Holiday Hike

OK - couple of days inside the house was enough - time to get out and exercise and enjoy this beautiful weather - 54 and sunny - can't beat that for North GA in December!

We went up to Amicalola Falls - did some hiking and bought our 2010 park passes.  We plan to be frequent park visitors this year and are planning a week camping trip this summer.  Love the state parks, love to hike, love the outdoors - especially with the family.

Christmas Day - FOOD FOOD and MORE FOOD - Grandad's China

We like to eat.  I like to eat.  The day started out with opening the gifts, and about 11AM, I fired up he smoker and put on the Turkey.  At the same time, Belinda cooked up a homestyle breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and cinnamon rolls that the neighbors gave us the night before.  YUMMY. 

My Grandfather (we called him Grandad) was a wonderful man.  I have so many fond memories of him.  He live a healthy life into his early 90's before passing away about several years ago.  Belinda and I were given his complete set of China.  We only use it on special occastions - Christmas Day being one of them.  We had a great meal and reflected on memories of Grandad while eating turkey, all the trimmings, a glass of wine for mom and dad and some sparkling grape juice for the kids.  Great meal, great day.

Christmas Day 2009 - opening the gifts

Happy Birthday Jesus!  What a great day at the Johnston household.  It began at 3:45 AM with dad discovering the kids sorting their presents out from under the tree.  Excuse me, but, that's just too early.  I got them back to bed, and crashed out on the couch to "keep watch" over the situation.  Well, that didn't last long - they spent the next couple of hours giggling in their rooms.  We finally got up around 7AM and started the festivities.

Trains, Boats, Bikes, nerf guns and video games - that was the deal for the kids this year.  Belinda got some really nice jewelry and a few other items - I got a meat smoker that I opened a few days early.  I also got a really cool motorcycle made out of various interesting bits of metal that will look great on my desk in the office and  new Indiana State U. hat and some cash. 

I believe I will let the pictures tell the story!

Antonio's Christmas Present - Fish Hunter 360 Fishing Boat

We live on a little lake (it's a pond where I come from, but the locals call it a lake) and it's stocked with Bass, panfish, and supposedly a few catfish, although we have never caught any of them.  Antonio loves to fish.  We made a path down through the very thick brushy woods this past summer and made a little clearing where we fish from behind the house.  There is also a gazebo at the other end of the lake that is a pretty nice place to fish from.  Antonio asked for a fishing boat for Christmas.  I looked at several types - canoes, scanoes, jon boats, and inflatables.  I came to the conclusion that the Jon boats were to heavy, canoes too easy to tip over, and scanoes just too darn expensive.  I ended up with a Sevylor Fish Hunter 360 inflatable.  It's 12' long, very stable, and has built in rod holders.  It can also be fitted with an electric trolling motor, although we opted to get Antonio oars to start out with. 

The weather was pretty decent today, so we decided to test out the boat.  The first thing we learned was that blowing up a heavy duty inflatable boat that's been sitting in a 40 degree garage is not the best idea.  We quickly moved the boat from outside to the warmth of the kitchen table to loosen up the rubber.  After it sat for an hour, the $20 coleman pump I bought was "good enough".  Time to head for the open water.

The trek down the hill was all me.  The kids carried the equipment and I carried the boat.  There are plenty of pokey things to pop a hole in this boat on the way down the hill so I am going to have to be the one to carry it to ensure it stays intact.  Once at the bottom of the hill, I noticed the lake was terribly muddy.  We had a pretty hard rain on Christmas even and all the run off really mucked up the water.  It didn't really matter though, Antonio only brought one pole and a tackle box that was half empty.  I didn't really expect to catch anything today - just wanted to get out and enjoy some fresh air and time with my boys.  Surprisingly, Diego, who hadn't really expressed much interest in the boat, was really getting into it.  Antonio just sees it a a means to possibly catch more fish.  Diego is ready to go out on Lake Lanier.  He was having a blast paddling. 

In all, I would say it was a great Christmas present, one that we all will enjoy for a long time I am sure.

Merry Christmas to ME - More Outdoor Cooking Gear to Enjoy!

I love to be outside.  So, cooking outside is a favorite of mine.  I can often be found on Saturday or Sunday evening, cold beer in hand, standing over the grill on the deck.  I have been wanting to add a Smoker to my outdoor cooking equipment for sometime.  Merry Christmas to me.  I finally pulled the trigger and bought a Brinkman gas smoker.  OK - if you are a traditionalist, I apologize for buying a gas smoker as I realize a proper southern boy only smokes food with a wood or charcoal smoker.  However, my research found that gas is one of the easiest to use and operate, is fairly portable in case you want to take the smoker tailgating or camping, and fell right into my price range.  Gas fueled smokers are also recommended by a couple people who have "authored" books about BBQ techniques. 

GOOD RESOURCES
One of my co-workers, Ray Parrish, who is a fabulous cook, gave me a great book to read titled "Backyard BBQ - The Art of Smokology".  The author is an award winning, professionally trained chef who specializes in BBQ, and has won several contests and awards over the past 20 years.  Also, my neighbors the Fortangs gave me a book for Christmas titled "Smoke & Spice" by Cheryl and Bill Jamison.  Tons or recipes for outdoor cooking. 

TEST RUN
I "seasoned" the smoker Friday night - basically, all this consists of is using the smoker as if you were cooking something, but not cooking something.  It puts a nice coat of smokey residue all over the inside of the smoker and burns off any leftover oils from the assembly process.  We then bought 3 racks of ribs Sunday, and used the "Kansas City Sloppy Rib's" recipe as a trial run with the smoker.  They turned out really good.  I wouldn't say they are better than my Dr. Pepper Ribs, just different with the smoked flavor.  My next smoking adventure will be on Christmas Day when we will prepare a 13 lb Turkey in the Smoker.  The prep work will start with the Brine process on Christmas eve followed by 5 hours in the smoker on Christmas Day.....stay tuned!

Our Christmas Eve Baby's 8th Birthday

Antonio was born on Christmas Eve, so we always celebrate it a couple weeks early.  He had some of his pals over for pizza and some bowling and bumper cars at the local "Stars and Strikes".  Pretty cool place. 

Thanksgiving in the Midwest Part 7 - what a great week

Back from the trip, Monday was a day of unpacking, cleaning, and reflection on a super trip to the Midwest.  15 years of marriage to my lovely wife Belinda as of last week, and I honestly can't think of a better way to have spent our anniversary than together with family and friends giving thanks for all the many blessings we have.

Merry Christmas.

Thanksgiving in the Midwest Part 6

Finally, here are some random pics of family from a luncheon we had.  Everyone is doing just fine!

Thanksgiving in the Midwest Part 5

On the final day of our trip, we met up with several friends at the Copper Bar in downtown Terre Haute.  I was pretty excited that they had Stella Artois and Smittwicks both for $2.50 a bottle - that's like free where I live.  Anyway, Belinda and I really enjoyed seeing several old friends Heather, Billie, Marcie, Laticia and her husband Chuck, our new friend Doc (Jayne's fiance), my cousin Eric....well, I think that is it.  We both agreed that on future trips, we must make it a point to see our friends in addition to family.  It's very important and made the trip very memorable.  I wish I would have taken more pictures of the group.

Thanksgiving in the Midwest Part 4

Friday started off a little concerning.  Thursday, while traveling over to Indiana, the motorhome began running a little rough and the check engine light came on.  So, dad and I took it up to see our friends up at Clinton Ford, Tom and Gus Wilson.  Turned out to be a clogged fuel filter.  I am actually glad it happened because dad and I had some great bonding time and I always enjoy shooting the shit with the boys at Clinton Ford. 

Later in the day, we got together with some old friends and their kids for some bowling fun.  A highlight of the evening was meeting Jayne's fiance Doc.  We really like him - very nice guy.  We also saw Cindy - haven't seen her in years!  After bowling, I left the company of my family and David took me out to deer camp to see the Fontanet boys....lots of camo clothing, beer drinking, fire pit watching, and card playing.  No deer hunting.  Funny, I have seen this scene before.....several times.....no pictures though - photos strictly prohibited at deer camp.

Thanksgiving in the Midwest Part 3

Thanksgiving Day - off early AM to Indiana.  We made it to my sisters house by early afternoon - just in time for a very nice feast.  We also got to meet Paul's parents - they are very nice people and we enjoyed everyone's company.  Once again - I ate too much....the homeade ice cream was over the top good.

Thanksgiving in the Midwest Part 2

Day 3 and we headed for Bowling Green Ohio (actually, McClure OH - small farm town outside of BG) for an early Thanksgiving dinner with Belinda's family.  WAY TOO MUCH FOOD - I ate mostly junk food.  Belinda stayed up all night gabbing with her sisters and then went to Meijer for the 6AM shopping spree - she bought me a TV for our patio - it was a doorbuster special - love that woman!