eventually it did. The noise and carrying on in the other part of the house didn’t; not until 5:00am anyway.

What's left of the 1.75 liter bottle is pictured at left. I drank all that nasty shit (straight) Sunday night, with the exception of four drinks me and my brother-in-law had the night before.

Monday we went with our nephew, his family, and The Warden’s sister (and grand kids) to a restaurant (The Rainforest Café) on the River Walk. We waited for two hours to eat. If not for the kids, who wanted desperately to eat there, we would’ve gone somewhere else. The food wasn’t worth the wait (or the price), but it was fun, and the kids liked it so all was groovy.

And today? We may go visit some friends with a few friends.

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Memory Du Jour:
Southern California, 1970
I was eight. I had a baseball game and was running a little late. The place where I was to meet the team for the ride (everyone in one big station wagon) was my elementary school. It was only two blocks away. I ran as fast as I could. I sprinted and wound my way through the school buildings, and railings, and bushes (There was a zigzag path bordered by shrubs that led to the playground). I got to the playground and saw the coach closing the back door to the station wagon. I tried to speed up. I suspect I had about 150 yards to get to the other side of the playground to the cul-de-sac where the team was. I knew it was no use. I was never going to make it (cue the tears). The coach walked up the left side of the wagon and opened the driver side door. It all went in slow motion. The coach got into the car (more tears now). When the door closed, I started to blubber a little. When the station wagon started to drive away, I was in a full-blown cry. The car slowly crept up the hill toward the railroad tracks where they would have to turn either left or right. I waved, yelled, and cried as I ran across that playground watching the car and my teammates leave without me. Someone finally saw me because the car stopped and started backing up to the playground! I spent the remainder of my run to the station wagon wiping away tears and snot so I wouldn’t look like a big baby when I finally reached my team.

I don’t remember anything else from that day. I don’t even remember getting into the station wagon; just the tears and running across that huge expanse of a playground.

Quote of the Day:
"If people want to get to know me better, they've got to know my parents and the values my parents instilled in me, and the fact that I was raised in West Texas, in the middle of the desert, a long way away from anywhere, hardly. There's a certain set of values you learn in that experience." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006

Graphic Du Jour:

10 comments:

We sing we dance we steal things said...

That was definitely NOT a small BBQ. What a wonderful host you were to cook all day long in the Texas heat for all of those people. Have a great 4TH!

reneegrrrrrrrr said...

Yeah, I'll say small, NOT!!!

I want to live near you to delight in your culunary delights, YUM!!!

Hope you have a fabulous fourth!!!

Love ya!!!

The_Gator said...

well i just came in from the fireworks...and i just saw the previous post....nice...I LOVE GLOBAL WARMING!

wish i had recieved an invitation to the BBQ.

Smartass

jules said...

I had a similar experience to your memory du jour...ah....childhood.
Thank god it's over!

Webmiztris said...

mmmm, is it lunchtime yet? we didn't bbq yesterday, so I'm ready for a fix!

Sudiegirl said...

Oh, I wanna go to your house for barbecue...you do it right!

I'll skip the rum, though, thank you.

Sudiegirl

PS: What edition of Microsoft Word is that? The "Word Up"?

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a great 4th. That brisket looked SO delicious and I want more details on the potato salad so Rlb can make some for us - sounds yummy. BTW superstink is saying yummy now and its really cute!

"A long way away from anywhere hardly" - its mind boggling to think of how much money shrub's parents must have had to pay in bribes to get him through school. And we have all seen first hand the "values" they instilled in him.

When Dion and I were coming back from NM yesterday, we crossed the border and there was this big sign saying "WELCOME TO TEXAS" and underneath it said "Proud home of President George W Bush". Dion and I just looked at each other and I said "how embarrassing!".

Carlos said...

I swear I posted a reply yesterday or the day before. Really.

Y: It was fun. I love barbecuing, though I prefer cooler weather. I still haven’t got the smell of mesquite out of my nose!

R: I’d love for you fuckers to all live nearby. Maybe when we get old we can all live in the same neighborhood!

Gator: Yeah man...If that’s what global warming means (previous post), I’m all for it. Sorry about the invitation...must’ve got lost in the mail :-)

Jules: Yes, thank God childhood is over...though I do occasionally yearn for days of not having a worry in the world!

WeMiz: I appreciate a dedicated bbq ho’! :-)

Sudie: Doing barbecue right is the law in Texas. If you don’t have leftovers, or enough to send home with guests, when the day is done, ya just didn’t do it right!

Sheila: That brisket WAS delicious. The best one I’ve ever done I think. I can think of only one brisket I’ve had that was better (Tough’s BBQ in Pflugerville)! I know that sounds vain, but I’ve been working toward the perfect brisket for years, and I think I finally got it! If it comes out the same way next time, I’ll know I’ve got it for sure! They’ve come out good before, but nothing like this one. I’ll get the potato recipe from The Warden and post it here. It’d go great with pea fucking salad! Proud Home eh? God, what a fucking waste of taxpayers’ dollars. I wonder how much the state spent to put those signs out. Sad.

Carlos said...

This is to verify that I DO see a post of my replies. If it disappears, there's something sinister afoot!

The_Gator said...

well just in case they do... i saw them both...so you arent crazy yet..

Smartass