Will you still need me,will you still feed me... When I'm sixty-four?

I begin today with a critique...  Recently, The Hubs and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary.  To celebrate, we went to an Italian restaurant in Cooper-Young called Cortona that we had been wanting to try.  And it was really disappointing.  The service was mediocre.  At one point they started vacuuming next to us and we were one of 2 tables.  Really?  We got the bruschetta appetizer and it was overpriced for what it was.  Nothing special and there was this weird milky cheese on one.  My tilapia piccata was salty and the asparagus risotto bland.  Basically, it was a plate of mush.  Andrew got a pizza and the crust overlapped the plate it was on and was a puddle of grease.

I wish I had gotten an angle of the crust dripping over to touch the table

So, here's the kicker.  This place has pretty good reviews on Urbanspoon.  I've tried to join the site to leave a comment TWICE and cannot get a confirmation email sent my way.  Which really frustrates me.  The restaurant has much better reviews than it deserves and the meal wasn't cheap.  We paid top rate prices for an incredibly inferior meal.

Consider this my rating - 2 stars.  It was edible.  But I predict it will be closed soon.  It felt like we had wandered into an episode of Kitchen Nightmares.

Alrighty, onto a highlight of the anniversary!

Aside from the sentimental aspects of the day, which we, of course discussed at length while gazing into each others' eyes...  My fella got me a smoker!

Whoa, Black Betty

I like cooking paraphernalia.  I like bread machines.  Stand mixers.  Mandolin slicers.  Fryers.  And so forth.  (Thank goodness I have a lot of storage in my kitchen.)  The smoker made me excited like a little kid. And it's very cool - you can use either charcoal or propane.

Obviously, we needed to use it immediately.  With the Grizzlies game on, it seemed like a perfect plan.  Friday after work, I zipped over to Charlie's and picked up 3 racks of ribs.

It was a nice spread.  We ended up having quite a few people over so it turned out to be good I usually overdo the food.  Lots of snacky things.  Pancho's cheese dip.  Veggies.  Grapes & watermelon.  Cheese cubes & the new buffalo sauce Wheat Thins (thumbs up)  And I got a chicken sausage stuffed with jalapenos & cheddar.  Half the fat and tasty!

The Hubs usually mans the grill but, since there was a game on, I took over that job.  (I womaned the grill, if you will.  Heh.)  We had some hot dogs and, one of my faves, some cheeseburgers.

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Some veggies for the less meaty inclined.

Kabobs are always so pretty

And then it was time for the unveiling!  The main event, if you will!

Yeah...  Shoulda taken the corn out a little sooner

For the first time doing the ribs, I did a rub with the usual type of stuff (paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, etc.)  Put them straight on the smoker for several hours.  Took them off & put them in aluminum foil.  Apple cider vinegar on half, Jack Daniels BBQ sauce on the other, and back in the smoker.  With apple wood chips.  Purists will judge this but we used propane for the first time out.  But we had a lot going on and it seemed easier to monitor than charcoal.  (And it turned out to be a breeze to clean up.)

Now that's a plate

The ribs were fall off the bone good.  I was so pleased.  The first time out, they were edible!  And not just edible, pretty tasty.  Feedback was good & I think people enjoyed.  Too bad the Grizz lost...  But hey, ribs are a nice consolation prize, right?

More to come.  Next up, if I can find them, smoked turkey legs like you'd find at the fair!  And possibly smoked salmon.  Oh, the good times to be had. 

Many thanks to Andrew.  Can't wait for the next 3 years, my love.  (I know, I know...  We're adorable.)

See you soon, Bubbleland!  Kiss your mamas this weekend!  I can't wait to see mine.  If only I had some ribs to take her...