Baja Kossacks Do It Again
Here's the group shot, left to right, drnatrl, DaNang65, ramara, rasbobbo, ItsaMathJoke, cosmic debris, sneakers563 with dot563, your humble narrator.
▼ more below ▼
The Venue
It was a bit of a drive to get to, but well worth it. ItsaMathJoke's place is out in the middle of stunning, undisturbed Sonoran Desert on the west side of the Rincon Mountains. That's Rincon Peak in the picture. We were all in awe. Her little colonia is nestled in the rincon, or corner, that gives the range its name and abuts Saguaro National Park on two sides. It will be three sides if the proposed expansion of the park goes through. (☛ Tuc. Wkly.) It's so far out of town that she can actually see stars at night. Maybe when the big comet comes this winter we can have a Baja Kossacks Comet Watch and Sleepover. One thing for sure, though, I think we can all agree that the Annual Picnic should be moved back earlier in the year, maybe closer to Easter. I can't believe we've been doing these picnics in May and June. We live in Arizona, it's not like we don't know that it gets hot this time of year.
Barbecue Virgin ?
ItsaMathJoke said it was her first time. Yeah right (snort). She seemed to know what she was doing well enough. The ribs were perfect; falling off the bone with a crust on the outside, tender meat on the inside and a "smoke ring." Any BBQ'er will tell you that BBQ is an art, a science and a lifelong passion. It takes years of humble study at the feet of a Pit-Master. It takes intensive study of the literature and thousands of miles of travel to sample the best commercial establishments and the various regional styles. No one makes ribs that good the first time out. On the other hand, the Weber kettle did look brand-new. Here's the obligatory food pr0n. That's my plate in the foreground; beans, barbecue and beer, I'm in Heaven.
Also pictured are cosmic debris' outstanding Spanokopita and rasbobbo's Mac & Cheese, which Mrs. Z praised, again (and she wants the recipe, again). The pasta salad was from drnatrl, the coleslaw and the three sauces at the upper right are mine. The Tennessee Pink Vinegar seemed to be the most popular sauce, here's the recipe:
Tennessee Pink Vinegar
1 c. Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 c. Chili Sauce, Kroger brand will do, it's cheaper than Heinz and just as good.
1/4 c. Brown Sugar
2T. Wooster
1t. each Salt,Fresh-cracked Pepper and Paprika
1/2 t. Cayenne Pepper or a shot of Hot Sauce
Combine all ingredients, put it on BBQ Pork.
Conversation
Truth to tell, the food doesn't really matter at these things. It could have been Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. It's the conversation. Kossacks are always bright and well informed. As usual, talk turned to Kossacks who weren't there, like Raul Grijalva (D-AZ). I don't know how many other local groups have a Congressman among their members. It's a cool thing to brag about, but this is like the fourth meet-up he's missed. Hey Raul, check your messages. We talked a little sports, about the early exit of the UofA Softball team and their outstanding coach, Mike Candrea (☛ Tuc. Wkly.). We also remembered Dick Tomey, the best football coach the UofA has ever had. Before we had our son, I told Mrs.Z that I wanted to name him after Coach Tomey. Not Richard, Coachtomey. She said no, that would warp him. We chose a "normal" name and he came out warped anyway.
cosmic debris has a new burr under her saddle, a proposed pipeline through the Altar Valley. Kinder-Morgan wants to build it to ship natural gas to Mexico. It would follow a major smuggling route through the Buenos Aires Wlidlife Refuge, on the border of the O'Odham Nation. (story here ☛ AZ Daily Star) We all agreed it's a rotten deal and that they should choose another route and cosmic debris said she had a bunch of material and intends to do a diary about it even though it would take a lot of work. Then we talked about writing and how much work some of us put into our diaries and what we get for that effort and I remembered this quote from Dr. Johnson, when asked if he wrote for money:
No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.
Samuel Johnson, April 5, 1776
We are all blockheads, no ?
Cute Baby Picture