I've just finished converting my Chargriller pro with the offset side firebox to smoker mode this morning. My son helped me get the pecan wood split and stacked within reach of the grill while we were out there. At five years old he is pretty darned coordinated. He was hitting the chisel with the hammer 9 out of 10 swings or so. He won't strike very hard because he is also very cautious and doesn't want to hit Daddy's hand while Daddy holds the chisel for him.
Last night I prep'd the ribs. I've got two racks of baby back ribs and a pork tenderloin as well as a batch of my viscous killer attack beans going in the cook chamber. I try to fill the cook chamber. If I am gonna get the chamber up to temperature and keep it there long enough to smoke some ribs (five or six hours), then I might as well use all of the space and put some 'que' in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer. As long as I make sure that each bag is one meal in size, all I have to do later when I want to eat it is to throw the whole bag into some boiling water for a while and then cut the bag open and dump out its contents. Voila! Homemade eats and only one pot that held only boiling water!!
I've got the trusty PS3 and NCAA Football 2011. I've got my notes ready for the task of updating my resume (my wife and I no longer wish to live in this state, so I need to find a new employer). I even have my documents ready to file my taxes. Still, something is missing. Tunes! That's what is needed here... music!
To me, and I dare say many others, barbecue goes with blues like milk goes with cereal. Sure, you could have the former in that absence of the latter, but it would feel less than whole. For those of you living here in the southwest like me, it'd be like scrambled eggs without the salsa!
Since I am updating my resume today in the hopes of moving, this song seems like a good starting point for today. The artist is Charlie Musselwhite. He's a harp man, but I particularly like the guitar work on this album. The axe man is a Norwegian immigrant who goes my the name Kid Andersen. The picture on the video is one that I took while fishing the Lower Salt River with my wife and kids just northeast of Phoenix.
Speaking of harp players with a well deserved name combining their talents with a guitarist who pushes it over the top, here is a combination fitting that description. My wife and I saw them by accident one night before cancer regrettably took the harp man/vocalist Sam Myers from us all. This was before the kids (known around my house as the minion trainees). My not yet wife and I had just moved from Ohio to Arizona and were in the mood for some live music. On the advise of a coworker, I took a look at the web page for The Phoenix Blues Society. We discovered that a little dive called The Rhythm Room was hosting some live music. That night we saw Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets featuring Sam Myers.
Here's another by that Funderburgh/Myers combo. The pic is of two out of three of the fur butt members of our family. The pooch is Hope and she is hanging out with Brutus the kitty when he was tiny. (Don't stop listening when the music stops. it starts back up with a hidden track from the album.)
That night at The Rhythm Room we also had the pleasure of watching guitar genius Debbie Davies doing her thing. This video features the kitten Brutus on his first day in our home being tormented by the minion trainees. The other fur butt is the senior member of the household quadruped contingent, Vespa. Everyone is very excited as this is the first time they've laid eyes on Brutus. (Hope actually did sit. It was just off camera.)
Debbie got her chops playing back up all over Europe for 'The Iceman' Albert Collins.
It's time to fire up a couple of chimneys and get the food on the grill. I will be posting more in the comments section throughout the day today. I hope that you will enjoy what I post and that you will please do me the favor of sharing some tunes too. There is a lot of time to fill and your help would be very welcome.