snowangel

Today's choice of wood is hickory. The apple wasn't split and I can't find the axe (Paul is rearranging the garage, so I'll make sure he takes care of that this evening for tomorrow's bacon.

They are wild ramps. There's a whole topic on them over here. My butt has been on the smoker for just about 2 hours. Grill temp is running between 200-225 and the meat thermometer is registering about 110. The new tight bottom vent is making it very easy to control the temp, and I shouldn't have any problem keeping it at less than 200 tomorrow when I smoke my bacon. Cake looks wonderful, Marlene! I need to get some of those magic strips.

My butt is on. It's a bit over 8 and a half pounds. Bone in, skin on. Temp is at 220. This new bottom vent really fits tightly, so this could be interesting. (edited to add photo and temp notes)

Good morning. Coffee in hand, just about to get Heidi up and one the bus, but first, I'd better soak some wood chunks. While the sun is not out, and there is a slight chance of rain this afternoon, it is reasonably warm and the deck is dry. A great day for smoking my butt! Klary, congrats on smoking!

On to dinner. We had salmon, grilled on a plank, and an assortment of vegetables. Aong with this: And, I didn't do a lick of work except snaap the asparagus! Following dinner, I got a boatload of yard work done, which was therapy for me. Digging, tending. Made me feel great. So, butt tomorrow! My grill, I think will be new to me, and I might just, with that tighter bottom vent contraption, be able to smoke lower and slower.

So, the surgery on the trusty Kettle was successful, although the bright silver parts look odd in something so old. This new "damper/scraper" thing is very tight, and could be a factor in tomorrow's butt smoking here. Who knows, but I think this is a different Kettle than I smoked on but a few weeks ago. But, before dinner, there was some stuff to grind, bind and stuff. Grinding the meat. Given the height of the KA's grinder thingie that you put the meat on, the counter is NOT the place to put this. So, I do it with the KA on the floor, using a chair one of my kids got as a first birthday present to sit on. Yes, I'm wearing lime green crocs. They have become my signature. I'm also wearing a t-shirt with a saying. And, yes, I do all my own stunts, unless they involve being on a ladder or at great heights. Let's face it, I gave birth three times and stepped off the delivery table within minutes of each delivery (and wanted to go home). Enough said. So, we get the bowl from the freezer into a bowl of small ice (the bowl of ice has also been in the freezer, as has the paddle. So, the meat has been ground into a bowl in a bowl of ice. I transfer it to yet another bowl and stick it back into the freezer. I'm really happy to put the meat into the big ass Tupperware bowl and press plastic wrap over it, making sure to not have a flat layer on the top, but rather form the meat around the bowl, so that there is an even layer, so it all gets nice and cold. Meantime, I'm rather proud of myself, because the temp of the meat has never gone above 35 degrees. Then to the paddling. Paddles. I have a new, but lame instant read at the ready at all times to tell me what and where I'm at, and whether I need to stop and re-stick-in-the-freezer. Then, my folks arrived, and my mom got an upper body workout. The meat was much colder than last time, so it took more to use the plunger thing (reamer?) to push it down into the casings. Voila! Big sausage: She got a bit fast at one point (Diana and I are a much better team), so that when I twisted them, two burst. I don't have any more casing, but need them, so think that the burst meat may just find it's way into a pasta dish unless I feel like a trip to the meat market tomorrow to see if they also have nice fatty butt. But, back to the task at hand. Not only the diced meat mixture went into the freezer after the dicing, but also the grinder attachment, the bowl I'd grind into. Everything but my hands. Us Charcuterie fans are devoting quite a bit of freezer space to keeping the things cold for the grind and bind. I've also discovered that the little cheap ice cubes I buy are better to use between the bowl I'm grinding into and the bowl that holds the bowl are better than the big cubes my ice maker provides.

I have worked my effing butt off tonight. Dinner was wonderful. It did not rain. I have a small modicum of light left, so I am going to do what this mother really wants to do on mother's day. Have a cocktail while weeding and gardening. Back in a little bit. Oh, I will also need to twist the sausages.

My sausages are stuffed (but not twisted), the sky has lightened (I'm still unfamiliar with the term "sun" although I think I have these dark glasses in my car that I no longer understand), and we have had nothing other than a couple of sprinkes. The chimney has been lit and the board is soaking. SHould I oil one side? Mother's Day and all of the work I have done is going to get expensive. A cookbook, yet another bowl for my mixer and a new stuffer. Details later.

HELP! I'm so immersed in sausages that I've sort of forgotten about dinner. Looks like things are grillable. Should I soak this plank? Does it go over high heat, or on the side of a banked fire that doesn't have the fire underneath? Should I season the salmon? I need answers soon. I have worked really, really hard today.

My table is set. A few comments. This table is really, really cool. The middle is a lazy Susan. My folks bought this table in Thailand for something like $75.00 years ago from some friends. For a period, neither my folks nor I had a DR of the dimensions that would accommodate this table, so it was out on loan. Our DR is perfect for it. The table did not come with chairs, but I was able to buy chairs that look like they were made for the table. The odd birch chair belongs to Heidi. She eats out of a bowl, and uses a spoon. The silver is my mother's sterling. I borrowed it for Easter last year, and haven't returned it yet. I got married in 1981, the last of the hippy dippy age (as Sara Moulton called it during my interview with her), and naturally, we didn't get china or silver. Well, I seem to have the silver ( ) and now I want china. So, the table. Time to grind some sausage! It just might be cocktail time. I've worked really, really hard today. Oh. Am I supposed to soak the plank for the salmon? Looks like I will be grilling!

This word "sun." Could you please tell me what this means? Does it have a look or a feeling?

Mike, are you amazed at how much more your new dishwasher will hold? This one I have is so much older than the 30-year old KA Hobart I had at my old house. The rain is mercifully missing us. So, in honor of Mother's day, I have vacuumed, put clean clothes away, done a load of laundry, and mopped the kitchen floor. My order to Amazon is going to be bigger, I think!

We have had breakfast. Not only did I unload the dishwasher, but I cooked breakfast. The kids did clean up (after a fashion). A bunch of us have been curing and smoking our own bacon. This stuff bears absolutely no resemblence to the stuff you get in the supermarket, and bears little resemblence to meat market bacon. There are some of us who would have to be pretty desperate to go to supermarket bacon ever again. It is much meatier. The other advantage is you can add just what you want to the cure, so you can really personalize it. I cooked the last of the bacon this morning, but not to worry, I've got 12 pounds of belly curing in the fridge, and weather permitting, I'll be smoking it on Tuesday. I also made scrambled eggs and blueberry muffins. I tried the recipe from the Gourmet cookbook (the new one) and would probably not make it again. It was too sweet. The batter was also so unbelievably thick that it was really hard to fold in the blueberries, so they were not as light as they should have been. I'm off to run out and get yet another instant read thermometer (my last one became part of a science project) so I can get to work on my sausages. And, get some flowers for me and my mom. Diana gave me some of my favorite body lotion. Paul knows me well. He knows I'd rather get myself something, so I think there's an Amazon or ecookbooks order in my future today. I can't believe I still don't own Charcuterie. I've checked it out of the library so many times that will be part of my order. Chance of rain this afternoon is 60%, and the NWS radar indicates that yes, this prediction will come true. So, I need some advice on back up about planked salmon in the oven. I'm annoyed. And really discouraged.

Good morning all, and happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers. I'm having coffee and contemplating breakfast. I got to sleep in today! Marlene, I'm hopeful that someone here will recognize that the dishwasher needs to be unloaded.

Are you sure it's not lurking under your bed? I have quite a nice stash there!

So, the last thing I have done today is get my sausage fixing ready for grinding and stuffing tomorrow. I'm using a recipe from the Charcuterie book -- Chicken, Basil and Tomato sausages. I have made them once before, but they weren't as successful as they could have been texture-wise, so I'm making them again. Before I left tonight, I had boned and cut up yet more chicken thighs. I made sure to save every bit of fat, and then removed the skin from some pork back fat and diced that, too. That chicken is really slippery stuff. When I got home, I first took care of the casings. I'm using hog casings. They come "dried" -- they are still plyable and packed in salt. I rinse them off, and then run water through the interior of them, put them in a bowl, cover with water and put in the fridge until tomorrow. Diced up the other ingredients (basil, sun-dried tomatoes and roma tomatoes). Add salt and pepper, stir. I'm once again using my big wide Tupperware bowl, which is idea for this. This mixture will go into the freezer tomorrow -- it must be very cold for the grind. I'm debating now whether to use the smaller or bigger-holed grinding disk. Hmmm. Something to dream about. Now, I need a favor. It has rained and rained and rained and rained. I really need a respite from the rain tomorrow late afternoon for grilling and again on Monday morning so I can at least light the chimney. Could use some finger and toe crossing!

As I recall, Arne had one that stalled at something ridiculous like 150. So, no predicting. Maybe a butt expert whill chime in on this one.

I'm wondering if it has to do with how much fat and connective tissue is involved, since that's what really changes during the stall. But, I could be wrong. I'm ignoring the pan until tomorrow or Monday.

Marlene, did your guests like the butt? What are both of you planning to do with the leftovers?

Wow! Beautiful butts all around! I can't wait for Monday. Someone please hope for some sun and a respite in the rain. I'm going to have to get a combine to mow when it finally dried out, and I'd really like to be able to grill and smoke in relative comfort. We had a wonderful evening. The dinner was at a bed and breakfast in Western Wisconsin. They owners are not able to use it as a bed and breakfast yet (code issues), but the house is beautiful and the view stunning. We had some shrimp and olives for appetizers. She has a huge garden, and her asparagus was in, so she fixed it the way her mother always did. Blanched (well, a bit beyond blanched -- perfectly done), sliced into about 1" chunks. Then she heat up milk and cream, added the asparagus and voila, just a wonderful starter. Main was veg kabobs and a perfectly done (on the grill) beef roast. Bread and a salad. The dessert sort of put me over the edge. It was a strawberry rhubarb pie that had some almond pie filling in it. Way, way too sweet for my liking. Then, a 45 minute car ride home. I got car sick. But, I feel much better now! I've never had a problem with car sickness until the last year or two, and if I am full and have a long car ride, well, I'll let you imagine!

Quick question. I'm getting ready to do another batch of the chicken sausage. I remember after my last batch, some discussion of adding chicken skin. ??? Or, should I gust augment the fat that's on the chicken with some belly fat?

Peter has a friend over, and they were looking over my shoulder, so, naturally, Peter had to ask: "Have their butts stalled?" "Are they smoking their butts naked?" Little boys dissolve into gales of laughter. Cheap entertainment!

I make many different types of potato salad, but this is probably my family's favorite -- a basic yellow potato salad. I've modified how I do it, and this time I diced up some peeled raw russet potatoes and boiled them until just done in salted water. Once they are done, I drain them and return them to the pan to sort of "dry" them. Then right into my big tupperware bowl and they get tossed with this meyer lemon and dill vinegar. I got the vinegar at the St. Paul Farmer's Market from the Golden Fig stand. Then I let the potatos sit and cool off before finishing the salad. I love this Tupperware bowl for mixing stuff. It is very big and nice and shallow. While those were cooling, I went in search of a cedar plant. Wow. The world must be out shopping today. It was awful. There was no way to even get into the parking lot at Menards (a home improvement place with a decent selection of grilling items). I know they had them at Costco last year, but their parking lot was even worse. So, I ended up at Sportman's Guide. While there, I also eyed smokers, sausage stuffers, etc. They even had sheep casings! Oh, happy day. I fought my way home (not only was everyone out and about, they seemed to have left the driving portion of their brains at home and finished my potato salad. A simple dressing of Hellman's, yellow mustard and some cider vinegar. I don't measure anything. I've done this so many times I could do it in my sleep. I learned from my Great Aunt Laura who was famous for her yellow potato salad. In fact, many, many years ago, my mom's parents owned a corner IGA grocery store (back in the days when Midwestern cities had small corner grocery stores). This must have been back in a different day regarding food inspection because my Aunt Laura would make potato salad which was sold at a deli counter. I think my grandfather was probably a pioneer in the deli case idea. I am running the dishwasher yet again. It ran last night and is running again. If Paul and I were going to be home tonight, I know I'd run it again. Mike, how often do you run your dishwasher? I know Marlene is as frequent a runner as I am!

I'm jealous. It's raining again. And cold. If I don't see the sun pretty soon, I think I'm going to grow mold. Yes to a beer on the deck! Edited to add: It's so dark here the lights are on in the house.

Now to my butt. It's going to have to wait until Monday. Several reasons: Paul needed to perform surgery on the trusty Weber, and wouldn't do it until after breakfast and I couldn't get anyone here motivated to move this morning. It wouldn't really have mattered if we'd gotten an earlier start because it was pouring this morning, and I just can't get the chimney lit when it's raining. Second, an outside dinner plan (command performance) as come up. It's sort of a pot luck (the host will be grilling!) and I'm responsible for potato salad. And, since we weren't going to eat butt until Monday, it just made sense to wait. So, instead, I'm going to get the potato salad made and get things going to make some chicken sausages. You'll see Diana and I in action tomorrow! Now, a question. If I'm going to do salmon tomorrow on a cedar plank, I'm assuming I can just get a piece of cedar (untreated, of course) at the lumber yard, right? How thick should the plank be? I know I've seen them for sale in various stores in the grilling section, but they seem ridculously overpriced. Comments?