Toasty s'more sticky mess

Way behind on getting this post completed (sorry Blake!)...thought I'd have 'em up sooner this week, but with the extra craziness of a 15 week old puppy in the house, it's hard to keep up the usual routine...

So Sept 29 was Brett's birthday, and sometime this past week was his brother Blake's birthday, and so this year we had a combined event where they, their parents, and Blake's girlfriend came over. I'd rubbed a beef brisket Friday night, injected it with a flavor/marinade Saturday morning and smoked it alllll day while smoking stuff for Sharon and Andy. Then Sunday I finished it off in the oven (just to make it more tender), and smoked ribs all day. I'd also made a double batch of mac and cheese, intending the first part for Saturday with Sharon and Andy, and the larger portion for Sunday - covered it in buttered saltines and baked it. MMMM!

Brett's mom Linda brought lots of other good stuff to help out - TONS of salad fixings, rolls, and angelfood cake, strawberries, pineapples, and Rediwhip for dessert. Yup - I think we were all set for food!

Unfortunately things were pretty hectic, so I didn't remember to take pictures BEFORE we plowed into the food. Here's the ribs (which turned out better and saucier than Saturday's) and beef brisket. Well - the remains of each. ;-)



We hadn't told them we got Doogie - but Linda was pretty suspicious from conversations she'd had with Brett earlier in the week. I had Doogie out behind the tomato plants when they showed up, and as they came out on to the back deck I let him run up to greet them. He had a blast with new people to visit with - here he is with Brett's dad Marty.


And here's Linda - who happened to bring an old (hardly used - from one of their previous dogs) toy, JUUUUUST in case we got a dog. Good call Linda! ;-)


After dinner we FINALLY fired up that firepit I got A YEAR AGO... Every time I've hoped to use it, it's ended out raining or being way too hot or way too late. Luckily there's plenty of shrub and small branches around to get fuel for the fire...


What you DO see in this next picture: Tucker looking like he's pissed at...the cosmos flowers?
What you DON'T see in the picture: Doogie, rip-roaring around the yard, constantly coming back to zip by Tucker, often coming close to getting swatted!


Here's Laura and Blake. In addition to finally getting to use the firepit, we ALSO finally got to use the forks Brett's mom got us last year... Hm, while they DO hold a lot of marshmallows, MAYBE they're better geared for hotdogs (which is really what they're intended for). Sure Laura was able to pack a lot on, but then they'd spin on the fork, and now you can see she's got to deal with six hot, melty marshmallows all at once... I'm thinking Blake doesn't want to wear them.


Blake and Laura worked together to crank out smores. Something else we learned - as good as smores are, maybe you should never prepare so many so fast because they're so ooey gooey rich and sweet that they can be overwhelming.


And once you start eating smores, it's very likely you'll get some marshmallow stuck to your face. Here's Laura making sure I don't get a picture of her with marshmallow on her.


And here's Blake not-so-worried about being seen with marshmallow on his face! LOL


Linda and Laura having fun...


Brett and Marty keeping warm around the fire. We timed this just right - as warm and sunny as the day was, it really cooled off fast that afternoon. Why's Brett looking so slyyyy?


Linda's first smore? She said she'd never had them before. Turns out she wasn't too fond of the combination - and instead was enjoying a different mix of stuff on the fire a short while later...hold on, you'll see...


Blake took charge of adding more wood to the fire...


...while I kept busy making my dessert!


Oh, and trust me - after that much sugary sweet stuff was consumed, we were all getting a bit slap happy. (Take note - I was pre-warming graham crackers on the edge of the firepit... They got WARM!)


Now it was time for some real fun - we started toasting up the angelfood cake Linda brought, and then they were topping it off with a bit of Rediwhip - YUM!


This is some seriously good stuff!


Gimme some more marshmallows!!


Mmmm...toasty warm fire!


Brett was taking a ton of pics of me...and remember what I said about getting a bit slap happy from all the sugar and goofiness?


Well, I blame the sugar for these pictures. ;-)


Things started getting a bit crazy. You don't combine "young love" and a can of Rediwhip and NOT expect something to happen. Please note the whipped cream on Blake's collar. This was only the beginning!


After their first round of Rediwhip sprays, Laura and Blake felt they couldn't quite trust each other. It's funny what poses people think make them safe from getting hosed with artificial dairy spray!


My most wonderful concoction! Angelfood cake, pineapple, marshmallow, strawberry AND chocolate!


But wait! It's not done yet! Once it's perfectly toasted...


...Blake topped it off for me with just a spritz of Rediwhip! MMMM! This was some good stuff!


Annnnnnd we're back to Laura and Blake and the two cans of Rediwhip!



Even Craig, our neighbor, leaned out the back door and yelled "Do it again!" and was cheering on the whipped cream fight!


Once they finally started to calm down I tried to get them to pose for a nice calm picture...


Awwww - how sweet (har har - get it? Sweet?).


Yeah, that truce didn't last long!


And after all that, I'm still convincing Doogie the little bits of whipped cream in the yard are NOT for him... I think I've finally got them all covered or diluted.

I wonder how much these two stank by the end of the night. Laura had to go wash out her hair in the upstairs shower - talk about sticky and gross! (No Laura, not YOU....the whipped cream! Honest!)

All in all - I think you can see we had a blast this past Sunday.