Tonight . . . was awesome. Taste this: the pork shoulder rests upon a massive cutting board, relaxing after a warm, structurally re-arranging day in the smoker. Cherry essence enlivening every fiber, the sinews pull in the last memories of the sweet, spicy, salty rub they only met a mere 18 hours ago. Oh, how it feels to be alive again! I feel it with them, but mostly out of excited anticipation. Peeling back the crusty skin of fat left protecting the perfectly-tanned inner tendons, I reach for a meager first taste. Meat like this isn’t supposed to melt in your mouth–it’s a pork shoulder–but it does. It’s the perfect mix of warm, smoky, and tender. I set to work defatting the cut and shredding the major muscles. Two friends wander by, and suddenly I aspire to expand their world and make their eyes go wild. Ripping up a portion of the perfectly browned side, I sneak a bite and pass equally-sized chunks to each of them. Mission accomplished: I can see their face muscles slow down as they subconsciously sink into “savor it” mode. The look on their countenances? Bliss. Ah, tonight was the night. 🥰

Oh, and what’s with the title? Well, because it was cold outside today, my smoker put out a LOT of smoke and burned a LOT of pellets. I’m of the naive opinion that this really enhanced the flavor of the meat. It also drastically increased the cost of the cut, haha, by like $10, but it was definitely worth it. So delicious.