Since this weekend was memorial day, it was a three day weekend - that kind of awesome only happens a few times a year, so we definitely took advantage of it! It really wasn't that adventurous, but we managed to pack a lot of fun into it. The only downside to the weekend, was that Thomas had a fever when I picked him up from daycare on Friday… Apparently that ear infection is not going away. We have a follow-up appointment on Friday, I would not be surprised if he ends up having to get ear tubes. :(
But back to the fun stuff of the weekend!
First order of the weekend was Springfest! Which meant getting up early, shopping for BBQ supplies, hanging out in the heat and letting people critique my beer. It was awesome! Mostly because everyone liked my Hef!
Thomas liked having a huge open space to run around in. Of course, he generally went for the picnic table or concrete fire pits that could hurt him, but overall is was a pretty low danger area and there were two of us to keep an eye on him...
Thomas made a ton of friends mostly because they all wanted to ride in his sweet wagon. Any new or future parents take note - this wagon is awesome!
And passed out in the wagon. The heat finally lulled him to sleep for a little while until he was back in action. Seriously, *best* *wagon* *ever*.
When we got home, we decided to break in the "swimming" pool, he had a grand time splashing around. Even if it doesn't look like it here - Matt took the photo when he first got in and I wasn't pulling my camera back out once he started going crazy with the splashing! ; )
Sunday we decided to tackle the back yard. Thomas tried to help by feeding Natalie... Natalie actually tried to eat what he was giving her, but dirt isn't really her thing.
So I recently discovered that adding spaghetti sauce to Thomas' food will make him chow down like nothing else. Unless of course, he's overly tired and then nothing makes him happy. This is quite possibly the best mad face I have gotten of him to date. Is it bad the mad face makes me giggle?
Steak Time!
And a perfect end to the weekend was our new steak cooking method we (of course) learned from an Alton Brown episode. So we bought a new/bigger charcoal chimney from Home Depot and the proper hard lump charocal. Then I went and got a fabulous looking 24 oz Porterhouse from Whole Foods. Then after a 1 hour warm up for the steak and 15 minute light for the charcoal - it was grilling time!
But it's an AB method, so it can't be something ordinary like cooking the steak on the grill! Nope, the steak goes under the chimney for 1.5 minutes on each side. See it getting all seared and lovely under there??
Oh baby... Come to momma!
I know this one is blurry, but you get the drift. After the 3 minutes under the chimney, you move the grate up top and cook it for an additional minute per side under an upside down metal bowl. (Forgot the bowl, had to improvise - will be buying a bowl!)
Seriously, this was the best steak we have made to date. I think most of it was paying for a good piece of meat and then just not messing it up. Next time we're going to try dry aging it - possibly the only way to improve on it! :)