Hammocks and Pork Pies

This is a story about love, family, and smoked pork... the most intense things you can experience. I recently purchased this book: Smoke and Spice, which was one of the best decisions i've made in my life. It not only tells you how to smoke things properly with different equipment but has one million marinades, sobs, and sauces AND gives you suggestions about mixing and matching them all. Simply wonderful.  First i had to get the ingredients, so i went to the butcher shop for a really nice pork butt (larger half of the shoulder) and then to the grocery store for the rest. The recipe specifically calls for turbinado sugar and of course that's the one fucking sugar they didn't have. 20 million different packagings of truvia, but not one sugar in the raw. Anyway i eventually found this:

Which was better than nothing. I write my grocery lists on a napkin because a: it's the only paper we have in the kitchen other then questionable envelopes, and b: It's convenient if i happen to have a snot flow.

Look at the spices! pretty. Anyway i used the Southern Succor Rub for the marinade, which you only have to do over night, but i was going to be short on time and ended up starting it two days ahead which i'm sure can only make it better. Also high five for conquering procrastination Lauren Pappas! Marinade before:

And After:

To prepare the smoker i heated up some charcoal and soaked the wood chips (hickory) in beer (my pale ale) for 1/2 an hour (but really one hour because of weather/Phil related issues).

Here's the trifecta, marinated pork, Southern Sop (which is what you baste the meat in while cook'n) and Carolina Red sauce, which takes the vinegary sauce from eastern NC and the tangy ketchup from the west side. The black and white cookie of NC bbq, if you will. 

Anyway at this point my parents and Popou were getting ready for some greek event in Long Island, and my dad's all, "It's gonna rain later, let's move the smoker to the front porch." So we did. And you know what? No rain in the last three days.

But doesn't Phil clean up nice? Anyway the charcoals are going, the chips are on the fire, and the first sob has been, well, sobbed.

6 hours later the pork smells amazing, but still needs more time, something i don't have. Also i melted my mom's 65 dollar thermometer that she told me to use, and am now responsible for a replacement. So basically i wrap up the pork until manana, throw water on everything, and be line the fuck outta there. The next day i wake up, and essentially do the whole thing again. Meanwhile Phil and i install a hammock:

 

What kills me is, if I'd have waited a second to take the picture his thumbs up would have been perfect, now you just get him on the set up. What a life.

We've been planning this hammock thing for a few weeks, and today i was like, "Hey dad, when did mom ask for a hammock?" And he's like, "She didn't, she gave me an LLBean Catalog with a bunch of things circled in it, but then i saw this hammock and was like: that." So basically he knew what she actually wanted, and ignored it. I don't get it, but you know what? 'the job of the writer is not to judge, but to try to understand.'  Anyway mom seemed to like the hammock:

So we're ok. we did have to adjust the screws and post a few times because it was originally a little low, but you know what? If i didn't go into a project knowing i'd have to redo half of it, i wouldn't be my father's daughter. Plus a beautiful day, bbq, and hammock? What else could you want. How about this fucking gorgeous pie??

  I just made pie crust, mixed the pork and sauce together, and dumped it in.  The pork could have probably smoked a little longer, but about half way into Sunday my dad was like, "Oh, and the Specs are coming over for lunch, so i hope you're all set." Thanks, ass. Anyway bake pie for an hour at 375, and everything will be ok. We managed to eat almost all of it.

And had some lovely conversation at that. One day i'm going to roast a whole pig, but until then I'll just stop and enjoy the lilacs because hey, it's spring!

I know mother's day is over but to all the mom's out there: One day isn't enough to say just how wonderful you are. I can't think of two more deserving then Nanc and Eileen, so thanks for letting me spend it with you.