I'm all about the outdoors and about cooking under the sun or stars. I never need an excuse to break out the grill - just some meat or vegetables. http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/GrillGirl Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:30:43 -0600 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.squidoo.com/southernroadkillcooking It's downright sinful to waste in the South. No sir-ee. Clean your plate - or else. You don't throw out perfectly good food stuff. Someone in China might be starving. Of course, it may very well be that kids in China hear the same story. "Clean that plate. Kids in the South may be starving." And, we are all probably digging from both directions - just to see if we can tunnel through. I offered, but only once, to send my dinner to China. Momma was none too happy about that. It ranked right up with my sister saying, "Good bread. Good meat. Good Lord. Let's eat," for blessing. Seems she read that at the state line knick-knack shop on a napkin holder. That's what she gets for listening to those Huked on Fonix records. We both got a'talking to and newfound respect for other nations and the Lord. We also learned to clean our plates or bribe our brothers to eat the peas and liver. Growing up, we had darn good grub. Now, it wasn't always uptown. A big, old snapping turtle crawled up our driveway one day. Momma did the natural thing. She cooked it for dinner. And, yes, it does taste sort of like chicken. These days, folks have suddenly decided it's cool to eat Southern. I was at a fancy restaurant in Dallas, and they served a Wilted Salad. Grandma's been tossing the lettuce in the bacon grease for years, but she doesn't charge $5.95 for a bowl of that stuff. The grease is left over from breakfast. The lettuce is growing in the patch out back. If you been having a hankering for some real Southern Cooking, then you've come to the right place. From pork rinds to Jell-O salads and pickled eggs, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout.     food Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:31:36 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/webersmokeymountainbullet I toyed with the idea of buying a barbecue smoker for a long time. I really wanted some home smoked ribs and barbecue, but I knew it took a long time to smoke. The prices on smokers were "up there" too. After doing research and drooling all over my computer for about a year, I finally ordered the Weber Smokey Mountain Bullet. Yes. There are other models out there. Some of them are cheaper. I did see a few comments about the little door on the Bullet and also about the drip pan. Other than that, folks seemed mighty happy with the Smokey Mountain. We got our SMB and set it up right up. Very easy. Then, we tossed on some ribs. Those first ones were a tad undercooked, but we could see (or taste) the light. As far as the door, that's just for adding water. It doesn't have to be cast iron. In fact, it would probably fall off it were heavier. No complaints on that here. The drip pan is lightweight, but I'm not into weight lifting when it comes to grill gear. Our pan has held up well. We do cover it with tin foil (mostly to help with clean up). I suppose we might have to replace it one of these days but certainly not anytime soon. I guess the only real issue with the Smokey Mountain Bullet is that it does not have a thermometer built in. If you do much smoking at all, you can guage that anyway. I'd guess something like that would probably wear out and then be in the way. I'd just as soon eyeball my food or use a pocket thermometer. If you've been thinking about a smoker but haven't been sure whether to get one and what kind to get, I say thumbs up to Weber. They make grills, and they make a wonderful smoker.   food Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:17:37 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/grillgirl I've been grilling as far back as I can remember. It was a family tradition. Over the years, I expanded beyond basic grilling to include smoking, Dutch Oven and campfire cooking. I'm from North Carolina, so we have a long grill season. Actually, the whole year is grill season. We'll even throw on some burgers when it's snowing. Join me as I share some of my favorite outdoor recipes, grilling tips, and down home southern wisdom (or nonsense). food Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:27:28 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/redneckrecipes I sent my oldest boy up to see Mr. George W. Bush. He wasn't available. That would be George W. My boy would have worked that in his schedule to be sure. The kid did get to see the house where we put up Bush and his people as well as a lot of other city stuff. He had a real good time other than near about starving. The first meal they put off on the boy was half raw roast beef that leaked all over his crunchy green beans that didn't have no fat back seasoning. The only thing he figured tasted half good was the roll, but he had to close his eyes to eat it with that blood soaked up an turning the roll pink. You can take the kid out of the country, but you ain't gonna have much luck feeding him stuff like that. This here's a tribute to redneck recipes. I'm talking about a hearty plate full of down home food and not one little shrimp resting on a lettuce bed and drizzled with mystery sauce that is probably darn hard to clean off the plates afterwards. If you're one to admire artful dribbles, then you done showed up in the wrong kitchen here. food Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:04:26 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/OutlawCountry Defining Outlaw Country is a bit like trying to tell someone how a sunset looks – far better understood if experienced.   Basically you had a group of country artists and fans who did not relate to rhinestone and pop country of the 1970s. And, they sure weren’t hanging out at the discos. These were the guys and girls who wore straight legged 505 Levi’s and t-shirts. They lived, loved and worked hard, and outlaw country reflected this sizable chunk of mainstream America.   When outlaw country is mentioned, the first names that come to mind are Willie and Waylon. There were, of course, others who were popular with the good old boy/girl crowd. music Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:29:46 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/joysofraisingboys Let me say, first off, that it has been an honor and an adventure raising boys. My two guys, now teens, come first – always have, always will.   Raising boys is different. Seriously. How many little girls stuff their socks between the couch cushions, clean the sliding glass doors with their own toothbrush and a tube of Aim toothpaste or think that “Do you want to weed the garden?” is actually a question?   If I could offer only one tip on raising boys, I’d say – Keep a sense of humor. kids Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:27:16 -0600