crisis averted

The cat is found...he has come out of hiding. Martin is no longer worried...all is well...

Do I care? only because I no longer have to listen to worries that he's lost...

Cheers...

This and that

I suspect that in May and June, central Kentucky is probably the most beautiful place on earth. (October is usually lovely, too). It also has the highest pollen count in the world during May and June. I guess you can't have everything.

I don't like cats. Martin loves cats. I just spent most of the day going with him to adopt a new cat. Since we need an outdoor cat, we had to get an older one. Came home with a brown tabby male. Had lived in the shelter all his life (he's a year old), and was clearly terrified at doing anything different. So Martin set up a litter box, food and water in the other room in his cabin (not his bedroom), took him out of the cage and put him on the litter box, and went outside to put away the mower and gas cans before leaving for rehearsal. When he went back in, the cat was (and is) nowhere to be found. He is either so freaked out that he's hiding somewhere in the cabin where Martin can't find him, OR he managed to slip out unnoticed when Martin opened the door.

So Martin is distraught. He asked me how likely it is that we'll find him. I said that, if he's hiding in the cabin, it's 100% certain we'll find him. If he got out, who knows...

I am really, really, REALLY tired of being a grown-up.

So there...

thoughts on things in general

Am I the only person who has decided that virtually everyone involved in state or federal government, politics at almost any level, university politics, and/or pretty much ANY position of influence or power is virtually by definition compromised, e.g., fundamentally crooked, or has at the very least "sold out" to some sort of power structure?

I do hope the duck breast prosciutto I just peppered and hung out to dry is good...

the pancetta I made is (!) mediocre.

Life is short.

One should eat well, spend time only with genuine friends, relatives one loves, let go of grudges (thank you, Judy!), drink well...SO THERE..

Cheers, Lillie

Charcuterie, once again

Turns out my pancetta is okay. The mold on it doesn't mean it's gone bad, especially since it otherwise looks and smells really, really good. I'll cook some tomorrow, and we'll see...

Gretchen asked me about the smoker...huh? I haven't cranked it up yet, although I did buy a bag of charcoal and some mesquite chips and a can of starter fluid...will report after I do something with it.

Cheers, Lillie

My career as a charcutiere

This is an update....

I have twice (three times?) now made duck breast prosciutto using that recipe in Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie book. It has been GREAT. After I take it down and start slicing it to eat, it doesn't seem to keep well, e.g., sliced, but the stuff is really, really good.

My first batch of cured salmon using their recipe was also very good, although Phil didn't like it that much because it tasted too much of fennel. It did have a whole fennel bulb, fennel seeds, Pernod, and a few things like that in it. I liked it.

So the next time, I made it with dill weed and dill seeds instead. It was underwhelming. I have in the past made gravlax using (more or less) Julia Child's recipe, and this stuff wasn't as good. And I frequently make salmon tartare, which is always a hit. and yes, I made that one up...

I used the Charcuterie book method for making sauerkraut. It was, shall we say, not just NOT a success, but seriously not a success. I threw it out.

I have had several plans to make sausage of various sorts, purchased a meat grinder attachment to my Kitchenaid mixer, also a sausage suffer gizmo, and lately have purchased a charcoal smoker thing. I have also on a couple of occasions started sausage, but haven't yet worked up the nerve to actually DO it. Stay tuned.

My latest effort is a serious (I think) disappointment. Pancetta. You "cure" this pork belly like you're going to make bacon, for a couple of days, season it some more, roll it up, tie it, wrap it in cheesecloth, tie it up some more, and hang it in a cool place for awhile, until the texture changes. And then you have pancetta, e.g., un-smoked, WONDERFUL Italian bacon. All of us were thrilled when I discovered this stuff. It's great.

So I made some. Did all the stuff it said, let it hang in the pantry for awhile (the pantry in our house, where the washer, dryer, extra fridge, freezer, and food storage are, is seriously far from the reach of both the boiler and heat pump, so in the winter, is SERIOUSLY cold, like frequently near freezing, sometimes for long periods of time). Today I worked up the courage to cut it down and take a serious look, with the intent to use it in pasta for dinner.

There was a big problem. Fortunately, I had also purchased some commercially made pancetta at Kroger. The stuff looks great, smells great, except there is sort of a serious amount of mold in the middle, and I don't exactly know whether or not it's safe to eat. So we didn't.

Any advice would be welcome...

And I do still intend to actually stuff sausage, crank up my smoker, and get busy...

Cheers, Lillie

this and that

I've decided that reading political stuff and agonizing over it is bad for my blood pressure. and makes no difference in the long run. So I am ignoring most of it. This unfortunately means I don't get to pay much attention to my favorite newspaper and online sources, but so be it...

Have spent the last several days trying to get all the bits and pieces of paper, not to mention a great deal of much-postponed filing, in folders. This is not just boring; it is also traumatic. And the next time the orthopod at Lexington clinic tries to talk me into letting him do surgery on either of both of my knees (and also offer to pray about it, overdose me with acetaminophen/tylenol, and relegate me to try to get around on crutches with my badly damaged arthritic shoulders and hips...but hey it was all in the official protocol), somebody out there PLEASE STOP ME!!!

I found Christmas cards with lovely photos of beautiful kids that I hadn't managed to open (lots of this from just after the ghastly surgery, that, folks, did NO GOOD...). Also of course there were bills, etc., that have been ignored. I'm trying very hard to get things under control AND to drag myself, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century...

On another front: the duck breast prosciutto is very, very good. Haven't tried the pancetta yet, but it may be very good, too. It's about ready.

And another thing, I bought a charcoal smoker from Lowe's the other day when I bought the new, very sophisticated (compared to the other ones we used to own that were supposed to be not just wonderful, but also indestructible...), grill/outdoor cooker that uses a propane tank. We'll see.

I hate baseball. Even more than I hate basketball...so there...

I'd rather be sewing, cooking, making sausage, etc., and cooking than dealing with boring paperwork. So there...

Cheers, Lillie