I Haven't Forgotten About You...

Working on a big entry...front yard landscaping...including new concrete work in the driveway and walkway...stay tuned...

Patchy Lawn

One of my biggest challenges in the suburbs: a nice thick green lawn for Jake to run around on. So far, I have only had limited success, and a patchy lawn is proving to be the norm! How do the landscaping companies that zip around my neighborhood make it look so easy?

Weekend Rainout

A rainout is a rainout whether you are in the burbs, in the city, on the farm, or wherever you call home. And that's what this weekend was, a rainout. So no bike riding, no smoked meats, no house projects. Except for Easter Sunday which was nice, with winds making it feel like 20 degrees. One thing we did get done was buy end - tables for the living room, which may not sound all that exciting, but let me tell you, suburbanites love this sh!t. The landscaping project didn't get off the ground this weekend due to the weather, so that will have to wait until May since we are getting ready for the big vacation to Sanibel Island, FL...

Backyard BBQ

One of the best things about the burbs? Backyard BBQ. One of the greatest birthday gifts I have ever recieved was a BBQ Smoker. My wife got me the Weber Smokey Mountain Bullet Smoker...and just look at how happy the family is below!

So this weekend I am home, and we will be smokin' up some meat. Last weekend was ribs and the soon-to-be-famous buffalo wings. This weekend? Not sure yet, we'll see what the butcher has on sale. So far I have smoked chicken wings, baby back ribs, pork shoulder, pork loin, tukey breast...and I think that may be it, with the wings and the pulled pork leading the charge.

I will post a picture of some wings in the future (during the next smoking session), but for now, here is the recipe:

- Take ~6 lbs. of chicken wings out its packaging and trim off all loose / hanging fat and skin. Apply some cayenne pepper and salt to the chicken, rub it in. Easy w/ the pepper, you can always add more later. This really gives the chicken a nice tan when it's smoking. Let the chicken sit for an hour or so, bringing it to room temperature.
- Fire up the charcoal chimney starter (fill 'er up to the top)
- Fill up the charcoal chamber in the smoker about 1/2 way, and wedge in 3 to 4 fist sized chunks of smoke wood (I use oak / mesquite, but am anxious to try apple and cherry wood)
- Once the charcoal chimney is glowing, and all the briquettes are white, dump them on top of the unlit coals in the smoker
- Assemble the smoker and add (hot) water to the water pan
- Place chicken wings on the cooking grate. You can cook up to 12 lbs. if you place wings on both cooking grates (Note, the bottom grate will cook about 10 to 15 degrees hotter than the top grate, so they may cook a little faster)
- Level the smoker at around 220 degrees (F), and start the timer. Keep at 220 degrees for about 3 hours
- When the wings are almost done, fire up the gas grill
- Remove wings from the smoker, and place directly on the very hot (400-500 degree) grill (skin / meat side down)
- DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THEM! These things will light up if you keep them on too long, you just want them on for 2 to 3 mintes to get the skin nice and crispy
- Remove directly into a large mixing bowl
- Add 1/4 cup of Wegmann's Hot Wing Sauce and toss wings with tongs. NOTE: You don't need a lot of sauce, a little goes a long way, and we are just trying to give them a thin coat of sauce. You don't want to kill the smoked flavor you have just waited 3+ hours for with too much sauce
- ENJOY

As my future brother in law (who is one hell of a chef) said - maybe the best wings he has ever had in his life...but that could have been the beer talking...we'll see

First Timers - Landscaping

We have a major suburban landscaping intiative in the makings at our house, and I wanted publish a little of the creative process before the actual work begins. I will post some before and after photos shortly (hopefully), but for now, take a look at the sketches that we have worked up for our landscaping project.

Schematics and sketching are a necessary evil. I always want to just start digging, and making progress, but the planning portion of any project is so important, especially with this, where I am literally starting from scratch in terms of landscaping knowledge. For instance, who knew a Crepe Myrtle has three color options and flowers 110 days a year, throughout the summer?

We took some inspiration from the Elevated Acre in NYC (where Wall Street meets the FDR Drive). It is a little oasis in the canyons of the financial district that is a great little secret spot. The pictures below were taken last week, before everything greens up and starts to grow, but in the summer it is really overflowing with tall grasses and dashes of color. If you are ever in the area, pick up some chicken and rice from the street vendor, and head there for lunch.

Landscaping in general has always been a bit intimidating, with all of the varieties of plants, different growing conditions, different soil types, sun exposure, spacing of trees, etc. etc. etc. It can be very overwhelming.

For this reason, we are working with a pro (http://backyardresortsbyjack.blogspot.com/). Jack has been helping define our landscaping style, and has been showing us the types of plantings that will work w/ the genre of our home. I added his link to my blog list, so keep checking that as well, as he is constantly updating it with planting tips and landscaping info. I would like to say we found him, but the truth is, he was driving by our house, saw how miserable it looked, and knocked on our door, so he found us.

On a side note, I have become infactuated with moss (and all the different types of moss) throughout this planning process. I even found a moss nursury close to our vacation spot in the Poconos (http://www.mossacres.com/default.asp) that I can purchase starter moss and trasnplant to Garden City. Unfortunatly, most of our property faces the south, and gets heavy sun, so not the best environment for moss growth, but the back path may become a little testing area for an eventual moss garden. I will keep you posted.

So that's it for now, lots more to follow on this, the concrete work is scheduled to begin this weekend depending on weather and material availability, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

New Title - And New Direction!

Hello faithful reader(s). New title and new direction for the blog starting today. A little glimpse into life in suburbia. I woke up after the first night in our new house 2 years ago, windows opened, birds chirping, realizing what I had missed when I was living in Hoboken, NJ. I am a product of the 'burbs, and happy to be back. This blog will re-focus, and really concentrate on the things that make me happy to be back in the 'burbs.

Our Not-So-Little Guy

Our little guy turned 2 on March 7th. He is growing like a bean stalk, and is seriously the greatest gift we could have ever wished for. As you can see, Jake and I wore our matching River Plate jerseys (fresh from Argentina, and my in-law's trip there) for the occassion. As you can also see, Jake really enjoyed the chocolate covered cookies Anna made!