Suzanne Calling

One of the many axioms Alton Brown used in his excellent cooking show Good Eats is "Your patience will be rewarded." Not only is the man a cooking genius, he is absolutely right. Witness the Boston Butt. I grill these fairly regularly for pulled pork, and until about six months ago, I'd cook them at about 350 for 4 hours. They were good, pretty good in fact, but I finally opted to try the low and slow method that many grill masters prefer. Oh my, they weren't kidding that my patience would be rewarded, for the smoky flavor is deeper, the rub caramelizes nicely and the meat is easy to pull apart, something that I need with a shoulder that is still somewhat wonky post-op. Rather than write about it, I'll show you pictures of why low and slow is the best way to go when grilling. This stayed on the grill for nine hours: The 'stalagmites' as Chef called them are the result of me flipping the butt over, then back an hour late...

We've got a fantastic Turkish restaurant in town and decided to have a flavorful meal. The plates were overflowing with food and the hospitality wonderful. If you're near Lakeland and want to try something new and delicious, check out Bosphorous on Kentucky Avenue. It doesn't look like much, but the food will wow you and the kindness is just a cherry on top.

The regional sandwich you'll find in this neck of the woods are the very tasty Cuban sandwiches, usually just referred to as a Cuban. Originally created as something the workers could eat on the go as they went about their work in the fields, a Cuban contains pork loin, ham, cheese, lettuce mustard and pickles on a bread similar to crusty Italian bread. Then they're flattened and heated in a plancha (hot grill) and served up warm. We're not purists, though, preferring to ditch the pickles and sometimes even the mustard. When done just right, though, a Cuban is a thing of beauty. Today, inspiration struck. I made a wonderful 4 pound pork loin on the grill last night, which there is probably 3 pounds remaining. I've got all the other ingredients we eat AND this amazing barbeque sauce Ed calls Awesomeque. (Pssst, it's really this guy's Pig pucker sauce and dude, thanks for the recipe!) Why not make Gringos, since taking the pickles and mustard off the sand...

The plantar faciitis is back with a vengeance. I did it to myself by wearing the same shoes, day in and day out, which is really discouraged with PF. Several of the treatment options are not feasible for me, due to allergies and history. So I've been icing the foot several times a day. The way I've been doing this is by bringing a large bowl out onto the lanai and icing five on, five off for about an hour. This helps a little, but makes the other problems worse. I've been meaning to get some more of those blue ice packs to chuck in the freezer, because I can help the other leg problems with elevation and the PF with cold all at the same time. Here's where the surprise (more like OOPS) comes in. I ordered a box of goodies from See's Candies for the menfolk for Easter. Floridians who want See's in warmer months can get it by paying an extra $13 bucks for 'warm weather shipping.' I wasn't exactly sure what it entailed, but I knew that this is ...

I don't know how we did it. On the drive over to the Apple store and back, we passed field after field of luscious, ripe strawberries. We didn't stop at any of the wonderful farm stands. Was it because Ed wasn't hungry for a Parkesdale Strawberry shortcake after having a big lunch? Was it the fact that the kids were with us, since we typically have the first strawberry treat while they are in school? I'm not sure, but somehow, we came home with empty arms and strawberry free bellies. However, I do have sneaking suspicion that later this week, I'll be getting a flat of goodness from the Winter Strawberry Capital of the world and making some syrup, shortcake and cookies. I can't wait.

For our first wedding anniversary, Ed and I got a gas grill. Year round, we'd use that bad boy, mostly to make steaks or kebabs. It had a design flaw that resulted in replacing the heating element. Twice. As a result, not that long after we moved to Florida, the grill was history. Some sucker found it out at the curb and probably looked at the exterior and thought we were nuts for getting rid of a perfectly good grill. It was gone before the garbage men showed the next day. It was going to suck for that person to find that Sunbeam no longer existed and the crucial part to using that grill, the heating element, could not be replaced. It's been on our list of 'wants' to replace our grill. This year, I told Ed we'd get a new one. However, we have champagne tastes and a beer budget. As is typical, Ed did a bunch of research, then we looked around. One of the places on the list to check was not as full of outdoor lifestyle products as we'd hoped. We were...

Yeah, I know, they look like Iced Tea. My preferred rum is Bacardi Select, so they don't look like the Mojitos you find at your local bar. Don't be hatin'.

We live about halfway between Tampa and Orlando. What this means for us is that when we get a taste for certain restaurants or stores, we have to drive 30 miles or more east or west to dine in favorite establishments. When we visit those favorite places, if we get a table visit from a manager, I freely cop to asking "So, when are you going to open in Lakeland?" It always gets a laugh and several times, we've become privy to information earlier than is posted on websites about future expansion plans. For instance, we knew Ritas Ices and Buffalo Wild Wings had their sights set on our town before they published the info. (I don't think that info is on BW3's site yet) Since we've moved, each time we visited a Tijuana Flats, we'd ask the question. About six months ago, someone gave us the answer we wanted to hear, that Lakeland would soon have a Flats. It opened recently, but it's not convenient to us, so we hadn't had the chance to go until Mond...

There soon will be Mojitos! The traveling Mojito Muddler and the aforementioned limes: I hope that's enough!