Mrs. Dyal's Birthday Celebration...(lots of pix!)

My wife's birthday was last weekend, but we had her celebration today.  A great time was had!  Both sides of the family showed up, and we had lots of food!  Too much actually, as there were tons of leftovers.  For some reason, I'm always paranoid about not having enough.  So I end up sending everyone home with to-go plates.    Better too much than not enough, I guess.   

I took care of the pork butts this past Sunday.  I smoked up two 6.5 pound butts with a mixture of Jack Daniel's Whiskey Barrel Oak Chips and Pecan Chips.

They melted apart and had a great smoke ring.

I ended up vacuum sealing the pulled pork and freezing it until last night.  I allowed it to thaw out in the fridge overnight, and today I reheated it in the oven with a little Apple Juice.  I also trimmed and prepped 7 racks of St. Louis Style Spare Ribs last night.  3 were for my wife's birthday party, and 4 were for my sister in law's friend's son's (hahahahaha) birthday party.  My sister in law asked me if I could smoke up some ribs for her friend's party, and I was happy to oblige.    Already had the smoker fired up, so it wasn't too much of a hassle at all. 

Fired the BGE up early this morning before the sun came up.  It was cool out, and there is nothing more pleasant to me than firing up the smoker first thing in the AM. 

These little BGE citronella candles were being given out to the cooks of the Eggtoberfests last year.  I forgot I had them, and figured this morning was the perfect time to use them. 

And had some Sweet Nectar of the Morning Gods (Colombian Eight O'clock Coffee) to help me wake up.  My black tumbler lids were dirty, so I had to use my wife's hot pink lid.  LOL  Don't hate me because I'm fantastic! 

I smoked my wife's birthday ribs first.  Both sets were smoked with a mixture of JD Whiskey Barrel Oak Chips and Apple Wood Chips.

Served everything up with a nice variety of Sauces...

Then tossed on the 4 racks of Ribs for my sister in law...

And the birthday meal... Pulled pork, Ribs, Mac n Cheese, Blue Cheese and Bacon Coleslaw, and Green Beans.

And for those of you interested in the Blue Cheese and Bacon Coleslaw....it is amazing!!  My friend, Jeff, told me about it a year or so ago.  Blue Cheese and Bacon makes everything taste better!    It's a recipe from a restaurant in Charleston, SC.  HERE IS THE RECIPE ... You won't regret trying it. 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!