What could be more dangerous than a motorcycle sidecar?

How about a sidecar on a scooter? Oh man, I needed to come in for a closer look. 

Yes. It's true. A suicde car. Unbelieveable!

I guess one thing that that may be more dangerous is the chap speeding along, paying little attention to driving, trying to get a close up shot of this!!

I just had to see if there was a person in it, there was not. Phew!!

 I am going to assume this ingenuitive, small carbon footed, forward thinker uses the sidecar for groceries and not for human cargo. I hope.

Where's the Beef?

meat memoirs deux

The Brisket:

So far I have smoked pasrami, pork butt, whole chicken, sausage, and beef brisket.

Brisket is my favorite. It is not too overwhelming, it's a nice casual day of smoking. I use pecan wood. It makes sweet and delicious. I trimmed off the point to use later for pastrami. Smoking just the flat makes for a more uniform size piece and the smoke more evenly penetrates it.

Sliced and ready to serve.

Those Hixon Kids

I was told that my Grandpa Farrer once said that if you give the Hixon kids a couple of sticks, in no time at all they will come up with a game to play. I have always revered that comment. I realize that he probably was not referring to me; I was only 3 years old when he died, but I thought it spoke to our ingenuity, creativity, and playful/competitive nature.


As I was leaving a job site the other day, I saw something that caught my eye. It was a piece of 12" corrugated HDPE drain pipe. It was a scrap from the underground utility contractor. It was trash to them but to me it looked like hours of fun for my kids. So I grabbed it and threw it in the truck.

I spent all day today working in the front and watching the next generation of Hixon kids across the street at the park playing with this piece of pipe. It was just as much fun as I hoped it would be.

I love it!

Pass the Mint Jelly, Please

It has been a long running joke in my family that in my parent’s refrigerator there is a jar of mint jelly. I believe it has been there since the Nixon administration. It was brought out whenever my mom made a leg of lamb. I can remember eating lamb twice, the last time was 1985. From these few early encounters this is how I feel about lamb: Smells like beef, looks like beef, tastes like dog food.


As the years unfolded I have wondered if I needed to give lamb another chance. I have seen it prepared and featured in some very upscale restaurants, but I could not shake the dog food stigma…until today.

Of all places I was at a pit barbeque restaurant for lunch. As an aspiring Pit Master I usually go for the combo plate so I can sample a few different meats. A new feature on the menu was none else but smoked lamb.

The word smoked is the ultimate deal maker for me. Smoked sausage, smoked salmon, smoked cheese, heck I even buy the smoked almonds! Smoked anything is better than it's non-smoked counterpart.

So, of course, take the risk and I get the lamb. I balance it out with safe brisket. It came with barbeque sauce and a curious little green relish. Pesto? That seemed odd. Pickle relish? Maybe, so I give it a waft. It was not pickle relish, it was mint relish. MINT relish? No way, no how!

I tried the lamb, and it was not bad...for dog food. Smoked dog food. I was a little disappointed. I hoped my taste buds had matured, but they had not. Now that little cup of minty green relish intrigued me. Maybe this is the missing link! Perhaps this is the perfect compliment that masks the dog food flavor and accentuates the beef flavor. So I go for it. I spread it on a fork-sized piece of lamb and pop it into my mouth.

What do you know... mint flavored, smoked, dog food. Oh well, I tried it.