BBQ and tree limbs

For several years now, I have battled the constant nuisance of overgrown trees in my backyard. Specifically, I have battled the 4 metric tons of leaves dropped by said trees. This year, spurred on by a fear of another year of back-breaking yard cleanup, I finally decided to do something about it. After a few calls to some very good friends, I had a team ready to trim, saw, and prune the veritable forest that had accumulated out back. We worked for 7 hours at cutting, trimming, dragging, trimming some more, and raking nature's bounty.  Our work paid off, and I now have a neatly trimmed treeline out back and three giant piles of limbs out front. I hope the Maumelle sanitation department is feeling kind when they pass my place.

As a reward for their hard work, I prepared dinner for my friends.  We started with an appetizer of grilled brats and sliced cheddar cheese. Dinner included homemade bourbon baked beans, corn with garlic butter, and BBQ pork sandwiches. The pork was smoked for 7 hours over low heat and was tender with a wonderfully smoky flavor. Complimenting the sandwiches were slaw and homemade BBQ sauce. For dessert, we had skillet peach cobbler and homemade vanilla ice cream. I think I put more time into the meal than the tree trimming!  If  you ask me, though, a good meal is always worth the time and effort.  Everyone left with full stomachs and compliments galore. I can't speak for the others, but I didn't get hungry again until around 3pm the next day. Thanks to my brother Matt, Matt Collar, big Clay, and Andrew for all their help. Special thanks to my lovely and patient wife for putting up with our noise as well.

Did you know.....homemade vanilla ice cream is worlds better if real vanilla pods are used? Slice the pod open and scrape the beans out into your milk mixture before scalding. Place the pod into the milk along with the beans to infuse the milk with some serious vanilla flavor. Real vanilla isn't cheap, but there's no denying its superiority over extract.

Dinner is going to be a cabinet cleanout affair tonight. I have an English roast in the fridge that would probably make some nice burgers. Yes, an English roast. It's from the chuck, so all it needs is a quick chop and grind.  What, you've never ground your own burger meat? Check back tomorrow....I'll show how easy it is to grind meat at home.  This is one task that's really worth the effort.