The Family Table

By Lorie Thompson

I love camping.

When My Uncle, JL McKay, was alive, he would organize family camping trips to Tugalo Lake. The entire clan would come! My friend, Charlie Burns, would join us and announce that for the weekend, his name was “Charlie McKay, Ramey, Thompson, Burns,” naming all of the families represented. Back in those days, access to Tugalo required a tough 4-wheel drive and a lot of effort to get to the lake, but very often, we would have the lake to ourselves. The weekend highlights would include fishing, storytelling around the campfire, great food, and lots of laughter.

Our family still loves to camp. Mountain Man and I have changed our camping style over the years. We started in our 20’s with two backpacks. We migrated into Jeep camping a few years later and then into taking the pickup truck. After we had children, a camping trip required that we take the Tahoe and the truck pulling a boat full of gear to carry it all! We still camp, but now, our children have taken over “hosting” and bring most of the community gear and food. So, it is much easier for us to go and we are going more often. A large part of the fun of camping is outdoor cooking and sharing meals. When we have a large group comprised of several households, we share breakfast, cooking it in the camp. We all bring snacks and lunch items to share. Each family unit will provide an evening meal for everyone. One of my favorite first evening meals is smoked brisket. I prepared it before heading to our campsite and keep it hot in a homemade “Cambro” until supper time. Paired with potato salad and a green salad, it makes a beautiful evening meal. Let me tell you how I made it. Brisket takes some planning. It is a big cut of meat and takes time to prepare. I chose an 11.5-pound brisket that I bought at Sam’s Club. One day before your trip or serving date, take the brisket out of the refrigerator and allow it to come up in temperature. Rinse the meat in cool water and pat dry with a paper towel. Trim the thick areas of fat. Because of the very long cooking time, you should leave a good amount of fat on the meat but trim it up to a thinner line. You can season with any seasoning you choose. If I am only making one brisket, instead of making a rub, I will sprinkle on the seasonings and then “massage” it into the crooks and crevices. Turn the brisket with the fat cap side down—season liberally with garlic salt, and pepper. Then add paprika, cumin, and brown sugar. Turn the brisket over and season the other side. (Add back a few pieces of the thin, fat trimmings on areas with no fat to keep it from drying out.) Make a “boat” out of double-thick heavy-duty

aluminum foil, or use a disposable aluminum pan if it will fit in your smoker. Make certain your foil “boat” does not leak. The brisket needs the liquid for the long cooking time. My pitmaster, Mountain Man, chose to cook the brisket over cherry, but hickory or mesquite are good choices for beef, too. Smoke the brisket in the open “boat” for 10-12 hours at 200 degrees. (The 11.5-pound brisket, trimmed, was in the 10-pound range, which is small for a brisket. It cooked in this first stage for 9 hours.) Remove the brisket from the smoker. At this point, it should be in the 170-180 degree range. Wrap the brisket in peach paper, parchment paper, or brown paper for best results. Make sure your paper is food grade and non-waxed. I used parchment and then wrapped it again in brown paper. Place the wrapped brisket back into the smoker for 5-6 hours at 225 degrees. Remove and check the temperature. The brisket should be at 225 degrees. Allow the meat to rest, still wrapped in paper for at least 30 minutes before serving. If you are transporting the meat, as soon as it is off of the smoker, tightly wrap the paper-wrapped meat in aluminum foil and then wrap the package in a thick towel—place in a cooler sized near the meat package to hold for up to 4 hours. Do not open the cooler until serving time. Knowing how to slice the brisket is essential. The cut has two sections of meat. The “flat” is long and lean, and sitting on top of it is the “point”. It is easy to find the seam between the two and slice apart. The point will need to be sliced at an angle, cutting across the grain. It has more fat on it, and in my opinion, it is the best part of the brisket. Many people like the “flat” It is lean and easy to cut, once again, across the grain.

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Lorie Thompson is a REALTOR at Poss Realty in Clayton, Georgia. Her expertise in her industry is second only to her culinary talents. Lorie is a dynamo in the kitchen. Honestly if she prepares it, it will likely be the best you’ve ever had! Lorie and her husband, Anthony (Peanut), make their home in the Persimmon Community. She is the proud mother of Joe Thompson and Kendall Thompson.

Serve the brisket with a vinegar sauce or an Alabama White sauce. Please let me know if you try it and enjoy it. I served this to my family with red dilled potato salad and a chopped kale salad made with craisins, blueberries, walnuts, blue cheese, and a store-bought lemon vinaigrette dressing. My family loved it! Try your hand at the smoked brisket. It is worth the effort. I wish you a happy July, full of starlit nights around a campfire and warm sunny days of floating in the lake with someone you love to talk with. Nothing Brings People Together Like Good Food

This Home Will Scream “Gotcha!”

By John Shivers

If curb appeal can grab a potential buyer, then the home at 393 Potomac in Stonewall Estates south of Tiger, off Old Highway 441, will hook you immediately. Then it gets better, because this quintessential mountain home delivers everything that first glimpses promise. Talk about immediately feeling connected and at home. The house gives the illusion that it’s always been a part of the property, as timeless as the majestic trees that crown the wooded lot. What’s more, you’ll find yourself yearning to be part of this setting. You realize you’re caught in the relaxed charm of the rough-sawnsided mini-compound. Immediately upon entering the great room you glimpse the one-of-a-kind stair railing fashioned by nature from a recycled tree limb. And that’s just the beginning. Sited on an almost one± acre lot with four-season views that are lagniappe to the deal, this home, suitable for year-round living, loudly proclaims itself family-and-friend-friendly. What’s more, the livability factor of this home is top notch both inside and out. Three structures unified by architectural detail and exteriors define home base at its best. In addition to the main house, with master and en suite on the lower level, there’s a spacious, fullycontained two bedroom guesthouse, and a freestanding double carport and workshop. All of this in an established neighborhood that emphasizes both stability and privacy. The lower level of the main dwelling defines what mountain living is all about, and contains the great room with a beamed, vaulted ceiling and a wood-burning stove. A dining space and a spacious kitchen with furniture quality cabinets, granite countertops, a large pantry and a full-complement of appliances boost the livability factor. A large master suite with generous closet space and a custom bathroom with an oversize shower, both accessed by sliding barn doors, further define livability. Also on this level, a sunroom lends itself to several different uses.

The second level of this fantastic home has two large bedrooms, a bathroom with tub-shower combo, generous storage, and is ideally laid out for easy daily living for a family with children, or for empty nesters, who occasionally need additional sleeping space. Outside living is as good as it is inside, with generous deck space, perfect for enjoying the hot tub that anchors one end of the deck, or enjoying a cookout with family and friends on another level of this sprawling outdoor porch. The home’s ridgeline lot hosts plenty of deer, even an occasional bear, and the entire package literally lures you into restful moments. This home with its comfortable “cabin in the woods” ambience offers so much when friends come calling. What’s more, there’s a generous amount of paved parking. The adjacent carport and climate-secure workshop space gives you several options. Use it for hobbies, storage, housing for your yard tools or even as a potting shed for the resident gardener. The flexibility factor for this home is fantastic. The main house itself with three bedrooms and two baths is ideal for the average family. But perhaps your needs go beyond that. Aged parents? No sweat. They can have their space and privacy and you can have yours, yet still be close enough. Adult children who need to move home? You can house them. Or utilize the guesthouse as space for caretakers or as a rental space. If you’re ready to be grabbed by a home you’ll know you’ve got to have, check out MLS #8970348 and contact Poss Realty Agent Scott Poss at 706-490-2305, Agent Nic Poss at 706-982-0872, or at the office at 706-782-2121. You owe it to yourself to see this property firsthand.