Telluride

 
Black and white picture of Telluride

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Pictures from Telluride....

We had a great trip to Telluride. The skiing was awesome! They have had a record year for snow fall. It was a bit dicey getting there. The day before we flew in both of the two flights were cancelled due to weather. Plus the flight the morning of our trip was cancelled too. When we boarded they told us there was a 50/50 chance we would be able to land in Telluride. If the weather in Telluride was stormy, we would be diverted to Grande Junction and bused in. That would be a three hour sardine ride. But luck was with us, we were able to land. The first two days were cloudy, windy and snow for a storm was passing through. The last two days were beautiful - warm and sunny. My kind of skiing :)

Here's a black and white of one of the many mountain ranges you can see from the fist stop on the gondola ....

Water Gate....

The Big Build now has a Big Gate!

The weather has finally warmed up a bit in Texas :). Hence the winter/spring construction season has begun. The first project on our list is the pool gate. Here's a picture of the panels just after they were hung. We are very pleased with the project so far. We still have a few more peices to weld into place along with final grinding and buffing. Plus, the plan is to add metal planters on top of each of the stone columns. In these planters I think I'll plant agave. On the trellis I'm going to grow clematis - one of the long blooming deep red varieties.

The next major projects scheduled for this season are the 3m platform, a final coat of plaster on the pizza oven/smoker wall, the planter inside the pool area, steel doors for the cabinets in the pizza oven/smoker wall, the steps on the outside staircase, and a final coat of paint on the backside of the house.

Note the weather is warming up - sunny and mid 70s, so is the pool - 60 (it was 50 last week)! Soon we will be open for business ....

2nd Attempt at Using Our New Smoker

The smoker was completed just prior to Thanksgiving!

But we didn't have a chance to use it until we returned from the great white north. Our first firing was December 1st. As I recall it was a very nice day. A great day for a party, but we didn't want to put too much pressure on ourselves, so we kept it low key. We smoked a chicken, a small brisket, and some ribs. The chicken came out the best. Actually it was very good. Very moist and very tasty. The brisket and ribs not so good. The brisket was too small so it cooked too fast. Plus it did not have allot of fat on it as most do. As a result it was very dry. The ribs were more of the same. In a nut shell not so good.

Since in our first attempt the bird fared very well, we decided to try a turkey for the Xmas feast. Here's a picture of Dave with the turkey. Given my favorite part of the feast is the stuffing ... and it really isn't any good unless it's cooked in the bird. We decided to take a chance and stuff it. In addition to the turkey we decided to try another brisket. Since our last attempt was so dismal we did some research on the ways of the brisket. We got all kinds of advice. Some "experts" told us to cook it with the fat up others told us to cook it with the fat down. Some told us the secret was to cook it in a paper bag. Some said cook it straight on the grill. And others said a couple of hours on the grill then move it to foil. The one thing every did agree on is the brisket needs to be big and fatty. I think that's where we failed the first time. So armed with all kinds of advice, we thought we'd give it another try.

I'm happy to report the turkey was excellent. The brisket not so good. Actually it was worse then the first attempt. It was carded beyond recognition. I'm afraid this was a result of my paranoia about under cooking the turkey. We kept the smoker at 300-400 degrees. Come to find out - not ideal for cooking a brisket. .... Turns out the brisket should be cooked at 200-225. Not 400! Oh well ... The turkey was good :) We'll give the brisket another shot in a few weeks.

Winter in Texas?

My Ice Plant in the front planter continues to bloom despite the two hard freezes we had last weekend. Very nice. I plan on propagating it come spring.

As for the Simplicity roses, they keep blooming as well. They've been at it non-stop since early June. The frost hasn't stopped then either. All the other plants have started to go dormant.

Below is a picture of the ghosts of summer. They are finally on their way. The sunrises have been stunning as well.

Ghosts

Sun Rise

Holiday Party '07

Another year has come and gone. We celebrated good times at the Holiday Party. To the right is a picture of the guys toasting with the Ginger Bread Nog. Very tasty and potent I was told ....

Here's a picture of the girls by the Christmas tree.