Vacation's All I Ever Wanted

Hi all--

Look for your pal, Backyard Chef, in this upcoming Sunday's New York Daily News. I was interviewed and photographed for a piece on grilling/bbq fanatics by the very cool Rachel Wharton. I know that my buddy Rob from Big Island Barbeque (NY State Grand Champions 2005 along w/ Dr. BBQ!!) is in the article as well, but that's about all I know on that score.

Just got back from a few days in Cape Cod with the in-laws. What a great time. The weather was perfect, and sunday night the bunch of us sat out under the stars eating some ribs and pulled pork that I brought, which we served with an amazing tomato salad put together by my brother-in-law Chef Tim. I get to cook with him about once a year if I'm lucky and it is a thrill and an honor.

Thanks for all the recent comments, especially with regard to my mother. She appreciates that you are all out there sending her your positive energy.

I should be cooking up a huge batch of 'que this weekend with Hiroshi out in the Hamptons, so I'll keep you posted.

Lastly, I've added the excellent Ole Smokey BBQ blog to the links section-- visit them, praise them and tell them the Hampton Smoker says hello.

My 6-year-old Niece, Hannah, making bubbles

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See you in September

A little diversion from the 'que. Yellow tomato salad with fresh mozarella, a splash of some aged balsamic vinegar, fresh basil and red onion.

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Reporting for Duty

In the middle of job hunting and trying to determine if, after 33 years, I have any better idea of what I want to do with my life than I did at age 13 when people started asking.

Hopefully the love of bbq, food and good company will lead the way. But, in the meantime, I'll start planning a party because I just heard that my mom's recent cancer antigen (CA-125??) test shows us that she is currently cancer free!! So, now she just has to heal her broken hip and she should be home for the first time in almost a month-and-a-half. Huzzah!

Added the sylish and topical BBQ Report to the links this morning, so stop by and check out what a pickup truck with a grill built into the engine compartment looks like. Fun stuff.

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It's A Wild World

So, It's been a while since I last said hello. I apologize for being away so long. The trip to East Hampton that Amy and I took at the beginning of the month was fantastic. The weather was perfect-- about 80 and clear with a mild breeze. We could use some more days like that.

We cooked some ribs for a family get-together coming up in a few weeks and some barbequed chicken. The next day we cold smoked some cheese and plum tomatoes over peach, apple chunks and some hickory chips. The meats were cooked using charcoal, oak, hickory, apple and peach.

So, here are some photos from the last few weeks. I had a review of PJ's BBQ in Saratoga that got eaten by the blog void. Hope everyone is doing alright out there.

Sorry about some of these photos. A little more blurry than we usually like to see.
A view of the water

Sweet and sticky ribs. A bit blurry.

Blurry BBQ'd chicken

Cold smoking in progress.

Cold-smoked cheddar and plum tomatoes.

Smoked salsa with plum tomatoes shown above.

A backyard lily.

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