Hey friends, Joey here! I know that I am typically the one to read more nonfiction and business-related books, but I have been on an adventure/fiction kick lately. Sometimes, you gotta shake things up to keep it interesting!

This time I read, “King Solomon’s Mines” by H. Rider Haggard.

It is a 5 Star read!!

I was recently recommend this book by one of my friends and colleagues, and I decided to give it a shot. I would consider “King Solomon’s Mines” a true classic novel full of adventure, brotherhood, and romance (not the mushy love stuff, more of the gritty traveler romance you might find in an Indiana Jones movie). The book is narrated by one of the three main characters, Allan Quatermain, who is an elephant hunter in Africa who meets his soon-to-be partners-in-crimes, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good, on a boat ride to Netal after a failed elephant expedition. Sir Henry and Captain Good are off in search of Sir Henry’s missing brother. Sir Henry’s missing brother was in search of King Solomon’s Mines, which is rumored to be full of diamonds and gold, but he never returned. As fate would have it, Quartermine was the last person to see Sir Henry’s brother AND have a map to the mines given to him on one of his previous elephant excursions.

After the three companions reached an agreement, they set out in search of the elusive mines and Sir Henry’s brother. The book takes you on their journey across the desert to a land inhabited with an ancient tribe where King Solomon’s Mines are rumored to be. Along the way, they fight against all odds the get to this sacred land where their battle does not end. Do they reach the mines and find Sir Henry’s brother accompanied with the riches rumored to be there? Or is it all a wise tail and they end up battered and empty handed?

I hope some of you decide to read this novel as it is a true classic and one of a kind. You can BUY IT HERE now. If you do read it, let me know what you think, I’d love to hear your opinion.

Cheers and happy page flipping!!

eats, life

Book Review: “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel” by Gail Honeymoon

July 16, 2018July 12, 2018 ledtreats

It’s Melissa again. I recently wrapped up “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel” by Gail Honeymoon. After reviewing “The Alice Network” by Kate Quinn, we chose this as our June book, and we made another great pick! This time, it was my turn to host Book Club, and after reading this quirky story, I was excited to plan a completely Eleanor Oliphant themed evening.

First, let’s start with the review:

4 out 5 stars

“Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel” by Gail Honeymoon is the unique story of Eleanor Oliphant, a young woman who, after experiencing extreme childhood trauma, struggles to move forward in her life. Eleanor lives by a strict routine, from eating the same meals to scheduling out repetitive days of the week. When Eleanor develops a crush on a local singer, her beloved routine falls to the wayside, and she opens herself up to chaos. Along the way, she finds some friends who will help her pick up the pieces as she tries to uncover the truths of her childhood.

The book is brilliantly written and fun to read, which is why I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Gail Honeymoon does an incredible job of making you feel as uncomfortable as Eleanor acts at many moments throughout the book. Honeymoon also leaves you wanting to know more about what happened to Eleanor. Without giving away too much, Honeymoon also incorporates a twist at the end, which I had wondered about from very early on. Once you read, you’ll have to tell me if you had the same thought too! Overall, I highly recommend this book, and you should BUY IT NOW!

Hitting Close To Home

I wanted to include one side note about how this book hit very close to home for me. From very early on, the book talks about Eleanor’s caseworkers coming to visit her. Because of her extreme childhood trauma, Eleanor was placed in the foster care system. I work for Arms Wide Adoption Services, and we are dedicated to finding forever families for children in foster care. While reading, I found myself wondering,

“Had Eleanor been adopted, would this entire story be different?”

This question made for a great Book Club discussion. Although we decided we’re unsure adoption would have changed Eleanor’s life, we did decide people too often assumed Eleanor was fragile. We think if someone pushed her more about her past, she could have faced her demons earlier on. This may have helped her establish a healthier, more normal (but probably still fairly strict) routine.

Now, More On Book Club

I have mentioned Eleanor’s routine a lot so far! When she found something she liked, she stuck with it forever. Throughout the story, Eleanor would eat the same meal or drink the same beverage every day. That’s why I decided to offer an Eleanor Oliphant themed spread for our Book Club.

From left to right: Cheese scones, ingredients for vodka colas, Magners Irish Cider, and pasta a la pesto. Cheers to Book Club, and cheers to you, Eleanor Oliphant!

If you’re interested in making these delicious gluten free cheese scones, you can find my recipe here. I also show you how to turn it into a delicious B.L.A.T. sandwich!

If you want to keep up with my Book Club, we are currently reading and set to discuss on Wednesday, August 8, 2018:

“The Pisces: A Novel” by Melissa Broder

eats

Cheese Scones (Gluten Free)

July 16, 2018July 12, 2018 ledtreats

Melissa here. I recently hosted Book Club! The main character of the book, “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel” by Gail Honeymoon, lives life by a strict routine, and often eats and drinks the same things every day. Channeling Eleanor, I decided to create a themed evening. One of Eleanor’s favorite, repeated lunches is a cheese scone from a nearby Mediterranean restaurant. Despite the lack of cheese scone recipes in the American metric system, I converted a couple different UK recipes, and came up with these amazingly dense cheese and herb scones. With one of the Book Club members having to eat gluten free (She has Celiac Disease you guys, don’t judge.), I adjusted the recipe to use gluten free flour and baking powder.

Ingredients:

2 cups gluten free flour
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1 teaspoon mustard powder
4 tablespoons butter, salted, softened, cubed
2 teaspoon of dry herbs
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup milk, divided
Variety of additional seasonings to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, and line baking pan with parchment.
Sift flour, baking powder, and mustard powder and whisk together in medium bowl.
Add softened and cubed butter to mixture and use hands to combine. Mix until mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Add dry herbs to mixture (I used oregano and parsley).
Mix in 1 cup of cheese, reserving the rest to top scones with.
Slowly mix in 3/4 cup of milk (1/4 cup at a time) until mixture becomes doughy. Reserve last 1/4 cup for brushing on top.
Once you have a doughy mix, spread out on counter top. Cut into squares or circles OR spread out into a large 1/3 inch thick circle and cut into pizza-like slices (which is what I did).
Lay on lined baking pan, brush with remaining milk, and top with remaining cheese.
For additional flavor sprinkle with onion flakes, garlic powder, cracked pepper, and more dry herbs. (Or a variety of seasonings of your choosing!)
Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden.
Enjoy!

These were a huge hit at Book Club! Fortunately, there were plenty of leftovers, so Joey and I decided to take these Cheese Scones one step further. We made:

Cheese Scone B.L.A.T. Sandwiches

B.L.A.T. = Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, and Tomato

The picture below speaks for itself, and our tummies were quite happy! Especially since instead of using mayo, we used Thunderbird Whitebird Sauce from Wassi’s Meat Market, which you can and should put on everything. To make these delicious sandwiches, all you have to do is slice the scone in half, fry a little on the cast iron, and top with all the delicious B.L.A.T. ingredients. IT WAS SO GOOD!

So next time you want to impress your Book Club who has just finished reading “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel” by Gail Honeymoon or want an excuse to make a delicious Cheese Scone B.L.AT., look no further than right here.

life

Maine Family Vacation 2018

July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 ledtreats

A Post From Joey

Boothbay Harbor, Maine

This past June we took a trip with my sister and parents to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary, which was also Melissa’s first trip to Maine! You might be thinking, “How was Maine picked for the family trip?” Well, this is where my parents went on their honeymoon and a place that our family would vacation to growing up, so it’s a special getaway for my family. Being from Florida, and now living in Texas, escaping to the northeast during the summer is also a very nice change in weather considering temperatures were knocking on the door at 100 degrees the day we left.

When we go to Maine, we typically stay in the Boothbay Harbor area. While we are there, we each have our favorite places and activities to explore, as well as adding new adventures to our memories. I decided to keep this simple and make a quick list of my activities and places we ate at on this trip in hopes this could be a rough road map for anyone who might take the same adventure. Enjoy!

Favorite Excursions/Activities

Puffin Encounter
Maine State Aquarium
Sea Glass Hunting at Pemiquid Point Lighthouse and Ocean Point Inn
Exploring Lighthouses up and down the coast

Favorite Eats & Treats

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Meet Joey

“All Risks, this is Joe” is how you will know me if you call during the work week. I work for a wholesale commercial insurance broker here in Texas and I know that just went over about 97% of your heads or you just stopped reading. If you want to know more about what I do, stay tuned for future posts because it’s a pretty cool job but I won’t try to explain it here. As someone who can only sit still for about an hour max before I get antsy, you will most likely to find me doing something that involves working with my hands and outdoors. On the weekends I will be up early to enjoy what I call my “me time” which involves drinking coffee on the couch while reading a book or watching TV while mentally planning out my day/how I can end up cooking on the Big Green Egg. My closest friends know me as being ambitious, loyal and very sassy/snarky, and I hope you get to experience some of that along this journey. Learn more about Joey here.

extras, life

No Landscaping Professionals Needed Here!

July 12, 2018July 12, 2018 ledtreats

Hello, readers! My name is Ashley Kempa – you may know me as Melissa’s fast-talking bestie from the north. My husband Zack and I are also living the DINK life and we’re so excited about Melissa and Joey’s new blog! For Zack and I, the biggest focus of our DINK lifestyle right now is planting roots – both literally (I LOVE my gardens) and figuratively.

Zack and I have been married for just over two years now, and the first year of marriage was focused on finding a home to begin our lives as “The Kempa Family.” While I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, the area near our jobs is about an hour from my hometown so all new territory. We spent several months trying to find a house that was affordable, checked the boxes on our non-negotiables, and would help us to transition from DINK to BARK (Broke Adults Raising Kids – yes, broke…a topic for another day…*cough Daycare cough*).

Here’s what were in our non-negotiables (which have to be realistic based on your budget):

Cannot be a total “gut-job”
3 Bedrooms with at least 1.5 baths
GREAT school district
Nice community
Close to our jobs

So, here’s what we bought to plant those roots last July:

A house that was owned by the prior owners for a very long time so it just needed some “New, Fresh Love”
3 Bedrooms w/ 1.5 baths
GREAT school district
AMAZING community
Close to our jobs

My posts on this blog will focus on items number one and number four from the above list – how to add some new, fresh love into your house, and how to be a DINK in a family-friendly community!

But for this post, I’m going to focus on a recent project we did to our house…

DIY Landscaping

Zack and I are DIYers – aka we’re cheap, want to learn new skills, and love watching a vision come to life. The front of our house when we bought it had death-trap stairs leading up to our front sun room. If you were not paying attention or walking too fast, you could absolutely be on your way to an urgent care – hello, twisted ankle. Not good. Instead of paying over $1,000 for a landscaper to come out and re-pave our front steps, I knew we could do this for not a lot of money and learn as we go. Here’s what we started with:

Before

Cute, right?

The first thing we did was tear out all of the bricks and railroad ties. This step only took about 45 minutes and the hardest/longest part was stacking all of the bricks. Even if you were going to hire a landscaper to do this for you, you’d be able to save some money just by tearing out the old yourself before someone comes in to lay the new.

Next up, mapping out what we were going to replace these with. We chose to purchase large paver stones for two reasons – they were relatively inexpensive and the larger stones are easier to work with. My parents helped us draw out the dimensions of the steps and calculate how many stones and blocks we would need for the entire project. Having this prepared ahead of time saved us time in the store and money! We learned by slightly changing the sizing of the steps we could save by not needing as many stones and blocks.

Third step – HOME DEPOT. First trip to home depot included checking the store’s inventory to make sure they would have enough of what we needed – very important! They did, so we began 1 of 3 or 4 trips to Home Depot to get everything we needed….and a few additional purchases like some herbs that got planted in my garden. My parent’s dog, Mia, helped pick those out. Isn’t she adorable?

After several trips, we had the blocks, mapped out our design, and we were ready to go!

So, how did we do this? Let me sum it all up by saying trial and error. I followed these steps and repeated multiple times until I achieved success:

Dig spot for blocks (thank you, Mom, for your help!)
Lay blocks down
Level in all directions
If not level, lift block up and adjust by adding or removing sand/dirt.

Note: if you are starting from scratch and not working in an area where steps were already existing, you will need sand to level and hold the blocks in place. Fortunately we did not need to purchase as there was plenty there from the bricks!

After about 6 hours of work, we had two steps completed:

The remaining last step and flat surface of steps were all completed by Zack – Rockstar! We waited for a few good rains to occur to help the stones settle. We’re now in the maintenance phase where we just adjust a few stones here and there. Aren’t the new steps beautiful?!

We spent $200 total on this project, took 10 or so hours total, and we used the great help of my Mom and Dad (thank you!). We learned how to map out an idea, budget for a project you want to tackle and got several good workouts in while accomplishing the finished project. We’re now already eyeing the entrance into our backyard through our fence gate. New stepping stones would look pretty nice over there…

Until next time, readers! Be inspired to DIY and give your home some LOVE!

eats

Blue Apron Review: Seared Steaks & Miso Butter

July 11, 2018July 10, 2018 ledtreats

Every once in a blue moon, we splurge and purchase an “ingredient-and-recipe meal kit.” Most of the time, the splurge stems from a busy week, and we appreciate having everything laid out for us. Alternatively, sometimes Melissa forgets to hit “Skip” for the week, and we’re pleasantly surprised by one at our front door. This is what happened this past week. (Oops!) Either way, Andrea, Melissa’s sister, introduced us to the idea, and we’ve enjoying trying many different ones.

This week, we served up Blue Apron’s Seared Steaks & Mission Butter with Marinated Bok Choy, and it didn’t disappoint. We both think it’s a definite “do again,” and would give the recipe 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Here’s what you need to know, and what minor changes we made to the recipe to make it more “us.”

Here are the ingredients they send you:

2 Steaks
1 cup Sushi Rice
10 oz Baby Bok Choy
2 Tbsps Soy Glaze
1 Tbsp Mirin
2 Tbsps Butter
1 Tbsp Sweet White Miso Paste
1 tsp Furikake
4 tsps Yuzu Juice

We supplemented:

Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
1/4 cup Red Onion, chopped

Our Instructions:

Miso Butter

Place butter and Miso Paste in small bowl and set aside to bring to room temperature.
Once at room temperature, stir to thoroughly combine.
Your Miso Butter is complete!

Bok Choy Marinade

Cut off an discard the root end of the Bok Choy, thinly slice.
(Added step by us: Chop approximately 1/4 cup on red onions.)
Combine sliced Red Onions, Bok Choy, Furikake, Yuzu Juice, 1/2 Tbsp Mirin, and a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to marinate, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Your Bok Choy salad is complete!

Our Bok Choy marinating with added Red Onions.

Sushi Rice

Thoroughly rinse the rice. (DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!)
Combine rinsed rice, large pinch of salt, and 1 1/4 cups of water, and heat to boiling on high.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to low.
Cover and cook without stirring for 15 minutes.
Once water is absorbed and rice is tender, turn off heat and fluff with fork.
Stir in half the mirin.
Your Sushi Rice is complete!

Steak

We decided to celebrate our recent Reverse Sear blog (by Bar-B-Chu), by reverse searing our steak.
Rinse the steak and pat dry with a paper towel in preparation to season with your favorite steak rub. We choose Wassi’s Classic Steak for this recipe.
While the rub and the steak become friends, heat your grill to 250 degrees indirect (we did this on the Big Green Egg).
Once the grill is up to temperature place your steak(s) on the grate and let them bake for 35-45 minutes depending on what internal temperature you want.
When you are about 5-10 degrees away from your desired internal temp, remove the steak(s) and set your grill for 400-450 degrees direct heat.
Place you cast iron on the grate and add butter, bacon grease, or your favorite searing fat.
Add the steak(s) to the cast iron and cook for 30ish seconds on each side until crispy.
Once crispy, remove the steak(s) and let them rest for 5ish minutes
Cut into strips, plate, and ENJOY!

Our bacon grease reserve for the reverse sear!

Plating

Pile rice and top with steak. Drizzle Soy Glaze. Top with Miso Butter. Add Boy Choy salad as a side.

Final Product: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

This meal was on point. We were starving, so the sticky, starchy rice was amazing and filling. The soy glaze added the perfect sweetness to the salty. The Miso Butter added the perfect combo of flavors. 5 out of 5 on that side of the plate.

The Bok Choy salad was a little bland, which is why Blue Apron lost .5 point overall. Because of its blandness, we ended up adding the touch of red onions. It balanced out the flavor, and made the side a little more refreshing. We were really glad to have some on hand.

Overall, this was definitely a great recipe! We’re glad Melissa forgot to hit “Skip” this week.

life

Book Review: “The Alice Network” by Kate Quinn

July 7, 2018July 6, 2018 ledtreats

Hi, Melissa here. This time for the book review, you just get me and my opinion. (Sorry not sorry.) Joey hasn’t read this one, and I’m not sure he ever will, because it’s not really his style. Although Amanda in my Book Club said her husband, Aaron, was really enjoying it – so who knows?

Yes, you heard me correctly. I’m in a Book Club. It’s a fairly new club! We have only met twice, and the first meeting was to pick this book: “The Alice Network” by Kate Quinn. Although I missed that first meeting, I’m so glad this book got picked, and I can’t wait to tell you more.

5 out 5 stars

“The Alice Network” by Kate Quinn is an adventurous historical fiction following the stories of European female spies during the World Wars (particularly one named Eve Gardiner), and a female American college-aged socialite in search for her cousin after World War I (Charlie St. Clair). Somehow, their worlds collide together to unfold an unforgettable journey about courage, friendship, female empowerment, love, and revenge.

More Opinions

The book also touches on so many hot topics – from PTSD to unplanned pregnancies. It boggles my mind how people have been struggling with the same things for so long, and societal reactions are still so similar. But that’s a post for another time…

I think my favorite part of the book was the very end, where the author, Kate Quinn, talks about the true history behind her narrative. To learn the real-life stories about the female spies during the World Wars is fascinating! It’s not a topic I learned about in any of my history classes.

I highly recommend this book and encourage you to BUY IT NOW if you want to start an incredible reading journey.

If you want to keep up with my Book Club, we are currently reading and set to discuss on Wednesday, July 11, 2018:

“Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel” by Gail Honeyman

Meet Melissa

Born and raised in Tampa, you can find me embracing the Texas heat. Our air conditioner never goes below 75 degrees because anything less is out of my comfort zone. I’ve never seen snow fall from the sky, but it’s not because I’m not adventurous. I have visited 10 countries and pride myself in being able to try anything once – especially when it comes to food. A large part of who I am is my adoption. It’s what made me want to work in the nonprofit sector. I am currently in fundraising and marketing for Arms Wide Adoption Services, an organization which places foster care children with adoptive families. Although most acquaintances know me for my caring spirit and can-do attitude, my close friends and family know me for snarky remarks and ability to tell you like it is.

eats

Sweet Potato & Chicken Power Bowl

July 5, 2018July 1, 2018 ledtreats

Inspiration Sparker

This recipe was supposed to be completely different. We were actually hoping to prepare CookingLight’s Beef and Broccoli Stuffed Sweet Potatoes. Unfortunately, the sweet potatoes had some bruising on them, so we were forced to cut those spots off and salvage what was left. Fortunately, what we created instead was delicious!

We are excited to share this Sweet Potato & Chicken Power Bowl treat with you. It should provide about four servings and is in line with the Paleo diet. We always try to stretch our meals so we have lunch the next day. We save a lot of money by not going out to eat for lunch, despite it being a culture at both of our offices. To note, this meal could also easily be made to Whole30 standards if you substitute the jarred roasted red bell peppers and olive oil. Either way, here goes nothing:

Ingredients:

4 sweet potatoes
1 spear of broccoli
4 garlic gloves, minced
1 red onion, chopped
1 (12 oz) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and chopped
1 lb of ground chicken
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons Volcano Spice Gourmet Seasonings’ Hawaiian Style Chili Salt
3 teaspoons onion powder
3 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
Cracked pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
While the oven gets to temperature, peel and dice sweet potatoes. (Since our potatoes had some bruising, we were forced to peel them to ensure we removed all of those bruised areas. But you don’t have to peel them if you don’t want to!)
Lightly coat diced sweet potatoes with a one tablespoon of olive oil. Season with one tablespoon of the Volcano Spice Gourmet Seasonings’ Hawaiian Style Chili Salt, one teaspoon of onion powder, one teaspoon of garlic power, parsley flakes, and cracked pepper to liking.
Place on baking sheet and roast for 12-15 minutes.
While the sweet potatoes are roasting, remove broccoli florets from their stems.
Lightly coat broccoli florets with a one tablespoon of olive oil. Season with one tablespoon of the Volcano Spice Gourmet Seasonings’ Hawaiian Style Chili Salt, one teaspoon of onion powder, one teaspoon of garlic power, and cracked pepper to liking.
At this point, the sweet potatoes should have been roasting for about 12 minutes. Remove them from oven, flip, and sprinkle broccoli over the diced sweet potatoes.
Roast for another 12-15 minutes until broccoli florets become golden.
While the broccoli and sweet potatoes continue to roast, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauce pan on medium heat, and swirl to coast the pan.
Add chopped onion and red bell peppers, and cook for 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.
Add garlic, and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Stir in red pepper flakes, one tablespoon Volcano Spice Gourmet Seasonings’ Hawaiian Style Chili Salt, one teaspoon onion powder, one teaspoon garlic powder, one teaspoon chili powder.
Add ground chicken, and cook approximately 6 minutes, stirring to crumble.
Remove sweet potatoes and broccoli from oven. Divide into fourths and place 1/4 in bowl. Top sweet potatoes and broccoli with 1/4 chicken mix from saucepan. Garnish with green onions (because we were able to be fancy this week).
ENJOY!

Here are some pictures from the process:

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This healthy power bowl gives you a lot of energy and fills you up for a long period of time. It’s easy to prepare, especially if you pre-chop all of the vegetables. Without pre-chopping our vegetables, it probably took us about an hour to make. Although green onions is something we would not typically have minded skipping, we think it complements this recipe really well, so we highly recommend.

If you make this soon, let us know how it goes!

life

Movie Review – Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

July 4, 2018July 1, 2018 ledtreats

We saw Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom over the weekend, and we’re going to try to break it down for you.

Melissa’s Take: 3 out of 5 stars

I can’t hate this movie no matter how hard I try to! It brings me back to my childhood and the greatness of the 90s. The writers and producers do such a great job of putting a few subtle references in the Jurassic World movies that take you right back to the original 1993 Jurassic Park one. Although feeling a little disappointed when you leave, you mostly feel nostalgic.

With that said, I’m only allowing them to make one more! I think that’s the current plan with Jurassic World III in 2021, but you never know. They’re making billions of dollars, and Chris Pratt is fun to watch. I wish I had an official say! One more means they will mirror the original Jurassic Park trilogy. If they create more than three, they are just setting themselves up for failure. It would be chaos for all us Jurassic Park nerds.

With that said, I really do think there’s enough to tell one more story, and I’m sure I’ll watch it in a packed theater like I did this one.

Joey’s Take: 2.5 out of 5 stars

I’m am giving this one a 2.5 star rating, because I felt satisfied leaving the theater, but it lacked something, and I wasn’t enthralled in the story line. The movie has great subtle references to the originals, which I love, and there is plenty of dinosaur action to feed that desire. I think the thing that is dragged the rating down for me were the cheesy villains and how many there were (I think about 4). I don’t mind cheesy villains but it felt a little excessive.

If you asked me “Joey, should I go see the new Jurassic World movie?” I would say, “Yes, you should take the time to go see it, because it is well done and enjoyable to watch, but take your expectation level down one notch before getting there.”

Despite our below average ratings, we still recommend you see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, especially if you are a Jurassic Park or dinosaur fan. It’s action-packed with fun terror, coupled with some “WTF?!” moments!

eats, extras

“Reverse, Reverse”….. Reverse Seared Steaks!

July 3, 2018July 3, 2018 ledtreats

Our First Extra

Joey, John, and Nick at Sunshine State Eggfest before they won People’s Choice

John Churey…. or Bar B “Chu” as we like to call him, is one of Joe and Melissa’s great friends from Joe’s time at Florida State University. Also an Insurance Wholesaler by trade, Chu is an “Egghead” (Big Green Egg Enthusiast) through and through! After all, he has enough of em to make an omelet…four to be Eggsact!! Not to mention he is head chef of “Risk It…. FOR THE BRISKET” BBQ Team that won the 2018 Sunshine State Eggfest Peoples Choice award, but that’s a post for another time. In between weddings and insurance Chu loves hanging out at Wassis Meats in Melbourne, FL cooking, and talking all things Big Green Egg every Saturday with the Wassis Posse (Riverway Mike, Capt. Phil, Johnny Bacon, and the Crew). Come on by if you’re ever around the Space Coast!

We’re Eggcited to have Chu as the first “Extra Treats” guest blogger! Follow along his cooks on Instagram @bar_b_chu !

Let’s Start This Thing In Reverse

Love steak, but intimidated by all those Instagram pictures you’ve been seeing? Or looking to switch up your normal hot and fast grilling methods on steaks and chops? Introducing the Reverse Sear! Much like the name implies, the reverse sear is simply a traditional sear….in reverse. Traditional searing starts with searing initially, to create a beautiful crust before baking at a lower temperature until the desired internal temperature is achieved. The Reverse Sear is simply, the reverse! Start by baking steaks or chops at a low temperature (200-250 degrees) until their internal temperature is 5-10 degrees shy of your desired finished internal temperature. Once the steaks are close to desired finished temperature, take a hot skillet or grate and sear for that crunchy, flavorful crust you would expect to find at the country’s finest steakhouses! Steakhouse quality, without the steakhouse price!

If that didn’t sound like enough of a culinary roller coaster for your taste buds, we stepped this up another notch and added bacon…grease to the equation. Render down some thick cut bacon ahead of time, set the grease aside, and enjoy a little bacon appetizer along the way!

Directions for Reverse Sear:

Rub your steak with a generous amount of seasoning. For Beef I recommend Wassis Classic Steak, or Four41 Fat Henry’s.
Fire up your Big Green Egg, letting the coals burn until smoke stops. Usually 15-20 minutes. Then set Egg for Indirect cooking (with ConvEGGtor, aka plate setter) and adjust vents accordingly to achieve 200-250 degree dome temperature. Return grate to Big Green Egg.
Once the Egg is up to temp, place steaks on grate and let bake until internal temperature reads approximately 5-10 degrees shy of desired finished temperature. A Thermoworks Termapen is a great addition to any pitmasters tool box!
Once steaks are 5-10 degrees shy of finished temp, set aside and cover loosely.
Remove Grate and ConvEGGtor with a good pair of heat resistant gloves, (Blue Fires are my personal favorite), place grate and a Lodge Cast Iron Skillet back on egg, open bottom vent all the way and let the egg heat up for 5-10 minutes until skillet is very hot, leaving the dome open.
Place butter or bacon grease in skillet and let it heat up.
Carefully place Steaks in the hot grease or butter for 30-45 seconds per side, keeping a close eye not to burn.
Remove Steaks from Lodge Cast Iron Skillet, and Enjoy Immediately! No Need to rest the meat when using the reverse sear method.
Meat Sweats Commence!

Works on Pork Chops, too!

Feel free to try Reverse Searing on your favorite Pork Chops as well, you’ll love the results! You can achieve similar results with a gas grill/Sous Vide / stove top or any combination of culinary gadgets you have at your disposal, although I am partial to the results produced by the Natural Lump Charcoal, and the heat & moisture retaining properties of the Big Green Egg!

Follow along @Bar_B_Chu on Instagram!