Smoking on the Tracks

 

As the locomotives blew through our small town of Summit, MS, grills were creating a smoky haze along Railroad Ave. 

Sixteen teams had been up most of the night socializing, marinating their meats with secret sauces, and preparing their grills to cook the one meat that would win them a number one in category, or all four meats to have a chance at the Grand Champion.

 

  All that for a plaque, some cash, and most important, bragging rights.

Some of the fancy hardware to be found along the tracks.

While all those wonderful ribs, brisket, chicken, and pork butt was cooking away, there was a car show lined up along main street. 

A lot of familiar names from the past.  What guy didn’t want one of these back in the 60’s?

Or one like this later on in life?

Remember eating off something like this?

Back to the BBQ.  The judging started at 11:30, and we finished around 2:30. After all the judging was completed and the results compiled, the Grand Prize winner were these guys from Georgia.

And remember all those fancy grills in the photos above?  This is the winner of the pork category.  First place bragging rights and a check; all done with a $40.00 water smoker from Walmart. 

You just have to love it……

A Fish Tale

 

A few pictures of last weeks fish fry at the Senior center. 

I had the job of battering the fish.  Zataran’s Fish Fry is a cooks best friend.

My brother and one of the volunteers from the center manning the cooker.  We salvaged the cooker after it was removed from an old school. We added casters to make it easier to move, and converted it to propane.  It makes cooking lots of fish, or anything else, much easier and faster.

Hushpuppy’s were prepared in smaller batches on a conventional cooker.

Lots of BS going on throughout the morning.

And, on another note, the fishing trip to Guntersville, AL was a success.  We fished Monday through Wednesday and picked up around 175 nice Crappie.  Off to a slow start on Monday as we had to locate the fish and figure out what jigs they liked.   Only picked up 30 or so for the day.

By Tuesday morning we were on a roll.  Tuesdays count was over 60, and Wednesday we got over 75.  I should have taken a lot more pictures, as the area we were fishing was beautiful with all the trees greening up, and the flowers and dogwoods blooming.  It’s just tough to fish and take pictures at the same time.

There’s nothing like loading a cooler with fresh Crappie.   There was a 9 inch minimum on size and we only threw back 4 fish all week.  Most every one was about the same size. Close to a pound apiece, with a few in the pound and a half, to two pound range.  We had planned to fish Thursday, but the weather forecast was for bad weather so we loaded up and headed for home.  Thankfully, we dodged everything but rain on the six hour ride home. 

There’s a big BBQ competition in town tomorrow.  26 teams.  Guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and show up for the judging part.  Just like jury duty, you get the summons, so you must answer the call.   We do what we can……..jc 

Mullygrubin’ and Reminiscing

 

Canyonlands; 2009

There has not been much happening the past couple of weeks worthy of blogging about.  Watching it rain, grumbling about the cold, pretty much wraps it up. We did have a couple of nice days the end of last week.  Spent those helping place a metal roof on an elderly ladies house.  For the next three days, I couldn’t get up out of my chair.  I’m having a problem getting my brain and body in sync.  The brain says I still can; the body says I should forget about it.  Seems the body is wining.  OLD

Yellowstone; 2008

The first few days of this week were accompanied by more rain and cold temps.  Did manage to take care of a couple projects that made the boss happy.  Two new full view storm doors on the house, and a new gas grill. 

The sun finally came out today, just in time.  I had volunteered to cook 80 lbs. of fish for the local food pantry.  We had planned it for today.  My brother, my neighbor, and I started frying fish at 9 am and finished at 1215.  I think the facility delivered 90 plates to elderly folks that aren’t able to get out, and fed sixty or so at the facility.  I’m glad that commitment is behind me.

Lake Powell; 2010

This coming Sunday I’m heading out on a guy’s only trip to Guntersville, AL.  Crappie fishing for the week.  My brother, a cousin, and I, have a cottage rented on the shores of lake Guntersville from Sunday to Friday.  If the weather cooperates, we hope to catch a mess or two of crappie.  In case the fish don’t cooperate, we are also taking the golf clubs. 

Tetons; 2008

All this down time at home had me thinking of some past Casita adventures.  All the pictures in todays post were taken in the pre-blog days.  The memories are still vivid, and I find myself thinking I should write them down just for myself.  There’s something about that first or second adventure that just can’t be duplicated.

Castle Valley; 2009

Anyway, things are looking up.  Wanda tells me she wants to attend a mountain dulcimer festival in Mountain View, AR near the end of the month.  That  leaves me time to make a trip to East Texas if the fish start biting on the Trinity.  As the weather improves, opportunities are becoming more attractive.

Grand Canyon; 2010

Hopefully, the next post will be filled with photos of FISH…….jc