Day: July 14, 2020

I know its been a while since my last post, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been barbecuing. I have been barbecuing, but there wasn’t anything really new to talk about, so why bother boring y’all with repetitive talk. What’s new for today is that this weekend was the first weekend Johnny Bronco’s had to smoke in volume, and let me tell you, smoking volume with a small kitchen and backyard smokers it not easy.

First off, as you can see in the featured image, five Boston Butts take up a lot of space. I can’t even place all of them on my cutting block without having to stack them. I didn’t even have room to place the packer’s brisket there.

Second, my long time smoker finally bit the dust.

As you can see, the shelf is falling apart, and the wood burning section has rusted through, and one thing…

In my previous post I discussed volume smoking. During that volume smoke I smoked a brisket flat, and it was tasty, but being a novice brisket smoker, I was not aware that I shouldn’t slice brisket before it’s time to eat… but I did.

The story behind this was I was preparing some BBQ for a Monday lunch meeting, and, me being who I am, wanted to complete as much prep as I could before arriving with the goods. This meant I sliced the brisket the night before and placed it in the refrigerator, similar to how I do Boston Butt. Big mistake.

Monday morning, when pulling the coffee creamer from the refrigerator, I looked at some of the slices I had cut and they had a dry, gray look to them. I pulled one of the slices out and took a bite.

Let’s just say there’s a reason there’s…

Gautier, Mississippi – 12:00 Central Standard Time

A cold gust of wind rushed past Rebecca as she opened the front door. Marco followed it in, brushing past her without a word. Johnny followed Marco in. “Hey, Becca.”

“Hey, Johnny. Where’s Ronnie?”

“Should be coming up the stairs.”

Rebecca looked through the kitchen door and noticed the scowl on Marco’s face as he placed the grocery bags on the kitchen counter, but what was new? She turned and stepped outside the apartment. Ronnie was walking toward her, carrying two bags of groceries.

“I was beginning to wonder if you had got lost,” she said.

“No chance of that,” he said, pecking her on the lips. “I left me a trail of beer cans.”

“So did everybody else.” She popped him on his behind as he entered the apartment.

“But those are Budweiser cans. I left Coors Light.”

“Glad you got a…

Unedited

Atlanta, Georgia – Thursday 09:00

A Spanish conversation, growing louder by the moment, grabbed Liam Cavanaugh’s attention.  Casually lowering the newspaper he held before his face, he looked across the Gate F28 waiting area at four, finely dressed Colombians strolling toward the boarding counter.

The largest of the four men, Jose, the ever-faithful mentor to the man-brat, Xavier Montego, handed four tickets to the young woman behind the counter, before turning to stand watch. The rest faced each other, continuing their boisterous conversation, oblivious to anyone else in the area.

Liam shook his head. A sicario would have no problem moving within killing distance of Xavier, and the brave and loyal Jose would be the first one to die. Liam grimaced. The heir to the Montego dynasty should be thankful to have such loyalty, but unfortunately, he felt he was entitled to it.

Folding his newspaper, Liam stood…

One of my favorite movies of all time is “Fight Club.” It is just cool on many different levels: coping mechanisms, anti-materialism, relationships, soap-making, etc. So what does “Fight Club” have to do with barbecue? Strictly speaking, I don’t think it has anything to do with barbecue. However, I do like how it starts at the end saying something about “with a gun in your mouth you can only speak in vowels.” And then he goes on to say it begins with Marla.

Meet Marla:

That’s beef roast with a salt, black pepper, and brown sugar rub. I’ve spoken of this rub before and also about my smoking technique. That’s all the same. What I haven’t done in the past is let y’all know all the different ways I prepare and eat this meat after I smoke it. I don’t always do “traditional barbecue” dishes.

Here’s some diced meet I…

She said that she was hanging by a thread

Find yourself a tree I said

Some dirt

Sit awhile

Close your eyes

And listen for the song of the ants

Lifting several times their body weight

They come

Plying bitten off leaves

The seeds of grass and flowers

Working together

Their communities are powerful

They do what they shouldn’t possibly be able

By listening to the earth

Remaining stable

As the humans above

Spin

Out of control

Our great big brains tuned in

To the echoes of thoughts that have been thought and thought and thought

For a Millenia

Where has it got us?

Sitting in the dirt

Back to a tree

Waiting for the grounded wisdom of ants

To rise up through the leaves

And permeate

Even the thickest of skulls

*header photo taken when I dropped morning tea down to Steve this morning. I like to sit down…

Horses

Life forces

Of their very own

Intelligent

Capable

And if you win their respect

Honour it

As the great treasure it is

*My father was a great horseman – he broke them in, used them for mustering, played polo from their backs and had a great respect for his four legged companions.

My Grandfather’s life was if anything, even deeper entwined with that of the equine. He also had a great reputation as a horseman and his polo sticks are displayed in the Eulo pub – or they were at one time. I haven’t been back in years.

Horses were indispensable as work and play mates for a very long period in our history.

By the time I came along we used motor bikes to muster and any horses left on the property were brumbies, shy and rarely seen.

I wanted a horse as a child and would nag…

In your head

I live in a small box

You keep the lid closed

Rarely checking

Am I still there?

Have I outgrown the confines of your mind?

And what you believe me capable of?

The thing is

With your small box

And me

We are defeated even before we begin

Because the answer to your question is always the same

As long as I remain

Part of your small compartmentalised brain

Then again,

Quantum mechanics suggests

Several alternatives

For the box

The *cat

And questions

Am I dead?

Living?

Changed from how you see me

It doesn’t matter

Because when you open the box

I’m not there

I’m here

And just like Houdini

I’ve escaped from the chains of your perception

*how we are perceived by others should not in any way effect our personal growth and abilities yet sometimes, when people are sensitive to the opinions and judgement…

Settled in a stressful park
Searching for some words that rhythm,
Preparing to score a benchmark
Listening to a melodious hymn.

English, maths, science, history
Studying would make us bold,
Alien planet is still a mystery
Anyone interested to mould?

Learning make us knowledgeable
Cramming is such a blunder,
Let us do our phones disable
Books are waiting, full of wonder!

• 

Settled in a stressful park
Searching for some words that rhythm,
Preparing to score a benchmark
Listening to a melodious hymn.

English, maths, science, history
Studying would make us bold,
Alien planet is still a mystery
Anyone interested to mould?

Learning make us knowledgeable
Cramming is such a blunder,
Let us do our phones disable
Books are waiting, full of wonder!

•