Easter Lunch

Normally for Easter, we head to Tyler, go to church and then to the club for brunch and enjoy the family time. This year, because we have a ton going on, we decided to stay here and have our own little celebration. While I really look forward to the day that we have kids and can do all of the Easter stuff, (Dye eggs, Easter egg hunts, baskets) we were thankful this year to have a quiet, relaxing holiday.

I wanted our lunch to be a traditional-ish Easter meal, so we decided on: Brisket, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach and a chocolate icebox pie. Everything was REALLY good and we’re really happy with how it all turned out. I’ll post the other recipes soon, but here’s the brisket.

Oven Baked Brisket and BBQ sauce

This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for oven baked brisket. We actually smoked the brisket in our smoker for a few hours  then baked it instead of using the liquid smoke, but I think I prefer it the original way. I was able to get a 7 lb brisket for about $10 at my (beloved) Kroger and we have had several meals from it.

5-7 lb brisket (I bought untrimmed because it was cheaper)

Seasoned salt and garlic powder

1 small bottle of liquid smoke

Worcestershire Sauce

1 bottle KC Masterpiece Original

Tear off enough foil to line a baking pan and completely surround brisket with enough to spare to seal up tightly. Sprinkle brisket with seasoned salt, garlic powder and liquid smoke. Spread the liquid smoke over all surfaces, seal up the foil and let it marinate in the frig. overnight.

The following day, drain off the liquid smoke and sprinkle with pepper and Worcestershire Sauce.  Reseal tightly (you’re going to use quite a bit of foil) and bake at 250 for 5 hours.  Open, drain off most of liquid and save for sauce.  Spread top of brisket with barbeque sauce  and reseal foil and continue to bake 1 more hour at 250.  Remove from oven.  Wait 30 minutes before opening foil.  Slice into 1/4 inch slices.  May be served or wrapped in fresh foil and refrigerated.  Reheat for about 30 minutes at 325 when ready to serve. (We cooked it on Saturday night and served it on Sunday. This allowed us to let the sauce separate overnight.) Also, we waited to trim the fat off until we ate it. It just gives such a good flavor. If we were serving it to guests, we would have trimmed the fat off before it hit the plate.

To make sauce, reduce the saved drippings to about half what you started with by simmering.   Add more KC Masterpiece to the liquid to give it a good taste. Let cool overnight in fridge. The next day, remove layer of fat (it’s kind of gross, but the it is worth it!) and re-heat sauce. 

After it’s cooked, it can be frozen for future uses, or just plan to eat on it all week, like we did! Our favorite leftover brisket meal… GUT PACKS!!!

Gut packs originated at a little place called Vitek’s in Waco. They are AMAZING. Chopped brisket, fritos, diced onions, cheese, BBQ sauce, and PICKLES. The pickles are the best part! mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Thrills and Grills

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but if you know Lane, then you know that he’s probably the biggest Ranger’s fan there is. Seriously. I can ask him any question about anything Rangers or baseball related and he immediately has an answer. I honestly don’t know where he gets all of this information because it’s not like he researches the Rangers all day. I’m pretty sure he works. And, for the record, he’s not just a fair weather fan… He’s loved the Rangers since he was a little boy and continued to love them through the long dry spell.

Friday, April 1st was Ranger’s opening day this year. We were able to go several years ago and had no problem getting tickets. Well, apparently after you go to the World Series, your opening day tickets seem to be a little more in demand.  Go figure. Even after putting both of our names in the lottery for tickets, we still weren’t awarded any. We also weren’t going to be able to purchase tickets from ebay or stubhub because we’re trying to really cut back on our spending, so while he never said anything, I know Lane was kind of sad. I wanted SO badly to get tickets for him. I knew it would mean the world to him and I tried several outlets, but they were just all too expensive.

Then on the Tuesday before the game, angels, in the form our dear friends Jill and Jonathan appeared. Jill bought tickets for Jonathan for his birthday, but unfortunately, at the last minute J was asked to attend the game with clients and they weren’t able to use the seats that they bought, so they just GAVE them to us. Jill is quite possibly one of the most giving and thoughtful people I know. I am blown away by her selflessness and generosity. I know that if I ever asked her to do anything, she would be there in a heartbeat to do it. She is always surprising her friends with little gifts. This gift of tickets was certainly a surprise , but definitely not small at all.

I was in tears. Lane was in tears beyond excited. We are forever grateful to Jill and Jonathan for this opportunity. It meant the world to us and hopefully someday we’ll be able to pay them back!

So, of course we were going to take advantage of the day. We made a packing list and grocery run the night before and at 10 a.m. on Friday we were loaded and ready to go. We had such a great time. We were able to tailgate before the game and then go in for all of the opening ceremonies. It was a blast!

In the parking lot, tailgating before the game.

mmmm….sausage, wrapped in a tortilla with some grilled onions, BBQ sauce and mustard. Breakfast of champions!

The view from our seats. Amazing.

So, at this point, I definitely got a little mist in my eyes. Marching onto the field holding a giant American Flag were all kinds service men and women. I sat there and thought to myself, “Here I am, taking the day off of work, sitting the stands ready to watch a baseball game with a beer in my hands and these people are fighting for my freedom to do that.”  It just blew me away. I am able to sit in these stands because of them.

Oh, and I have a secret crush on the Texas Rangers. The other ones. You know, the cowboy hats, jeans, boots and guns? The Texas Rangers Law Enforcement Officers.

And, no Rangers Home Opener would be complete without George W. and Laura. I have read both of their books and am in love with them. I really wanted to give them both hugs, but I’m sure I would have gotten arrested for that.

During the National Anthem a MASSIVE bomber flew over. It was so stinking close. And loud. And awesome.

And, to top off a great day, the Rangers WON! Yay! We are so excited about this season. Thanks again to Jill and Jonathan, without whom this wonderful day wouldn’t have happened. We are forever grateful for your friendship!

          

Oh, and for the grills part of this post. (Sometimes I forget that this is a food blog.)

While we didn’t cook these at the ballpark, we totally could have. They were DELICIOUS! You can do any combo of meat/cheese that you want, but this is just what we had on hand.

Grilled Pesto Sandwiches

4 slices thick, crusty bread brushed in olive oil

4 slices muenster cheese

6 slices salami

4 slices turkey (we used Boar’s Head Honey Maple Coat turkey)

2 T. of Pesto, divided

4 sundried tomatoes, sliced

2 t. Mayo, divided

Heat grill to medium high heat. Place one slice of cheese on each piece of bread. This will act as the glue to hold it all together as it melts.  Then, layer the salami and turkey on each sandwich. Add 1 T. of pesto, the sundried tomatoes and 1 t. of mayo to each. Close the sandwiches and grill over indirect flame for about 4 minutes a side, or until cheese is melty and gooey and good. Slice in half and enjoy the best darn sandwich ever!