We are still in Raleigh North Carolina but have moved over to the NC State Fairgrounds Campground. We did so because the state parks have a 14 day maximum stay which we exhausted. The fairgrounds also has a 14 day limit but on occasion will extend stays on a case by case basis. Our hope is to stay through labor day as it is always difficult finding places to stay during that holiday weekend.
Our weeks have zoomed by and we have settled into a nice routine of playing disc golf during the week and visiting our daughter on the weekends. There are lots of really nice disc golf courses in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area and we have been taking full advantage.
Disc golf is a great substitute for hiking in the east where there are fewer trails. Although there are Greenways set aside for walking/hiking they are mostly in urban areas and more like walks than hike. We have visited the William B. Umstead State Park for a real hike but we have also done that hike many times in past visits.. Therefore disc golf has become our diversion for some pleasant walks in the woods.
Weekends are filled with family time where we spend some quality time with our newest grandchild, Allie. We also use this time to make some fabulous meals. Katie always has her list of requests for traditional family meal favorites and Brooks takes full advantage of using his smoker to make some smoky delights.
Brooks had never made a full sized cryovac brisket before and wanted my advice for doing one. We drove over to Sam’s Club and picked out a good one to grill. I like to pick one that I can fold in half rather easily. If there is a lot of resistance when bending the brisket in half I have found they are a bit tougher and fattier than the ones that bend easily.
We put a good rub on the brisket and placed it on the smoker at midnight. Seventeen hours later it came off the pit for an hours rest before I sliced it up. It was indeed a fine, perfectly tender brisket with a very definite smoke ring. I made a point of bringing Brooks some of my mesquite to use in his smoker as it imparts the best smoke flavor on brisket in my very humble opinion.
Life has been very good here in NC but we are looking ahead and starting to plot out our winter plans…
What a doll Allie is! All four of your Raleigh family need a group photo!
ReplyDeleteYou were speaking of Arizona for your winter retreat. I was listening to a news show last night about Arizona. The issues which caught my attention were 1) water restrictions measured at reducing your water use by one gallon out of every four gallons; 2) hoarding and storing of water at present in big gallon jugs; and 3) damaging floods once heavy rain storms do hit because of hydrophobic soil because of the drought.
I need to work on that!
DeleteOops! I meant all five! Drinking too much wine today.
ReplyDelete