About 14 years ago, I traveled to Iowa to visit/meet my then girlfriend's family for Thanksgiving. My soon to be father-in-law did something that my Southern California born and raised eyes had never witnessed. He smoked the turkey... in the snow. All he had was a little bullet style smoker and some charcoal. It was the most amazingly tasting bird I had ever placed in my mouth up to that time and I was forever changed. Now, with more than a decade of casual tinkering with smoking meats (not to mention a wedding and three kids later) we often host holidays at our home (still in Southern California).
For Thanksgiving this year (2014) we were going to have a slightly larger crowd of 21 people, so naturally I needed to invest in a better smoker in order to please the guests
. I went for the 22" Weber Smokey Mountain (and my wife only put up a nominal amount of resistance because as you've now read, it is in her blood to enjoy such things). This site gave me the advice I needed to properly break in the WSM and prepare it for the holiday cook. The bird was amazing (as expected because after years of minor mistakes and mishaps, I've become rather adept at the turkey prep and smoke process). Christmas yesterday was some cedar planked salmon on the grill and a larger rib roast in the smoker. Again, this site helped in so many ways and I was hooked, so I went ahead and joined, if nothing else just to support the herculean effort of the dedicated folks on this site and forum.
For work, I've helped people buy and sell homes in the North Orange County part of SoCal for 15 years now. Because of the young family I've been blessed with, about two years ago I opted to step into management with my brokerage, so I could get some of my nights and weekends back without feeling the stress of having to produce income exclusively by selling. So now I help some of the very best real estate agents in Orange County serve their clients, and I also help train agents from my company's other offices which is spread over the Orange, LA and San Bernardino County areas of SoCal.
After being a dedicated husband, loving dad to three young girls and the work schedule, I don't have time for much else, but I manage to get together with my buddies once in awhile, be involved at church, do a little woodworking, practice pairing wines and beers with the meals we prepare, play the piano and relax with some gaming on XBOX 360. For now, that's life... and it's full and satisfying when I stop complaining long enough to actually think about it.
For Thanksgiving this year (2014) we were going to have a slightly larger crowd of 21 people, so naturally I needed to invest in a better smoker in order to please the guests
. I went for the 22" Weber Smokey Mountain (and my wife only put up a nominal amount of resistance because as you've now read, it is in her blood to enjoy such things). This site gave me the advice I needed to properly break in the WSM and prepare it for the holiday cook. The bird was amazing (as expected because after years of minor mistakes and mishaps, I've become rather adept at the turkey prep and smoke process). Christmas yesterday was some cedar planked salmon on the grill and a larger rib roast in the smoker. Again, this site helped in so many ways and I was hooked, so I went ahead and joined, if nothing else just to support the herculean effort of the dedicated folks on this site and forum.For work, I've helped people buy and sell homes in the North Orange County part of SoCal for 15 years now. Because of the young family I've been blessed with, about two years ago I opted to step into management with my brokerage, so I could get some of my nights and weekends back without feeling the stress of having to produce income exclusively by selling. So now I help some of the very best real estate agents in Orange County serve their clients, and I also help train agents from my company's other offices which is spread over the Orange, LA and San Bernardino County areas of SoCal.
After being a dedicated husband, loving dad to three young girls and the work schedule, I don't have time for much else, but I manage to get together with my buddies once in awhile, be involved at church, do a little woodworking, practice pairing wines and beers with the meals we prepare, play the piano and relax with some gaming on XBOX 360. For now, that's life... and it's full and satisfying when I stop complaining long enough to actually think about it.
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