Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Time to Play Catch-Up


I have been horrible at keeping this thing updated and for good reason….It seems finding the time is one of the biggest hurdles to actually sitting down and putting thoughts to a page.  There have been a lot of things that have occurred over the last few months that I think are noteworthy.  So here you go….

As I stated last post, Sam is in 1st grade now and it’s sometimes strange to look back and see how we got to this point.  Seems like yesterday the largest concern with Sam on a frequent basis was if he got all of his milk for the day.  Now things that I didn’t expect to be a concern are often rolling through my mind. I sometimes think about him during the day knowing he is not safe at home.  I hope he is having a good day and that he is happy. Obviously every parent has these same thoughts…I get it.  My point being is that we seemed to have gone from very insignificant concerns to really more adult type issues in the blink of an eye.  One of those life lessons was forced into reality in early October.  What’s the luck that Sam would win a gold fish at the Fall festival? Apparently pretty good, he won on the second toss.  He was so unbelievably happy. That joy was short lived as within 40 minutes we had to have a fish funeral on the lake side in front of the house. Poor guy.



If you live in and/or around St. Louis you know that the fall typically is a good time to be a Cardinal’s fan. Well this year not so much but it didn’t stop us from cheering on the team. Sam made signs for everyone to hold up like we were at the game.  Also he had a specific requirement that everyone wear the funny cardinal hat.



We also for the first time went Apple picking at Eckert’s farm in Grafton Illinois. The trip required a ferry ride and it was a pretty good time. With the exception of Max throwing one of his famous temper tantrums, all was well.




For the last few years October is also means NASCAR at Kansas Speedway. This year was no different. With the new, heavier truck the trip was effortless and it was a damn good time as always. Lots of good food and beer fills the weekend. We attended all three races and honestly it’s one of my favorite things to do. I look forward to it every year. The thing I like best about actually camping out at the track is that everyone is in a good mood and happy to be there. This also could be because I was pretty intoxicated most of the weekend.








Halloween came and went. This year as you know, it fell on a Saturday so there was a little extra bonus for the parents. Sam and Max were Characters from star wars. Unfortunately it rained, but that didn’t stop us. Later in the night we got the fire pit going out front and gathered some of the neighbors. Gathering of neighbors is something we need to do more of. 





Topic BBQ:  I have not written about much this year and not because we have not done it but because by the time we finish up I forget to get the details or photos. This weekend I decided to take a stab at some Baby Backs. Typically we just get the cryo packs offered at Costco but this time I stopped at GFS (Gordon Food Service) to see what they had. Most of their products are frozen and in bulk but they do have a fresh refrigerated section and I found their pricing per/lb. better than Costco.  They had pretty much everything you could want BBQ wise including a full brisket un-trimmed in a cryovac pack. The method of cooking was pretty much the same as always. I did however omit the Temp control mainly because I didn’t want to deal with the wires and all the mess. Cook at 225-250 for 3 hours, wrap in foil add liquid and some butter and cook for 1.5-2 hours. Unwrap, dry out a bit and then over direct heat. Sauce just enough to caramelize the sugars and eat. Seems simple right? They were good. Sam asked for them again last night for dinner.








This weekend we also scored some new living room furniture. While this stuff will not make the cover of good housekeeping or some other trendy interior design mag, it will hopefully wear better than what we have. 




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