N4IXT's QTH

I'm at a company sponsored retreat right now at Mt Cheaha. It's the highest point in the state of Alabama. Our IT group rented the entire lodge. It's not huge, 12 bedrooms, but there's only 12 of us so it works out. And with my laptop, dial in connection and a 25 foot phone cord I can still get my daily internet fix.

For dinner we have two chefs in the group who did an expert job out on the bbq grill behind the lodge. Chicken, steaks, and deer sausage filled us up nicely along with some potatoes, corn on the cob and onions all boiled together along with a little crab boil.

For you folks north of the Mason-Dixon line, crab boil is this little bag of seasoning that you toss into boiling water, along with whatever you are cooking. Yes, as you might expect from the name it was designed for crab, but works great with just veggies, or shrimp, or what have you.

We had a really good time cooking. In addition to our two master chefs, another fellow and myself served as assistants. I have problems cooking toast, but am an expert taste tester, and am decent at fetching things from the kitchen. The four of us had such a good time, we're talking about entering some of the BBQ contests they have around here.

While we were busy by the grill the rest of the team was busy inside, getting tables ready, setting silverware (OK plastic wear, but it was at least colored silver), and preparing drinks. A real team effort that resulted in lots of laughter and good times over the food.

The finale was the peach cobbler. One of our chefs has a cast iron dutch oven. Apparently this thing will sit down in the fire, and the lid is designed so you can pile more coals on top. He mixed up a cobbler right there at the grill and baked it in the fire and man alive that was some good eatin'!

Hmm, everyone else is in bed, and as I recall there was a little bit of that cobbler left over. Me thinks it's time for a midnight cobbler raid!

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