Howdy, howdy! Welcome to October. How’s everyone doing? Things here are quiet for the most part. My minion rescued Dad when his truck broke down (and of course it was the one time Dad had forgotten to take his phone), but even that wasn’t all that exciting. Anyway, I realized it’s been a long time since I’ve done a food post, but that’s because we haven’t been anywhere. Stupid plague. So, I decided to brag on some of the stuff Dad’s been cooking lately. I have no pics because I never think about making Dad take any. But you can still be jealous without them. It’s okay.

1. Pastrami. It starts as a brisket and over about two weeks, it magically transforms into pastrami. Okay, it’s not magic. Dad knows what he’s doing. I only know the basics. It has to cure in some kind of solution for a while, then gets coated in a bunch of yumminess, and eventually gets smoked for a really long time. It’s delicious. Pastrami on rye with some mustard and maybe a little provolone. Mmm… my second favorite thing ever. Sorry, pastrami. I don’t think anything will ever top lasagna. But you’re a very close second.

2. Brisket. Dad can’t smoke just one thing when it’s going to take 18ish hours anyway, so when he made the pastrami last time, he also smoked some brisket. It’s soft and juicy with little pockets of melty fat. There’s a nice crust too. We had it with a salad and Dad made hash with some of it for breakfast. We’ve got some saved (and pastrami too) for future meals. He always makes enough to portion it out and freeze for later.

3. A ham. A bone in ham, but it wasn’t spiral sliced this time. Dad smoked it to imbue it with more flavor goodness. It was surprisingly soft (we ended up with a different brand than usual) and juicy and actually tasted like ham. It was good. There were grilled ham on rye with cheddar and mustard sandwiches. But the best part about a ham is yet to come. Beans. Pintos with lots of meat and sausage and general goodness on corn chips with some cheese and crema (Mexican or Salvadoran sour cream depending on what we have. It’s a whole delicious thing. And yes. A lot of the ham will end up frozen.

I’m sure I’m forgetting things. And I haven’t really touched much on breakfast (sausage gravy, home fries, scrambles with various goodies). But food is not lacking just because we aren’t trying new restaurants. I have Dad. Who needs other chefs? Be jealous. It’s okay.

What kinds of goodies have you been enjoying lately? Anything you’re craving? As always, feel free to share your thoughts and comments and questions here or on my social media pages!