I’ve got to say that I think I officially have the February blahs this year. Unfortunately, there’s no shot for that, though I probably wouldn’t get it because I avoid needles every chance I get.

So instead of doing much cooking, I mostly don’t cook anything. It’s been a hectic couple of weeks, which included the loss of my mom’s lab, Wings. I brought Wings home when Woody, the Best Dog in the World, was about 2 1/2, and Wings was 2. The first day, she sniffed everywhere and wanted nothing to do with Woody, but the changed overnight when she greeted him coming downstairs from my apartment, tail wagging (hers, not mine). They got along great from then on, but, more importantly, she fell in love with my mom, who in turn fell in love with Wings. Wings would have been 16 in April, and it’s hard to say goodbye to her.

On the flip side of pet stuff, Bucky McKatt is growing like mad. He’s probably about 6 lbs now (he was 5 lbs 10 ounces 9 days ago, on his 4th birthday). He’s got Hobbit paws… big and lots of hair on them. I’m assuming he’ll stop growing at some point, but he’s expected to by over 4 times his current size when it’s all said and done.

One thing I have been doing is starting to plan for a barbecue event in May. Mark and I will be teaching our 4th barbecue class on May 19th, at Cooks’ Wares in Springboro, OH. If you’re interested, you can sign up online here.

The two days prior to that, my church, the Dayton Vineyard, will be host to several barbecue teams from the area and surrounding states. The event is called “A pretty good barbecue”, and the guidelines are simple… Teams show up, with meat and either a smoker or planned use of a smoker that’s already there, and they start cooking on Saturday. When the Sunday church service lets out, people will come by, and we’ll give them the food we cooked. That’s right, give it to them. No vending, no sales… we’re just giving it away to show people that God loves them, even in little things. If you’re interested in helping out, email me and let me know.

I’m going to be doing some more bread baking soon, along with more smoking of traditional and, hopefully, new things.