I've put some thought towards the future and for now am just going with what I have.

On another note, what do whole hog from Tennessee and North Carolina, baby backs from Illinois, St. Louis ribs from Texas, and chicken wings and sausage from Mississippi have in common? Answer: they were my lunch and dinner at the Big Apple BBQ today. Yes, all of them, although to be fair it was shared between my parents and I :).

One of the events that my sister's ex-boyfriend introduced me to was the BABBQ. Twelve or thirteen pitmasters from around the country and NYC gather at Madison Square Park and it's two solid days of the best barbecue to be found anywhere. I always skip the NY joints and my favorite, Pappy's from St. Louis, stopped attending about four years ago, but my god I look forward to this every year. I'm still trying to lose weight, hence the (somewhat) restraint of only five plates between three of us, but I thoroughly enjoyed every one. That should hold me for barbecue for a while.