snowangel

No, Marlene, you need one of these Also useful for pounding DNR stakes into the ground so you can tie tall plants to, crushing cans, etc. Morning all! It is finally light, and I got up earlier than I like to on a Saturday to deposit the teen at a volleyball tourney. I will go and cheer them on after I've had more coffee and fixed breakfast. I noted that at this hour, most parents were dropping off the kids, presumably for the same reason as me.

Marlene, you are a smoking virgin, I know. You've had that bullet for I don't know now long and it is sitting gathering dust, but all of that will change on Sunday. But, you've got a butt. You need to brine it and you should do that tomorrow. You need to use Dave' basic forula: As noted a bit more than 1/2 way down in in ECI course on Brining. Now, you are lucky. This is an easy time of year to brine for us in the northlands. Find a container that will hold the butt and the appropriate amount of brine. What I do at this time of year is boil some water (not a lot), add the salt and dissolve, and then add a bit more water and set it outside to chill, and then add the meat. If you are concerned about how much water you will need, find the container, add the meat, add the right amount of water, remove the meat and measure the water. Once the salt is dissolved (if you have Diamond Crystal you won't even ened to heat water for the dissolving), stick it outside until it is cool, then add the meat. I brine my meat, at this time of year in the rear garage (we have a tanden 4-car garage) where the temp is between 35 and 40 degrees). Let it set. When you start the chimney, get the meat out, set it on a cookie sheet (half sheet pan) and stick it outside to dry and chill). Meantime, I will assume you've made a batch of =Mark's South Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce and have squisy white buns and cole slaw on hand. I'm certainly hoping that the Weber Bullet crowd will stay tuned on Sunday!

It is now time for a somber note. Before I stash this baby in to the Action Packer for Rachel's suggested ceremonial burial at the cabin, a moment of silence. This camera took photos for two and three quarters blogs. It documented my kids growing, developing. It photod many a wonderful cabin moment, many a family moment, many a meal, many a plate of larb. The life of the Fahnings. Toast the G1. It was a good and worthy friend to me. The A620 has a tough order to fill, which it will in a very nice way. My sadness left the minute I held this new beauty in my hands.

Sorry to be late with dinner. It has been a juggle of getting kids to and fro from Valentine's school activities, and I've not only got a new camera, but decided to try some new editing software (picasa), and it has not been as seemless as it would seem. I'll blame it on nicotine deprivation. But, I started the butter braise last night. It didn't go long enough to eat last night, so I stuck it on the deck, and stuck in the oven (lid askew, Chufi!) late this afternoon. As I figured Paul would be approaching, I peeled and whacked up some russet potatoes to make a mash. I had, yesterday, roasted some garlic for the mashers. I think of all of the green veg, outside of salad, green beans are my favorite. During the summer, I haunt the farmer's market for the youngest and most tender. This time of year, they look knobby and rusty, so I head to Costco and get What I generally do is put a mess of butter in a skillet and add the beans. Frozen. They look prettty odd as that bubbling butter coats the still frozen beans. But, the beans thaw, and everything comes around. I love that this new camera catches the bubbles! I'm so thrilled! It's clear that my bit shot needs a bit of work, but remember, I've had this camera less than 12 hours, so I think I'm doing pretty good. Dinner was wonderful. Tender, and melting. I needed a shot of heat (I've been on a spicy kick what with the not smoking thing), and when I needed a kick, it was cold, sharp horseradish that totally set off this dish. The kitchen is clean, and Paul is off to fetch the teen from her first formal dance. How did my kids get so old?

If someone would tell me how to resize my pictures on Picasa, I would be able to post them...

Dinner preps are underway here so I can take Peter to a school function. When he gets home, Paul will take Diana to her school function. Thankfully, Heidi's school function was right after school. Three kids in three different schools keeps me hopping. Stay tuned for butter braised beef. And pictures, now that I have a new camera.

I'd be hesitant to add to much to the confit as it cooks because everything becomes quite reduced and concentrated.

That's horribly depressing. Can you return the stove? I know that my gas stove (again a mid-range) has four different sized burners, which really helps things. It's not as cool looking (but I wanted white appliances anyway).

My, Marlene, you are brave. Given how my week has gone, there's no way I'd be attempting a mandoline and flaming cognac. You'd be reading about it in the paper. Today has been a better day. I've had cravings, but have just flat gotten busy. Buying a new toy really helped. (BTW, why don't they include real memory cards in new cameras? Well, I should say it is a real card, but it doesn't hold squat, so really the price of the camera is like the entree, without taxes, wine, or a salad or dessert.)

I, too, tried to wrap my mind around this, until I looked at the lunch ladies who had fed about 200 more people than they expected and just gave up. The kids got a big kick out of me taking pictures of the meal. Peter asked them "well, doesn't your mom take pictures of food for eGullet? They really should, you know. It makes them better."

I'm going to love my new camera. I planned to have lunch today with Peter. In retrospect, it was not a good day to do so. About every three weeks, there is a "lunch club" for a specific grade. Although parents are welcome at any time, lunch club is published and parents are invited. Today was kindergarten lunch club, and the parent turnout was huge (both parents for about 2/3 of them came). And, Peter has last lunch. So, the offerings were miserable, so I didn't eat. I usually get a salad when I'm there -- depending on the day of the week, the salad choice change -- taco, blt, chef, etc. Not only were they out of salads, they had to hustle and make some other subtitutions. This is the first picture I took with my new camera. His lunch tray. The egg roll is odd, I know, but they ran out of chow mein but still had egg rolls.

I have a new camera. The Canon PowerShot A620. They didn't have them at my Costco, either, but a local camera joint had them for $380 and 1 gig memory cards for $49.99. Now, I'd better unpack the thing and take some pictures! I'd really like a cigarette, BTW. Oh, and today's food consumption includes 1 grapefruit and some samples at Costco. Some of that prepared frozen stuff is really yucky. Don't bother with the Chicken teryaki stuff.

Thanks, Rachel, for the pep talk. And, I did the math. The camera is 100 packs of cigarettes. That's it. That's less than three month's worth of cigarettes. I'm having my morning coffee right now, and as soon as the kids are gone, I'll have a bit to eat, get some drywalling done and then head to Costco. I have a good sense of resolve today, and have slapped on the patch. I'll be curious to see if it makes a difference.

Good citizen day: I gave blood. Yoga workout. Cleaned the bathtub. Made about a hundred origami morning glories from which to craft Valentine cards for people at work. The cocktail hour has become the Craft Hour: anything to keep my hands busy. ← Maggie, Aunt Martha's Hot Iron transfers are alive and well, and being done in this household. I've also discovered Suduko (sp?). Better than Aunt Martha for waiting in wating rooms with sick kids. Easier to pack up. Ans waiting rooms, Aunt Martha is kitchen/food related!

Added to Costco list for tomorrow. Nuts. I'd better dig through the freezer first to see what I have. First on the list is a camera. Jason did the research. I'll buy the damned thing. I'm oh so sad about my camera. None of my kids remember any camera other than the Powershot G1. I know it's just a thing. But, it photoed many a great cabin photo. When the kids asked tonight why I wasn't flying around taking pictures of dinner, I told them the camera died. They picked a favorite photo taken with the camera. It would be this one, taken at The Cabin RIP, Canon Powershot G1. Capturer of many meals, many wonderful cabin moments, many moments of absolute wonder as my kids achieved and sought and grew. Edited to add: The photo. I'm the first in the water that year. The water was just above 40 degrees (F) as I recall. I'm no wimp.

Interestingly enough, even with my professed love of Tots, we never buy the Ore Ida ones. We get the supermarket brand, which is usually just fine. I think Ore Ida overseasons their stuff. I'm extremely pissed that our Costco does not appear to sell large bags of tots. They only have big bags of Ore Ida crinkle cut fries. I really find it hard to beleive with the family with six kids demographics they appeal to, there's no Kirkland brand tots. ← Jason, our local supermarket was out of their brand because of some big ass sale (just my luck) so I decided to try the Ore Ida extra crispy, call it in the name of eGullet research. As noted, I've done the research. If you want less crispy tater tots that sport an odd burning plastic smell, go for it. Otherwise, consider yourself warned. I'm shopping at Costco tomorrow. We need milk and eggs, and perhaps an A620.

I know it's just a camera. But, it's documented my kids going from being toddles to ones with stuff like learner's permits. But, I do think I'm not going to shop around, I'm going to go and get a new camera. Yes, I'm having a martini. And, no way could I have done this without you.

So depressed over the loss of my camera was I that I got dinner started way too late. Realizing that it would be bedtime for the kids before the braise was ready, I revereted to plan X. Sloppy joes and tater tots. I used ground venison, and my favorite recipe from a Farm Journal Kid's Cooking Book. Ketchup, mustard, vinegar, brown sugar, and some onion. Diana made it, and opted to add a mess of garlic. The Extra Crispy Ore Ida Tater Tots are, well, odd. They are not, baked as indicated, extra crispy. And, the oven smells oddly of burning plastic. We will stick to regular tater tots next time. Soon up, those brownies. I'll be sure and save some for when I have a camera. I am so discouraged, what with the failures in not smoking, not having gotten anything done today around the house except make a mess in the house, I think I'm just going to head to Costco tomorrow and buy an effing camera.

The first thing that comes to mind is larb! The second thing is a riff on a Michael Field Cooking School book recipe -- brown some chicken pieces. Remove. Toss in a mess (like 15-20) peeled, but not diced or sliced shallots, toss around until browned. Return chicken to pan. Put a lid on it, reduce heat to very low and let it cook until the chicken is done. Your house will smell heavenly. And, this is really, really simple. Two ingredients (OK, 4 because you should salt and pepper your chicken before browning).

Thanks, Jason, for the links. I'm really, really leaning toward this camera. Let's move this discussion to a camera topic. Pick one and let me know! Edited to add: I'm revising dinner plans for tonight. I got way too late a start on the braised beef. Stay tuned for details.

Jason, on Saturday, I'm going to a camera store -- National Camera Exchange. They are very reputable and their prices are fair. One of the neat things is that the people there, unlike the people at Best Buy, are extremely familiar with all of the equipment, so I'll take a look around I'm really sad about my PowerShot G1. I got it when it first came out (10/06, I think). 3.2 mp's. Something ridiculous like $1200. I guess it never occurred to me that these things would be sort of disposable. So, I'm going to do the internal debate of inexpensive (like under $200) or something a little better (like the A620). I've been spoiled with the G1 because although it is not an SLR, it can go very manual. Any ideas for anything else I should be looking at? I could be pursuaded to go a bit over $300, but not much. I'm not working outside the home these days. Today is not going my way. I was out of bay leaves, which I didn't realize until I started the braise, but I had to pick up Diana so stopped at the store. Tomorrow, I'm going to meet up with my dad so I can borrow their camera until I figure out what to do. I don't want to do anything rash. I'm so sad about my camera.

Let's do hang in there. I've been a good girl since yesterday morning.

No, it was not the camera battery. The Canon folks suspect that the mother board is fried. So, there will be no pics tonight. It's a PowerShot G1. I can trade it in, for $299, for a refurbished G6. Or, I can go shopping. Any thoughts? I seem to have some calamity during every blog. At least this wasn't a basement flood. Meantime, I've gotten absolutely nothing done around the house, and am rapidly running out of time to do the braise. Better get cracking. What I really want is a nice stiff drink and a cigarette.

I'm finally back, and have been to the Asian market. It's snowing like crazy and the roads are getting really slippery. Big monkey wrench in my afternoon. My camera has died, and I suspect it is a battery issue. I'm trying to decide if I have enough time to run out and get one before the kids get home. Actually, I really should just get the braise started and then go get a battery. So, I'm not going to be taking photos of the process. Marelene's will have to suffice. Now, to get caught up.

Good morning all. My oven is clean! I do need to vacuum the leftover incinerated junk off the floor, but it is clean. Even my round cracked pizza stone is clean. The house sure stunk when I went to bed last night as the oven was going through it's cycle. I've got to take Diana to the dr. this morning (ear ache; swimmer's ear which plagues her) and then do a couple of other things, so I won't be around much until after noon.