40th Year Anniversary

MAK 2 Star Brisket

What did you smoke this weekend after eating turkey on Thursday and Friday.  I smoked a 9 lb brisket flat today.  I had it on the MAK 2 Star for about 8 hours at 225° and then 3 hours at 250°.  It was probably about 20°-25° outside with the wind chill today.  It was about 205° internal temp when I pulled it and let it rest for 30 minutes before slicing it.  It was my first brisket on the MAK, and I am pleased with the results. 

 

Grill Collection

Over the years, I have transitioned from an inexpensive Kenmore/Charbroil propane grill, through electric smokers by Brinkman and Cookshack, other propane smokers by Brinkman and Smokey Mountain, to Weber propane grills.  Last year, I was introduced to pellet grills and bought a Traeger XL.  I enjoyed the flavor of the food that was made on it, but did not like the swing in temperatures and its lack of versatility.  This year I bought a Memphis Elite to get tighter temperature controls and some flexibility to cook at higher temps, and a MAK 2 Star General to add flexility to higher temps and cold smoking.  Here they are.

The new patio extension east end filled with cooking equipment.

The pellet grill trio - Traeger XL, MAK 2 Star, and Memphis Elite.

The newest addition to the lineup - MAK 2 Star.

Leinenkugel's Thanksgiving

Yesterday, I gave thanks for the seasonal sampler 12 packs made by Leinenkugel's.  They have a bit of duplication so there were only 9 different beers to sample out of the 12 beers that were part of these three samplers.

Oktoberfest

Here are the final Oktoberfests that I had for this season.

Milwaukee Brewing Company Hoptoberfest
http://mkebrewing.com/beer/hoptoberfest/

New Belgium Brewing - Red Hoptober
http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=b061cbb7-2d6d-4489-a655-8cfa40171596

Stevens Point Brewery Oktoberfest
http://www.pointbeer.com/point-oktoberfest/

Capital Brewery Oktoberfest
http://www.capital-brewery.com/

Samuel Adams Oktoberfest
http://www.samueladams.com/enjoy-our-beer/beer-detail.aspx?id=011e3e3f-52b1-4c55-9e05-0417800d7b23

Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest
https://leinie.com/Beers.aspx#oktoberfest

Spaten Oktoberfest
http://spatenbeer.com/biers-oktoberfest.html

Smoked Mac n Cheese

Someone posted this simple recipe on www.pelletheads.com.  I tried it this week, and thought it was pretty good.  And it was really easy which was what I was looking for in a recipe.

1 box of elbow macaroni
1/2 stick of butter
3 cups of milk
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 8oz bags of your favorite shredded cheese

Pour uncooked macaroni in 8x13 aluminum pan.  I used a stainless steel deep half pan that you can see in the pics.  Melt butter and pour over macaroni.  Pour in the remaining ingredients and stir.  You can add salt and pepper or other spices to taste.

Cook on grill at 250° for about 2 hours.  Sprinkle your favorite cheese over the top and brown the top in the broiler.

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest

It is that time of year again when Oktoberfest beers are available.  I love this style of beer during the Fall and Winter.  Here are a few that I have tried this season.

Great Lakes Brewing Company
http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/beer/an-exceptional-family-of-beers/seasonal/oktoberfest

 

Shiner

http://www.shiner.com/main.php?page=beer

 

Central Waters Brewing Company

http://centralwaters.com/beer/

 



Bell's Brewery
http://bellsbeer.com/brands/#Seasonal-10

Hinterland
http://www.hinterlandbeer.com/Oktoberfest.html

When I Left Home - My Story by Buddy Guy

When I Left Home - My Story by Buddy Guy with David Ritz

At age 75, Buddy Guy decided to release a book documenting his life with the primary focus on family, blues guitars, nature, cooking, and women.  The book is a very quick read and makes you feel like you are sitting at Legends across the table from Buddy as he tells you story after story for a few hours.  Buddy breaks the book down into 3 sections.

1. Before I Left Home: This section documents his life on the farm in Lettsworth, Louisiana, and the strong love of his family as cotton croppers.  It takes you through the fortunate experiences he had in receiving his first two guitars.  He talks about his desire to learn and play John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen."  You listen to his stories about playing his first blues clubs on stage as part of a backing band.  His jobs working as a mechanic, a tow truck driver, and in the maintenance department at LSU while living in Baton Rouge with his sister.  He meets a family friend who has come back to Louisiana on vacation from Chicago and tells Buddy to save his money so he can move there to stay with him until he gets on his feet.  Two years and $600 saved, and Buddy finds himself on a train to Chicago.

2.  The Day I Left Home: September 25, 1957 was the day Buddy traveled from Louisiana to Chicago.  In this section, he talks about his train ride and his first day in the Windy City.

3.  After I Left Home: Buddy tells stories about how he was turned down from job after job and was a day away from spending all of the $600 he had saved.  He was about to call his father to request some money so he could get a train ride back to Louisiana.  He finally got his break playing guitar the night before and drove the crowd wild.  You hear stories of him meeting Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and his "blues brother" Junior Wells.  Stories about his recordings as a backup player at Chess Records, his attempts at solo recordings, owning his first blues club, his children, etc.

This book could easily have been double in size as Buddy dedicated very few pages to the last 40 years of his life making it big as a blues musician.  I was disappointed there was not more.

This book is a must read for any blues fan out there.  If you are like me, you will have it finished before you lay it back down.  Hopefully, there is a second book in the works that tells us more stories about the second half of his life.

2000 Tons of TNT - Labor Day Weekend 2012

This past weekend, I attended the 2000 Tons of TNT fest in Hartford, CT at the Webster Theater with Earthdog and Pakky aka Gumby Legs.  We had a blast.  Here is my ranking of the bands from the weekend. 

1 Infa Riot
All the way from London, these guys made their first ever appearance to play on USA soil; and they started playing in 1980.  I thought I was going to enjoy their set, but they overdelivered.  I forgot how many great songs they had on their first LP.  It was a great way to close out the weekend.  I picked up an Infa Riot t-shirt.  Here is what I remember them playing.

Emergency
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
Five Minute Fashion
Each Dawn I Die
The Drug Squad
Still Out of Order
Power
Bootboys
The Winner
In for a Riot
Kids of the 80's
School's Out
Riot Riot
We Outnumber You

2 Anti Nowhere League
The Anti Nowhere League made their trek across the pond to play the festival too.  The night before they played with The Meatmen in Philly.  They were Saturday night's headliner.  They too did not disappoint.  I picked up an ANL t-shirt - So What?  We each were able to get our picture taken with Animal on Sunday as he was hanging around the bar area during the sets.  I remember the following tracks from their set.

We Are the League (opening and then later closing song)
Animal
Woman
Can't Stand Rock n Roll
Snowman
Streets of London
I Hate People
So What
For You
Fucked Up and Wasted
Pig Iron
Dead Heroes
Never Drink Alone
My God's Bigger Than Yours

3 The Meatmen
Hailing from the Detroit, MI area, the Meatmen made it out to the festival.  Tesco Vee is 57 years old and still going strong (although he joked he may die from a heart attack on stage because it was so hot in the venue).  This was by far the most hilarious set of the weekend.  I missed these guys play on a few occasions when they came through Chicago over the last few years.  I am glad they were a late addition to the bill to replace Lee Ving who was too busy re-recording The Record with Dave Grohl.  Tesco thanked and humiliated him for those shenanigans.  He also did his renditions of "Beef Boloney" and "I Love Livin in the City" so we did get to hear some Fear after all.  They also covered my favorite Gang Green song "Alcohol".  Their bass player was funny as shit too.  Here are the songs that I remember from their set.

Meatmen Stomp
Toolin for Anus
I've Got a Problem
Orgy of One
2 Down 2 to Go (remake of 1 Down 3 to Go as another Beatle has died since that song was released)
Dumping Ground
Crippled Children Suck
Shut Up and Suck
We're the Meatmen & You Suck
I Want Drugs
Rock n Roll Juggernaut
Lesbian Death Dirge
Alcohol
Beef Boloney
I Love Living in City

 

4 The Warriors
Another UK band, The Warriors played with the original singer of the Last Resort, Graham Saxby.  They treated us to a few Last Resort songs in addition to tracks by the Warriors.  I bought their new CD Never Forgive Never Forget.  I remember the following songs from their set.

Violence in Our Minds
King of the Jungle
England
Never Forgive, Never Forget
Marlon Brando
C.S.A.
The Future Is Unwritten
S.N.A.F.U.

5 Noi!se
This 3 piece hails from the state of Washington.  They were the surprise of the weekend, and are relatively young band in comparison to most of the headlining bands.  I really enjoyed their set, and need to re-listen to their limited discography.  They did play "This Is Who We Are" a track that I put on a compilation CD I made of bands playing at this festival.  I was glad to hear that song.

6 The Bruisers
New Hampshire's The Bruisers played a one off reunion show and were Friday night's headlining band.  They were lead by Al Barr, current Dropkick Murphys lead singer, and Johnny Rioux, current Street Dogs bass player.  I was not sure if I was going to enjoy this set or not, but they did not disappoint.  I am glad I was able to be there to see this reunion effort.  Near the end of the set, the crowd was passing a guy on a wheelchair over their heads crowd surfing.  That was quite a sight to see.  I remember the band playing the following tracks during their almost 90 minute set.

Till the End
Borrowed Time
The Way It Goes
All Messed Up
Work Together
These 2 Boots of Mine

7 Forced Reality
These guys were part of the Friday night 80's reunion band set, and hail from Boston.  I somehow got into listening to them within the last 10 years and new some of their songs.  I was glad they played my favorites.

Backbreaker
Never Forget
Blood Is Thicker Than Water
15 Pints (And I'm Still Standing)
Mama Tried
Gang Warfare
Hooligans Shenanigans

8 Menace
Another band from across the pond played the festival, Menace.  These guys started in the late 1970's.  They played as a 3 piece and the drummer and guitar player split vocal duties.  They played a fun set and as I expected the crowd went nuts when they started into "GLC".  I remember them playing the following songs.

C&A
Insane Society
GLC
Screwed Up
I'm Civilised
Last Years Youth
S.O.S.
Monkey Man (cover of The Specials)

9 Pist n Broke
Originally from Detroit, this band played their style of USA Oi! in the mid 1990's.  I am not sure if this show was a one off reunion gig or not, but I quite enjoyed their set.  I am going to have to give their discography CD The Last Call 1992-96 another listen.  I remember the following tracks being played.

Ireland
Boys Night Out
Pist n Broke

10 Close Shave
From Birmingham, England and reuniting recently after playing from 1986-1992, Close Shave were fun to watch.  I am going to have to go back and listen to their few releases including Hard As Nails to see what songs they may have played.  They had a very young guitar player whom I thought was really good.

11 Patriot
Patriot started in Chapel Hill, NC back in 1990, and have recently got a new line up together to play the festival.  I believe they have a new CD in the works too.  They were fun to watch, but I don't know any of the songs that they played.  I wouldn't mind seeing them as an opening act again.

12 Evil Conduct
These guys are a 3 piece from the Netherlands.  They recently recorded a split 7in with the Old Firm Casuals who feature Lars from Rancid.  Unfortunately, I think these guys ended up playing too long.  If they would have cut their set from about 60 minutes to closer to 30 I may have ranked them in the top 10 for the weekend.  They played "Home Sweet Home" a track I put on my compilation CD prior to the event.  I was glad to see them play it live.

13 The Dwarves
These guys started out in Chicago and now reside in San Francisco.  I didn't think I would like them at all, but was pleasantly surprised and found their brand of hardcore listenable.  If I had $1000 for every time the lead singer said "yeahhhh", I could quit working for at least a year or so.  Next to the Meatmen, they had the most vulgar songs.  I can now say that I have seen them play live.

14 Stars and Stripes
Slapshot's Choke fronted Stars and Stripes on Friday evening.  I don't think they have been active for quite some time.  They were a good opening band.  I am upset they didn't play my favorite song of their's "S.T.F.U." aka Shut The Fuck Up.

15 Hub City Stompers
The only ska band of the festival played mostly cover songs.  They had remade versions of "Boys Don't Cry" and "Ant Music".  I did enjoy their cover of Bad Manners' "Skinhead Love Affair".  They ended their set with their female sax player taking the mic for a cover of Journey's "Anyway You Want It."

16 The Uprisers
Another 1980's New England area band making a reunion appearance for the festival.  I don't know much about them but enjoyed watching them kick off the festival on Friday night.

17 Negative Approach
I don't get into these guys from the Detroit area much anymore, but they did play the two songs that I do like "Negative Approach" and "Tied Down".  The rest of their set had too unlistenable vocals for me to get excited about watching them play.  They did treat us to a pretty decent version of Sham 69's "Borstal Breakout" though.

18 Yellow Stitches
I don't know much about these guys, but I do remember them playing "Tale of a Fat Fucking Retard" a track I put on the compilation CD I made prior to the festival.

19 Giuda
This Italian 70's glam/pub rock band arrived late to the venue causing a bit of band order shuffling on Saturday.  They were OK, but not something I would want to see too frequently.  They crowd was surprisingly into them.  I wonder if they would had been if they would have played the 3-4 hours earlier they were originally scheduled.

20 The Templars
Not much of an interest hear, but I figured I would mention them to round out an even top 20 for the weekend.

There were at least six other bands we saw, but not worth ranking.  Most of them played the side stage prior to the main stage starting on Saturday and Sunday.

I am glad that I decided to attend this festival.  The music was entertaining, brought back a lot of memories of listening to some of these bands 25 years ago, and introduced me to some good bands that I had never listened to before.  I will say that I was disappointed in the lack of air conditioning at the venue (many of the performers complained about how hot it was) and the lack of cab service in Hartford, CT.  Both of these complaints may be enough for me not to return to the event again unless the line up contains quite a few bands that I would like to see for the first time.

I had fun hanging out for the weekend with Earthdog and Gumby Legs, and got to spend a few hours with my college roommate Stevo on Monday afternoon before I flew back home.

You can find some more photos here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lewdd/sets/72157631413442500/ and some more videos here - http://www.youtube.com/user/lewdd33?feature=mhee.

Yeahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

MAK 2 Star

On its way!

Chicago Fire v Toronto FC 2012-08-04

My neighbor convinced a bunch of us to go to the Chicago Fire game last night against Toronto FC.  I smoked chicken wings, sausage, and ribs for the tailgaiting festivities.  We were slowed a bit early by a severe thunderstorm that rolled through the area.  Fortunatley, it arrived earlier than schedule by several hours.  It delayed our parking lot festivities by about 30 minutes, but we were still able to get 2+ hours of fun in before we headed into the game.

A picture of the new 12 x 12 canopy that I bought prior to the game.  It sure came in handy.

The outside of Toyota Park which just so happens to be across the street from where I work.

A view from our seats.

At halftime, we were treated to a soccer games by all of the Chicago area sports teams' mascots.

The Fire made a stupid mistake to give up the first goal of the game to Toronto FC.  However, they rallied in the second half to get 2 goals to win the match 2-0.  The crowd was excited.