Pickin' & Sangin' In The Bunkhouse

I Like Pie

Another Scorcher In The Heartland

Whoooboy, summer has arrived with a vengeance ... temps jumped to the upper 90s yesterday, with heat index over 100* ... and more of the same on tap today until seasonal temps return on Sunday. The ol' AC gonna be crankin' for the next several months. Got friends coming for supper tonight ~ so I went down to the farmer's market earlier this morning & got some green stuff to round out the menu: andouille/smoked chicken jambalaya, cucumbers & onion salad, garlic toast, sweet tea and fresh baked lemon merengue pie. God Bless America ... and don't be lettin' no lizards count yer teeth, ya'heah?

Somehow, This Seems Appropriate Today

Today's Blue Plate Special ~ $3.95

Old school meat & three ~ baked steak smothered in Vidalia onions, wild rice, peas & carrots

BBQ Sauce & Rubs

I picked up this pint of bbq sauce yesterday when I was at my local butcher shop getting some andouille sausage for a pot of jambalaya this weekend. It is nice and thick & has a good flavor profile, not too sweet, but it's just a little mild for my taste ... fortunately I know how to fix that, ah garrontee.

These rubs were sent to me by my friend Mike @ Oakridge BBQ in Kansas City. I haven't tried them yet, but they look to be of very high quality & made with the freshest herbs and spices available. I'll post a critique on them as soon as I use them.

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King Wilkie ~ Sparkling Brown Eyes

More Big-Assed Steaks

OK ... so my in-laws are moving to South America, and they emptied their freezer & brought me a bunch of meat. Among other things was this big-assed KC Strip ~ this bad boy is almost 4" thick and prolly weighs about 3# ... lol ... my kinda steak. But seriously, how many big-assed steaks can a man eat in one week, eh? I elected to break this big boy down & get 3-4 meals out of it. I cut up some of it into strips for stir-fry and pan fried/browned the rest of it to smother with onions/mushrooms for to make baked smothered steak & wild rice tomorrow.

Beef ... it's what's fer supper.

The Ballad Of The Green Berets

Sgt. Barry Sadler ~ The Ballad Of The Green Berets

Fire In The Hole!!!

Big-assed Porterhouse T-Bone Birthday Steak ~ 2" thick ~ aged choice grade angus ... dusted with DP Redeye Express & charred rare. It did not suck.

Song For A Rainy Sunday Night

Sunday Breakfast On Da Bayou

Lil' snack to hold me over until supper ~ garbage omelette (ham, bacon, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, cheddar) and some spicy home fried 'taters. Gentlemen, start your engines!

Birthday Steak ~ Fire Up The Grill

Going to the grill today with my annual/traditional big-assed T-bone steak ~ aged, choice grade angus.

I also made a couple salads yesterday ~ here's one of them ... an old-fashioned 4-bean salad.

Happy Birthday To Me, Happy Birthday To Me...

Little Green Tents

Little Green Tents

The little green tents where the soldiers sleep
And the sunbeams play and the women weep
Are covered with flowers today

And between the tents walk the weary few
Who were young and stalwart in 'sixty-two
When they went to the war away

The little green tents are built of sod
And they are not long, and they are not broad
But the soldiers have lots of room

And the sod is part of the land they saved
When the flag of the enemy darkly waved
The symbol of dole and doom

The little green tent is a thing divine
The little green tent is a country's shrine
Where patriots kneel and pray

And the brave men left, so old, so few
Were young and stalwart in 'sixty-two
When they went to the war away

Uncle Walt Mason ~ 1916
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Mickey Newbury ~ An American Trilogy

Pea Pickin' Time At Perrydize

My friend, Robin (aka Lil' Missy) is an amazing gardener ~ this is an early morning shot of a row of peas ready for pickin' this weekend. Every year she grows a bounty of veggies, ranging from potatoes, peppers, asparagus, peas, tomatoes, green beans, herbs, etc. When I was a kid growing up on the farm, my folks always had a big garden ... so I love seeing these garden skills still being practiced. Homegrown veggies are a beautiful thing, yeh.

Fried Tacos Tonight

Made this Mexican/taco filling with fresh ground sirloin, Vidalia onions, chiles, fried taters, peas, chipotles, cumin, etc ... for to make tacos & burritos. Tonight = stuffed deep fried tacos

Art Linkletter ~ R.I.P.

Ya Mon

"Everybody is going to hurt you ... you just have to decide who is worth suffering for." ~ Bob Marley

From The "WTF" Files

OK OK ... so I git my cuppa mud and turn on the teevee this morning, to git caught up on the news. First thing I hear is there's a big brouhaha about Venus Williams' underpants & see a big close-up photo of Venus' ass. Jeez ... so I immediately flip from CNN over to FOX and their top story is some kinda big brouhaha about Lindsay Lohan. WTF?? And now you know the rest of the story.....

Chicken Breast Burnt Ends

Dayum, this was good ~ chunks of bbq chicken breast spun up like burnt ends. Why didn't I think of this before??

This ol' yardbird did not die in vain, ah garrontee!
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James King/Longview ~ The Darkest Hour