Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to McKoy's Smokehouse & Saloon located right off of I-77 and Old Pineville Rd in south Charlotte. 

This smokehouse, with both indoor and outdoor seating, reminds me of what a local BBQ joint should look like with wood interior, BBQ paraphernalia on the wall, and loads of TV’s.

We chose to share the Living the Dream (LTD) platter, a combination of ribs, pork, pot roast, and smoked BBQ chicken with sides of mac n’ cheese and fried okra. The St. Louis style ribs were great, not fall off the bone as most BBQ restaurants serve, but with a little pull after the bite like KCBS competition ribs. The smoked pot roast was different, something I've never eaten. 

Living the Dream platter

Dora here. While we were contemplating the menu, I remember commenting that I wished they offered a combo minus the pot roast. But, no matter. I gobbled the pot roast down first! :) And look at that crusty bark on the mac & cheese! Yummy! I'm really not a fan of okra, but their crispy vegies won me over. (Sorry, no pic.) Even with two of us eating off this plate, we still brought home a leftover container with enough meat to make a pot of chili. Sa-weet!

Have you tried smoked pot roast? 

What did you think?

What's the most unusual smoked meat you've eaten?

We rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.

Excited about Eating by Dora Hiers

Yep, you read that right. Today's Excited about Eating post was written by Dora! I gave Ernie the day off. Plus, he doesn't like to talk about himself, so I'm going to do it for him. :)

Since we're all probably rolling from eating too much over the holidays, I decided on a different type of post for today. You all know how much my guy likes to eat. But did you know Ernie's a certified Kansas City BBQ judge? Many Saturdays during the season he travels to judge BBQ events. When he exceeds a four-hour radius from our house, we usually make a weekend of it.

But he's also a backyard smoker. When he cranks up that smoker, I swear our son in DC can smell the ribs. Yum! 

Over the last couple of years, he's been pining for a new smoker, one that doesn't require constant babysitting and feeding of wood chips. He finally decided on a pellet smoker. Load it with pellets, turn it on, put your meat in and voila! The smoker does all the work for you. Well, almost. :)

So this year Santa bought him a pellet smoker for Christmas. 

This puppy arrived in a semi! 500 pounds of smoker, yet-to-be-installed, a few hundred nuts and bolts, and bags and bags of pellets.

Thankfully, Little Man volunteered to help assemble. :)

Little Man even read the directions for Grandpa.

And he volunteered to crawl into those hard-to-reach spots.

What's a lot of work with no play?

The assembly process was a family affair. My part involved a camera. :)

Hopefully, we'll enjoy the goodies coming from this smoker as much as the last one. But no matter. We'll treasure the memories just the same. <3

What was your most treasured gift this year?

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

This edition of Excited about Eating covers McKethan Brothers BBQ Restaurant in Boone, North Carolina.

McKethan Brothers BBQ serves smoked meats, homemade sauces, and southern sides. This family owned BBQ joint offers all the classics including baby back and St. Louis style ribs, chicken, chopped pork, and turkey.

Dora here. We'd been itching to try this place since discovering it over July 4th, but they were closed. It's a bit off the beaten track and shares the same driveway with another business. Don't be alarmed by the empty seats. As usual, we opened the restaurant. By the time we left, they were filling up fast.

We shared the Brothers Sampler Platter, a huge tray of pulled pork, chicken, turkey, St. Louis ribs, and baby back ribs with mac and cheese, Brunswick stew and a corn muffin. Huge, full of flavor, and a great example of southern BBQ! The star of this plate was the baby back ribs, juicy, tender, and fall off the bone. The St. Louis ribs were a close second, full of that smoky flavor that you look for in BBQ. The chicken and pork were great with the turkey being a little on the dry side. The Brunswick stew was outstanding with all of the normal ingredients found in the stew plus a little heat.

Brothers Sampler Platter

Sides - Mac & cheese and Brunswick Stew

Dora here. Delish!! We could've eaten for two days on this meal! The baby backs were killer, but I'm not a fan of St. Louis style ribs, so Ernie got lucky. I ate most of the turkey myself, so I was glad hubby thought it dry. lol. Love the zing that hit going down with the pork. If we lived here, we'd be a weekly visitor. Probably more than that in the winter because I'd order a whole bowl of the Brunswick stew on the off days. 

5 forks all the way!

What's your favorite BBQ restaurant?

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

For this edition of Excited about Eating we visited Smoke Modern Barbeque located in Huntersville's Birkdale Village. 

This ultra-modern restaurant is not your normal BBQ joint. With the contemporary, industrial style decor, you would expect a much higher priced menu.

Now I like to consider myself somewhat of a BBQ connoisseur, with my BBQ hobby of judging KCBS events. So when I visit a BBQ restaurant, I expect tournament quality meat, cooked to perfection with the right amount of smoke. I was not disappointed at this restaurant.

I planned to share with our grandson, so I could sample a variety of meats. I chose the Smokin’ Q Combo with pork spareribs, beef brisket, and smoked sausage with sides of mac n cheese and my favorite, tater tots. The ribs were perfect, not fall-off-the-bone overcooked, like so many BBQ restaurants, but with the right amount of pull and full of juice. The brisket was lean and tender, smoky, and definitely not dry. The sausage was a little spicy and full of favor.  

Smokin' Q Combo - 3 meats, Ribs, Sausage & Brisket

Dora here. A little spicy? Yowzers! That sausage was pop-your-eyeball spicy! Phew! One bite and our grandkiddo nibbled on the brisket and ribs instead. lol. 

Wow! So many items to choose from on their menu, it was difficult to pick just one. The Summer Strawberry Salad was just the right choice for lunch. With two of my favorite fruits, strawberries and pear sticks, how could I go wrong? Piled high with grilled chicken (shrimp was also an option), almonds and melt-on-your-tongue goat cheese and coated with balsamic vinaigrette, this salad was light and fresh. Delish!  

Summer Strawberry Salad

Can you believe that even with three of us eating only two meals, we still brought home two boxes of leftovers?

No debates over this, folks. 5 forks all the way!

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

This edition of “Excited about Eating” takes us to the downtown district of Indianapolis, Indiana. Downtown Indianapolis is more modern than we expected, with professional sports teams, hotels in all price ranges, and restaurants featuring almost every cuisine. We chose three of our best experiences to be included in this edition. Dora here. Want to know the coolest part of Indy? An intricate maze of sky bridges and walkways that allowed us to wander through downtown without ever having to brave the wind and 30 degree temps! And, for Pete’s sake, there’s a four-story mall!

Our first evening we visited Rock Bottom. During our visit, a fire department instructors conference was taking place at the convention center so the restaurant was decked out in fire department paraphernalia.

Dora here. Imagine that. Isn’t that why we were in Indy? Lol. Even bursting with fire personnel, we didn’t wait long for a table, and our server was friendly and knowledgeable, even recommended a couple spots for ice cream later.

I chose the Chipotle Brisket Barbacoa Pizza with honey chipotle BBQ sauce, mozzarella and asiago cheeses, beef brisket and pineapple salsa.  The pizza was outstanding, and the sweet pineapple salsa took this dish to a new level. 

Chipotle Brisket Barbacoa Pizza

Dora here. I stole a piece of hubby’s pizza, and I totally agree! I opted for their famous Classic Mac’n Chicken, creamy spiral macaroni and cheese loaded with chunks of chicken and chased with a bit of a kick from Tabasco and Paprika. Awesome, and just the right portion size for me. Some of the best Mac’n cheese we’ve ever tasted. 

Classic Mac’n Chicken

 I would rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant that serves outstanding food.

 **

For another dinner, we dined at Weber Grill, the first location outside of the metro Chicago area. One thing that makes this restaurant unique is that all cooking is done over authentic giant Weber Charcoal grills.

Weber Grill

Since there was so much on the menu that we wanted to try, we chose the three meat BBQ Combo with Hickory BBQ Ribs, Beef Brisket, and Black Angus Meatloaf served with a sweet and tangy Hickory BBQ sauce, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Mac N’ Cheese. The ribs were BBQ competition quality, tender but not fall-off-the-bone. The brisket was tender and had deep smoke favor, and the meatloaf was smoky with great texture. The sides were equally good; the mashed potatoes full of favor and the mac n’ cheese firm and cheesy. Dora here. Only one word: yum!

I would rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

**

We'd read good things about Pearl Street Pizzeria in the Warehouse District and couldn't wait to try it. This locally owned back-alley restaurant is in the heart of downtown and just a couple of blocks from Monument Circle, Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium.

Pearl Street Pizzeria

For dinner, we shared a twelve inch deep dish pizza, meatlovers on half with sausage, pepperoni, bacon, ham and mozzarella, and just pepperoni on the other half. This pizza would stand up to any deep dish pizza we have eaten in Chicago. The meatlovers side was full of meat and the entire pizza had just the right amount of cheese and sauce. The crust was firm and the pizza was not greasy. So tempting, we dug into it before taking a picture. Sorry. 

Dora here. Not a fan of real saucy pizzas or thin crusts, so whenever I can talk Ernie into deep dish, I’m all over it and this pizza was perfect! Just the way I love my pizza. Heads up, though. The place is small, and it was jammed and really loud. Get there early if you don’t want to wait to sit or order one to go. :) 

I would rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

This adventure of Excited about Eating takes us to the Midwood area of Charlotte to Midwood Smokehouse. This restaurant is tucked into the edge of a building, but it's bigger than it looks.

A Friday lunch was a 10 minute wait, but it probably took that long to snag a parking spot. Although the restaurant was jammed, service was attentive and prompt.

For starters we ordered the Fried Pickles, unique, in that they were sliced length-wise. They were coated in a spicy batter, crispy like I prefer, but I would've enjoyed them more with half the salt.

Fried Pickles

Since we expected to eat a hefty dinner that night, we shared the BBQ combo which included four meats: pork ribs, sausage, brisket (lean, fatty, combo), and chopped pork. We chose mac and cheese and creamed corn for the two sides.

The combo plate came with three dipping sauces: Midwood Signature (sweet, with just a hint of tang) for the ribs and brisket, Eastern NC Vinegar for the chopped pork, and South Carolina (spicy) Mustard for the sausage. The ribs had a wonderful smoky flavor and fall-off-the-bone meaty goodness, the star of the meats. Dora here, in blue. The ribs were finger-licking great, but Ernie's home-smoked ribs are still better. :)

The sausage ranked second, mild with just the right amount of kick. I especially liked the dark bark in both the chopped pork and brisket. Ditto for Dora. And the corn had a firm consistency, not soft or mushy. The spiral pasta had a deep cheesy flavor, but it could've been a tad warmer for my liking.

I would rate this establishment 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

What's your favorite BBQ spot around Charlotte?

Middle-of-the-line or Go-for-the-gusto? Which Will It Be?

So back in November, we spent a good chunk of change covering our deck. If you'd like to see the entire process, I blogged about it here.

This is what we started with

Nice, huh? I loved the view, but basically, the space was unusable in summer. We couldn't sit out there without the sun baking us to death. So hubby and I finally decided to cover the deck, opting for a partial cover and no screening. Neither one of us wanted to venture out in twenty degrees to open the screen door for Bruiser to go outside. Brrr! After this frigid winter, I'm so glad we chose not to screen it in.

Here's the deck with the new cover

Super sweet, right? 

In case you didn't know, late fall isn't necessarily the best time to remodel a deck. By the time the construction was complete, plastic Santa Claus's, artificial Christmas trees, and twinkling lights had swooped in to replace the patio furniture in the home improvement stores. So much for finishing our deck.

Now that spring is almost here and warmer temperatures are teetering, we just ordered new patio furniture. I can hardly wait to spruce up our sparse deck. But, alas, we have a dilemma, one I hope you'll weigh in on.

The last task is to replace our tired old grill. Although it was a hand-me-down from our parents (their house came with a snazzy built-in grill), it was an expensive grill. Over several years, we've replaced various parts and what not, but it's time to buy a new one. 

When it comes to major purchases, I believe in two philosophies: one, buy cheap and replace more frequently. Or two, buy expensive and keep it longer. In most instances, both hubby and I hang out together in the first category~buy cheap and replace more often. But this grill purchase has us wavering. 

It takes us awhile to reach the buy stage, so we went looking last weekend. Last year's middle-of-the-line model was marked $30 off, but rust was already evident on the rack. Really? After only a year? I don't know how you feel about plunking down hard-earned cash for something that already has rust on it, but I find it extremely difficult to swallow. At this point, I don't even care to pay $30 more for this year's model. The reviews validate this. 

I have a hunch which way we'll choose, but what would you do? 

Buy a middle-of-the-line grill and expect to replace it after a couple of years? Or go for the gusto, pay a couple hundred more, and hope it weathers better than the mid-priced grill?

And don't even get me started on the grill covers...

What's happening?

Thought I'd take a moment and share a couple of the exciting, fun events planned for the next few days.

Kannapolis Friends of the Library Book Sale
The Kannapolis Friends of the Library is hosting a book sale this weekend with thousands of "gently" used books marked WAY down! The proceeds from this event support the purchase of materials for the Kannapolis Library and enhance special programs throughout the year. 

On Friday, 10/25, from 1-3, or on Saturday, 10/26, from 9-noon, I'll be signing/selling copies of my books. The sale is taking place in the old Cabarrus Bank building, 201 West Ave., Kannapolis, NC.

Picture compliments of Bing, not the actual event

HogHappnin BBQ and Craft Festival
I'll be participating in my first ever CRAFT show! If you live near Shelby, NC, stop by the Hog Happnin festival on Saturday, 11/2, from 9-4. There's a lot going on, including a Car & Cycle Show, Arts & Crafts and what else? BBQ! 

Hubby will be judging for the KCBS Sanctioned BBQ Competition, and you can find me under the Heart Racing, God-Gracing Romance Author banner! Come on out for fun, BBQ, and maybe find some awesome Christmas gifts! 
Shelby City Park, 850 W Sumter St, Shelby, NC.

Hope to see you at one of these events! What are your plans for the weekend?