This last weekend was a blur of activity. I'm getting ready to move at the end of the month . . . even though I have trips planned to Ft. Worth, Orlando, New York, and LA between now and then. So while I picked up my boxes for the move, I got all of two packed this weekend.
That's because I spent most of it in the kitchen working. You see coming up at the end of the month is my niece's high school graduation. She called me the other day and asked if I could help out with the food by bringing some of my salsa up.
But there was something in her voice that made me suspect that wasn't the whole of it. So when I asked if there was anything else I could bring, she asked if I could bring up some of my pulled pork for sandwiches. While I said yes before deciding to move (it was a last minute decision) I would have agreed to do this no matter what else I had going.
During a very difficult period of my life, it was my nieces' and nephews' that showed me so much acceptance and love that there isn't anything I wouldn't want to do for them if I could. Looking over my travel schedule for the next month, this past weekend was the only time I had to get the job done.
But there were several problems.
Problem #1: I had run out of my spice rub so I needed to mix some more.
Problem #2: I was down to one bottle of my BBQ sauce and it requires smoking.
Problem #3: I'm a guy. I don't always read the recipes until I'm stuck.
All this means is that I didn't have everything that I needed. Taking it one step at a time, I went to Penzy's for my spices. This involved a little bit of work and my smart phone as I had forgotten that they had moved from their previous location.
A couple of honks and pulling over to the side to get the navigation on my phone directing me to the location later, I pulled into the parking lot and circled a few times until I got a space. I must say that with all the technology available to us either on our smart phones or with GPS it's a Godsend to men everywhere.
It just means that you never again have to pull over and ask for directions.
With the spices in hand I needed to stop by my local Wal-Mart for the pork. While there's little to commend Wal-Mart to me, the pork butt I've gotten there is as good as any I've had before. It's hard to find pork butts with the bone in and without the bone it's not as flavorful.
I also picked up a three-pack of ribs from Costco so that I could enjoy the fruits of my efforts this weekend not have to wait until June 3rd for the open house.
Saturday, like much of the past two weeks for me, was everything I should have expected but didn't. I woke to the sound of pitter patter on my . . .
. . . rooftop. I'd have taken that sound anywhere but on the roof. Only one day to smoke and now it's raining. That's the way the last two weeks have generally gone. Alas. I would have appreciated the pitter patter of little footsteps on the floor -- even if it was just a Chihuahua.
After making two trips to the U-Haul store for boxes, the rain settled down enough for me to get the smoker started. Now all this work was getting me thirsty. They say that one sign of a drinking problem is that you drink alone. I don't think that's the case if you're drinking Sangiovese from Seghesio.
So while the meat is smoking, I'm starting on the BBQ sauce. Do you remember problem #3? Yep you guessed it, I didn't have all the ingredients that I needed. Once again it's off to the store in mid-project to gather the missing elements.
Now I'm really missing my sous chef. Rule #1 in my kitchen is to not do anything alone. But I had to as my friend was cleaning out her mom's house in anticipation of my moving in. Everything goes better with Seghesio so while I was cooking down a bottle of the 2005 Cortina Zinfandel for the BBQ sauce, I was enjoying a bottle of the Sangiovese.
My spice rub packs a little bit of a kick -- as does my BBQ sauce. It starts out sweet but the heat builds making the Sangiovese a perfect pair with the ribs (and eventually the pulled pork).
Since I was on my own for these kitchen projects, you can imagine the challenge in place especially since I apparently can't do anything the easy way which is why I ended up with 30 bottles of BBQ sauce (and 2-1/2 quarts left over for the graduation) along with about 20 pounds of pulled pork.
This summer when thinking about what to pair with your BBQ items, whether it's pork, beef or chicken, I'd recommend the Seghesio Sangiovese as it stands up well to even the spiciest BBQ rubs and sauces.
Now on to the packing . . . plenty of empty boxes but only two packed and ready to go.
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