I am a big fan of smoking and grilling with cherry wood, especially for birds. It helps that I have a nearly unlimited supply of scraps on hand.
Beautiful-smelling wood. I love the smell of cedar just for fires, which there's tonnes of on my property but I burn it lights since some people don't like it.
A few years ago I started grilling with lump charcoal (the stuff made from actual hardwood instead of those shitty briquettes). There's a bit of a learning curve since it cooks a LOT hotter, and takes longer to light -- I use a chimney starter so I don't have to fuck with lighter fluid. That being said, the stuff is priced either right at or just slightly above briquettes and the taste is night and day. If anyone is thinking about giving it a try, you absolutely must. Since it gets a lot hotter, it's easier to sear with, but also great for off-set cooking where you don't have to use as much.
We do an employee appreciation/private party at the bar I manage which usually means lots of free food and drinks. This year I'm in charge of 100 pounds of crawfish with the usual add ins but gonna throw in shrimp, asparagus, brussel sprouts, artichokes, celery, and mushrooms. Pretty much anything that will soak up the juice. Going to try some recipe for bloody mary bombs as a finger food after I tweak the recipe just a little bit.
Sounds like I'll be doing some chicken legs and thighs on the pit too. Never done them on the pit, just never had the opportunity to do them in bulk like that, but the way I normally do them on the infrared grill is just a light coat of olive oil and some fajita seasoning. Figure I'll coat them the same, then do them for about 2.5-3 hours at around 250 then crank it up to about 350 for the last 25 minutes or so?
The legs I marinate in 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 seasoning, every other beer toss em or flip the bag over, I do it for a few hours minimum.
I'll be not even attempting to get on the road this weekend. Houston is not a great place to hold the super bowl. Don't me wrong, we are a massive city, but the stadium is located right off one of our main highways and several other major highways converge right in the area. I imagine every one of them will be a nightmare.
When the Olympics were in Atlanta in 1996, for months leading up to Opening Ceremonies, officials repeatedly encourage Atlantans to stay off the interstates, avoid downtown and all that. A lot of locals left town. I live south of Atlanta, and I went to one of the Olympic baseball games. That's the easiest I have ever moved about the interstate in Atlanta. There was practically no traffic. See if you can get a chicken truck to overturn on one of the interstates. That's always a good time.
Looks like I'll be smoking about 10lbs of wings in my small electric smoker for a neighborhood party. Going to throw them in simple brine tomorrow morning of water, salt, sugar, whole crushed garlic, toasted black peppercorns, coriander seeds and a couple of bay leaves. I'll probably make at least 2 different sauces; a traditional buffalo sauce with butter, Frank's Red Hot, and garlic. The other is a green Asian style sauce made with cilantro, ginger, green onion, salt, pepper and fish sauce.
Franks Red Hot is a highly underrated hot sauce for cooking. Love using ginger powder in rubs and seasoning as well. My favorite trick is when basting BBQ sauce on anything on the grill, I cut it 50/50 with cheap champagne. It prevents the BBQ sauce from sticking to your teeth and crap and the champagne really adds a whole other layer of flavor.
Oh, and in case you live in an area where this isn't available, Fiesta fajita seasoning is a must-own. It's good enough for the Mexicans down in south texas cooking up chicken after work, and it's damn good enough for me! And yes I know that I just referenced a stereotype, but I promise you, those guys put this shit on everything. Their meat, chicken, in their quac. In texas, whenever someone is doing a BBQ outside, there's always a big ass rock on the old wooden bench for them to hold down their paper towels (which double as plates) and tortillas, and a big ass jug of this seasoning. Use what the locals use.
Agreed with the fajita seasoning. I'm also a big fan of Fiesta's Uncle Chris's steak seasoning when I'm in a hurry: https://www.fiestaspices.com/texas-bbq/uncle-chris-gourmet-steak-seasoning/
I'm losing faith in the people entering the workforce right now. I really am. It should not be a rarity that when I call on someone to setup an interview that they are polite on the phone. Was everyone taught just to be a dick on the phone, or maybe this is a product of that generation being used to texting and not talking? It's to the point now that when someone is bubbly and polite I'll remember it and it'll bias me positively toward them, even if the interview in question is like a week after the call. That's how rare basic phone manners are with this younger generation.
....maybe? I had a claimant tell me yesterday that I have "great energy". Maybe people usually suck on the phone.
I just wonder how the halftime will go. This Superbowl for our never-ending streak of Not Football Music halftimes is the ultra-pretentious final boss from "Revenge Of Shinobi". Pass the mango guac.
I thought some more about this. It takes time to develop a good "phone voice." You must also be confident in what you say because that shit comes across loud and clear on the phone when you're not. I am thinking back to my first interview in person and I just lacked confidence to be there and to be myself. RoN, arent you interviewing really young women? It seriously takes time to develop that stuff. Some people have it naturally but most do not. I really feel like I have a leg up on people because I have no issue going up to a stanger, meeting them, and drawing them into a conversation. I can thank 3 years of waiting tables and bartending for that skill. Such a shitty job, but damn if it doesn't teach you some real life and real valuable skills. And this is coming from someone who has had some serious anxiety issues and panic attacks in the past. I still have it, but not about interacting with people. 3 years to learn to lose that shit.