It BeauxBear's Repeating!

   Saturday evening my dawg, in his New Orleans Saints shirt, and I decided to 'honor' the winning streak of our beloved team with a Sunday football BBQ. (Not that a Cajun needs any excuse to fire up the bbq pit again.)
   So, I took a pack of country-style ribs out to thaw, and Sunday morning I washed the bonemeal off of them and began the seasoning process. (Ever notice butcher's "sawdust" on the meat? It's from when they cut through the meat and bones, and most likely, apparently, they leave it up to the customer to wash it off.) So I did.

The first thing I do is get out the jug of Steen's syrup.

I pour enough syrup on the ribs 'til I think it looks about right, like in the picture below, then I rub it all in with my hands 'til they are shiney and sticky (and yeah, so are my hands--worth it!)

The syrup makes a nice sticky surface for our Cajun seasoning.

I shake on some Chrystal hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. ('bout four or so shakes of each) and a bunch of our spice.

I let it sit and "think about that" for several hours.

Sometime later in the afternoon I got the pit ready.

My trick is to put all the coals on the side by the lower air intake, with a pan of water on the "cool" side under the smoke stack. The heat flows from left to right and on up the stack, keeping the "cool" side a moist 225 to 250 Fahrenheit. That's where I place the seasoned pork, on the cooler side, so it's not sitting directly over the heat.

Once the ribs were on the pit, I got the music fired up too, then I went to the shed for an ol' tradition passed on down to me by the men in my family.

Since way back, I always have kept a jug of whisky in my shed.  'Til very recently I had the bottle my Dad had hidden in there years and years ago (God rest his soul).  I can tell you, I shed a tear when it fell and broke. I replaced it with his brand and continue the custom by giving a him toast and giving Thanks for the life of the animal who has graced our dinner table.

Here is to you Daddy I sure miss ya.

The ribs kept a-cookin', music playing and an air of pre-game excitement fill our yard.

After an hour of being on the pit, I basted the meat  with leftover marinating juices mixed with about 1/2 cup of wine and a stick butter, warmed to melt the butter.

Beaux (pronounced Bo) my BBQ buddy looked on happily and intently every time I opened the pit. (He knew what was coming.)

 

We had a wonderful afternoon. Peg was busy doing her thing in the house, but managed to come out and sit with us on occasion. Just before the game, she to hooked us up with some corn and pork and beans. Not a bad meal for a football game.

The food was wonderful,

                                                    And the Saints won(!)  

                                            Another Fall BBQ,

                                                          And the "company" was fun.

Fire Pit Season! (FINALLY.)

Sunday, October 21 marked this year's official beginning of fire pit season at our house. First thing in the morning I knew that was it! 
   Actually BeauxBear figured it out before we did. He got up early, went outside through his doggy-door and came back in, jumped up on the bed, sat there at the foot of it and began 'talking'. He wasn't barking or all excited; just in his deep little doggy voice, he sounded like a person talking--in another language. Peggy says all her bichon frises were 'talkers'. SparkyBear only 'talked' when he was mad, and if you didn't know better, you'd swear he was cussing,(!) that dawg. So anyhow, BeauxBear sat there apparently telling us that it was nice out, followed by, "hmmm??" We'd wake up enough to roll over and pull up the blankets. He asked if he'd mentioned that the cold front had passed and that it was nice and cool and crisp out, "hmmm?"
   Finally, he got Peg's attention, "mom...mom...mom...hmmm?"
   She staggered out of bed wondering what in the world he wanted that he didn't already have access to. Seeing that he'd gotten somebody up, he was so exited, jumping around, wagging his tail and wanting her to follow him. So she did...out the back door, where the brisk air and bright sunshine woke her right up! The hot, muggy, sticky, clingy air was gone. Fall must have officially arrived while we were asleep. YAY!!
  She tromped back into the bedroom, followed by BeauxBear, and quietly said, "The cold front has finally gotten here...ya hear me...hmmm?"
  I guess I did, cuz I got up.
  They were right. The temp and humidity were both in the mid 50's and the humidity stayed there while the temp warmed to the mid 70's... a picture-perfect day, the first in a long while. It marks the beginning of camping season(!) and play in the yard time(!) --a real holiday, to me. 
  And the whole thing that made it even better was the New Orleans Saints victory, despite an excited announcer's "jinx". (You could just tell whose side he was on... not 'ours'.) He said, "In a seven year career, this guy has never missed an extra point!!!"
   Aha.......Till now! Geaux Saints!!

   So, it was a double celebration Fall day. I went outside and lit my pit; the first fire of the season. With a nice cold beer and a rehash of the ballgame on the radio, I told my sidekick, BeauxBear, "It doesn't get any better than this, Buddy, does it...hmmm?"

Thank God for the first fire of the season.