I have had a lifelong interest in cooking. Although I have spent time in the kitchen with soups and breads as well as some main courses and helping Janet with casseroles and Christmas morning stuff, I really enjoy grilling and smoking meat. While I have been grilling since I was a child, learning at the knee of my father, I started getting serious about smoking about six years ago.
I started with beef jerky, snack sticks and summer sausage. Throughout the years, I have learned certain tricks of the trade and almost four years ago, we actually invested in a dedicated smoker and I was able to graduate from using a standard Weber gas grill to make my culinary creations. As time went on, I have become more proficient and have a gathered something of a following for the items that come off the smoker.
I find it very satisfying and have really embraced this hobby as something that I look forward to doing for many years to come. We are blessed to have a second kitchen in the lower level of our home and that has become my “prep” kitchen where I can do my thing without interrupting Janet and the main kitchen in our home. I have expanded my offerings to include baby back ribs, kielbasa, pulled pork (a family favorite), ham, smoked meatloaf, steaks from time to time and a host of other smoked items.
In fact, I got so involved that I decided to join a group of chefs and cooks in a private group dedicated to assisting one another to continue to improve our skills. I have learned quite a bit and really enjoy the online camaraderie that we have with one another. There are recipes to try, courses to take, badges to earn for successful completion of specific assignments and even classes on how to make various sauces and rubs.
Each month there is a “challenge” – something that the group is encouraged to try, assess, take pictures of and post on the private site. Of course, we encourage one another and offer pearls of wisdom on shortcuts or other tweaks that will help us in the future. These things may include wood flavors to use, using “pink” paper, brands of thermometers, timers, cook temps and too many other things to mention.
In December, we had an interesting challenge. The idea was to take a traditional family favorite recipe and add a new twist to step it up a notch. Not a new recipe mind you, nothing too drastic, but a new twist on a traditional favorite. So this is where I needed a good idea!
Our family LOVES bacon. And it is one of the Christmas morning favorites that is part of our annual brunch celebration after opening our gifts. In fact, I can’t imagine anyone in the family ever missing this favorite meal that we share together. Andrew makes our bacon – five pounds of it for the family Christmas morning. But it seemed to me that putting a new twist on the bacon would be an acceptable response to the December challenge.
I was thinking about my childhood and how one of our business friends sent Dad a slab of Virginia maple smoked bacon each Christmas. Our kids have never had it so I decided it was time to expand my horizons again… I bought pork bellies, brined them, prepped them and finally smoked them in small slabs. After vacuum sealing (yes, we have the equipment), we started to play with aging and the final product. Frankly, it was awesome… So many memories came flooding back to me and we exposed the rest of the family to something that is no longer popular to do like it was when I was a youngster.
The capstone of this entire experience is that my entry into the challenge was chosen as the winner for the month of December. I was thrilled. I know that in the scheme of things, it was not all that important, but I took pride in knowing that my game continues to improve. I still use the fundamentals that I learned years ago, but changing things up a little can give us new perspectives and keep things interesting.
That’s the same way we should treat our faith and devotional studies. While we may already have established habits, it is important to find ways to keep our private worship fresh and productive. Whether it is adding a spiritual discipline or reading the Bible from a different perspective, we must challenge ourselves to keep it interesting.
Our verse for tonight is from the Psalms. The psalmist tells us, in Psalm 143:5-6, “I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.”
My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to continue to engage with Him in all kinds of ways. Bible studies, devotionals, Christian confidantes and different spiritual exercises are good ways to expand your communion with the Lord. My prayer is that we will all remember those things that brought us to the Lord in the beginning and, as we mature, what we can do to honor our history while adding a “twist” to our faith life. After all, the fundamentals are important but so are the enhancements. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…