Coal Pits Wash

Here it is. I have finally gotten all my gear together and set a goal to go backpacking once a month. They will mostly be overnighters and the likes but getting out none the less. Now as you see in the pictures Sage and Cole are with me. Which required me outfitting them some too. I may also have to upsize my tent for the times that they join me. It was a tight squeeze. This is our March trip to Coal Pits Wash in Zions National Park. This also happened to be the first official backpacking trip for both the boys. Grandpa Kent, Clark(me), Sage, and Cole set out to achieve our first backpacking trip. We first went to get our back country permit. I had wanted to get campsite 6 because it was closer and I wasn't sure how the boys would hold out. But it was taken so we took campsite 5 which was 2 miles further (4 miles total). What a fortunate turn of events. Not only did we all make it fine the campsite was much better than the closer campsite. We would have missed out on the best part of the hike and camping. The section of hike from camp six to camp five is up a narrow canyon. You follow the wash and are climbing around and over giant boulders and such most of the way. That being said it really didn't seem too strenuous. The campsite was nice and right by the stream so we had fun playing in the water and catching lizards. We ate some dehydrated meals for dinner. Which Cole didn't like but the rest of us did. They have come a long way since the old trail foods I remember. Anyway we crammed into my cloudburst 2 man tent. (except Grandpa Kent, he slept under the stars.) And we woke to the sound of wild turkeys gobbling. After getting up and eating breakfast we made the return hike in about half the time as the up hike. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs I have converted to light weight packing and to give you an Idea of how that effected me, Sage and I ran at full speed the last 500 yards or so to the car, I nearly forgot I even had a pack on. The boys packs are also quite light so they too are not being bogged down. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next trip. Hopefully soon.

Snow Boarding

Just thought I would throw in a quick word on my snowboarding yesterday. Jeff and I decided to run up to Snowbird. (we had free tram passes) It ended up being one of the most beautiful ski days you could imagine, good snow, no wind, clear skis and lots of sun. The only problem was I was too out of shape to really take full advantage of it. I am paying the price today for my slothfulness. And I fear I will be severely hobbled tomorrow. Anyway it was an awesome day.

Bacon Explosion

Hello,

I am still alive contrary to what my blog history may support. I am rededicating myself to keep this and my family blog current this year. And what better time to start than with my Super Bowl Bacon Explosion experience.

I'm sure as some of you saw last week there was some hype going around a bout a relatively new recipe for a bacon and sausage concoction. Well I saw it, and as a carnivore, drooled excessively. Amidst my grumbling and groaning and excessive salivation the idea that I might actually make one of these began to obsess my mind. And after the gazillionth website showing how, I decided that the dream must become a reality.

I new the ingredients would be easy to come buy but I needed a smoker to do this right. Now I tend to buy impulsively on such occasions. But alas, even I new that I could not buy a smoker just for one recipe that I had never actually tried. So I pondered on this for awhile until.... I remembered that my brother-in-law had smoked some Salmon last year. So I called him up and asked if I could borrow it. Which he said yes...I am not sure if it was because he new I was coming to watch the game at his house or not, but he knew he would be there to enjoy the Bacony goodness and thus I was given free reign to smoke away.

So Saturday Nicole picked up the necessary ingredients for me and Marcus, my Brother -in-Law, reme,bered to soak the wood chips for me. Which I had forgotten.

Sunday finally rolled around and I was busy with meetings at church. So I knew to get this going was going to be a challenge. I ran home around 9:30 am between 2 meetings and started the process.
First I made the bacon weave.

Then I added the layer of sausage.

At this point I needed to go back to a couple meetings. And the next layer is cooked bacon. So I needed Nicole to cook that for me while I was gone, which she did. I returned around 11:30 and added the next layer of cooked bacon. At this time you also add some BBQ rub and your BBQ sauce.



Next is the trickiest part. You roll up the sausage and keep it packed tight. Then you roll the entire thing back to you to wrap the bacon around it. You do this to get the sausage mix nice and tight free of air bubbles and gaps. Once you have rolled it back with the bacon tuck the ends up tight. And then you add more rub to the outside. I used about 1 full tablespoon of rub throughout the process.


After this it is ready to go in the smoker. The smoker should be set at 225 and they recommend 1 hour of cooking per inch of thickness. The real key is to get so that the inside is at no less than 165 degrees. I found that here in Utah at altitude and in the heart of winter I had to add and extra hour to that cooking time.

Here it is 1/2 way through the cooking process. It looks good already. Once we got it to the right temperature it was all I could do to remain calm and get the last picture. I had forgotten my camera at home and took the last picture with my phone. I definitely couldn't wait to go get my camera. I took the B.E. out of the smoker and lightly glazed it with BBQ sauce and then it was ready. I snapped this last picture and then dove into my 1/2 slice.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was every bit a good as I could possibly have imagined. I have never used the terminology of rich with meat before, but it was rich. I ate 2 slices and then could eat no more. The taste was incredible. I actually wished I wouldn't have eaten so much before but it was probably for the better anyway. I am not quite ready to have a heart attack. But in a few years from now I can't think of a better way to go. Heart attack eating heaven and watching the Super Bowl. If you need specifics on sauces, rub, sausage and bacon used feel free to message me. This is too good to not share. Till next time.....Peace.