boys & brisket on monday

This new grill has changed our life, and it's only been a week. We had our friend Dave over Monday to hang out, enjoy some good food, good beer and a few hands of cards. Nothing beats indulging in some great food and beer. But we're eaters. We love to eat good food.

My husband got his butt out of bed at 3:00am to throw the brisket on the smoker. I was really impressed at his motivation to smoke up a good piece of meat that day. And the result was totally worth it. He put on a great beef rub, and slathered it with some tasty bbq sauce in it's last hours before pulling it off the grill.

Hello you pretty little thing! Now, I'll admit this piece looks very rare. However, what we've learned with smoking is that it turns just about everything red. It's called the smoke ring. This baby had been on the grill for over 12 hours and it was smoked through and through. The meat was done, but still very tender and had an amazing hickory flavor.

Oh my. Hello heaven!

This is a porter unlike any porter I've ever tasted before. It's rare around these parts, and it just so happened that our local specialty beer shop, Whidbey Beer Works, had ordered a few bottles in. My husband snatched them up right away. You can click here to read more about Anchor Brewing's Anchor Porter.

I made jalepeno poppers. Jalepenos halved, seeded, then stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped with bacon. We had them for the first time last year at a bar in Port Townsend and my husband asked if I'd make them at home. Thankfully they were as easy as they looked and I was able to recreate them at home on my own.

And here's my plate full. Beef brisket sandwich with italian pasta salad and my Anchor Porter there in the background. Yum! I also made salsa, which I've shown before and it was even better than last time. I didn't bother to partake in the poppers as I'm allergic to dairy products. But that's a story for another time.

We had a great time eating and visiting and finished the night off with more beer and a few hands of cards. I went to bed much earlier than the guys did, but I always like to give them a little time to themselves girl free. Our time off to visit with him is limited with our work schdules and it's alway nice to let the boys be boys.

And of course, the night wouldn't have been complete without Zoey fighting to be the center of attention. Thankfully she's small enough we didn't have a problem navigating our card game around her sweet little self.