The picnic turned out great. It wouldn’t have hurt it to stay in the smoke another half an hour but no complaints. I can’t judge this one because it’s been my first in some time. I told Tracey that I would love to say it was my best yet but just to have that style of BBQ here in these parts, my emotions got the better of me. Judging from how fast and how much the gang threw it down I would say it got the better of them to.
The meat pulled easily and pulled consistently across the entire cut. At first the meat was falling apart in my hands. Eventually I went to the fork to make it easier for me and quicker to prep it for serving.
Once we had it all pulled it was time to chow down. Tracey had all the fixin’s ready to go. I can’t write a description of the smells going through the house. The pork had rested in the house for a good hour. The vinegar sauce had simmered for about twenty minutes. The collard greens had been cooking in onion and pork belly for over an hour as well as the green beans and potatoes.
Can you say greens? Tracey wagered that the natives probably wouldn’t know how to eat our July 4 meal. Hale thanked us for fixing it because it reminded her of last year. We’re all reminded of family and friends in far away places and wish we could share this meal with those in our hearts this evening.
Taylor doesn’t look too thrilled which is what people tell me about normal twelve year old girls. However, she has an appetite. Her plate was loaded higher than mine and she went back for seconds… AND still finished before the rest of us.
Hale immediately jumped up from the table to wash the strawberries – a move that signaled that desert definitely will play out tonight. However she got caught getting into her banana bread before dinner. Psst, I did too and it was great.
The evening will certainly wind down now that we’re fat and happy. There may be one last check in on the evening after fireworks. But just in case I don’t make it back to the keyboard tonight…
Happy Birthday America and thanks to all for the warm wishes through the day.
