Happy Thanksgiving...!

Hello Friends... Happy Thanksgiving...!

I decided not to make both a ham and a turkey today... I made sure I had Monica's blessing first, though...

I think I'll smoke the ham tomorrow or Saturday... When I cook the ham I want it to have the spotlight so I can really focus on detail and do a good job... I'm going to start brining it a little later this afternoon.

I had a little bit of a late start on the turkey. I didn;t have the temperature in the smoker right until about 10 AM so I'm a couple of hours behind schedule which will put our Thanksgiving dinner on the table at around 4:30 PM or so...

That's OK, we're 'grazing' so don't worry about us... -No one's going to go hungry around this house...

Elijah's been helping me with the Turkey this morning. That's been very fun. I want him to have fond memories of cooking with daddy...!

Everything's pretty much under control here...

I'm about to make some dressing and giblet gravy...

Now this is where my blogs pay off for me... -Last year's gravy and dressing were pretty good, and all I have to do is go back into my blog archives to find the recipe. I'll probably 'tweak' it a little and let you know it went later...

It's Turkey Time...

Actually, I'm making both a Turkey AND a Ham for tomorrow... Here's a blow by blow record of the 2008 Chadwell Family Thanksgiving...

Monica wanted a ham and Connor and I wanted turkey. I like ham too, and I've never smoked a ham before so this will be fun to prepare something different.

At 4 PM Wednesday I started brining the turkey... My brine consisted of filtered water, fajita seasoning, apple juice and ice. Apple juice and salt/pepper mixture make a great brine. The turkey is eleven and a half pounds... I'll start smoking it about 8 AM... We'd like to eat lunch around 2 or 2:30 PM and it takes about 30 minutes per pound if I can keep the smoker at 235 degrees.

The wood I'm using for my smoke is apple wood... -Perfect for poultry...

Since I'm a 'rookie' at smoking a ham, I'm going to start researching hams right now... (7:25 PM Wednesday)

...Wow...! There is an overwhelming amount of info on Smoking a ham...! One article I read said to 'cold' smoke it for several days... -That's not going to happen... I have no idea at all how I'm going to cook this ham...! (8:28 PM Wednesday)

Ribs and Chicken...

I haven't posted on this blog for awhile... -Just been too busy. The fact is, I haven't been BBQ-ing much lately, either. Well, tonight I'm going to end the 3 week BBQ draught....! It's 9 PM but I've fired up the smoker and I'm all set for at least a six hour vigil tonight.

I'm cooking two racks of ribs and two whole 5 lb chickens... That should take care of us for dinner tomorrow and/or Sunday afternoon...!

Actually, I did cook some chicken fajitas Wednesday for lunch... The meat was already seasoned and marinated from HEB.... And was surprisingly good...!

I still haven't made that coleslaw recipe yet...! Maybe I'll try that tomorrow.

As much as I enjoy briskett, I'm focusing on white meats, fish, and vegetables the rest of 2008 and into the new year...! I've actually got alot of briskett frozen in the freezer. That will tide me over for a while.

If anyone has any recipes or tips on grilling veggies I'm open to suggestions... I'll be researching this topic and posting my findings in the next few weeks so stay tuned...!

My ribs tonight are going to be seasoned with Fiesta fajita seasoning and I'm using the famous 3-2-1 method. That is my favorite cooking style and has produced consistently perfect ribs for me for about a year now...!

Ribs went in the smoker at 11 PM.... Connor and I are staying up late tonight watching Stargate Atlantis...