We have been experiencing light rain and cool temperatures today (only 80 degrees). Both of the dogs are acting as if it’s a winter storm as they hibernate on their respective perches on the sofa and love seat. Click on the image to enlarge.
Barrel Cactus Flower
This cactus flower is blooming on a large barrel cactus in the old downtown part of Wickenburg. There are still a lot of flowers on cacti opening up as we are almost a week into August. I hope to post many more before “second spring” ends and fall begins. Click on the image to enlarge.
Cabela is Five Years Old Today
Hi! This is Cabela. I am five years old today. I am a royal blue miniature Pinscher. I was born on August 4, 2008 and I weigh fifteen pounds. My lucky hoomins adopted me from the Wickenburg Humane Society where I lived for a couple of weeks. I love to eat, play and sleep.
I have been with the Mama and the Daddy for three years now, and I am happy and healthy. Sometimes I get a little feisty, but that is my way of playing. I love to chase my squeaky toys when the hoomins throw them. I like when the hoomins throw my toys and I can play keep away with them. I run around the coffee table and jump up on the sofa and love seat to keep the toy away from them.
Click on me to make me big.
The Grill Station
This is the setup I now use when I grill something outdoors. It is our four burner grill that we have had since we moved here and an umbrella that we recently bought. I use the driveway in front of the garage since the patio is enclosed and covered.
Today’s dinner was grilled pork loin chops and roasted ears of corn with all the trimmings. Verna fixed the latter consisting of butter beans, apple compoté and bacon cabbage. Good stuff!
Since we live where it sometimes gets a bit breezy, I placed the umbrella in a heavy stand and parked the grill on top of the stand to keep the wind from blowing both over, or worse – into the desert or into our house.
Click on the image to enlarge.
The Smoker Project
Today’s project was to assemble and burn-in the new smoker we just bought. It is a starter level charcoal smoker with all the features a newbie at smoking meats needs.
Verna and I had been talking about getting a smoker for several months. Yesterday, while we were in the valley on other business, we stopped at the home improvement emporium and picked up this little beauty.
The Master Forge® smoker took about a half hour to assemble. The instructions were clearly illustrated, and it was no problem to assemble using just a number two Philips screwdriver.
Image (above) – parts, assembly, first light and smokin’. Click on the image to enlarge.
After assembly, I took the smoker out to the driveway and started some charcoal to “burn it in.” That went well, and as I type, the charcoal briquettes are nearly finished after a four hour run. The built-in temperature gauge indicated smoking compatible temperatures for about two hours after it got up to 300° or so.
Verna and I are looking forward to the smoked brisket BBQ sandwiches we’re going to enjoy having this weekend. 🙂
Southwestern Seasoning
I wanted to try out Emeril Lagasse’s southwestern seasoning recipe since we do a lot of Tex-Mex and southwestern cooking. It was only after I got all the ingredients into the jar when I noticed a similarity between the strata in the jar and the strata in my granite counter tops. Click on the image to enlarge.
