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.
