“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11 KJV
Remember when you were a kid and summer stretched out before you like an endless ocean of fun? I do. We played all over the neighborhood from morning till dusk when the street lights came on. Then you could still be outside playing for a while but you had to be out in front of the house. Finally, mom would call us in and we would drag our seriously sunburned and mosquito bitten bodies in for a much needed bath. If we were really good, we got milk and cookies or a bowl of ice cream before bed.
Even though I didn’t own a calendar and I never really payed much attention to time, I always knew when summer was drawing to a close. You could hear the loud “whee-oh-whee-oh-whee-oh” of the cicadas droning in every tree in the neighborhood. There is a constant serenade of night noises in the summer in West Virginia. Our climate is bug heaven. But it was the cicadas, or locusts, that were the harbinger of fall. As we drove around town last night, we heard their incessant buzzing every time we passed a tree. I cannot hear them without having that same back-to-school cozy feeling I got when I was a kid.
After the adventure yesterday with the smoker and I boxed up the ribs, we stopped at the store for side dishes and headed to the park for live music. It was date night. The ribs were divine, if I do say so myself. I think the pork loin was a little dry. It’s just not my favorite cut. We carried our chairs over and found the perfect spot. You can definitely feel fall in the air. I had to pull on a sweatshirt before the end of the performance. Afterwards, we ran a couple errands and stopped for ice cream before heading home.
It was really fun smoking the meat yesterday. There was a very long time after Mr. Virgo died that I just did not cook. I couldn’t concentrate and had little appetite anyway. It’s been a lot of fun cooking for, and with, Mr. FixIt. It’s another area of my life where I see healing. I have to clean the smoker this morning before we head to the farm to mow. And the beat goes on…
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Sad to have had summer fly by so fast but can’t wait for Fall camping and seeing everyone. ?⛺️??
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i’m enjoying following along your journey of life… ♥
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I, too, see/hear summer slowly going away. But, just a suggestion, before you smoke your loin, brine it, like you would a turkey. It makes it really moist and tender. We use a brine with molasses, honey, garlic, onion, salt (of course), etc. It really makes a good smoked loin. Good luck on the next one. Let us know how it turns out. The ribs looked great. I can give you my recipe.
Yes, I’d love your recipe, Kathy. ❤️
14-18 pound turkey
6 quarts of tap water
1 pound of kosher salt
1 cup molasses
2 cups honey
1 cup soy sauce
1 Tablespoon of dried red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon dried sage
2 tsp fresh or dried thyme
2 teaspoon of minced garlic
5 lbs ice
In a medium pit, bring 3 qts of water to a boil over medium heat. Put the kosher salt in a large bowl and slowly and carefully pour the boiling water over the salt. Stir to blend. Then add the molasses, honey, soy sauce, red pepper lakes, sage, thyme, and garlic . Add the rest of water to cool the mixture. In a large metal bucket, soup pot, or cooler pour the ice. Then pour brine over ice. Mix well. Add the turkey. Let marinate at least 12 hours or overnight. Right before cooking — remove meat from brine. Discard Brine. Dry off meat. Add about 1 cup of butter under skin of turkey for extra flavor. (I don’t do this for a pork loin). Good Luck. We love it. As long as you don’t over cook the loin, ours have been really moist and tender. Good Luck. Let me know how it goes. I usually cut this recipe in half for a pork loin.
Credit : Food Network, Alex Guarnaschelli
Thank you!!! ❤️
Your welcome. Enjoy!!