Riblets for the Deuce Trey

Because my job is once again working me more than the police department at a Waffle House between the club closing and the inevitable fight, one of my holiday responsibilities is to cook for the family (and whoever else shows up) before I falling asleep for a brief nap between shifts. Of course, the kids and flavor-averse get hot dogs to eat: If they dare to add ketchup to them, they will be permanently banished to the kids' table. My wife had been asking for riblets and with her family reunion coming up, it's not only time to stock up on those and rib tips but also get some practice time.

I still make EATIN' barbecue, not COMPETIN' barbecue: Check out how we got here and why this round was too spicy for the two people underneath my roof.

INGREDIENTS 

Aunt Bessie's Riblets [yes, you can break down the 10 lb. boxes into more manageable freezer bags]

Your favorite barbecue rub [I used Pit Boss Mango Magic]

The cheapest BBQ sauce you own - or just pay $10 for Dub Shack BBQ’s Dang! Oh, Mango sauce

Brown sugar 

Butter

Apple juice or favorite braising liquid

Well, let's get to work.

STEP ONE. Grab only the riblets you plan on eating. For us, a 10 lb. box is way too much especially considering 1)I was cooking other stuff, and 2)side items matter. Season all sides with Mango Magic and set aside. Go outside and light your smoker to 250 degrees, giving it the almighty two-zone fire it so deserves. When it gets too hot for the wave test, then it is time to cook.

STEP TWO. Place the riblets directly over the coals and cook to your desired color. With this rub, my riblets came back a mahogany color and at a 175 degrees. If they were to have hit 200 degrees, then they would have needed a timeout on the indirect side because they would not have fully broken down into those mouthwatering tender bits. 

STEP THREE. Like the normal pork ribs, riblets get wrapped upon 175 or the desired color. In this case, I put all twelve riblets in a disposable pan where a few pats of butter and one entire bottle of Dang! Oh, Mango were awaiting their run at a smoke bath. Continue cooking until the riblets reach a tenderness you are satisfied with; in this case, I brought them in at 204 degrees. 

STEP FOUR. Since these are considered snacks at the football parties, put them out on the table and serve immediately!

I forgot to take a selfie eating one, but trust me. When done right, Applebee's has nothing on me! 

Riblets are what some people call potstickers, and they can take on a wide variety of flavor profiles as seen with the mango version here and the complex yet well-balanced taste the sauce brings to the moment. As always, thanks for reading this post - and being a catalyst in cooking something supremely awesome outside. Y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ! 

I Got Sides, Not Side Chicks

As often as I try to make sure every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ,  I don't always remember to make side items to eat with all of that delectable pulled pork, brisket, chicken, turkey, ribs, steaks, etc. that your friendly pitmaster puts out. Sometimes, a side item becomes near-mandatory such as the smoked cream cheese (see my neighbors); other times, the featured presentation gets bypassed in favor of shotgun shells or one of Da Dips. One of the easiest sides I can put together is smoked mashed potatoes, and they are wicked-easy to make! 

INGREDIENTS 

Honey gold potatoes, halved

Butter

The Golden Ticket**, better known as Dub Shack BBQ’s beef tallow

Fire and Smoke Society's Potato Slayer rub

*The potato doesn't matter. You can make it your own with reds, Yukon golds, russets, or any other potato. Heck, even use sweet potatoes if that's your prerogative. My happy behind is using honey gold potatoes for this blog.

**The Golden Ticket is a trial run, and like Dat White, could very well be a limited batch. Save your olive oil for another day and once you use tallow, you may not come back.

STEP ONE. After washing the potatoes, apply the Golden Ticket all over them and share the love fest with Potato Slayer. Wrap them in aluminum foil and set aside to light the weapon of choice. 

STEP TWO. We all are acutely familiar with two-zone cooking where the coals are on one side and a cool zone on the other, so do it. Once the grill reaches 325-350 degrees, place the potatoes on the cool side and close the lid. Your taters will let you know when they are ready by becoming soft at a fingertip's touch. Bring them in and allow to cool for approximately fifteen minutes. 

What a side! 

I know that barbecuers get a bad rap for only doing meat well yet the sides matter as much if not more so than the proteins alone. Doing side items on the grill frees up the kitchen for other stuff as warm rolls, cakes, and even casseroles; therefore, it becomes an extension of what we already own and allows it to take food to the next level. As always, thanks for reading this post: Go cook something superb this week! Y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

Oops, She Did It Again

Once again, we made it to the last day of school and what portends to be ten weeks of fun, rest and relaxation, travel, eating almost everything in the house, and diligently hustling to stem the summer slide our students raise their arms and yell "Whee!" over. In truth, these past 36 weeks of second grade have flown - and here's a brief synopsis of each month with accompanying pictures.

How 2nd grade began

AUGUST 

Summer break ended with a ten-hour drive to Pensacola and the annual family vacation. What made me want to do Interstate 65 South from Birmingham to somewhere not too far from the Sunshine State passing through Montgomery, the Hyundai plant where the Sonata, Elantra, and Santa Fe are made, the Conecuh sausage factory, a whole lot of political campaign signs, and the big-ass Confederate flag near Clanton overlooking the highway reminding travelers that we are driving through the Heart of Dixie bedevils me to this day but it beats the alternative of doing the same drive through south Mississippi yet again. We made it in time for the first week of school for those students and like countless others, shared the beaches, restaurants, highways, and even the grocery aisles at the local Publix. The girls got to ride with the same dolphins we saw in neighboring Orange Beach eleven years ago during the honeymoon, and I introduced Dub Shack BBQ to Escambia County. [Ask Adrian about Dang! Oh, Mango: He got four bottles for the low].

Another trip to NW FL in the books

Caeli met Mrs. Poe and began her third revolution around the academic sun.

SEPTEMBER 

Now that school is in full swing and parents are allowed back on campus for lunch and volunteer appearances, life has resumed the pre-Covid ways of getting around. While we were limited in the moments permitted to interact with the students, one thing remained: lunchtime. Feeding Caeli was really easy - all I had to do was show up with Chick-fil-A, and she immediately would turn in her lunch ticket to eat at a separate table with her Dad (or Mom, depending on the day). 

The picture above became a harbinger of the year.

The very next day, she was in the backseat when Bubba Gump was rear-ended. Aside from some soreness, she was generally okay. Me? I was pissed off and had a headache that lingered for a few days. Needless to say, I'm glad that 1)she didn't have my phone that day, and 2)the truck could take a hit. 

OCTOBER

Oops, she did it again.

Coach and athlete

Not in the Britney Spears vein (see the title) rather becoming a standout volleyball player in a sport she had never played, Caeli has proven to be quite the natural athlete. With each bump, set, and serve, she and eight other second- and third-graders became some real ballers! It helped that coaches Chastity and Chasity coached the Volley Queens to a 8-2 regular season record and a spot in the league championship game. I hope they can come back in some sort to play together next season although our third-graders are moving up.

Meet the Volley Queens

I didn't get a picture with her great-grandma this time around; need to do that soon.

NOVEMBER 

For someone who was nonplussed about the taste of school Thanksgiving lunch, Caeli sure was happy to see us. The food was decent, and as always, family time was better. It was also this month when I only saw my bed and the plant as I was covering consecutive shifts for five weeks until a replacement was suitably trained and ready to go.

DECEMBER 

A few short weeks led into Christmas vacation and shifting gears to basketball season. Since I wasn't coaching, I got to resume my role as 7's No. 1 fan: Her team (the Hoopettes) did better than my past season barking from the sidelines: Thanks to our HSU friends Carlos and Madalyn for giving the girls the motivation and drive to not only win but also learn the game.

Christmas - and Kwanzaa, if you've been around me the past few years - were what we needed. I think I did a little better observing the weeklong celebration this year than the past yet there is so much more room for growth and improvement. 

JANUARY 

Back to school! 

(And basketball)

Grandpa, Paw Paw, Caeli, and Gigi 

Our voracious reader - and gamer - began eating up Minecraft hacks quite similar to the way we wore out the pages of Nintendo Power magazine back in the day to beat those 8-bit classics, gain unlimited lives and weaponry, and of course, rescue Princess Toadstool. An observation I made was that two- and three-digit math was a breeze for Caeli; she understood Common Core math better than I anticipated! As for social studies, she thankfully wasn't fed a steady diet of whitewashed American history to be unlearned later in life. 

Caeli and our family's most esteemed ancestor, Scipio Africanus Jones

Family, taken at the Mosaic Templars ceremony honoring S.A. Jones

The Hoopettes made it through January undefeated. 

#7's jersey hadn't come in at the time of photo

FEBRUARY 

We had a very interesting birthday party at the skate park: Instead of the pool parties we had become accustomed to, Caeli wanted to go roller skating. While she and the other kids had fun, it was then my body reminded me that in this inopportune moment that I am 44 and not 14. As a result, I pulled a hamstring and instantly retired from all competitive activities aside from being a fan.

As for the hardwood, the girls had a bit of a losing skid before pulling it together in the end to finish strong. Caeli is quite the defensive wunderkind like her Dad was, and once her midrange jumper begins to fall, she's going to be a problem with the rock.

Morning Greeters of CES

MARCH

Caeli, Grandma, and Faith 

We kind of broke down and told Little Miss Sunshine where we were headed back to for spring break:  Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Yeah, 14 hours in a Toyota Camry with two new riders is always the beginning of a good story, and for the most part, it became just that. Not only was Atlanta traffic bearable (we ran through ATL through lunch) but also caught that underrated wave known as Columbia afternoon rush hour: It's not horrible - I found it compares to Birmingham - yet the Palmetto State Highway Patrol decided to debut their new cars: Ford Mustang Black Horse editions with the police package. Consider yourselves warned and ticketed if one gets behind you - Hellcat owners, they still aren't catching you maniacs. We enjoyed the beaches, touristy stuff, a winding day trip along Highway 17 to Charleston to not only eat some of the best barbecue I have ever paid for [Rodney Scott BBQ] but also to meet the Gullah Geechees as they gave interpretative presentations and sold durable wares made of bamboo, and noticed that the town we enjoyed so much had gotten so pricey in two years' time. 

Thanks to the flat tire from that pothole just before crossing the Interstate 55 bridge into Arkansas from Memphis, I still got smoke for TDOT and AAA. Who wants to see me first?

"The anaconda got me wrapped up"

APRIL

Getting down to the nitty-gritty of testing meant a good night's rest was in order. Ditto for a speaking part in the school play - and yes, we were Swamped! In addition, Little Miss Sunshine was recommended for the gifted and talented program; unfortunately, that was not in the cards this time around. Regardless, we are still proud of how far Caeli has come from the early days of second grade. 

MAY

We made it to the finish line!

36 weeks of waking up early, dragging it to the cars (and truck), attending more birthday parties than imaginable, getting surprise Chick-fil-A lunches, welcoming her classmates in the mornings, spending afternoons at the Boys and Girls Club, being shuttled from one activity to the next, and of course, neighborhood play days, Caeli has had a whale of a year! It has been an active school year, and as we work to beat back atrophy again plus add a few more tools during Life Skills Summer, we fully intend to have fun and ensure our daughter is a more well-rounded individual ready for third grade and beyond.

How 2nd grade ended

Oops, she did it again!

The Princess chunks up the deuces

See y'all August 14!

F**k This, I'm Out

I've had enough of this mess.

Know your worth:

You must find the courage to leave the table if respect is no longer being served. pic.twitter.com/KDZswBebYu

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) August 7, 2022