lancastermike

Chris H. Better you than me. I just make the smoke put the meat on and eat it. Way, way over the head of this old political science major.

Hey Chris Yesterday was butt smoking day for me and in your honor I added a few chunks of wood when i re-fueled at 11 hours, which I have would usually not do. What the hell, wood is cheap and I got lots of it. Not sure if it helped but it sure did not hurt. Man, smoked pork rocks.

Went and got 10lbs of sour cherries. made jam and cobbler and froze some for a Christmas cherry pie. The had what they labeled "real early peaches" Did not try any as I was cherry obsessed. I think Susan is at the cabin so I can report we had our first local sweet corn last night. Juicy and sweet it was. Wish it tasted a little more like corn

One big old hunk of pig on the smoker

Fruit and veggies are difficult unless you want to chop them all and vacuum seal them. Otherwise the containers holding them are most likely larger then the whole fruit. One thought I have is to construct fruit hats, like Carmen Miranda wore, and make everyone don one.

That 140 number has been mentioned more times than I can count in various EG smoking topics. Were did it come from? Good Question. I always thought it came from the legendary EG smoking class by Klink. But a cursory glance at that just now reveals no mention of it. I have zero data to back it up other than we have all pretty much used it. we could all be 100% wrong. Perhaps some of the food scientists will show up here and beat us silly with data.

I'm sure the heat wave will warm your butt. Happy Smoking, Susan, Happy Smoking

Within a half mile of my house is a lovely peach orchard. But it is a while yet for them to be ready. The best peach I have ever had came from Currituck Co North Carolina. Our Lancaster County peaches are good, but not that good. Tomatoes are in my garden and they are not ready yet. There are tomatoes for sale down in the road that are grown near the Susquehanna River. The micro climate there is perfect for tomatoes, but the best are not yet in. As a special note to Susan, local growers are promising us sweet corn next week. It was started under plastic and is now almost ready. And the sweet cherries are on the trees now for the picking and the sour cherries, or pie cherries as my Mom would call them are going to be ready to pick this weekend. I love apricots, and my grower friend tells me soon and they should be good.

Pastrami sandwich from Herschel's would be way high up on my list.

My WSM has been performing well for years and years and years. It does not compete with the high end smokers you folks are discussing here. However, for hot smoking of any type it works great. It is not a cold smoker and will do so only with serious modification. But for the money, it is a a great device. It will most likely outlast me.

My tomatoes went in on Mothers day and are doing nicely, though we could use some sunshine and warmth to make them happy. Unlike Susan, we have had plenty of rain. Did some heirlooms and so others as well. End of July I hope to have a nice crop. The old surgically repaired back is doing well this year and I can tend my garden more than in the past couple of years.

Gave away the WSM!!! Hard to believe, Marlene. I used mine hard over the Memorial Day holiday, ribs, butt, sausage. I gave it a good cleaning this Sunday past and it is ready for many more years of service. I understand the Vermont Castings unit is top notch and I see why you like it. But the old WSM and me are in it for the long run.

The current update of "The Philly Dish" on Philly.com features no other than our favorite bartender Katie Loeb. Shown making basil thai syrup for her cocktails in the kitchen at Chicks. Then stirring one up behind the bar with Maria the Philly Dish girl. later the chef show up with a plate of fish for Maria Nice pub for Chicks, too bad it did not appear when katie was still working there. Maria the Philly Dish girl seemed a little too wide-eyed and gigly for my taste, and I though maybe for Katie's as well. But is was nice to see katie making cocktails, which is what she loves to do.

I can 100% relate to this. I think i am a decent home cook and I know I can put out some fairly good food. last week I made bran muffins. I do this often. Last weeks batch were just lousy. Maybe too much lazy eye measuring. I had some fairly nice strip steaks that I grilled. I have been grilling for YEARS. I managed to pretty much burn the outside of these to a cinder while under cooking the centers. I know HOW to grill a steak. I don't need a lesson on a hot and cool part of the grill. Yet I managed to mess these up to a large degree. Sometimes I think I have lost the ability to cook. And I am sort of baffled about it as well.

We were in the market Friday afternoon and had a sanwich from Herschel's. Great pastrami. I asked the guy slicing it if he knew Bob. Hes said not by name but he may know him to see him. I could eat a lot of those sandwiches

We were in town for a brief visit and for the first time went to Southwark. We did not dine but stopped for drinks. Maggie had a very well made Aviation and I had a Manhattan with the Carpano Antica vermouth and the Rittenhouse 100 rye. These were two outstanding drinks. I'm sure this is no surprise to anyone here, but this place is great. Great drinks, great service, a great vibe.

Three Sheets will be on FLN(Fine Living Network). First show wil be on May 29 will air every Friday at 11PM

On Zane's website he is touting a party in LA on May 2 at which time they will announce which cable channel is going to carry Three Sheets. Speculation is it will be Fine Living

On the rye whiskey front the Wild Turkey rye is currently on sale and seems to be in stock most places. The WT rye is bottled at 101 proof and is good stuff for mixing use.

The vinegar based slaw is the way to go here. However I must confess. I'd rather my slaw be on the side. If somebody offered me the above pictured sandwich I'd happily eat the damn thing. But if making it myself, I'd put the slaw on the side. My North Carolina BBQ friends love the slaw on their sandwiches. I salute them for it. I hope my not preferring it that way does not brand me as a pork heretic

No such thing exists. You want a vodka up, ask for a vodka up. Bartenders, no matter how good at their job, are not clairvoyant, and everyone's definition of "Dry", "Extra Dry" or "like the Sahara" is utterly subjectve. If you ask for a "martini" you are implying that you want a cocktail that is a mixed drink, with vermouth in it. If you want Grey Goose up with olives then you should ask for that and not blame the bartender for your lack of communication skills. Sorry to sound snippy, but I get tired of trying to read minds when folks ask me for a martini. I unfailingly have to pull teeth to get them to admit that they don't really know what they want, because they've never made one at home, and have no clue as to whether they actually dislike vermouth, or just think they do. Life would be simpler if folks could walk up to a bar and say "I'd like a 6:1 Bombay martini up with olives, please." Because a martini is actually a gin drink... ← I guess we are off the topic a little, but let me back up Katie here. If what you want is a glass of chilled vodka with olives in it, it ain't no martini. No martini of any kind. Some individual decided that everything served in a cocktail glass is a martini. Not to long as go I was in a place and was handed the "martini" menu. And there it was the "Manhattan Martini". People can drink what they want, but I don't care for "Manhattan Martinis". Katie, perhaps you and I can get rich quick by huckstering battery powered vermouth misters to bars.

Very good advice here from jackal 10. I have done many a whole hog, but when we had pig for our wedding I booked a guy to do it all. I enjoy doing it, but you will be busy enough. It's a sloppy mess of a job, which on most days is fun, but you won't want that on your wedding day.

I got one as a gift several years ago, and I never wear it. Like many others t-shirts and old pants are my togs for cooking at home. The one I have is very nice, and I would be happy to wear it if I cooked professionally. Wearing it at home is an affectation I just can't do.

Everything I have read about the Ri is that it is simply a marketing effort. Doubt I'll be paying the price they want for that stuff. The puppy is a Glen of Imall terrier an Irish breed that is very rare in the USA. Maggie really wanted one and we are lucky to get her. She already has the name Lizzie and Maggie is going to keep that. The breeder named her Mary Elizabeth. Maggie's dearly departed mom was Mary and my grandmother, who adored Maggie, was Elizabeth. So, no name change will be made. Yeah, a couple bottles of Pikesville will find a home on my shelf. I won't get just one, if I'n lucky the store I choose may have some Rittenhouse on the shelf as well.

I now see that they have added the Ri as a regular item. This stuff has been widely panned by the whiskey experts, but at least they added SOMETHING. We are going to Virginia on Saturday to pick up my wifes new puppy. On the way back, I may have to stop in Maryland for a little pick up of my own.