If you can't get to Texas...
My husband and I miss Texas. We miss the barbecue, the people, the open road, the whole life style and our families. We can't get there any time soon, so we did the next best thing. I know I am really behind in my blog but over Father's Day weekend we tasted Texas in our own backyard. Hubby calls me from Lowes to ask me a questiona and makes an off hand remark about how much he would love to buy a smoker. So I said that since I hadn't gotten time to buy him something (this was on Saturday of that weekend) he should just buy it and I would pay for it. So he did. I have never seen anyone so happy to have a new toy in my life. It was like he had died and gone to smoker heaven.

So he put it together. Then there was another trip to get wood chips, charcoal, and new lighter, and a huge piece of cow. This man loves his brisket and he wasn't wasting any time thinking about what the first thing would be to hit that smoker. I guess in his mind it was a given. I, on the other hand would have done a pork shoulder or a picnic. I love pulled pork, but since I wasn't in control, it would be brisket. I didn't take any pictures of the cooking process, but maybe another time. I just wanted to show you the meat. It was fabulous. It had that nice pink ring around it and it had a nice smoky flavor. It tasted like Texas to me.

This baby weighed a ton and took nearly 6 hours to smoke, but trust me it was well worth it. Half of it is in the freezer because we just couldn't eat it all in a few days.
You can see the pink around the outter portion of the meat. I hear that's a good thing, but since I know squat about smoking I will take the Food Network's barbecuing chefs word for it. I could care less about the pink ring, just pass me a fork and I will go to town.
My youngest son loves brisket just as much as his father. He almost couldn't wait to get into it. When we finally got all the fixin's to go with it, I watched my son's eyes roll up in the back of his head. He doesn't say much but words were not needed when I saw his face. His dad got a thumbs up! Isn't that what every cook/chef looks for?

There was one more thing that the smoker was good for...

Need I say more??

Still Here
I am still around, but I have been extremely busy. Cooking and taking pictures have been the last things on my mind. I have been working for a weekly Zone client. If anyone knows anything about the Zone diet, you know it's a lot of chopping, dicing mincing, etc. Not to mention the amount of shopping for fresh product it requires. Then I picked up an Extreme Fighter and he had an even more detailed diet. It was supposed to be a 12 week diet but, he pooped out after only two weeks. So that freed up one day of the week that is now gone this week with my yearly "at the beach" clients from NY and CT. I still have my three day a week grocery store job and the in-store demos for my local Fresh Market grocery store. As if that wasn't enough, a teaching position I applied for earlier this year has opened up and I will be teaching for 5 weeks starting the end of this month. I had not counted on that job starting until mid May next year. Plus I have been trying to squeeze in some knitting for Christmas presents for friends and family.

I haven't been doing any cooking worth posting on the blog. I have just been doing your basic "get by" cooking. So this all explains my long period of silence here. I am sorry but it's going to be a bumpy summer and the fall isn't looking too smooth either. I will be attending my yearly Personal Chef conference where I will be teaching a ServSafe class and then it's home again to resume the hectic pace. I will try to post things as time allows so don't give up on me!
Thanks!