Skin and design, socks and destruction, art and pork, Saturday and Six - here it is.
Experience: Vetiver Skin Studio
Vetiver is a holistic skin studio based in Austin and the owner and operator, Carrie Sexton, is nothing short of angelic. She’s a licensed esthetician and she’s been in the game for 11 years - yeah, she’s as a real pro. If you’ve ever had someone touch your face for an extended period of time, you know it can be somewhat intimate, hopefully cleansing and possibly even healing. Well there’s no question with Carrie, she’s got the touch. We’ve been to her space and it's peaceful and comforting - you leave with your face feeling like gold. She has also curated a line of small batch skin care products with a base note of Vetiver for grounding the soul and nourishing the skin for both men and women.
Watch: Abstract: The Art of Design
This is an exciting documentary introducing you to multiple artists and designers as you follow them through their processes of how they create and produce. Authenticity through storytelling, sneaker design, photography, graphic automotive, stage and interior design and more - it’s all part of this adventure. Watching the subjects with their never ending imagination and endless drive to create makes you even more aware of all of the art around us every day. The ideas and inspirations of Christoph Niemann, Tinker Hatfield, Es Devlin, Michael Jordan and more makes this is a must-watch. “What’s important is the story, the message, the feeling and the connection. It is design.”
Wear: Richer Poorer
Richer Poorer is all about well-made, beautifully designed socks, boxer briefs, and tees you can’t wait to put on and don’t want to take off. The founders are buddies of ours and are really good dudes. We carry RP socks at the HELM Store in Austin and think that they’re so great you need to see their additional designs and products on their site. A few of us at the office even have on RP pocket tees today! (OK, so you get it - we’re into their gear.) Born from humble beginnings to elevate ordinary things like socks and undies, they believe that design, color and utility can improve your daily outlook - and we agree! Their California roots help with the seemingly effortless style.
Listen: This Will Destroy You
One of our top favorite bands ever is called This Will Destroy You. They are a melodic, sometimes heavy, instrumental band that have climbed high from their humble beginnings in San Marcos, TX. TWDY formed in 2004, and settled in Austin for a bit before relocating to L.A. where they currently reside when not touring the globe. Composing their atmospheric pieces for their beautiful records, they paint scenes of melodic musings so well that they’ve been included in multiple films including “Money Ball” and “World War Z” with more to come! Check out their albums here, and stay tuned because you’ll be listening to a movie soundtrack in the near future and be like, hey that’s TWDY!
Art: Hallie Brewer
Austin based artist, Hallie Brewer, is a graphic designer for Bunkhouse Hotels and also creates her own personal work that is profound in it's simplicity. Whether the medium is photography, paper or fiber, there’s a steady peaceful flow of colors and shapes that transition into real world tangibility. Check out her Instagram here to see more of what she’s currently releasing.
Make: Sacred Pork Butt
We did a pop-up a few weeks ago at Manready Mercantile in Houston, and this awesome dude named Chris McGee (aka @civilwarsupermodel) made a heck ton of “pork butt sliders" that were literally some of the best things that have ever crossed our pallets. We somewhat sheepishly asked Chris if he’d be willing to share his sacred pork process with us so that we could share it with you, and holy pork butt he did! If you do this correctly, then prepare yourself for one of those settings where everyone is moaning and yumming and saying OMG over and over and thanking you, asking how you did this. You can simply smile and whisper, “It’s a secret recipe from Chef Civil War Supermodel" (mostly just because that sounds so cool).
What to look for when buying a pork butt..
A good fat cap on the meat. It’s a layer of fat on one of the sides of meat that is crucial to great flavor. You also want to make sure you get a pork butt, aka pork shoulder, or Boston butt with the "bone in."
Fire Situation
You need some good wood, preferably Post Oak, to get your smoke on. You can use lump coal and mix in some chunks of Post Oak if you don’t have a cord of wood laying around. Heat the fire to 275 and hold her there for the duration of the smoke - eight hours.
Prepping the Butt
Lather that baby up with olive oil to help the seasonings stick a bit better. You’ll need to cover the entire piece of meat liberally with course ground pepper (not peppercorns), kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and Hungarian style paprika (not smoked or Spanish style). The paprika won’t add much flavor, but it’ll give it some good color. This piece of meat doesn’t carry a ton of flavor to start off, so make sure to coat her well with seasoning, for flavor and for the bark you’ll want in the end.
On the Smoker
Place the fat cap right side up. I repeat, place the fat cap side up. Then check and ask yourself, “did I place the fat cap right side up?” That part of the meat is going to render down into that entire hunk of love and do magical things. Once she’s set on the smoker, leave her alone for five hours. Don’t look at, don’t think about looking at it, don’t even tell someone you might look at it. After that five hour process is up, you’ll wanna grab some apple cider vinegar or apple juice, whichever you have on hand or prefer, and spray the meat to ensure moisture. Just wanna give it about five or six sprays. Carefully remove meat and wrap in foil or butcher paper gingerly so that you’re not mangling the pretty bark on the outside. Place the meat back on the pit and smoke an additional three hours.
Removing the Gold from the Smoker
Take her out and loosely unwrap the meat, but not all the way. You wanna find that bone in the meat and loosely twist it or pull it. Don’t remove it, just move it a little bit. If all is properly done, that bone will glide out of there letting you know it's tender. Let it sit for at least 20 mins untouched and loosely wrapped in the foil/butcher paper. After the wait, you can remove the bone completely and give to your dog on the back porch, then commence to shredding the meat in a bowl or whatever you choose to serve or store it in.
Ideas for All That Meat