Ok…I know I’m a day late.  But this is worth it.  My friend Dave Ortega told me about this one and I’m totally sucked in now.  It’s called PicLens.  You have to watch the video to understand.  I can’t explain it.  If you have FireFox, download it and start using it now.

This one was only done with about three hours of sleep.  So it doesn’t contain as much humor as the last one, but it will teach how to make on heck of a smoked brisket.

Did some grilling this weekend and thought I would share.  Come back next week and I’ll put one together for how to smoke a brisket.

I came across this video and had to share. I’ve been blogging for a few years now, and I must say that I really enjoy it. It allows me a place to share whats happening in my life and the things that I think or come across (hence this post). If you haven’t thought I about doing a blog, I would recommend it. If you have a blog and want to share, leave a link in the comments. I’ll probably post in a few days some tips for those that want to start their own blog. Until then watch the video.

Over the past few weeks I have been following a series of blogs done by Vince Antonucci titled “Waaaaa. I’m not getting fed.” You need to go read all seven (it’s actually more) of them right now.  Here is a link to the first one.  I must say that I have completely enjoyed every word that the man has written. He has hit the nail on the head as far as American Christianity has gone.

We have become such a consumer mentality society that it has even crept into the church. I even use to have the mentality that it is the pastor’s job to feed me (probably is the reason that I went to church five times a week when I was growing up). Put the reality is that the pastor’s job is to teach us how to cook.

Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” The pastors and teachers jobs are to “equip” not feed. By equipping they are building the body up.

I remember telling my youth in Olton that if the only time you are opening you Bible is on Wednesday (or Sunday for most), then you are starving yourself. I have to say that I use to be the same way. The only time I opened my Bible was when I was going to church or when I was preparing for a lesson.

The greatest joy in my life has been over the past few months as I’ve started to spend time with God daily for no other reason than to just sit at His feet and learn. Before it was a chore to open my Bible. Now it is a pleasure.

Now I sound like one of those sappy Christians that I use to hate (who am I kidding I still have problems with them). But it is the truth. I feel different when I haven’t spent time with God. It feels like when I have to go to work while my wife is still in bed and I don’t get to talk to her until she gets home from work at 5pm. There is just something missing from my day.

So if you are the type of person who only eats once a week…I’d recommend adding to your diet.

P.S. I’ll post a blog in a few days on some tips and tricks for having a daily time with God.

Welcome back all my fellow beer drinkers out there. This next one is just a short tip for those who are looking for the full experience here.† If you remember from BTotD #1, your perception of taste is drastically affected by you sense of smell. From some research that I did on the internet (a quick google search), your sense of smell affects the way something tastes by up to 75%. From some other research that I’ve done (listened to a podcast), it is said that your first smell of a beer is the most important. So how do we make that first smell of a new beer count? Use a coaster.

No this isn’t some random way for me to get you to save your furniture from unsightly rings. You actually cover the TOP of the glass with the coaster. While you are doing the four step beer tasting process (Look, Agitate, Smell, Drink), you cover the top of the glass with a coaster while agitating the beer (the cheap paper coasters from bars, applebees, and the sort work real well and keep you from getting in trouble for making all you coaster smell like beer). Then when you go lift the coaster to smell your beer, all those good smells have been trapped for your smelling pleasure.

One other small tip. Unless you are using a really big glass, only fill the glass about 3/4 of the way full. This gives you room to agitate the beer without covering your coaster with beer. This also gives your beer room to breath. After you’ve tasted the beer, then you fill it up the rest of the way.

So here is your homework. Get a beer that you haven’t tried before (or haven’t tried in a glass before) and taste it straight from the bottle. Then try the coaster method and see how much of a difference it makes.

Until next time, enjoy your beer.

‘So I’ve been listening to a lot of what I have learned about beer has come friends, podcasts, and the beeradvocate.com. One of the greatest tips I learned was from the podcast beerschool.com. It is as follows…it takes three drinks of a beer to really know if you like it.

Before you look at the reason for three drinks, go to the beeradvocate.com article on How to Taste Beer. There are certain steps to drinking a beer (Look, Agitate, Smell, Taste).

This one sounded a little weird to me when I first heard it, but I have found it to be so true. Here is the reason why. Drink one cleans your pallet from all the weird tastes that are already in it (for instance I have the coffee taste in my mouth right now). Drink two is for the retro-olfaction process.† This is where you swish the beer around in your mouth and exhale after you drink the beer.

“This process of exhaling is called “retro-olfaction” and will release retained stimulations at the mucus and mouthfeel level, but at a higher temperature.” – beeradvocate.com

Drink Three gives you your final overall taste of the beer giving you a full experience of what the beer really tastes like.

Like I said I thought this was crazy talk. But as I started doing this, I noticed that certain beers that I thought I didn’t like after one drink I started to like after three.† As a side note, this works for any drink: beer, wine, Dr. Pepper.

So here is your homework for this tip. Take a beer that you had discredited before and give it the three drink chance. You never know you might find that you’ve found your new favorite beer.

Until next time, enjoy your beer.