Lon’s cousin Andrew asked for a smoker as his graduation present. What a smart guy! He’s been practicing for weeks, many hours at a time, honing his smoking skills and was finally ready to show it off… and we were lucky enough to be called in as taste testers.
Andrew’s brisket was nicely smoked and the sauce he created was perfect. I had to eat just one more piece even though I was bursting from the seems. He has perfectly mastered creating the pink ring that indicates a perfectly smoked piece of barbecue. And his sauce is well balanced with onions and tang. The left-overs we smuggled home made great sandwiches the next day.
Of course, Aunt Heather wasn’t going to let us come without a feast! She tried a new dish of Blistered New Potatoes with cipollini onions, Garlicky Shrimp Kebabs, and a great salad. Afterwards we found room in our already stuffed bellies for Blueberry Crumble and Stern-Family specials: the Poppy Seed Cookies.
Lon would go nuts if I didn’t give a special mention to the Stuffed Zucchini that Aunt Heather created, reminiscent of Clams Oreganata, without the oiliness and with extra nutrients. I lost count of how many he ate. Then he took 1.5 home.

Wow–I’ve never seen stuffed zucchini before. It looks sooo good!
I loooooove stuffed zucchini! And look at the lettuce–what beauties!
Asianmommy, it was new to me too.
Dr. Food, the lettuce was so delicious!