Finding Family

I have a boatload of cousins -
first cousins on my father's side.
The kids of my dad's brother & sisters.
Problem is, I don't know most of 'em.
Never met 'em.
Wouldn't know 'em if I hit 'em with the car.

That started to change a few years ago.
I got to meet the Texas bunch & now I love 'em more than my luggage.
(movie reference. I know Sista G knows...)

Last weekend I got some more.

Even though we were strangers,
we have a shared history and heritage that somehow takes away the strangeness.
You are oddly comfortable with them.
Especially if one of them has your grandmother's nose.
Family is funny that way.

Okay, okay, we're friends on Facebook, but still . . .

It turns out that Cousin K lives in the DC area kinda near BS,
who I went to visit last weekend.
And even though any weekend spent with my li'l spawn is a good weekend,
meeting Cousin K & Husband A made it even better.

We started out at Ray's Hell Burger, Obama's favorite hamburgers.



I must say, they were very tasty.
And if you don't like them, you can . . .



We ended up driving out to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
at the confluence of the Potomac & Shenandoah Rivers, site of John Brown's raid in 1859.

From Wiki:
"In 1750 Robert Harper was given a patent on 125 acres (0.5 km²) at the present location of the town. In 1761 Harper established a ferry across the Potomac River, making the town a starting point for settlers moving into the Shenandoah Valley and further west. In 1763 the Virginia General Assembly established the town of "Shenandoah Falls at Mr. Harper's Ferry"... Thomas Jefferson called the site "perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature."

This view from Wiki shows the town in 1865.



If you look at Google Earth, this is what you see.



You can see the 2 train trestles diverging as they come out of the mountain,
at the right of the image.
one turning northward to follow the Potomac
and the other following the Shenandoah to westward.



Just where the 2 rivers come together, you can see 5 piles of something in the water.



Those are the original train trestles, as seen in the 1865 picture.
This is what they look like today.




Harpers Ferry has been the site of some devastating floods throughout the centuries.
You Tube has some videos of the 1985 flood.
The Harpers Ferry coverage in this one starts at 1:12.

Some other pictures of the area, which is just dripping with history.
The levels in the rivers were kind of low, inviting swimmers & waders.
It is also a popular spot . . .

Oh look, a spider web on the train bridge . . .



Sorry, a touch of ADD.

Anyway, it is a popular spot for rafting and tubing,
although I imagine it would be a bit more exciting if there was, oh I don't know,
enough WATER to make some rapids.






















Darn, too early for the war.

The next day, BS & I headed for a newer attraction in the area, National Harbor.
It's just across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (on I95) in Maryland, right on the river.
It was FULL of Hokies because of the game with Boise State at Fed Ex Field,
which we LOST!
It also looked like money,
and it was full of places wanting you to part with too much of yours.
BS & I chose this place to eat because of my brother's love of ketchup.
There are only 3 in the world - LA, Saudi Arabia & Maryland.



Now, I'm not normally much of a wine drinker.
Wait. Back up. I'm hardly ever a wine drinker,
but this place had a white wine sangria that was heavenly. Fabulous. Sweet.
Look at it.



Oops, sorry, I already drank it.
The sweet potato fries were lightly sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar
and served with their signature '5 ketchups' - ranch, chipotle, maple, mango & raspberry.
Sweet potato fries dipped in maple ketchup. Raspberry & chipotle mixed.
Oh my.



The interior decor was ugly so we ate outside, but the food was very good.
Beautiful clear breezy day, not too hot.
A thirsty fly found its way into BS's empty sangria glass.
He didn't make it out alive.



A terrific weekend.
I think the cousins had a good time,
especially seeing as they didn't know us from Adam.
(HAHA - inside joke)
Husband A said he was afraid he might be stuck with douchbags all day,
or something like that.
Wait, he didn't really say we weren't douchbags, did he? Hmmm . . .

In Praise of the Pig

My friend from Texas, Buckykatt (not his real name), won't want to read this,
because I am going to extoll the virtues of pulled pork barbecue.

Don't get me wrong. To me, the quintessential piece of barbecue is brisket.
Beautiful, tender, smokey, cooked-all-day, melt-in-your-mouth beef brisket.

http://www.bonappetit.com/images/dishes/dish/dire_brisket_v.jpg

And no one can do brisket like a Texan.
I am especially fond of the brisket at T-Bone Tom's in Kemah TX, just south of Houston.
I have been there with my cousin a couple of times.
She ended up moving to another table so she wouldn't have to claim knowledge of or kinship with me.

"Excuse me, waitress? That woman over there who looks just like me is really annoying.
Could you please ask her to leave? Thank you so much."

I think I probably sounded just like Bill Murray in "What About Bob?"
You remember - the dinner scene.

But, this corner of the country is pig country, and here, we do pork barbecue.
And if you're gonna do the pig, pulled pork is the best.
Sorry Brother M, but pulled pork is far superior to chopped or minced.

A goodly portion of the family was gathering at my mother's for Labor Day eating,
and I wanted to do try pulled pork barbecue. Never made it before.
Always wanted to try, and they were game to be my guinea pigs.

I don't have a smoker, so slow smoking it all day was not an option.
And I don't know that I'd have the patience for that anyway, so I cheated.

It cooked low and slow in the oven. Here's how it played out:

ACT 1 - DRY RUB
Made up a dry rub & smeared it all over the nice Boston Butt roast I got at Harris Teeter on sale for half price.
Whoo-hoo! Or, as Paula Deen would say, after I applied the dry rub, I "rubbed my meat".

The dry rub consisted of brown sugar, onion powder, ground chipotle powder, garlic powder, black pepper, chili powder, sweet smoked paprika, , salt, mustard powder, cumin, thyme, and cinnamon in various quantities.
This is a rub that I made up after looking at a lot of them online.

It also calls for dried cilantro, but my mother is apparently missing the gene, so I left it out.
But that begs the question - why are none of her offspring missing said gene?
So, are we really her kids? Hmmm.

ACT 2 - MARINATE
Tightly wrap the pork in plastic & marinate in the fridge for about 7 hours. Here was my conundrum.
We were going to leave for my mothers at about 10 am, and I wanted the meat to cook for about 6 hours,
so, when I take off my shoes & socks to do the math, this means it needs to go in the oven at . . . . .
WHAT?! 4 am?!

Sigh, nothing is too big a sacrifice for the tummies of my fambily.
So I will lay myself on the altar of their appetites. And just to prove that I really did get up at 4 am:


When I unwrapped the pork, this is what it looked like.
I don't know what's up with that dry spot there at the lower edge.


I added some liquid - apple juice, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce & liquid smoke.
Put tin foil tightly over the top, put the lid on & put it in the oven at 300 degrees.
The alarm was set again for 6 am for the next act.

ACT 3 - BASTE
I hate waking up with the alarm.
It seems against nature to be yanked out of a delicious slumber by an evil noise from hell.
But allow myself to be yanked yet again I did to stumble to the kitchen. It's still pitch black out,
but the house is smellin' guuud.
Grab the potholders, take the big pot out of the oven, ladle the appley juices over the meat, and wrap it back in it's foil seal.

Now, this next part I blame on sleepiness.
I went to put the lid back on, and it looked so innocent sitting there in the predawn dimness of the poorly lit kitchen.
Didn't look like it was hot, ya know? And aren't reflexes a great thing?
I was able to let go pretty damn quick, but not before the seared flesh damage was done.
And you just run to the cold water faucet in the sink without really thinking about it.
Cold water feels soooo good on a burn, and your skin feels soooo on fire after you dry it off.
How was I supposed to get back to sleep with my hand on fire?

Now, I didn't go to college for nuthin'. I filled a big bowl with cold water, laid a towel on the edge,
and slept on the couch with my hand dangling in the water. You know what?
When I woke up at 8 (after not sleeping well anymore, thank you very much), my hand didn't hurt anymore.


ACT 4 - BASTE AGAIN
Actually, I didn't baste it, I turned it over so the other side could soak in the juices.
Put back in the oven - WITH POTHOLDERS!

ACT 5 - SNARF & GOBBLE
Showered, dressed, rousted BS out of bed, gathered everything & drove to my mother's beach condo for a Labor Day feast.
She made brownies & cut up some fresh fruit.
My brother, 2 nieces & nephew-in-law brought everything else.

The lid & foil came off & a couple of forks teased apart the falling-off-the-bone tender meat.
OH EM GEE!


Words cannot describe.
Look at this bowl of heavenly gastronomic delight.


But my brother, bless his misguided heart, wanted to chop & mince it.
I was able to save some from the evil knife of doom, but, alas, not all the pork survived his gleeful maniacal chopping.


And, brother dearest, if you ever take that big knife to my pulled pork again and chop it into oblivion, I'll have to hurt you.

I strained the cooking juices & removed most of the fat.
Then we mixed some of it with a bit of hot sauce and stirred it back into his minced pile.
LEAVE MY PULLED SHREDS ALONE!


It was a feast of crackers & my mother's famous-throughout-the-whole-family cheese ball, fresh fruit, barbecue,
cole slaw, baked beans, rolls, macaroni & cheese, and brownies.
I think I would want all this stuff at my last meal. Seriously. Either this or spaghetti & cheesecake. It's a toss-up.

ACT 6 - THE AFTERMATH

No words are necessary.


Lessons learned:

• Pots that just came out of the oven are hot.
• I WILL make this again, however, next time I want the cooking liquid to be less appley.
• Keep the knives away from my pulled pork.
• Don't forget the chipotle hot sauce (we had to use regular Texas Pete)
  

The tourist season is now officially over. I can go back to the beach!

A Visit From My Sister, Part Deux

I have 2 sisters, but, much to my dismay, neither one lives near enough for the occasional call saying, "I'm bored. You want to go to the movies?", or "Did you hear what Susie said about Johnny today in homeroom because it was like just sooooo mean and I think Sally is way smart to like totally diss her....."

Okay, we really don't talk like that, but when the siblings get together (brother included), we have a tendency to revert, much to my mother's disgust & dismay.

So when one of them visits & stays with my mom, I rush on over so we can have a big, goofy sleepover. Oldest sister (Nana) visited in January, & Sista G (frequent commenter on my blog) came this weekend with her husband. We played, we frolicked, we sang, we danced.

Okay, not really, but we had a good ol' time. A night at the movies (The Taking of Pelham 123 - very exciting), seafood 2 nights in a row, teasing my mother, what could be better?

In keeping with the picture of oldest sister in January, here is middle sister & BIL (brother-in-law):

BIL pouted that I didn't get his best side, so . . .




During some of the mind-numbing fun we were having, we happened upon this store . . .



. . . at the beach. It, uh, definitely lives up to it's name, but I wonder about the people who eventually will buy some of this stuff (if they ever do) . . .





(Now, about that guy on the right, "Is that a drum you're beating or are you just happy to see me?")




And lastly, I found this one truly disturbing. Seriously.
Why would anyone want to hang this anywhere?



While they were here, the wind was kicking up something fierce.
Looking out from my mother's hovel on the bay, it is usually calm as a bathtub, like this:

Not so today. The surf was so rough, it looked more like the ocean.
Why, if one opened one's windows and closed one's eyes when one went to bed,
one might have been fooled into thinking that it was the Atlantic ocean lulling them to sleep by making all that noise.











I love nature pictures. Can you tell?
Ooh ooh, and I tried some video on my camera at last, after owning it for 3 years.
Now let's see if I can figure out how to upload it.
[Ducking tomatoes thrown by certain person(s)]

Lesson learned: reading the owner's manual & actually learning to use all my camera's features might be an intelligent thing to do.

**sniff. Come back soon, either or both sisters. sniff**