Steaming and Smoking into a Fourth Decade

I turned 30 yesterday. It's OK, I was ready.

The Spoonstress began a day of deft moves by surprising me with a delicious breakfast--a blackberry peach scone, vanilla almond bread and some fancypants coffee. The birthday continued that way, littered with treats, well wishing, love and cheer.

More germane to this blog, I'm now the proud owner of some new food toys. Thanks to Mama and Papa Fork, I have tools to steam and serve some dim sum fun. With these great bamboo steamers and the dim sum book I previously found, the Hong Kong style dumplings can't be far behind.

Last night, at a perfect gathering over slightly high-end Mexican our close friends the Quigleys gave me a smoker. I've long pined for a device with which to lovingly smoke meat. It can be a bit tricky, but with a gauge simple enough for this Forkster, it won't be long before I'm cooking "slow and low" (time and temperature).

At present, the urge to smoke something Thanksgiving-related is strong. We'll just have to see...Of course, now that I'm a certified old man (thanks, Alex), I've got plenty of time to consider such things.