The "other" kind of smoking
2004-09-13, 11:04 p.m.

Days 20 - 22 Survived another weekend

I gotta confess, I smoked this weekend. A 6 lb pork butt. For making pulled pork - for sammiches. Absolutely out of this world. I don't know how we northeners managed to pass by the smoky goodness that is a pulled pork sammich (yes, I know it's spelled wrong), but our southern friends have surely created some really, really good eats.

Had a smoker for about a year now. A Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain 3600G. It's a propane fired outdoor oven about 4' tall, 16" wide & 16" deep. Actual cooking area is only about 24"x16"x16". Plenty big enough to smoke 2 20 lb turkeys simultaneously. We've smoked steaks, chicken breast, Italian sausage, bratwurst, ribs (both the entire rack w/brisket bone & the St. Louis style), whole chicken, pork butts and yes, 2 turkeys, but not at once. Also tried a nice little stuffed jalapeno pepper recipe, and dried some of this years hot pepper harvest in there while smoking the butt Saturday.

Those deep fried turkeys might be fast, and some people think they're juicy, but smoked turkey has my vote for juiciest, best tasting turkey ever. We did one up last New Years Day. Injected it with a home made garlic/herb/butter marinade the night before. Let it marinate in the fridge overnight. Whipped it into the smoker the next morning and let it go low & slow. About 6.5 - 7 hours later she was ready to go. Beautiful, crisp bronze skin, nice & smoky smelling (hickory for this one). Sliced her up and served - didn't even need teeth to eat it. Not that I could actually try it that way, but, you know. It was really, really tender. Oldest son's girlfriend made the mistake of telling her mom it was even better than hers.

Well, Miss J is still alive, but I do think we'll have to have her parents over for a turkey one of these days, just to lend a little credence to her claim. Unfortunately, they live about an hour drive away (southwest of us), while Miss J is living in an apartment in our area while she attends a local college. Of course, our oldest son is living about 1.5 hours away to our east while he goes to school. Fun. The major oil companies really love us. So does EZPass.

Oohh, haven't made the drive to either kids school without cigarettes. Don't have any plans to go either place for a month or so, maybe that'll be enough time to get things really set in. Wiff & I are planning a trip to Fla. in April - the drive down is usually worth about 2 packs. That could also be a tough time. Two solid days on the road with no visible means of smoking. What does one do to stay alert when driving that far?? Maybe the trips to the kids schools will be good practice. A couple of 1.5 - 2 hour trips might provide some ideas of what to do to combat the crazies while driving.

On the plus side - I think the wiff is finally on board (again) I think I mentioned that maybe she was last week some time. That wasn't the case, but I detected no smoking on her part this weekend. It's possible that not being an asshole to her about it is starting to pay off.

Neighborhood block party was Sunday. Think we'll not do it on a Sunday again next year. Folks were way more reserved than they would have been on a Saturday. Of course, a few of the neighborhood boys are playing football for high school, so that kinda cuts into the Saturday party time for a few families. We'll have to find a way to adapt. Noticed this year that the only person I saw smoking was Joe, but he was chomping on one of his huge, stanky cigars. Didn't really notice anyone else partaking of the tobacco.

Kinda odd going to that party & not smoking - it's outside, we usually have a fire pit going so there's always an ash tray, and there's always plenty of beer. Other than getting several whiffs of Joe's cigar, I never really got an urge to smoke while at the party. Also only had 3 beers all afternoon. (Doesn't help that after two hours all that was left was Coors Light. Someone must have let their wife buy the beer. Think it was Mike & Liz organizing this year. Hmmm.) I think the craves are definitely getting weaker and farther apart. I'm also able to breathe deeper than I have in years - and no real long jags of coughing like I was afraid of.

Have been checking my blood pressure at work. We have one of those automatic BP dealies like in teh grocery stores. I hope it lies. I consistently get 145/95 or so. Made an appointment with my doc for a physical after seeing those numbers. Figured after quitting smoking the BP ought to come down. If it has, I wonder how high it was before?? So - about 4 weeks till my physical, 2 weeks till my next dental appt. Will be happy to report to both of those docs that I've quit. Maybe I'll get a free appointment as a bonus??

22 days down, 2 doc's to make happy.

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