subscribeLe Pig de Résistance
by dusty on Sep.08, 2009 , under Uncategorized
Labor Day’s bittersweet. Wisconsin giveth and Wisconsin taketh away, so I know there’s anywhere between one and two months of decent outdoor weather left. But I’ll be damned if it’s not easy to get into a very deep denial about it during a good Labor Day picnic.
This year’s was maybe the best ever. Thanks to my co-hosts, Michelle and Kati, and everybody that came out. It’s no fun cooking enough food for 40 people if I’m the only one there to eat it.
Too tired for more words, just pictures… courtesy of Kati.
The afternoon started with kickball — the Terrordactyls versus the Wangdoodles. Here, Steve-o demonstrates the Terrordactyl spirit screech. We were intimidating as hell.
Base hit.
Bridget barks out orders from the “pitcher’s mound.” Somebody’s comfortable in a leadership role!
Brittingham Park has a lot of advantages when it comes to organizing a kickball game — lots of open space, scenic views, proximity to Michelle, Tim and Kati’s places… The only major drawback is the city’s ban on alcohol consumption there. Fortunately, we were able to determine where the property line was and visit “the beer tree” between innings… …and if you can’t tell from this photo, the other side of the sidewalk is the “beer-friendly” zone.
The game was called in the top of the eighth inning on account of a flat. We were all pretty dismayed when this particular Wangdoodle slugger literally popped one foul, and the ball hit the ground with a thud. Oh well. My Terrordactyls won the day in a solid 8-3 victory.
The crew settled into their brews and card games, and I got down to the serious business of making dinner for a crowd of 30-ish… I won’t lie — I love manning a charcoal grill. It’s about as far from a chore as cooking can get, in my estimation. I had packed my Weber in the back seat of my car and the apartment building had another grill bolted to the ground, so I had plenty of room to practice the craft. The menu was “bring whatever,” so I had an interesting array to work with, too. I believe the final count on tubed meat products came out to 42 brats, sausages and polishes, but I also grilled half a chicken, eight (homemade) chicken sandwiches, four veggie burgers and eight cobs of corn. Katie (with an E, not Kati) helped me out as associate griller.
But my crowning achievement of the day was the two-and-a-half racks of ribs I made using my old man’s “indirect beer heat” technique. He’d've had to wipe a tear from his eye if he’d seen me man the Weber using every technique he imparted, both through patient instruction and simple genetics.
“It’s Le Pig de Résistance!” I kept crowing as I worked on the ribs for an hour (not counting the previous night’s prep time), waiting for someone to get the Simpsons reference or at least tell me I was running it into the ground.
I don’t want to brag, so we’ll say they went over well. I’m sorry if you couldn’t make it out.
I’m now more determined than ever to find some way to prevent winter from setting in — or at least get one more good afternoon ballgame and cookout in before the frozen hell sets in.
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September 8th, 2009 on 9:54 pm
> My Terrordactyls won the day in a solid 8-3 victory.
Lies! The ball was sabotaged mid game to prevent the inevitable victory of the Wangdoodles!
September 9th, 2009 on 4:49 pm
Clearly these were not the Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles, and more just the left-over mediocre Wangdoodles, else they would have bested you right quick.