Behind the Piglets: Eda's Turn

Thursday was my first day on the job at the deli!  I am 13 yrs old, my birthday is next week. As the niece of Lou and Leslie, I have made many trips to the deli and know what's happening there. It is a slow day, at first, I started to wash dishes. A long but cleansing process. A little later in the morning some customers started to trickle in which is always a fun but crazy time. Then me and Avery had lunch. Lunch consisted of, pulled pork pizza, coleslaw and mac -n- cheese. We were hungry, just a little. We decided to fill some nips with BBQ sauce, both original and chipotle. I also did some more dish washing which I enjoyed deeply. While I was washing some dishes, Amy came by to drop off my second cousin, Baby Deven. Avery and I absolutely love Deven to pieces, so do his grandparents, Lou and Leslie. He fell asleep for a while and then promptly woke up and was waiting for some fun. I made some silly faces and dances and talked in a high pitched voice till he wanted some food. When Deven wants food he makes interested moans and squeals and does so mean pouty lip, which is never fun. After his milk, PapaLu walked him around and played with him on his blanket. I could hear off to the distance the voice of Uncle Lou playing peek-a-boo and little Deven laughing at him. Even though it was a quiet day, we sure know how to have fun in the boiling heat.

                           Well, that's the deli in a nut shell or barbeque shell... whichever you prefer. Stop in and say HI!!!!

Behind the Piglets: Avery's Turn

 We have a couple of helpers (our nieces, Eda & Avery) in the Deli this week, we like to call them piglets.  We gave them the project of writing our blog. 

Any regulars coming into Holy Smokes BBQ Delicatessen may notice two girls behind the counter, not what you would commonly see here. Spunky little hens running around serving you.  We are not local employees working for Leslie and Lou, we happen to have major connections. We aren't sisters, though we act and appear like them, close cousins can be like that, which is our relationship. Leslie and Lou are our aunt and uncle, and we have come to stay for about a week with them, to work at the deli and help prepare the food. Now, we may have not mentioned it but we do have names, Avery and Eda to be specific, you'll hear more about us as you read along. I am writing this on Wednesday, so working at the deli hasn't officially begun, but that doesn't mean we do not work yet. Seeing as the deli sells food, we must prepare the food, which is a Wednesday project. Wednesday morning is a little lazy for the two of us, catching up on The Glee Project and eating breakfast outside next to the pond while Lou and Leslie start getting the smoked meats prepared, taking pork butts out of the smoker, and pulling them for pulled pork. Yummmmmm. We get to package the pork into containers for your buying ease. Later we'll have more jobs and even a secret project ya'll see soon!

          It's Avery here and I'm here to tell you all about myself. First of all, I'm the short one, (unfortunately) but I'm older. I happen to be 21, or so I wish. I'm really fifteen and from Loudon, New Hampshire. I live to dance and act, makeup is my addiction, and a very unhealthy one at that. I worked at Holy Smokes last year, so I know the trouble following my presence here. For those who came in and saw me last year, no, I am not a college student. Anyways...Wednesday is always the "we can be kind of lazy but we also have to work" day. We can get a later start, but end up working our pig butts off! SEE WHAT I DID THERE!!?!?!?!?! Thursday involves getting up a bit earlier, enjoying breakfast while we can and unpacking everything at the shop, definitely our busiest morning. Thursday also involves no cornbread for sale, sorry to you "bread made of corn" loving folks. Customers generally come in groups, like a mob or herd in the wild. Welcome to the jungle herding customers. I love, love, looooove talking to all you guys, I'm definitely not shy so don't be afraid to talk to me! Friday and Saturday are the easy mornings, seeing as things are packed up less and easy to set up, and all you jungle animals still generally come in mobs. Sunday is the late night, where we pack everything up, which can take awhile sometimes. Hey, guess what?!?! We usually have our coveted corn bread on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for all you fans. I always have fun here and love every second I get to spend with my aunt and uncle and all you customers. May the force be with ya'll.

From The Couch,,,

We made a conscious choice not to have any employees.  We enjoy each others company and work well together.  One thing we didn't think about was that since we are SO close, we both might get sick at the same time.  Hasn't happened before so why worry about it.   We probably should have.

We have been putting in 16-17 hour days for the past 3 weeks designing and renovating a new restaurant in Greenfield.  Exhaustion has to catchup with you at some point and last week it was holding onto Leslie's heels, and then went after Lou on Saturday.  It was crunch time for the finishing touches on the restaurant, so we couldn't stop, dragging the exhaustion with us.  Monday it finally got the both of us, knocking us hard! The new restaurant is due to open this week, so we had to make a decision.  It could only be one or the other, not both.  The restaurant won out because you only have one opportunity to make a good first impression, so our energy will go there this week. 

We apologize for the inconvenience this might cause you, we will be back healthy and open next Thursday.   

Ahead of the Curve

We received an invitation to a whole hog dinner at a restaurant in Maine.  Our daughter just recently attended a whole hog dinner in New York City.  "Whole Hog Dinners" are everywhere and we were ahead of the curve

When we opened our restaurant, Holy Smokes BBQ & Whole Hog House in April 2004, we had designed and installed a whole hog smoker in our kitchen.  It was perfect and would cook a small pig in several hours.  Every Wednesday, we would cook a whole hog on that spit and serve it in the evening.  The kitchen would be the hottest place to be on those days between the hog cooker and the wood oven, but it was a very special place to be.

Either Chef Seth or Papalu would butcher up the various parts of the pig each week.  Customers didn't see the whole hog, but they got to taste the tender sweet meat of a pig cooked with love!

After the destruction of the restaurant in 2007, we continued to do more "hog dinners". PapaLu would mesmerize those interested with his explanations of the bits and pieces of the pig while giving out tidbits to taste.  It was a very special dinner, one that honored the animal itself.

It is emotional to look back to see where the curve went on this day, our first year at the Deli (April 22, 2011).  Not to worry, we always seem to find ourselves ahead of some sort of curve.

Smoke, Meat, Snow, Sleet & a Blog....

We start our new blog on a February day of snow, sleet & rain.  Spring is suppose to be early this year since Punxsutawny Phil didn't see his shadow.   Hmmm, how does smoked groundhog sound?

Our plans for this blog are open at this time.  We will answer your smoking questions, share our opinion or relate a funny story about what has happened at the Deli, or even vent if we have an issue we need to get off our chest.  We will blog once a month so check back, anything could be up here!!