Summer Is Over. Boo.

This past weekend I got away my brother in law for a drinking/fishing trip. More drinking less fishing. Wouldn't have mattered anyhow as the lake was so high things were all out of wack.  It was a good time however we struck out same as last year with the weather. It was either brutally hot or raining.  Also got to experience my first good storm in the RV along with a 3 am shuffle of securing everything so it didn't blow away....including the awning.

Our Spot at Ray Behrens Campground site 114

We have done more than our share of "things" this summer as a family and its crazy to realize it's nearly complete. It seems like Sam's last day of school was last week. Memorial Day came around and we went into hyper drive with a flurry of activities. Ali does a great job arranging things so they stay busy like the Art Camp Sam is going to this week and we have been keeping weekends busy as well.  As a group, we saw the beach and some rocket ships. We went took a few trips to closer more similar spots and had one canceled due to the high water. Birthday Week came and went with a smash. We bought a golf cart to cruise the neighborhood. Having the cart proved to be a huge hit during Ribfest where we and drank and ate entirely too much. It's been a great summer so far.....but now its almost done. Sam starts school in a few weeks.

Cool Golf Cart Spotted at Ribfest

2015 St. Louis Ribfest held in New Town

Civic Green Park in New Town. The Frogs are a hit.

LOTO State Park

The Deer At Lake of the Ozarks State Park were fearless. 

We have been ending a lot of days at home like this. Its nice to explore our neighborhood and check in on things. Oh and the pool.....No more wet car seats.

Shrimp And Grits

I have been working on this Shrimp and Grits thing for a little while and its become a little project. I love southern food and for some reason I really want to get this one down to perfection. I started with a few renditions of a recipes that are well known and started to tweak it to my tastes. Its not healthy at all with the cheese and cream but damn does it taste good.  I need to work a little more on the Roux as it lacked flavor in my opinion but is worth continuing to make modifications.  The biggest thing with making this is over cooking the shrimp...super easy to do. My mistake is that while making the Roux, I  covered the shrimp in foil and they went from done to ultra done. Still were good but they started to get that hard texture. I seem to be the only one in the house that likes this sort of thing so I cant see doing this dish on a regular basis. 

Some of the nearly 10# of shrimp From Goatfeathers Seafood

It turned out better than the last rendition and looks much nicer on the plate!!

I am firing up the smokers this weekend for the first time in a while. Need to knock the rust off and get in to this summer thing. We have had something nearly every weekend since the end of May so it will be nice to actually get started with this summer as we usually do. Brisket, Pork and Chicken are on the menu. I got a Food Saver system for Fathers day so this is the perfect way to test it out.