Marlene

Chris, do you mean bean pots like these? I have the second one down, although I almost always use my Le Creuset to make baked beans, which I make almost every time I smoke a pork shoulder.

I can use my knives left handed. The only one that cannot be properly used left handed is a bread knife for some reason. Scissors. A major irritant to left handed people. You've got to look hard for left handed scissors

Rooftop1000. She's the only one I know who likes motorcycles!

I never bother to dice it first, but like chopping chocolate, a dice will help it melt faster. I use my beef fat for all kinds of things, not just fries. I'll use it for yorkies when I don't have enough drippings, melt some to roast potatoes in, and I always add a bit to my roasting pan when roasting a prime rib and potatoes together!

I used to use the sharp cheddar spread that came in those little squeezable tubes. But you can use any sharp spread. ← I've never met a recipe of Jaymes' that I didn't like. This sounds almost like a Welsh Rarbit, but thicker maybe? I've got to try this now!

I render beef fat all the time. It will take quite a while though so be prepared. Over as low a heat as you can get, put the fat in a large pot. If you are using a gas stove, you may need a flame tamer over the burner at some point. Once it melts, it will bubble and spit quite a bit. When the bubbling and spitting stop, you've rendered out all the water. If you've got fat that's got membranes and stuff on it, you'll want to strain it through cheesecloth at the end, and you're good to go. I store mine in a mason jar in the fridge. You've got 5 pounds so you may get a couple of mason jars out of that, so you can store one in the freezer.

Ah yes, thanks, Snowangel! I am reminded again, of why I prefer doing pizza in the oven!

True. I don't recall using a stone when I grilled pizza, and I seem to recall that the top got done just fine, but I'd have to go dig out the pictures!

We went for the double bowl, with the right side being smaller than the left. The big sink is big enough to lay my large roaster and my sheet pans flat, while the smaller one houses the garburator. The smaller one is also handy for holding things in cold water or putting washed pans etc in to drain.

It's smart, but it's twice the work. You've got to get the pizza from the grill inside, into the oven.

You're in one of those "damned if you do, and damned if you don't" positions, depending on how important this relationship is to you. I always ask my guests in advance for preferences and allergies, but 8 hours before the party is nothing but a control play. She knows her mother will put pressure on you to cave. I wouldn't change your menu, but I would go the rotisserie chicken route as well, not because I think you're giving in to her power play, but because as a hostess, it's not my style not to try to accommodate a guest, even when it's family, and frankly it's probably not worth the battle with your partner, right before a dinner party. This way you can and should still serve the meal you want, and the girl can have something to eat as well. There's no reason why everyone else palate needs to revolve around her sudden changes in diet. When it's all over, I suspect you and your partner are going to have to come to some sort of agreement on how to handle this when it happens again. Because it probably will.

The short rib recipe is in recipegullet. The warm cheese dip is not, and will not be.

I'd agree with this, other than mesquite. I haven't noticed much difference between apple, cherry or pecan, but I get a notable difference with mesquite which seems to be much harsher.

Glad to hear you are feeling better Mike. Lately, I've been having my butcher take the skin off my butts, but leave a good fat cap on. I've found I now prefer them skin off. I spray the butts during the smoking, with a mix of bourbon, apple juice and maple syrup as per Daddy-A, and I find with the skin off, the fat gets nice and crispy with the glaze which is wonderful for snacking on while you're pulling the pork.

Butts at 13 hours. At 17 and a half hours into the process, they hit 182, so we took them off and foiled them. And they pulled perfectly

Thanks Mike. We put both butts on at midnight last night, in a torrential rain storm. At 2 this afternoon, it went into it's stall at 165. That lasted for a little over an hour. Now, 14 and a half hours later, it has risen to 171. We'll wait, and pull these off the smoker at about 185 or 190 and foil until we're ready to eat.

My warm cheese dip and my braised short ribs probably.

Not me!

Kerry, I've been getting mine from a store at the St. Lawrence Market. I can't remember the name of the store, but it's downstairs in the corner. Back in the bulk section.

We've got 20 people or so coming for dinner on Sat, so we're smoking a pork butt. Well, actually we're smoking two. They're each about 10 lbs. I'm not quite sure yet whether both will fit on the top rack. I may have to do one on the top rack of the bullet and one on the bottom. Will the bottom one be done before the top one? Do I have to switch them around now and then?

Maybe thinly sliced and used in a stir fry? Probably a marinade as well. If using in a stir fry, a soy sauce one.

Glad you finally made it to Delmonicos, but apparently you didn't enjoy it as much as we did. Then again, we always get the rib eye rather than the NY strip. We've also never had the spinach there. I love those chips except there looks to be way more parmesan on them than usual. I have to say, the last time we ate there, we weren't as impressed as usual, although I tried their seared foie gras for the first time which was pretty darn good. We'll be going to Vegas, probably in November so I'll have another chance to eat there as see if it really has slipped.

It's close, but mine does not have a removable base. I have used it to deep fry chicken and had no problems with either the non stick finish or retaining the fry temp. I rarely use it these days though. I should probably bring it up to the cottage since I could use it to fry chicken up here. I used to have a Hamilton Beach that had a removable base and I had a lot more trouble with temp control and even heating. I think there must be something about the removable base that interferes with that sort of thing.

It's hard to believe it's been a year already, but it has, so we had a remembrance dinner for my brother last night, which included his favourite foods. Spit roasted beef tenderloin, roasted asparagus drizzled with a 21 year balsamic and parmesan, and crispy smashed potatoes. Served with a bernaise sauce. Raspberry pie. Possibly his most favourite thing in the whole world. You could give him this pie and he'd happily skip every other course to get to it. His favourite wine, Chateau nuf de pape in the glass.

I agree with Alton and always coat mine with oil and salt, unless I want to use the skins for potato skins later. The oil and salt does give them a nice crisp skin.