Mud House Year

What a Wonderful Day!

The Mud House Thanksgiving was just so much fun!
It was, as usual, a beautiful, sunny day.  The table was set with wine bottles, each holding a single zinnia from the cutting garden.  A bright red bandanna was placed above each plate for guests to wear. Everyone pitched-in and the food was delicious...

and funny...

Of course, it was the little things that made it really special.

 There is simply no substitute for being surrounded by those you love.  Thank you to my dear family for spending this wonderful day with us at the Mud House.  I love you guys!

And now, on to Christmas.

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

 

 

Smoking at the Mud House

This is Al's smoker... I've been meaning to tell you about Al's smoking hobby for awhile.  He has smoked some pretty amazing stuff, recently.  Each and every one has been delicious.  

Jalapeno poppers...

Red trout... 

The left-over red trout became this smoked trout spread for a recent dinner party.

Chicken...
In fact, that's the chicken we used for the chilaquiles.

Chicken thighs wrapped in bacon with baby bell peppers...

And, of course, pulled pork.

You see, Al comes from a long line of smokers.  Both of his brothers and his nephew are expert smokers. They got him hooked.  Al doesn't get hooked on things easily so this was quite an accomplishment.  He saved his pennies and bought himself his own little smoker.   At first, I was against it.  That is until my first bite of fresh, smoked red trout, then chicken, then pulled pork then...well, you get the picture.  It's addictive.

We are having 20 family members over for Thanksgiving.  We will begin brining two - 12 pound turkeys Tuesday night and we will put them in the smoker early Thursday morning.  Tomorrow I will share our brining recipe and method with you.  Until then I will leave you with this.
Yep.  You get the picture.  We're hooked.

As I said, Al doesn't get hooked easily.  He researched the heck out of smokers and spent much time discussing them with his brother who lives in Florida.  It took him awhile, but he finally made his decision.  This is the model he recommends.  You can find it at Amazon.  SMO25.