When You Know, Without A Doubt, That You Are No Longer Cool-And May Never Have Been

If you didn't know, I have a younger sister (6 years younger), who lives in the city, and has cool friends, and a cool apartment, and a few cool jobs, and a cool band. Usually I am just so excited to go see her that I forget that her world, and my world (almost 30, with a soon to be 4 year old, steady job, husband, and no social life that I can escape to without snacks and juice boxes in my purse) seem to get further and further away every time we see each other.

Recently I went to see my sister's band (Property of Saints) play at the Township with 13 Monsters. I was a little worried that I might embarrass my sister in front of her new drummer by falling asleep in the bar (which I did once before at Goose Island but that is another story). Prepare to witness my epiphany-of-no longer-cool.

Conversation between me and my friend Amy at work before going to see my sister:

Me:        I just have to remind myself to have no more than two beers because I have to get up early tomorrow to pick up Autumn from my dad’s.

A:            How early do you have to be there?

Me:        Christie’s band is the last to play, and the first band doesn’t start until 9… so it will be a long night. If I have alcohol on top of that I will fall asleep in the bar (again). Blake still teases me about the last time… but I woke up at 4:30 this morning to take care of his daughter, so I think I deserve to sleep at the bar if I want

A:            Gotcha.

Me:        I really turned into an old person there didn’t I?

A:            I know how you feel. But you have to get over the hump of your normal bedtime. On Saturday, I was exhausted around 9:00 but I got up, started moving around and I was ok.

Me:        That is why I am going to do my best to not drink…

A:            Or wait until later in the night to start drinking.

Me:        Yeah, usually I get handed a beer upon entering a bar… I think that might not work. We are supposed to get there around 8 to eat dinner with the band. I am not sure how to tell them that we are old and usually eat dinner around 5:30/6:00 and 8:00 or later might turn me into a gremlin

A:            City people never eat dinner before 7:00… but then again I normally don’t either.

Me:        That is because you are some sort of Human/City dweller hybrid!

A:            This is true.

Me:        Well I suppose you are mostly human… 

What do you think, does handing out crackers to the hungry people make up for the fact that I put the crackers in my purse for my daughter and make me cool? Does having a beer blog make up for ordering coffee all night at a bar? 

PS, Be sure to go check out both of those bands, and give them a listen... your ears will thank you

Smoked Meat and Awesome Sauce-Cooking with Beer

I did something that I am very proud of this weekend. I smoked a brisket! The most tasty brisket that I have made to date. As you know I have made brisket several times using beer to braise it, with much success. I decided to go outside my box a little on this one, mostly because we had a Memorial Day cookout and I promised everyone smoked meat (I also made drunken chicken but that will be another post).

We of course had to go get the brisket, which was a lot of hard work, as you can see. The peanut simply could not hold in her enthusiasm (the mustache is from her smiley face cookie)

I got a 5 1/2 pound beef brisket. I made a dry rub of Chili Powder, Nutmeg, Ground Ginger, Season Salt, Garlic powder, Basil, black pepper, and Goya's Adobo. I mixed it in all in a bowl, reserved some (about 1/8) to put in the mop sauce, and then rubbed it on the meat. I am not really good at measuring things, so I am going to say I eyeballed it, and it was all about equal parts (except the garlic powder; the one I have is super strong). 

Spices

Massaged Meat

I suppose the next critical step is to start the fire... If you have a smoker, we used cherry and hickory chips for the brisket, and it turned out fantastic. I started the coals after I rubbed the meat to give it time to absorb some of the awesomeness I massaged into it. Once the coals were hot I added my soaked chips. If you are a smoker aficionado then you could probably teach me a thing or two, so please don't judge me too harshly.

The Mop Sauce

I have never mopped a meat while it was smoking... I am not sure why, it was insanely easy and the results were AMAZING. This is what I did for my mop sauce

I did about 1/4 cup of yellow mustard, a bottle of a delicious IPA (from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee), as many shakes of the Tabasco as I dared do, I recommend you use your own judgement on this.

Oh and I almost forgot this!

Worchestershire Sauce (or wrrchssshhhshhure sauce)

Add the dry rub that we set aside earlier and mix together. VOILA! You have my very own Awesome Sauce. It is tasty, it makes meat super tasty, and it smells sooo good!

Awesome Mop Sauce

I did one good mop on the brisket before I put it on the smoke. 

 Then I went back every hour and a half and mopped again. My 5 1/2 pound brisket took about 6 hours to get to temp (185* F).

This is where I would like to put in my picture of the finished product... but it disappeared as soon as it was carved! It was delicious! Spicy and smokey, with a nice hoppy/mustardy bite. I am drooling again...

So there we have it, that is my awesome mop sauce. If you make it, let me know how it works for you. If you have any suggestions on improving my grilling or smoking techniques feel free to come over and show me, I am always glad to try someone else's cooking.