Election Day BBQ – Final Update

5 08 2008

I hope everyone did their civic duty today and voted in all the non-races in the Lansing area.  I haven’t yet, but I do plan on it before the polls close.  It’s a little wierd.  I haven’t voted on Election Day in a few years.  Illinois has early voting or what the Reform Michigan Government Now (which I strongly oppose) calls No Excuse Absentee Voting.  Our polls were also automated, so I figured I’ll use today as a practice vote for November since I hear Michigan still use paper ballets or optical scan maybe?

Anyway, since it is Election Day, it’s a good day for a BBQ, huh?  I know that’s bad logic, but everyday is a good day for a BBQ.  My girlfriend actually isn’t going to be able to leave work for dinner, so we’re being nice and smoking some pork butts for the whole office.  I’ve never blogged about my cooking, but I thought I’d share the journey since I know some people at her office read this, it’ll just get them hungrier and then, as a negative side effect, hype up my pulled pork and give me expecatations I can’t possibly achieve.

Anyway, we got two Levandowski pork butts from L & L last night.  We went with two smaller ones instead of one big one hoping to cut the cooking time down some.  I put my rub on last night and threw them in the fridge.  I used a Bobby Flay rub and this is one of the few I don’t stray from.  It is so freakin good.  I used to use my own brown sugar based rub, but this one is so much better.  Just a little bit of heat.  I cut down the measurements so I only make what I was going to use today.

4 teaspoons Ancho Chile Powder
2 teaspoons Spanish Paprika
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground corriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Chile de Arbol powder

45

This is what my two pork butts looked like when I threw them on the grill at about 1:45

I used this on a pork tenderloin one time and thought I had died and gone to heaven.  I pulled the meat out of the fridge and fired the grill up about 1:30.  I use natural hardwood lump charcoal instead of briquettes so the fire got going pretty quickly.  I added some hickory chunks and chips to the coals and threw the butts on the grill.  I’m trying to keep the temperature down around 250, but it’s not always easy with a Weber Kettle grill. 

Keep checking back between now and 6:00 or so.  I’ll update with pictures as we go along.  It’s so sad that Lansing doesn’t have a real BBQ joint.  This stuff is so easy to do with a little patience and the result is incredible!

Make sure to click on the READ MORE link every hour or so for updates Read the rest of this entry »





Jimmy’s Pub

5 08 2008
  • 16804 Chandler Rd
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 324-7100
  • Website
  • Menu
Jimmys Pub on Chandler Road in East Lansing.

Jimmy's Pub on Chandler Road in East Lansing.

After another day of shopping at Meridian Mall, we decided to head out to Chandler Crossing to get some lunch.  I know it doesn’t make sense, but this blog has been getting a ton of hits for Small Planet.  I noticed on their new website the kitchen is (is going to be?) open at 11:00 am.  Since that’s what a lot of people are coming here for right now, I thought we’d check out the menu and see if it’s worth going during the day.  We found Small Planet and there were people inside, but the doors didn’t open when we got up to them, so we assumed they were closed.

Since we struck out at Small Planet, we needed a new place for lunch.  We’ve seen the commercials for Jimmy’s several times on TV, but didn’t know where it was.  We passed the pub on Chandler Road and the parking lot is actually connected to Chandler Crossing.  It looked like our best bet for a meal, so we headed over to their side of the parking lot.

Jimmy’s has a pretty cool atmosphere.  It’s kind of got a old world street feel going.  When you walk in, you run into the big horseshoe bar.  If you look down, there’s a faux cobblestone street.  Above you is a fake night sky with little twinkling lights that look like stars.  The theme is continued with street lamps used for lighting and street signs hanging in the corners. 

There wasn’t a whole lot of people in the bar, but there were a few there obviously on a business lunch.  We found a pub table in the “pool room” and took a seat.  The menus were already on the table, so we started browsing before our server came over to take drink orders.  When she came back with our Pepsi’s, we were ready to order.  Read the rest of this entry »





Bell’s Beer Back in Chicago

4 08 2008

The Kalamazoo Gazette is reporting that Michgan brewer Bell’s Beer has shipped 750 kegs to the Windy City for the first time in two years.

“I love Chicago, and there’s no big city I spend more time in,” Larry Bell. “I’m thrilled that our beer will be available again in this market.

“The wholesalers we’ve been able to partner with haven’t been involved in craft beer very long, but all of them have hearts of gold. … I couldn’t be happier to find such good people to work with.”

Bell said Thursday afternoon in a telephone interview that he sent seven trucks carrying about 750 kegs to Chicago. Bell’s Oberon, Amber, Porter and Stout will be sold now, but Bell said he’s unsure when he’ll get other brands, such as Two-Hearted Ale, into Chicago.

Some Bell’s-loving taverns in Chicago, such as Sheffield’s and Hopleaf, are planning special events for the beers’ return, Bell said. He expects to spend much of next week in Chicago supporting the move and helping to get the numbers back to previous distribution levels.

“We can’t turn the tap on just like that. It’s going to be a process. It will take a little bit of time,” he said.

Now, all of you taking the Amtrak to Chicago can find a little piece of home.  One of my girlfriend’s co-workers always orders an Oberon when we go out for drinks.  I had never heard of that before moving here.





Press Release – Greater Lansing Food Bank

4 08 2008

From a press release.

For Immediate Release
August 4, 2008

Summertime and the living is easy…….but not for everyone.
Hunger has NOT taken a summer break.

A food drive to benefit the Greater Lansing Food Bank
Saturday August 9, 2008

9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

L & L Food Center on W. Saginaw at Waverly

Sponsored by:
Trinity AME Church
WQHH 96.5 FM
L&L Food Centers

All food collected will be distributed to the Greater Lansing Food Bank pantries that feed the hungry. As the number of those in need of food continues to rise, this is a timely opportunity for the community to assist in keeping the local pantry shelves well stocked.





Press Release – Mason Aviation Day

3 08 2008

From a press release.

Mason Aviation Day

Sunday, August 17, 2008
at Mason Jewell Airport (TEW)

Eden & Kipp Road, Mason, MI
(across from Fairgrounds)

Fly In or Drive In

Pancacke Breakfast ~ 7 AM to 11:30 AM

Grilled Steak Dinner  ~ Noon to 4:00 PM
    (Pork BBQ, Hot Dogs, Brats also available)

Antique Aircraft ~ Classic Aircraft ~ Vintage Aircraft ~ Homebuilt Aircraft ~ Military Aircraft

FREE ADMISSION to Mason Jewett Airport

Hosted by Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 55

Contact Bill Bezdek 517-351-0448 or Bill Purosky 517-655-1432
for additional information or visit
http://www.eaa55.org

EAA Chapter 55….member of the Mason Area Chamber of Commerce





What to do with Used Cooking Oil?

3 08 2008

Well, the obvious thing is don’t pour it down the sink.  I noticed a blurb in the Holt Community News today about a recycling program in Eaton County.

Used cooking oil recovery is available at the following locations throughout Eaton County: The Charlotte Area Recycling Authority, the Delta Township Recycling Center, the Grand Ledge Recycling Center, the Mulliken Recycling Center and the Sunfield REcycling Center.  To dispose of used cooking oil, save it in a clean container with a tight-fitting lid,  then carefuly pour the oil into the tank located at each site.  Take your container home, clean it, and reuse it for the same purpose.  Contact the Department of Resource Recovery for more information, (517) 5434-3686.





Press Release – New City Market Rally

3 08 2008

From a press release.

MEDIA ALERT

City Market Rally Proponents of the new City Market Project gather at Stadium District

What: Rally of supporters for the new City Market Project

Who: Supporters of the New City Market Proposal

When: Monday, August 4 at 5 p.m.

Where: Stadium District in the undeveloped retail area of the first floor

Why: To gather together all supporters of the proposed new City Market and answer questions of those who are interested in additional information on the project

Details: The public is invited to come and support the new City Market Project and get additional information before heading to the Lansing City Council meeting that evening to voice support





Ingham County Fair

3 08 2008
  • 700 E. Ash St.
  • Mason, MI 48854
  • (517) 676-2428
  • Website
Heat race during the demolition derby at the Ingham County Fair in Mason

Heat race during the demolition derby at the Ingham County Fair in Mason

I LOVE demolition derby.  I’m a total redneck at heart.  After I graduated college and before I got my first job, I spent the summer working on demo cars with some friends of mine.  I loved every minute of it and wished I was more mechanically inclined.  My girlfriend, grew up going to Team Demo Derby’s at Santa Fe Speedway near Chicago, so there’s a place in her heart for demo derby too.  A co-worker of my girlfriend and her boyfriend had never seen a demo derby, so we met at the Ingham County Fair on the final night for some good ol’ fashioned car smashing.

County fairs were really cool when I was a kid.  We didn’t start going to theme parks until I was into junior high and high school, so the county fair was where we got to go on rides and win cheap prizes.  Walking into the Ingham County Fairgrounds in Mason brought back all those feelings.  I couldn’t believe a lot of the rides were the same (like the Gravitron) and none of the games had changed.  You’d think they’d come up with something new, but nope.

Row of food vendors near the midway at the Ingham County Fair in Mason

Row of food vendors near the midway at the Ingham County Fair in Mason

When we first walked in, we ran right into a row of food vendors.  We wanted to do a lap before deciding to make sure we didn’t buy something then find something better.  One of the first stands I noticed was the BBQ.  My girlfriend had just mentioned that she smelled BBQ as I was pointing it out to her.  After a lap to the midway and back, I got a pulled pork sandwich.  Well, sorta.  They called it pulled pork, but it was more chopped and it was Texas BBQ, so the sauce wasn’t as sweet and vinegar-y as I like it.  It was alright and hit the spot though.  The whole time I was ordering, I could litteraly hear pigs squealing from the barn right behind me.  I love the irony when they put the pig barn next to the BBQ stand. Read the rest of this entry »





Reno’s West Sports Bar & Pizzeria

3 08 2008
  • 5001 W. Saginaw Hwy.
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 321-0616
  • No Known Website
  • Menu (from East Lansing Location)
Renos West Sports Bar and Pizzeria on W. Saginaw Hwy in Lansing

Reno's West Sports Bar and Pizzeria on W. Saginaw Hwy in Lansing

What a day!  Everything we tried to do just didn’t want to work out.  The day started off with us getting up super early (for us) to get tickets to Barack Obama’s speech on Monday.  We made it to Gone Wired Cafe at about 8:30 and the line was four blocks long.  We jumped in line thinking, “The Lansing Center holds 5,000 people, I bet there’s not more than a couple thousand in line.”  According to the LSJ, they only gave out 1,000 tickets, so by about the time we got within one block of the front door, they ran out of tickets.  Not a big deal to me, being from Illinois, I covered Obama’s Senate run, have interviewed the Senator many times, and worked for the campaign at his Presidential Announcement in Springfield, IL on the steps of the Old Capitol…oh yeah, and I’m a Republican and probably won’t be voting for him.  My girlfriend, on the other hand, was working in a different state during that election and has never seen Obama speak live, so I was hoping to get tickets so she could see him.  Didn’t work out.

After we left Gone Wired, we figured since we just blew two hours, we’d get some breakfast.  I’ve read on Runs With Spatula about Soup to Nuts Bistro more than once.  We headed back to Kalamazoo Street only to find Soup to Nutz closed on Saturdays.  Two strikes against us and it’s not even 11:00.

Since we were at that odd time of not quite breakfast, not quite lunch, we headed out to the Lansing Mall to do some shopping for a wedding next week in Chicago.  We finally caught a break.  My girlfriend found a great dress at 60% off.  After walking around the mall, we’re both starving.  We’ve drove by Reno’s West a few times and since it was close, we headed back down Saginaw.  Read the rest of this entry »





Bell’s Greek Pizza

3 08 2008
  • 1135 E. Grand River Ave.
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 332-0858
  • Website
  • Menu
Bells Greek Pizza on E. Grand River near the campus of Michigan State

Bell's Greek Pizza on E. Grand River near the campus of Michigan State

Bell’s Greek Pizza is what I missed by going to a small private school instead of a state school.  When it got late, the only thing we had was vending machines.  There was no late night pizza place.  Whenever I visited friends at the University of Illinois or Southern Illinois University, I made sure to push for pizza at 3 am after the bars closed. 

I went looking for this place a while ago when my dad and a friend were in town, but I didn’t go far enough down Grand River to find it.  My girlfriend came home from work one Friday night and said she was hungry.  I suggested pizza so we drove across town to campus just for pizza.  I had a few people suggest Bell’s on this blog before so I was kind of looking forward to it. Read the rest of this entry »