snowangel

Mike, beautiful tenderloin. Absolutely stunning. I should add that to the list of things I should do on the Weber. Some of those in the morning would save me from coco roo hell. Did you use a meat thermometer? If so, temp at removal? If not, what was the finger test mark?

Yes and no. I'm on a burn to delve more seriously into all of this stuff, but I've also got a serious burn that needs to be taken care of (my house and yard in prep for a 50th anniversary party for my folks with 100+ guests, catered by your's truely). So, a plastic bucket, some dowels, and some chuck. It's only money, and not that much, when you thin about it, and what we probably flushed away far more Frivolously when we were young and carefree. Damn it, we now have responsibilities. The care and keepking of kids means keeping them in charcuterie!

Whew. What an evening. I am not used to being a single parent, even for an evening. Peter and his buddy Michael have huge projects due tomorrow, and us mom's were led to believe that they had done much more prep. But, that didn't interfere with dinner! I wanted burgers. I love burgers, and I never order them out. So early today, I stopped at the meat market, and they ground up a nice fatty chuck roast for me. I did a smart thing when I moved to this neighborhood. Went to my local meat market right away, asked for a whole, bone-in shoulder, smoked it, and took the butchers some of my product. They know me and love me, and will do whatever I ask. So, I made some patties. I poke holes in my burgers. Keeps them sort of flat and from puffing up like balls. Then, light the chimney. It is just about ready to go here. Note that the plastic handle is not intact. When I smoked the turkey on Easter, I used a dual banked coal thing, and I think the turkey overhung the drip pan. A couple of days later, I grilled something else, and we were in the yard and noticed flames. There must have been some grease in the bottom of the grill and it flamed up. Those plastic handles on the Weber chimney can catch fire. But, like the trusty Kettle, this chimney has plenty of life left. Burgers on and flipped, and the veg is on The kids chose to have salad rather than grilled veg, so I did just the amount of wild ramps (from Wisconsin) and asparagus (from the supermarket) that I thought I would eat. I could have done an extra ramp or two and definitely two more spears of asparagus. My big mistake was making them all cheeseburgers. I really prefer my burger without cheese, but this one was darned good. Done just right. After this bite, I added some salad (since I was out of iceberg, which is my preferred lettuce for a sandwich thing). I love burgers! (edited to add: Accoutrements, other than salad, were Heinz ketchup Kicker -- the hot with tabasco version -- and regular yellow mustard. I am out of onions.)

Before I forget, Klary, this one is for you My rhubarb plants are at least 36" in diameter (I have two plants, and my neighbors have plants that they beg me to denude).

Dinner report soon. Major school project going on as well as laundry and Heidi's bath. I'm exhausted!

Marlene, the bbq handle reminds me of my chimney. You'll see the damage I did later this evening. But, meantime snack time. That sugary cereal left me hungrier today than I usually am. Cross that off my breakfast list. So, to tide me over until dinner: During the summer (at least late summer during those four or six weeks when we have local tomatoes) I make my own salsa. But, during the rest of the year, I reach for Salsa Lisa. The hot or very hot variety. Not featured on their web site is a tomatillo salsa, which is also outstanding, but a bit mild for my taste (I like eye-watering hot). They also have a chipotle, which I don't like on it's own on chips, but makes a great marinade or baste for grilled food. The chips are my local favorite -- Old Dutch. They also make great potato chips, which are especially nice for taking to The Cabin because they offer plain and ruffled chips that come in bags in a box (two bags per box). Makes for fewer crushed chips after rolling around in the back end of the Bronco for 260+ miles. Both Salsa Lisa and Old Dutch are Minnesota companies. Salsa Lisa is fairly regional, but I believe available in more places than just Minnesota. They make an outstanding product.

Grilled pizza help needed over here. Please!

OK, blog-lookers. Time for some help. We are planning on grilling pizza tomorrow night. I know I need advice, although I'm not above having a public disaster. I know that many books recommend a two-level fire (hotter on one side) or a banked fire (coals to one side), but Cook's Illustrated recommended a fire that covers about 3/4 of the area. We also need crust advice. Does the standard crust work? I'll dig out what I have, but thought that perhaps you folks could weigh in. And, what keeps the crust from flopping through the grate (on the side edges of the pizza? HELP!

Paul wants to, and I'm just wondering if I'll find one on the deck for my anniversary. I'd rather have the Maverick Smoking Thermometer.

Nancy, we did indeed hear the frog chorus, and it was a most welcome sound! An interesting thing is what is often under the cover that covers the gauges on our big LP tank (one of the big ass horizontal ones). Most weekends, when we open it up, there is a nice, big green frog that stares at me. Not around this past weekend. Peter just reminded me of the coolest thing that happened on our way up. We pulled out of Cook, look up in the sky, and there were little strips of rainbows all over. No rain, just these rainbows.

Klary, I smoke and grill with the same Kettle. I'm not sure that there is a standard for gas grills, but for charcoal, I think the Weber is sort of the standard.

Kettle surgery was unsuccessful, but it was not a necessary surgery. My Kettle This baby is 25 years old, and to date, the only required repair was to reattach the handle on the lid. Note the wood handles, which used to be standard. I did opt to replace the grill -- not because it was worn out but because I wanted one with the hinged sides. You'll see that feature in action on Saturday. The problem with our Kettle is that the one-touch feature is sort of not working. There is a handle on the outside (on the bottom) that you move back and forth and there are (or should be) three "paddles" which clean out the ashes. You'll note that we now only have two of these paddles attached. So, I got out the appropriately sized wrench and a locking pliers and tried to remove the screw that holds this apparatus on. You want to talk about gunk. 25 years worth of accummulated crud -- lots of greasy ick, too. But, the screw thing broke off. This is what the new piece looks like (I haven't attached the handle of the paddles yet). Paul won't be home until late tonight, but I'll have him either drill out the screw or hack-saw off the handle that is on the bottom (that is preventing the assembly from coming out. As to the Beck's Beer coaster. When we got married, someone gave us an entire plastic wrapped stack of these. We only have about a half-dozen left, and I'd better figure out where to get more. They are great. Disposable, and unlike the ceramic coasters we got, don't leak all over. We've had these for a while (we will have been married 25 years on June 6). So, the story of my grill and coaster.

This has worked for me in the past. Foil, low and slow.

Dave, that stuffing sounded like a lot of work! How long did it take? I was thinking about something someone mentioned way up topic, and I don't know if this would have worked for you or not. The idea was to take a 1 or 2 litre pop bottle, cut the bottom off and use that as a stuffer. I don't know if the mouth would have been big enough, but it strikes me it sure would have been an easy way to stuff given the size of the plunger.

I'm back, and fed. First stop was at the Lakewinds coop for some Cedar Summit Farms milk. Although you can buy this milk in cartons, I like the glass jars and the kids really like the plug of cream at the top of the bottles. There is cream at the top of the cartons, but it's just not the same thing. The milk is now certified organic and although quite a bit more expensive than supermarket milk, it is worth it! This particular location of Lakewinds is quite small, and definitely fits with the small town feel of Anoka. The Twin Cities has a lot of coops, about a dozen I think, and the support for these is great enough that a new coop was just built in Northeast Minneapolis last year. I ran a few more errands and came home absolutely famished. My breakfast cereal left me feeling hollower than if I'd just had some fruit! So, a tuna salad sandwich on toast with some strawberries. A can of tuna, some minced shallots, Hellmans and cracked black pepper. My disappointment was that I could have sworn there was a 1/2 head of iceberg lettuce in the fridge, but it must have gotten used. So, romaine. I really, really like iceberg on a sandwich. Off to perform surgery on the Kettle and turn my bellies.

Rain in the forecast here, too. It has been a beautiful, warm spring, and things are further along than in most springs. But, the day has clouded up and the reports indicate rain for the next few days (as well as some day-time highs in the low 50's!). But, as long as I can get the chimney lit, I don't let weather interfere with my grilling plans. Off to run my errands and then perform some minor surgery on the trusty Weber Kettle.

Breakfast. (yes, I'm embarrassed) I almost never eat sweet things for breakfast -- I'd rather eat eggs and bacon, or chips and salsa, or savory leftovers. But, every so often I get a hankering for a bowl of cereal, and this one sort of leapt out at me this morning. It was very sweet, and I won't be repeating this for a long time. This cereal was Peter's choice. I usually opt to by Malt-O-Meal cereal. Malt-O-Meal is located in Northfield, MN, home of my alma mater (St. Olaf College). Back when I went to college, Malt-O-Meal only made the hot cereal and when the wind was right, the whole campus smelled of Malt-O-Meal. I also like the fact that this cereal uses less packaging. Off to run errands in a few minutes.

Good morning all! It is a beautifully sunny day here and this is just about my favorite time of day. The kids are gone to school and I have had my morning wander around the yard with my cuppa. This is an exciting time of year in Minnesota -- my daily garden patrol reveals something new every day. My pulmonaria are almost done blooming, but my coral bells opened their little blossoms this morning and the columbine will open today. I'm thinking its warm enough that I can get some basil in the garden either today or tomorrow. My first task every morning is to fire up the coffee maker (Phillips drip). I get everything set the night before -- water in, beans in grinder. Grind, start and shower. I like my coffee strong and black and ready once I'm showered and dressed. Prefer dark greasy beans. I have a little bit of this treat left: My folks are just back from Berkeley and I think Peet's Italian Roast is one of my favorites. Off to contemplate breakfast!

Chris, how about tempura? I'm seeking a new vehicle for vegetables, my kids adore tempura, and I've never done it before.

Oy, I'm anal. I have the two bellies curing for bacon smoking, each in separate bags, one bag on top of the other. Given that I have a full fridge, should they just be on topof the other things, or should they be slightly weighted with each other or other stuff?

Since I am having about 100 people at our house in just over 3 weeks, we really should have stayed home, but we just couldn't. And, I'm sure glad we went and didn't stay. It has been a very warm spring not only here in the Cities, but way up north. We left later on Friday than I anticiapted because of a test for Diana in her science class. So, we hit Virginia, the kids and Paul were starving, and The Golden Arches called to the kids because we only frequent this place once or twice a year. And, as I sat in the backseat of a Ford Bronco on a gravel road a while later, I remembered why. Lots of grease and a bumpy ride are not agreeable. A quick stop, a short "fresh air" breath and a quick walk around and installing me back into the front seat made for a quick rest of the trip. As we drove in, my suspicions of an early spring were not amiss. My first view. Marsh marigolds! My heart springs when I see these when we drive in, especially when they are in full bloom. Nancy, I'm sure you understand my joy at seeing these beaufiul and spring-lilke flowers: They are, I'm sure, no resemblence to what most gardeners know as marigolds, and only grow in very marsy areas. The dead grass underneat is on top of water. The road on our jeep trail was high and dry this year, and we outside of one rotten tree, which we could kick out of the road, was clear. One we arrive, it was the normal flurry of activity. The kids checking to touch their special palces. Racing around. Undoing the kinks of a 4+ hour car ride. First order of business for me is to unpack and put everything in it's place. Since it was about 50 outside and about 45 in the cabin (it has been closed up and the shades shut), once we turned on the gas and started the fridge and lit the pilot lights, I unloaded the fridge. I forgot to take a picture of the fridge, but Diana did take a photo of the veg bowl Kids race, I admire, and spend a lot of time on the deck just looking and enjoying the deafening silence. Pretty soon, the kids are hungry again, and so This is Diana's specialty. Very ripe avocado's, lime and Salsa Lisa (the very hot variety), Salsa Lisa at least until we have real tomatoes. Paul lights a fire, because after all, if the cabin is 45 inside, it means the core of the matresses is about 45 (if not colder!). It is a soapstone cabin, and we are down to short and t-shirts in about an hour. Guac and a game of Mille Bournes and a game of Clue (difficult when you are missing a person and weapon cards each) along with a cocktail or two for the adults, we make the beds and off to an absolutely silent dreamland. Oh, the final job of the evening is trips to the ourhouse and the stellar head upturned on the deck guessing and identifying constellations. We sleep in on Saturday morning, given the excitement which caused a rather late night. Breakfast. Homesmoked bacon and waffles on my nifty Nordicware stovetop waffler. As you can see by the light and shadows, the day has dawned clear and sunny, as it remained. Prior to fixing the waffles and bacon, I donned shorts and a t-shirt, and i wasn't but noon that I realized I sure wishes I'd brought a tank top. I spend my afternoon in active pursuit of nothing but reading, while the rest of the family raced around and did this and that. I read the entirety of My Life In France. This photo simply does not do justice to the day, expecially the glint of the sun on the water. Oh, I did read this book with my reading glasses on top of my head, with my binocs around my neck. We did keep a list of birds espied, and have a list of over 30. There were not a lot of birds at any one time, but we did see and hear quite a number of different birds. Lunch? Who nees lunch. It's all about casual munchies. We quite liked the crisp crunch of the Multi-Grain Tostitos, but found them too sweet (yes, there is sugar in the ingredients). Note chic avocado green melamine bowl. We have a lot of these in a cupboard at the cabin. Peter decided it was time for a dip Brooks, this one is for you. He prounced that "Mom, it's way too cold for swimming," got out very quickly, and complained of "shrinkage" for quite some time. He declared that we should wait and swim until next time up (two weeks). Dinner was planned. Steak and grilled veg. I had four of these chuck eyes. I knew that this was way more meat than we would eat, but steak makes for fab leftovers. And, some veg oiled up, ready for the grill. After I took this photo, I added more ramps and asparagus. Ready for dinner! It was a warm evening, so an evening of family games, and some serious laying on the deck and identifying constellations, dreaming of nights of midnight skinnydips, then to bed. We slept past Will Shorts of NPR, and woke to another even sunnier, but windier day. First coffee, then breakfast. Sausages and french toast. Now, part of this meal was the biggest disappointment of the weekend. My family is becoming familair with me making the bacon, sausages, etc. But, I've not done breakfast sausages yet. Following a recommendation from Cook's Illustrated, I tried a brand they recommended. They were like wallpaper paste (general consensus), and They have decided that I either make sausages, or we buy from a very small meat market we know and trust (Miltona). We play in the yard, mow (! in early May), and all too soon it is time to pack up and hit the road. But, after we are packed up, we take a walk to the point. We note that the blueberry plants on the point (they never produce much due to the riff raff that is wont to camp there periodically, but they are a good harbinger) are in bloom! (The blossoms are those fuzzy white things on the plant. I'm still getting used to my camera, especially in full light.) I think we have some sated kids here. Like them, we are sated with good memories. Memories that involve no phone, no computer. A few games, the kind we played as kids. Racing around. Learning how to use the mower. Searching for flashlights when it gets dark. Seeing who can identify more constellations. Making that perfect guac up north (they are more perfect up there Diana would tell you), listening to songs on KAXE that never ever got airplay anywhere. We played charades and saw two bald eagles. The season is upon us!

Beautiful, melicob! I know that my first sausages were with chicken, and I found that "red" meat was significantly different. Quite the dance stuffing them yourself! Some question: My MIL gave me this. It belonged to her MIL. Should I clean it up and use it or should I pitch it? I'm going to embark on chicken thigh sausages again this week. I need a consensus. Should I use the skin and every bit of fat or should I that out that huge bag of fat back (that I wasn't smart enough to carve into 1/4 lb. chunks and individually freeze)? How cold should I aim for when doing the bind? I'm going out to get a new thermometer or two (since my most recent instant read became part of a science fair project). Finally, I have two belly halves (totalling about 6 lbs. each) in the fridge, each in individual bags. I know somewhere uptopic (and I can't find it in short enough order) I asked about curing two halves and whether the should be cured in one bag or two, and if one bag how. Perhaps Michel will chime in. Anyway, beautiful stuff. I can't wait until I'm to the dry curing stage! Oh, final note. We recently had some commercially prepared (as in supermarket, not small meat market) breakfast sausages. Next project is breakfast sausages. We are rapidly becoming spoiled, even with my novice efforts, and I was pleased that the family chose to eat barely a portion of what they would have of the commercial stuff, saying "mom, you can do better!"

Marlene, I've had it raw and seared. I like either one equally. The simpler the better. I like a few capers with it, as well. I think that the beef will slice easier (even if you are using a slicer) if it is slightly frozen. But, perhaps someone who has made it can weigh in on this.

Pam, as we head north or south from our cabin which is just south of International Falls (sometime considered a twin city of Fort Frances, Ontario), we are often amazed at the pick-ups we see with Ontario plates heading north with appliances and boxes in the back end and bags and more boxes in the cab, wedged between the Mr. and the Mrs. Has led us to believe that prices here are much better. On the rare occasion that we've gone to International Falls, it seems as there are almost as many cars sporting Ontario plates in the grocery store parking lots as Minnesota ones.

Nice to know I'm not the only one smoking in a kettle with an oven thermometer!