snowangel

Sara, have you tried slightly cocking the lid? I like keeping all vents closed (I use a regular oven thermometer on the grate), and usually keep the lid just ever so sligtly off kilter, if that makes any sense. Lower temp does just mean that it will take longer. Did you get a whole brisket, or just a portion of it?

Melissa, if there is cabbage at the market, this is a fab slaw accompaniment.

If one were to make beef kabobs, what cut would one use? Want meaty tasting, with some chew. Tenderloin need not apply. And, what cuts are good for pork?

Melissa, I always stick my meat in the freezer when I start the trusty old Kettle. I'm not sure what the scientists say, but over here, we happen to think that pork quits absorbing the smoke when it reaches a certain temp (140, as I recall). We've never gotten sick from anything I've ever smoked, in fact, it has made our life richer, and me more alluring (according to Paul!). Sides for the pork? Edited to add: I'm so old fashioned I use a regular oven thermometer on a Weber Kettle, and an old-fashioned meat thermometer for the meat!

Now that I think about it, I think you want the pork where the temp is the lowest. Don't forget to put your meat on really, really cold! Ignore the bring to room temp and smoking at 325 ( ) like so many cookbooks and recipes will tell you.

Melissa, Mike gives you the right advice. But, I wouldn't leave the thighs on while you went out for a while. Either get them on and off before you go, or on and off after you get back. They will go fast. Skin side up. Repeat after me. Skin side up. What I'm surprised by is that your shoulders are so small. Mine usually average 8-10 pounds, but maybe they wacked them in half or something. And, if in doubt, smoke way more pork that you think you'll need. It is gold to have in the freezer. Warmed up, on a tortilla, with some fresh pico...well, you've got a quick and heavenly dinner. The cockles of my maternal heart are so warmed when someone enters the realm of smoking butt. You'll now be able to talk the talk. Do let us know at what temp yours stalls!

I've decided to eschew the Trusty Old Kettle at home, and opt for either the Kettle (not old and trusty yet) and opt for noshing or Kettling and lots of swims at The Cabin. I'm taking three or four kids, and have lots of food that can be eaten cold and require little or no prep.

My Trusty Old Kettle has survived very, very well for 25 Minnesota winters either on the patio or deck. There have been a couple of times when we could hardly find it for all of the show, but it still looks and works just fine. For some odd reason, hail avoids it, but makes a bee-line for the siding and roof!

The living room floor is littered with piles of clothes, duffle bags, grocery bags, knitting projects, Apples to Apples, Scrabble, etc. The camera batteries are charged and the card is empty. I leave tomorrow morning with three kids (Peter and Heidi -- mine; and my best friend's 16-year old son Nick, guitar player and awesome sous chef). We will be joined by Paul and the rest of Nick's family plus 5 others on Sunday. We return in a week, hopefully with pails of blueberries. Even without blueberries, I know we'll return brown and relaxed and feeling rather like avoiding civilization. We stop at the kid's camp tomorrow to see Diana and her group paddle in after their 10-day BWCA/Quetico expedition. I just love summer.

Ann, what's your food background? Where did you live before moving to Vancouver Island?

It was over 90 degrees at 10:30 pm last night in Minneapolis (yes, Brooks, it does get hot here). Grill on the Kettle, turn on the sprinkler and run through it. Lots of ice and water. Minimal alcohol. It's no wonder I'm heading north on Wednesday morning to lay in the lake with three kids.

Welcome to blogging, Ann! The sweet corn is in here. We had some earlier this week that was very disappointing, but our very favorite corn stand was open last night, and did not disappoint. My family always sighs over the first corn of the season because they know that it will be on the table 7 nights a week for quite a few weeks. The days here have been HOT, and one of the vendors at the farmer's market was predicting tomatoes in the very near future. This is indeed a glorious and bountious time of year! BTW, Ann's scone recipe is in RecipeGullet -- right here.

Try this recipe. They won't know they are eating lima beans! Another option that I really like is the old fashioned four bean salad. VERY heavy on the limas, and very light on the sweet sour component so the beans really shine.

What about the cheesecloth results do you like? I always do skin on shoulders, so I can't see that cheesecloth would make a difference. Beautiful butt, Mike, and Abra, I'm sure yours is a thing of beauty, as well. It's been way too long since I smoked a butt. And, Abra, you are absolutely right about that sauce. Christmas and birthday wish-lists from my friends all include jars of this stuff. Sauce crack they call it.

Lima Bean/Artichoke Puree This was served at a 2003 eGullet gathering in Minneapolis. The inspiration was from Rachael Demuth's Green World Cookbook, but I have made a couple of changes. I go a bit heavy on the pepper. 425 g of lima beans 400 g of artichoke hearts (drain can) 4 crushed garlic cloves (or more!) 50 g grated Parmesan 4 T extra virgin olive oil 1 T lemon juice (make it a generous tablespoon!) 1 small handful of parsley (optional) salt and pepper to taste Put everything into the food processor and puree away! Serve in halved cherry tomatoes or on toasted french bread slices. It also makes a great dip for pita or pita chips, and I've been known to use it in place of mayo on a club sandwich. Keywords: Appetizer, Vegetarian, Easy ( RG1758 )

Susan, I have been very negligent on photoing and reporting! Until you posted this, I completely forgot that when the boys (a neighbor boy is over every weekday) and I made crepes, we froze a mess of them. They were curious to have them again, so we thawed them out and filled them with scrambled eggs and ham, topped them with cheese and gave them a few minutes in the toaster oven to melt the cheese. I thawed the stack in the fridge, and they worked beautifully. OK, so they might not have been quite as good as freshly made, but they were about 90% there. And, given that once I got my crepe mojo going, it just made sense to make a mess of them, that's what I'll do in the future. Make and eat and freeze. I'm also seeing these as a way of creatively presenting certain leftovers in the future. People feel special when you feed them crepes.

Before I get off my high horse, I will say that either the unit to which Dave linked or the Kettle are the most versatile choices out there. Do not consider gas. Please. And, as to the learning curve on the Weber, the first thing I ever smoked was a butt right after Klink's course appeared here. I had no trouble keeping the temp down. And, I have just coached three Weber Kettle virgins through very successful inaugural smoking butt experiences via phone (for two of them) and via PM, so it's not that hard.

Ahem. Time the Kettle Queen chimed in. My Weber Kettle One-Touch (22" version) is 25 years old and going strong. I can grill, and I can smoke on this thing, like a pro, and have taught many other's to do so. This piece of equipment is almost indestructable -- it has spent 25 winters sitting on a Minnesota patio or deck. We have replaced the wood handles (I think they now have plastic handles) and we did need to replace the damper inside this summer ($9.95; the wood for the handles was "inventory" in the garage as were the screws). I use a chimney and Kingsford. I can get the temp inside this baby down to about 160 degrees and can go very high. Oh, and I did break down, once I started smoking meat and got a hinged grate, which made it much, much easier to add charcoal and wood. Should you be interested in smoking meat, please check out these topics: Smoking Meat at Home (there is an accompanying Q & A). Smokin' Brisket Ribs -- Baby Back and Spare And my personal favorite -- Behold My Butt. This one will make you run -- not walk -- to get a Weber Kettle and a big ass bone-in butt. Just go and buy a Kettle! (Weber really should pay me!)

Melissa, does the Ipod docking station have independent speakers? I opted for a car radio with CD player and we ran the speaker wire to my Bose bookshelf speakers through the soffits (which you don't have). I had literally shake the house!

Tammy, the market basket sounds wonderful! I know if I didn't regularly sign up, I'd sign up for that one! Your reputation (not having tasted anything) would go a long way with me. As for a dessert for this next one. What about brownies with ice cream? You can bake brownies ahead of time and freeze them. Not terribly original or exciting, but when I serve them, they are always welcomed, especially when topped with ice cream.

Brian, please let us know more about the smoked corn part of the puree! And, on what did you grill the porterhouse (equipment question). Do you use the same aparatus for smoking, too?

This beauty arrived at my house today. It is locally grown, and the seller at the Falcon Heights branch of the St. Paul Farmer's market was offering samples, and my mom (the benefactor) reported that it is outstanding and very flavorful. It is so beautiful I almost wanted to apply a coat of poly to it and use it as a decoration. What would you do with it? Roasting is out of the question, as by tomorrow morning, we will be in a heat wave (read, if I am forced to turn on the A/C, I'm not turning on the oven). No to soup. Do I just eat it raw? I envision something with a lot of crunch and some spice...

It has been a sublime week. A week of quiet. It started on Monday evening, at my best friend's folks farm in southern MN. Rich (the dad) has deliverately not plowed up some areas for crops so that he can have a two mile walk every day. They saw a cougar there just a few days ago, and we saw pheasants, deer, growing soybeans and corn (yes, way higher than knee high before the fourt). The crops need rain as it is dry, and the beans are trying to bloom and the corn needs to tassle in the next week or two. The real treat for us came on Saturday morning as we headed north to the cabin, with a stop at Half Moon Lake to see The Teen and deliver a care package (oreos, some flavour blasted goldfish and some rice krispie bars that Peter and I made early in the morning). The Teen, fresh off of 10 days of sailing around the Apostle Islands, looks like a million bucks. Tan and buff. As she should look. Tired, too, but that's part of the gig. She was clean and had done laundry. And, she's off tomorrow morning for a 10-day canoeing adventure in the BWCA and Quetico! I wish I was a teen again. So, from there, we headed further north. Since my meat market didn't have any great looking steaks, and I wanted to buy sausages ( -- to get an idea of what other's are doing -- all in the name of research), we stopped at that "Smokie's" place that's on the left side of the big intersection on the south side of the bridge in Cloquet. Either business in Cloquet is bad or he was bad, but it's now vacant space and for rent. So, onward and northward! We ended up at F and D Meats in Virginia. Two porterhouses, a couple of cajun and a few smoked polish later, we were well on our way to that special spot north of Orr. It was hot out, and we actaully had the A/C on in the car. We rarely do that. FYI. That Hwy's 53 and 169 intersection has lost much of it's charm. Used to be, before this summer, that you drove up 53, and not long after 169 turned NE toward Ely, it was a sleepy intersection, with a defunct bar. Now, it looks like a Super Highway, and we no longer take that narrowing path that goes under the DWP bridge, which signaled to us for so long that we were Up North. Peter still laments that we dont' drive under "Mommy's bridge." That signal that we were getting were were supposed to get. So, as we drive ont he by-pass, I knit on yet another potholder more fast and furious. The world needs more potholders. The weather, upon arrival, was absolutely spectacular. And, given the amount of cars that had not pulled off at Cloquet (and headed towards Duluth) and pulled off on 169 N (to Ely), all indications were for a nice and quiet weekend. We took the SHO, and packed very light, so it was a breeze to get unpacked, gas on, fridge and pilots lit, and cocktails poured. We were hungry, for food and for water. So, it was peanuts and cheeses on the dock, with cocktails, on the dock. True to forum, Peter was first in the water. Paul is hiding a cocktail behind his back. One of the characteristics of Heidi's disability is her love of water. She didn't even want to eat chees and crackers once she saw her life jacket! The water is not nearly as green as my picture shows. The sand is tan/brown. The water is still clean, but it has been dry, so the lake is low. Tha lake is glistening. Other than the wind, there is not a single sound. Things have settled down from the weekend of the 4th, and the wind keeps the bugs away! There are spiderwebs full of mosqitoes and flies all over the deck base, and we see tons of huge dragonflies. We tell time up at the cabin by a sundial. Except, you need to add an hour to the time. We think it's time we thought about starting up the grill. It waited for an hour or so while we swam. Somewhere while Paul and Heidi were swimming, but before we started the grill, Peter and I decided it was time to check out the point next to our cabin. It is state owned land, and it does have some blueberry plants. I would never choose to pick here, but the signs were right on that it is time we got back up there to pick blueberries. So, just what did we do this weekend? We ate some steak and grilled veg (there werere a couple of vidalias that just screamed "grill me!". We grilled up those sausages we got at F & D meats, and while I found the smoekd polish way too salty, I thought those cajun ones were nice a spicy and required no accompaniments. Except some new potaoes (which were up there and needed to be used) fried in butter and oil, along side some salad to please the boy (yes, bag O salad ) We also had some waffles and home-smoked bacin (no photo, sorry) and some butter milk pancakes with sausages. I like my pancakes with nothing but butter. No syrup, no nothing. Somewhere along the line, the boy and I made rice krispie bars In betwixt and between card games during the spell of weather on Sunday morning that looked dark and foreboding (that didn't last long). But, I realized this weekend that I am the luckiest woman on the earth. It is high July, the moom was almost full. There are late night swims -- twilights lasts up there until well after 10:00 pm! There is a fab radio station (www.KAXE.org). There is almost no cell phone coverage ( ). It was as quiet as it has ever been. No none was fishing. Well, not no one. We did see three boats over the course of three days. And, there are decisions to make. What do I wear? Do I don the water-printed Nike suit? Or the lime green Ann Cole? MOre important, which pareo to don? The stars and moon or the chili pepper one? Do I languish on the deck with a cheesey novel? A NY Times Sunday crossword? Or, do I knit a square or round potholder? Or, do I just languish with a pair of Raybans? Or, do I swim again in the deep water with the kids and The Man? How long can I stay awake at night, warm and tidy in bed, listening for sounds? Just what should I cook for breakfast in the morning? Or, just how many times do we skinny dip after dark watching the almost full moon? Food for the body and soul. It was quiet. Really, really quiet. Everyone needs this once in a while. Yes, I am lucky. Other than two of my kids and my husband, I saw no one after we left the stop and rob in Cook with petrol, milk, eggs and ice. Our skin and hair are silky, and we have been well-fed.

Two pies, four people, several days? That would be a day and a half at most in my house. Remember the basic rules of nutrition. This, of course, assumes that you topi it with ice cream, whipped cream, creme fraiche of something. You've got the fruit group covered. Grain (crust). Fat (crust). Fibre (fruit and grain). Dairy (topping). Voila! A perfect food! I'm an ultimate justifier.

As I prepare for another trip to the cabin, I realize I did not properly report on our last trip, which immediately followed the end of the school year. Once again, we were joined by my best friend (another Susan) and her family. We arrived early afternoon, and they arrived late afternoon. We all felt so lazy (and knew we would) that we didn't cook. She had brought tapenade and a baguette, I had brie and a raspberry chipotle sauce (with crackers), the last of my venison sausage, and I had made some deviled eggs. We felt so lazy that I didn't even take pictues. Nor did I take my customary "first photo" upon arrival. We did, however, have the energy to get a jar of sun tea going. Lazy, hazy and crazy. The next morning, we were again feeling lazy. Paul did get up and get the coffee going, and instead of cooking breakfast, Susan and I offered ham and cheese sandwhiches along with sliced, hard-cooked eggs (yes, I had a lot of eggs on hand at home, and they transport easier hard cooked than raw). Paul objected, but we reminded him that he wouldn't object to a ham and cheese omelet with toast on the side, and to just consider this breakfast a deconstructed version of same. After breakfast, the weather started to go south. In fact, we primed a new screen door for the screen porch, and the weather went so south that it took 48 hours for the door to go from dripping to merely tacky. So, into the shed it went and I will deal with it later. Dinner our first night was a variety of home-made sausages from the Charcuterie book -- Chicken/basil/tomato and Pork/poblanlo. The latter is probably the best thing in a tube I have ever eaten. My friend Susan agrees, as does Diana. I think the others prepferred the chicken sausages... Sides were potato salad and a green salad with baby greens, local strawberries, a blue cheese vinagarette and walnuts. The girls made brownies for dessert. We topped off the evening with shots of brown liquor (adults) and a rousing game of Apples to Apples. Breakfast the next morning was home-smoked bacon (done in the oven because we were too lazy to deal with the grease on the stove) and waffles. It rained, but we swam and all nestled down with copies of 30-year old Mad magazines. Ah, it is the life. We napped. We played games. We told stories. We listened to KAXE. There was no "lunch" rather a 2-hour non-stop marathos of playing games and munching. The lass in the brown t-shirt is Diana, and she was making guac while playing cards. As we prepped for dinner that night, the weather improved, so we once again started the grill. We means Paul. Dinner. Steak and leftover potato salad and grilled vegetables. S'mores (over a gas burner because it started to drizzle again). A lot of people around a little table. Yet another reminder of how just how good our life is. A lot of people. Reading, being quiet, playing games, communing together. Celebrating the end of a school year and the beginning of another summer. So, Saturday morning, Paul, Heidi, Peter and I leave for a blissful weekend. A quiet one, as it will just be the four of us. We will stop at Half Moon Lake in Eveleth on our way up and see Diana, who will be at the mid-way point in her four weeks at the camp, and fresh off a 45' sailboat and 10 days of sailing around the Apostle Island with her camp group. I will take treats (Rice Krispie Bars, Goldfish, guac/chips, and Oreos) and we will admire how tan and buff she is before the four of us steal away for 3 very quiet days. We only have one task this trip up -- to hang the screen door. Otherwise, reports say that the water is now 70 degrees on the surface, so we will be waterlogged when we return. I'm planning super-simple meals. I'm reminded of the old commercial -- "Calgon, take me away!" Just change Calgon to SHO, and it fits just right!