Black's BBQ in Lockhart

Hi, kids!

I hope you had a great week at school. Mine was pretty good, and when the school week was done I got ready for my boy scout campout at Camp Green Dickson, near Gonzalez, Texas. Just Dad and me were going, since it was a Webelos rank event, so Andrew got to stay home with Mom and have a fun time to themselves. I think they were planning to go to the nearby Mighty Fine restaurant, to get some might fine hamburgers and fries.

While they went out for burgers, my dad and me planned to stop in Lockhart for some famous barbecue. Lockhart is like a bbq capital in Texas, with several great bbq restaurants. We knew they had some places like Kreuz's and Smitty's, and then we saw a sign for Black's. That's the one we wanted to try.

Black's is famous for being the oldest bbq restaurant in Texas still owned by the same family. We got to the entrance and it was well worth the drive:

Here I am with some of my favorites: ribs, brisket, and a Big Red soda!

We had to 'fess up to Mom when we got home. Between my dad and me we probably ate 2 pounds of barbecue, plus sides. We got mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and fried rice to go with the bbq. Mmm it was so good! Come and Take It!

Garner State Park after-camp report

Hi, kids!

We had a great time camping at Garner State Park. It was a bit of a drive to get there -- my dad told me it was 170 miles from our house. But what a beautiful drive. And once we got off the highway it was like being in the middle of nowhere, with no cities or much traffic. As we approached the park it was first all flat, and then we started seeing the Hill Country canyons!

We set our tent up at dark, so we couldn't really see what the park looked like. When we woke up in the morning, we began to discover the extent of the hills, river and canyons around us. We started the day exploring the Frio river. Here my brother and me are leaving camp for the river:

We went fishing below the dam. Even though we didn't catch anything, we sure had fun casting and jumping around the rocks. Here you can see how pretty the walk along the river was:

There were some good fishing holes, even if the fish weren't biting! We also tried fishing above the dam, and though we didn't have any better luck, it was a great site!

After fishing we went for a great hike to explore the hills on top of us. They had a couple of caves and some long trails that took us all the way to the top of the canyon overlooking the Frio river valley. It was a misty morning, and that felt good as we climbed the mountain. It even threatened to rain, but thankfully the rain held off and we were able to keep going!

Our campsite is at the bottom of the valley, just behind my right shoulder.

We finished up the hike and returned to our campsite in time for the sun to break free of the clouds. It was a beautiful afternoon to cool off in the fresh Frio river. Mom had a great idea to rent us a paddle board! We had never tried that before and here was the perfect chance. It was so much fun -- if you haven't tried it yet, ask your parents to take you to a river where you can rent one. The paddle board has a lot of balance to it, so even though I had never tried it before, I was able to get the hang of it right away. I never fell off once.

Then it was soon suppertime! And I was in charge. Guess what we were having? I think I mentioned it last time: one of my favorites, steak! My dad picked up a very special treat for us to grill, some beef tenderloin steaks. Look at how huge they were!

We also had corn on the cob to get ready, and mom made some biscuits on the Dutch Oven. So I got the charcoal and wood good and hot, then put on the steaks:

I kept a close eye on the grill, to make sure the steaks didn't get overcooked and dried out:

 I couldn't quite tell the temperature, and also because the steaks were so thick (about 2 inches almost), I kept the meat on the grill for almost twenty minutes. I flipped the steaks about halfway:

Then the steaks were ready! How do they look to you?

Here we are at our campsite picnic table. Come and Take It!

Garner State Park camping!

Hi, kids!

It's mid-week -- how has your week of school been? Mine has been good, and full of activities. After school and besides homework, I had two scouting meetings to go to. Last night was my own Webelos scout den's meeting where we learned about engineering and making electrical circuits. That was cool and was led by another scout's dad who is a real smart chemical engineer. Tonight was my brother Andrew's wolf den meeting and we learned about bicycle safety from another scout's dad who loves to bike. I'm helping my mom and dad lead Andrew's den, so in a way I get to be their den's den chief. That is a great responsibility for me!

Here I am in my scout uniform:

My family is excited for the upcoming weekend, because we get to go camping! We're going to one of the best state parks in all of Texas -- at least that is what I've heard, but I'll have to find out for myself. This will be our first time going to Garner State Park. It is on the Frio River in what we call the Texas Hill Country (it is a part of Texas that has real hills!). With all the rain we've had lately, the river should be flowing, and the trees and grass should be soft and green. It could be a perfect weekend! Of course we plan to grill while we're there. My dad is talking about a special treat of grilling one of my favorites: steak! Mom has already picked up ingredients for making 'smores. What can be better than going camping, going hiking in the woods, seeing the stars and hearing nothing but nature, and grilling meat and 'smores around the fire?

Wish you could come camping with us! I'll give you the update from Garner State Park.

Your friend,

--James

After dinner report: yummy St. Louis ribs & pork tenderloin

Hi, kids!

Well I must say that the ribs and pork tenderloin turned out awesome! After my dad and I got the grill all heated up and smokey (we aimed to keep the temperature at around 225 degrees Fahrenheit) I got ready to put the pork ribs on. I made up another Memphis-style rub to put on the St. Louis cut ribs.

We had all afternoon to play in the backyard, run around with friends from the neighborhood, and watch the barbecue work its magic. Dad kept an eye on the meat and listened to his favorite music like last time (some more Johnny Cash, Mumford and Sons, and The Digital Age). We counted on six hours that the ribs needed to be smoked. About halfway through the six hours I pulled the pork tenderloins out of the 'fridge. Here's a photo of them in the bowl of salty-water brine that I put them in the day before.

I put the same Memphis-style rub on the two pork tenderloins, and got the ready for the grill, putting them next to the pork ribs already cooking nicely!

We kept adding some mesquite wood chips to the charcoal, to give the pork a nice smokey and sweet flavor. After about six hours we were ready to eat! I pulled off the meat and doesn't it look great?

My mom made up some mashed potatoes (one of my favorites) and brownies for a special-treat dessert (another favorite, especially if they come with vanilla ice cream!). To top the day off we got to eat our supper in the family room watching a movie: Escape from Planet Earth. That was funny -- it was about creatures from outer space who got stuck on Earth and had to escape to get back home and to their families.

It's Sunday now and that means church, flag football, and friends. This morning my brother Andrew got a new Bible. He's a third-grader for Sunday School, and that's the year our church gives the kids Bibles. Very cool. Then we came home and mom made lunch. Guess what she made? An omelette, and it was actually pretty good. Better than the one my dad tried to make last weekend when Mom was away at her church Pilgrimage retreat.

I was supposed to play flag football this afternoon. But we got a rain-out! Can you believe it? It actually rained pretty hard last night. I heard at church we got about 2 and a half inches of rain during the night. All here in Texas! So the football field is like a mud bowl, so the leaders decided it would be better for us to not slip and slide and maybe get hurt.

We're chilaxing here at home now. I have the afternoon to play with friends, my brother, and hang out. My dad is thinking of making a special fish soup for supper, and Mom's doing laundry. Pretty good day!

See you soon, my friends!

--James

All Pro Dad's kick-off

Hi, kids!

This morning we launched our first All Pro Dad's event for the year. What a great time it was! If you can join us later, we'll have another event in late October and one in early December. Y'all are welcome!

It was an early morning -- I got up with my dad and brother at 6:30 am to leave for church and help make the pancakes and bacon. I was co-in charge of the bacon while my dad was in charge of the pancakes. They all turned out great -- crispy bacon (my favorite) and fluffy flapjacks!

Then our friends turned up about 8 am. We had a great speaker, Brett Rodgers who leads up the University of Texas Young Life Program. He gave us some strong words of encouragement like being thankful for what we receive all the time.

Next we went outside to play some games. Here's a picture of our inaugural group:

Pastor Ted showed us how to make a home-made slingshot to be used to launch water balloons. We went out to the field to launch water balloons at some of the dad's. I was the first kid to hit a parent (sorry Mr. McLatcher!) -- woo-hoo!

Then we played an all-time favorite: kick-ball. I love that game.

Now we're at home, relaxing, playing, watching my favorite TV show: Duck Dynasty. Today's show had an alligator who found its way into their shed. That's like the time a rattle snake showed up on our drive-way. It was sunning itself and we didn't know how we were going to get rid of it. I sure didn't want to ride over it with my bike! Mom called the police and get them to use their snake trap to move it somewhere else, but before the police arrived the snake started to slither. Yikes! So my dad pounced on it with a garden rake and whacked it a couple of times behind its head to kill it. Here you can see how long it was. That's my brother Andrew giving it a close look!

We're fixing some great bbq for supper tonight. We're going to have pork ribs again, and some pork tenderloin. I helped my dad start on the pork tenderloin last night. We put them in a bowl of brine (salty water with some herbs and spices) to let the meat get all tender and marinated. Then today so far we made up the rub to put on the meat. Pretty soon we'll light the charcoal, get some hickory wood going on the grill, and get the smoke breezing!

Ok my friends, I'll check in again later and let you know how the bbq turned out! Come and Take it!

Your friend,

--James

Longhorn Caverns & Inks Lake

Hi, kids!

How was your weekend? Mine was a blast. Would you believe we finally got rain in Texas? We got a deluge all Friday long. And what it did was clean up the air and cool things down. It's like a bit of fall weather now -- I'm so glad!

Mom had a great time at her church Pilgrimage retreat at a place called Camp Buckner, in the Texas Hill country near Marble Falls. We went there Saturday afternoon to surprise her, joining some other families and friends to tell all the parents how great they are!

Along the way we decided to explore a bit of the Hill country. So my dad, my brother Andrew and I piled in the car and off we went. First we stopped at Longhorn Cavern State Park. Here you can see me and Andrew on top of the sign at the entrance to the park. 

You can see how blue the sky was! We had a great picnic -- some leftover pizza that my dad grilled on our bbq for Friday night's supper. Dad picked up some of the best chips ever: Zapp's Voodoo chips all the way from Louisiana. Kids, if you haven't tried those yet, go get them!

While we were having our picnic, my brother Andrew went off exploring. Guess what he found? An observation tower built in 1935! It was built under a government program called the Civilian Conservation Corps, and they built all sorts of neat places like parks that we can explore.

We climbed up to the top of the observation tower and we could see forever! The sky was so blue and the trees so green! All the rain the day before made it magical.

Behind me and Andrew on the horizon is Inks Lake. Behind my right shoulder in the clearing of trees is Camp Buckner where Mom spent the weekend. On the horizon behind Andrew's left shoulder is a castle -- would you believe we have a castle in Texas?

We climbed down the tower and then hiked around the woods. I found a neat bench made of Cedar trees.

Then we discovered a pretty thicket of oak woods -- Hook 'em Horns (a shout-out to all our University of Texas fans)!

Finally we scampered down to the cave, which the park is named after. It was really cool to climb down several sets of stairs that led us under the ground.

We climbed back up from the cave and decided to drive next to Inks Lake State Park. We love exploring Texas state parks, and we had never been to Inks Lake. It was awesome! They have some great camping sites right next to the lake! We'll definitely have to camp there soon! We hiked around a little bit, and here I am on top of a granite rock cropping overlooking the lake.

What a great Saturday it was! We met Mom at Camp Buckner and sang her and the other grown-ups some songs. We got to explore the cool pond and creek they had, and we even did a little fishing for bass they had.

We drove home at sunset, and it was really beautiful, all green and with views to the horizon. We were talking about how you could describe the Texas Hill Country as God's Country!

Ok my friends I hope you have a great week at school! It's going to be another really fun week & weekend for me. In addition to school (you know I have to say how fun school is), I have scouts, a neighborhood party to look forward to on Friday, our first All Pro Dad's breakfast get-together on Saturday (my dad will be cooking pancakes and bacon!), church and flag football. I'm not sure what we're going to bbq yet, but I know it'll be great!

See you again soon!

Your friend,

--James



 

Come and Take It weekend bbq plans

Hi, kids!

You can now follow me on twitter @TexasKidBbq. I'm way ahead of my parents on social media -- how about you?

Today was a lot of fun -- but a lot of hard work too! School was good, but then I came home and had some tough homework to get through. I love to read, and can spend hours doing so. But my homework instructions were a bit complicated and I ended up spending 2 hours on homework, and it's only 4th grade!

I was able to steal away from my homework and go to my Scouts den meeting. We received a bunch of summertime activity awards, and we made plans for a fall camping trip to a park near Gonzales, Texas -- the site of the start of the Texas revolution. That's where Come and Take It comes from -- it's about a battle for freedom, and there was a fight for an artillery cannon. What a great way to see some real historic sites and learn our state history!

I do love to camp, and my family goes camping a bit often. Here's a picture of me in a nice park in Stratford, Canada on our summertime vacation

 

This weekend is going to be fun. Me, my brother and my dad are thinking about what to barbecue this weekend. Mom is going away to a church Pilgrimage retreat -- we're all happy and proud that she's getting a chance to experience a time of church fellowship and renewal. While she's away we'll play around the neighborhood, bbq, go to church, and play flag football again.

For bbq we're thinking maybe pizza on the grill -- we tried that a couple of weeks ago and it turned out great! It's like you're going to one of those fancy pizza restaurants where they have a stove that burns wood.

I hope your week at school is going good, and good luck with the homework. Let me know how that's going for you too!

Your friend,

--James