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Our daughter and son-in-law were heading to NC for a long weekend to see their grandson. She called me and, "Dad, there are some things in the refrigerator that I should have thrown away but I did not. If you stop by the house, please go through them, keep what you can use and pitch the rest."

Being from the "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" generation, I found an egg plant, some pasta sauce, pepper jack cheese and fresh basil. My parents and grand parents would be rolling over in their graves if I threw these things away (after all, "the poor people in Europe were starving") so I brought the stuff to my house and made this, Rocky's Pepper Jack Eggplant Parmesan:

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We enjoyed carciofi (artichokes), which I simmered for ~1 hr. and then finished on the grill. I served this with a dipping sauce of butter/EVOO/garlic/basil. I made mushroom risotto, and fennel&onion that was roasted in a cast-iron pan on the grill. Finally, we had a filet of Alaskan Pacific cod, marinated in soy/lime, then seared on the grill. We both wound up pouring some of the butter/EVOO/garlic/basil sauce over it, which was a very good move! :)

All washed down with a Voigner from a juice bucket from Rattlesnake Hills AVA in WA.

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Power restored at 1AM......YESSSSSSSSSSS :db :db
And the mayor said it would take between 2 to 10 days to get it restored, we were bracing for the worst knowing what happened in the last storm a few years ago, it was brutal.
 
Went through a Cat2 hurricane back in 1983 (Alicia). We lived in SW Houston in a new subdivision with underground utilities. All over Houston power was out for days. Lots of people had no power for 3-7 days, they lost all food in the freezer/fridge and many had to move to hotels until their power was restored as well its Houston in August so 95 degrees and 100% humidity and no AC. We were lucky and never lost power somehow. That was enough hurricane "fun" for me!
 
Went through a Cat2 hurricane back in 1983 (Alicia). We lived in SW Houston in a new subdivision with underground utilities. All over Houston power was out for days. Lots of people had no power for 3-7 days, they lost all food in the freezer/fridge and many had to move to hotels until their power was restored as well its Houston in August so 95 degrees and 100% humidity and no AC. We were lucky and never lost power somehow. That was enough hurricane "fun" for me!

I can only imagine tropical weather with no AC.....brutal.
 
I can only imagine tropical weather with no AC.....brutal.

We went through Katrina. In New Orleans, where the levees broke, it took months to restore power. Most folks couldn’t get to or live in their homes, many never returned to the flooded homes. Homes in the higher areas of NO, which didn’t flood, went without power for months as well.
Here on the Northshore of the lake, we didn’t have flooding, we had 100 foot + pine trees that toppled and decimated the power transmission system. Most of us were without power for 1 - 4 weeks, were still living in our homes, in the heat of the end of August and September. I was lucky to live near and be on the same power transmission lines as a hospital, had power in 5 days. No fun. Have a natural gas fired whole house generator now.
 
We went through Katrina. In New Orleans, where the levees broke, it took months to restore power. Most folks couldn’t get to or live in their homes, many never returned to the flooded homes. Homes in the higher areas of NO, which didn’t flood, went without power for months as well.
Here on the Northshore of the lake, we didn’t have flooding, we had 100 foot + pine trees that toppled and decimated the power transmission system. Most of us were without power for 1 - 4 weeks, were still living in our homes, in the heat of the end of August and September. I was lucky to live near and be on the same power transmission lines as a hospital, had power in 5 days. No fun. Have a natural gas fired whole house generator now.

Sometimes we say why a generator if I may only need it once in 5 years...well that single time makes up for the whole thing..!!
Having no power AND no water is no fun at all.

My water relies on well, so for me I think I could remedy that with a simple small inverter just to power the water tank/compressor in the basement.
 
Given that it wasd nearly cold in Missouri today (78F, no humidity), when it is normally 95F with 90% humidity, my wife and I decided bbq chicken was in order. I had been to the stores and they had 4 packages of meat for $20, so I picked up for leg/thigh quarters. Rubbed with some nice slices, onto the grill at about 300F.

First picture on the grill and second when I pulled them away about 165F.

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I guess I'm starting the 16lbs brisket in the early AM, wife's 50th bday and going to NJ to her family on Saturday.
So I plan to start trimming early AM while starting up the grill and getting it to temp, hope I can place the brisket on the grill by 8am. After trimming I think I will end up with about 12lbs.

The goal is to get it thru the stall late afternoon, wrap it and hopefully reach the ~200F later in the night (not too late I hope).....but I know the stall would take longer....so just hoping..!!

How many hours is it safe to leave in a cooler after taking the brisket off the grill at the end? If the cook is done late in the night I'm afraid to leave it in the cooler overnight, but assume it will be ok by early Saturday AM.

We're leaving to NJ early afternoon, heck, can I leave it in the cooler all the way to the afternoon or that is WAY too risky and I better off putting it in the fridge until before we leave the house?
 
Cook @275 so you have a little more time "insurance" You can always rest for a few hours and then transfer to the fridge and reheat in the oven (in AL foil). Nobody will know the difference. Just don't slice until your ready to serve so as many of the juices stay inside the meat. I have seen people leave in a cooler wrapped for up to 8 -10 hours without any issues.
 
Cook @275 so you have a little more time "insurance" You can always rest for a few hours and then transfer to the fridge and reheat in the oven (in AL foil). Nobody will know the difference. Just don't slice until your ready to serve so as many of the juices stay inside the meat. I have seen people leave in a cooler wrapped for up to 8 -10 hours without any issues.

I think leaving in a cooler for that long, 8~10 hours, should be ok since the heat will be retained in the foil.
My son was asking me about starting later in the day so it is ready for the cooler by Saturday before we leave the house (then 2 hour drive to NJ), but the big issue is fire management overnight and not only that but also hitting the stall in the middle of the night and not wrapping on time as needed.
What da ya think? lol
 
I would personally err on the side of getting it done sooner rather than later so you can rest and toss it in the fridge when you need to and then toss into a cooler for transport to NJ and then into an oven to reheat for the party.
 
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