09:43 – Barbara picked up Bonnie, our next-door neighbor, at 9:00 to drive her up to the Walmart Super Center in Galax, Virginia. Bonnie is almost 90 years old and doesn’t get out much, so this will be a real treat for her.
About two minutes after Barbara left, Lori pulled in the drive to deliver/pick-up the mail. Lori’s daughter is home from college for the week. Lori said she’d finished repackaging the current batch of LTS food, and volunteered that she loved watching the oxygen absorbers dent in the 2-liter bottles. I’m not the only one who takes pleasure in small things.
The Lowe’s delivery truck is supposed to show up today with our gas cooktop. Eric with the Blue Ridge Co-op called yesterday afternoon to schedule installation of the propane tank and connecting the cooktop. They’re kind of backed up this time of year. He said the next date they had available was the morning of December 9th, so we grabbed it. It looks like we’ll be cooking dinner that day on the gas cooktop.
I did look around for a gas oven, but the only ones I could find that could operate without electricity were commercial models that cost several thousand dollars. There’s no way we’re spending that much. If we do have a long-term power failure, we can use the gas cooktop for baking by using a Coleman Camp Oven or a large Dutch oven.
Barbara took Colin to the vet yesterday to have him looked at. One of his ears was bothering him, and he’d torn a claw on one of his rear paws. A week or so ago, we’d tried cleaning out his ear with dilute vinegar and cotton balls, but it was still bothering him, so we decided to take him to the vet. Their charges are extremely low: $12 for the office visit and another $12 to swab out his ear and do a microscopic stain/exam. The medication they provided was $38, so Barbara got out of there for just over $60. Down in Winston, it would probably have been $250 or $300.
While Barbara was gone, UPS delivered four cases of quart wide-mouth canning jars. When she returned and noticed them stacked up in the foyer, she asked what they were. I told her “another four dozen quart wide-mouth canning jars,” and she said there was no way she was going to be canning food. I didn’t tell her that I’d renamed our new 23-quart pressure canner “Ma Kettle”. To be fair, I also renamed our 9-quart cast-iron camping Dutch oven “Pa Kettle”.
Obama passing out a Medal of Freedom awards to lots of his best libturd buds. Bill Gates is there.
(must turn of news)
You might consider looking at a Camp Chef ‘COVEN’ propane oven, for about $250 , plus $27 or so for a large tank adapter.
Just more Obuttwad participation trophies for the undeserving from the unamerican.
Get ready for the Obuttwad Jubilee, only instead of forgiving our debts he will pardon everyone who has or may commit a crime as long as they are a member of the oligarchy, BLM, LGBTQ+, ISIS (and other moosloids), and other groups favored by the left.
Here is the latest rumor from Michael Savage: Killary and Trump worked out a deal on election night, he would not pursue prosecution and she would retire quietly into the night.
Trump is a deal maker, but he better remember who he really made a deal with. Let’s not forget the power we “deplorables” just exercised and we must be ready to hold Trump and his minions to account and we must also be cultivating his replacement. We lucked out this time (maybe), but the Democrans will not be so easy next time.
Keep your powder dry and your eyes open, yes the ones in the back of your head too.
Got that turkey thawing? If not you’re too late.
Edit: Okay, there is a way to cook a frozen turkey:
http://lifehacker.com/your-last-minute-guide-to-cooking-a-completely-frozen-t-1789191333
and the link to the full article, with video:
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-a-completely-frozen-turkey-for-thanksgiving-225796
Finally unloaded my new gennie from the back of my pickup. Did it myself with a pallet jack and some plywood. I have a slight hill in my yard, and I can back the truck up to it like a loading dock.
Gravity was on my side.
Take it slow and you’d be surprised how much weight one guy can move with the right tools. That thing weighs between 500-700 pounds.
Most I ever moved by myself was my lathe, 2300 pounds. Had to move it 40 ft. Did it like the egyptians did, one inch at a time with levers and rollers.
Off to the scrap yard….
n
From a friend, “Five police officers killed in the last week. Can you name even one of them ?”
I’ve always thought the job of a police officer was risky. I did not know it was dangerous.
It’s not even in the top 10, and most of the deaths are traffic related.
Lately though, they are being targeted, which feels different.
n
According to
http://time.com/4326676/dangerous-jobs-america/
2014 Rank Occupation Fatal Injuries per 100,000 people Total deaths
15 Police and sheriff’s patrol officers 13.5 97
There have been 128 police deaths on the job in 2016 so far as opposed to 97 in 2014. But there were 130 police deaths in 2011.
Looks like the police are moving up most dangerous professions list in 2016.
“Edit: Okay, there is a way to cook a frozen turkey:”
This destroys the only reason to work at HEB on Thanksgiving Day.
Other than getting time and a half on the paycheck.
Well, 12 to 14 pounds: 4.5 – 5.75 hours and 14 to 18 pounds: 5.75 – 6.25 hours.
Needs more time. A couple of hours more. Give up and go to Luby’s.
“Cook to 165F” is the bad part. Because every time I cook chicken exactly by the directions, huh, it might technically be cooked but it’s usually bloody enough to look around for Aztecs because the heart must still be beating.
Instead of the usual way of cooking the bird (which we gave a certainly offensive name)(but you weren’t here for the smoke detectors sounding off at 4AM because “someone” effed up setting the timer on the oven) , this year it’s going on the Trager… pellet fed smoker/grill. The bird is brining in a 5 gallon bucket out in the beerrator as I type. Brine passes the finger taste test.
Cooking it tomorrow. If it’s ruined we have time to buy a fresh not frozen bird to cook the usual way or get a spiral cut ham at HEB. Being the kind of guy that can make a buffalo nickle bellow, I’m leaning towards the ham. Because with the coupons at HEB you can buy the ham and get a free turkey. Hey, I have a back-up. 🙂
My brother is frying a turkey or two on Thursday. He has been doing this for at least ten years. Then he fries some oysters and other foods on Friday.
Knowing my brother, one of those turkeys might be a turducken.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken
Cooking it tomorrow. If it’s ruined we have time to buy a fresh not frozen bird to cook the usual way or get a spiral cut ham at HEB. Being the kind of guy that can make a buffalo nickle bellow, I’m leaning towards the ham. Because with the coupons at HEB you can buy the ham and get a free turkey. Hey, I have a back-up.
I actually prefer the spiral cut honey encrusted ham over turkey.
I tried using the glaze included with the HEB hams once. Just once. What a mess. Now I open the ham and toss the glaze mix stuff directly into the trashcan.
You don’t need it. Drizzle half a cup of apple juice or a nice Riesling over it as you seal the foil.
I’m cooking both a ham and a turkey on Thursday.
… Because I’m a dumbass and unable to learn from experience. My wife asked if it was ok for a couple of Grandma’s friends to have dinner with us Thursday, because they don’t have any family near. (Or they do, but the adult children are off on business trips, visiting the PRC, or whatever.) I said sure, no problem. That somehow became most of a dozen of Grandma’s friends coming, and then became the dozen old people plus my wife’s church fellowship group, having their weekly meeting at our house on Thanksgiving rather than in the church on Friday.
I have to admit, I’m giving serious thought to standing outside the front door Thursday afternoon. The first six old people can enter the house. Everyone else gets hit in the face with a shovel. That doesn’t fit the christian spirit of generosity, but I’m not christian, so it’s ok.
I’ll be smoking a bird this year too. I opted not to brine, as it was the BOGO from HEB. Frozen turkeys are already brined with up to 15% salt water and flavor. Everything I read online said ‘brine fresh’ ‘no need to brine frozen.’
Since I’m running the smoker anyway, I’ll be doing one of my ‘green’ hams. I will brine it first. I’ll also be doing some pork ribs which already have dry rub oapplied and are resting nicely in the fridge.
I fried a bird last year or possibly 2 years ago. I didn’t trust the time chart. Should have. Ended up overcooked. Tasty, but overcooked. It is significantly faster than baking, if you get your guests at the wrong time.
We’ll be warming the HEB spiral sliced ham in case the bird isn’t good. My pork shoulder is an experiment so we aren’t counting on it.
Lots of trimmings need fixing too.
nick
I don’t know if I ever used the HEB glaze. I think I did once. I have saved them, since they are good ingredients, mainly honey, sugar, etc. I’m not a huge fan of glaze. Their ham can stand on it’s own.
n
For glazing or coating the ham, agreed, the packaged glaze is a waste. Normally I’ll bake the ham plain, just covering with foil to prevent burning. I prefer it with a bunch of cloves inserted, but my daughter doesn’t like that. Sometimes I’ll make a paste of dijon mustard and cornmeal and sometimes a bit of honey, but the little brat doesn’t like that, either.
(The other 9-year-old girl we sometimes sorta take care of doesn’t much care. She has preferences, but often is so hungry when she gets here that she’ll eat anything — or rather, everything — I set in front of her.)
(And the teenage girl who’s staying with us temporarily (I hope) likes almost anything I cook, but shovels down as much meat as she can get. Her mother is a vegetarian and the poor girl is probably protein starved.)
Geez, Steve, you’re more charitable than all progs combined. Shame on you. You’re seriously in danger of getting a reputation as a genuinely nice guy.
“You don’t need it. Drizzle half a cup of apple juice or a nice Riesling over it as you seal the foil.”
+1,000 Or Vermont maple syrup.
One guy apprehended for the murdered police officer in San Antonio, big surprise as to what grievance group; mad about his child visitation rights, took it out on “the wrong person.” Seems to be a nationwide trend, again mostly in warmer southern states.
As for turkeys, I’m picking up ours tomorrow at the chic Healthy Living Market down in Burlap tomorrow, raised on local organic farm. I forget if it’s frozen but we don’t care ’cause it’s only us for T-Day and either that day or Saturday is OK. Friday wife is visiting Princess in Moh-ree-all and delivering demanded list of goods to her and having lunch there.
I did the second shot thing down at the VA today; more pain involved than the first time and too soon to tell if it’s gonna work as advertised. Went down on an empty stomach, a mistake, and needed more Lidocaine for the injection stuff and working of needles, etc., nauseous on the way back up for two hours and again at home and took a nap with my blankie for an hour and had a scone and some Gatorade and now more or less OK.
OK enuff to scarf down some turkey chili and Moxie. Probably do the recliner thing again tonight. I need several straight nights of a straight eight-hour-sleep each night. And gotta get maybe 20 pounds off my gut and back down to 225 or so. Slim and trim.
Enough of my stupid medical bull-chit and whining; how bout that Trump guy, eh? Deals cut with Rodham on election night, most likely, in return for her STFU and going away, yeah, right, license to steal more. The Art of the Steal.
Overcast w/snow flurries down and back today. Cooking some T-Day stuff tomorrow and more on T-Day itself and then doing jack-chit all T-Day as I binge on NFL games. Shameless lazy bastid. (I’ll make a consolidated to-do list during commercials and endless time-outs.)
I was overruled about brining the the bird. Yes, everyone read the label where it says “injected with up to 10%” of whatever. Sometimes it’s simpler to just go with it. …
HEB spiral cut hams are 2.98 a pound. And if you use the coupons the turkey is free. What looks like the same (just by passing by) at Wal-Mart is 1.98 a pound.
Perhaps a wash, tomorrow’s turkey was bought last year (employees get a free turkey) and is tagged at 1.18 a pound. I don’t know about this year.
How did I end up with an extra bird in the fridge? One year there was a deal where if you bought a fresh/not frozen bird, you got the counter-top roaster oven for free. Which go for almost $30. Which has been used one time. It’s still here, not sure where.
Or Vermont maple syrup
You Sir, are evil.
OK enuff to scarf down some turkey chili and Moxie.
Turkey chili is nasty. The wife made Turkey Stroganoff the other day from scratch, was very good.
all T-Day as I binge on NFL games
The Texas Aggies play LSU at 630pm on ESPN. Hope springs eternal as Coach Sumlin may be playing for his job. And he knows it.
One year I was on a construction site just before Tgiving. The General Contractor for the work gave everyone on site a ham, a really big one. I had it in my freezer for 2 years before we had a big enough group to make it worth cooking 🙂
The HEB here has the ham at $3/lbs with a free turkey. Costco has ham at $2lbs, but doesn’t have ANY turkey. Probably cheaper in the long run to buy the costco ham and a sale turkey at 69c/lbs (if you spend $20 on other food.) EASIER to just grab both!
btw, that is their normal price for ham, so they didn’t raise it to cover the cost of the turkey, from their pov, they are giving it to you.
What Costco DOES have is a bone in (standing rib) pork roast. This is about the tastiest pork roast I’ve ever had. Costco only stocks them at the holidays SO STOCK UP! (I cut it in half or thirds and freeze. You can also cut giant pork chops….)
nick
A low bar to hurdle, at least when it comes to giving of their own resources.
Well, maybe. At least until people get to know me. I’m generous, at least to those in need through no major fault of their own. I’m helpful, and handy and well-equipped with tools. I’m kind to children. I’m courteous when I’m not hell-on-wheels. What I am not is nice. I suffer fools not at all, I’ll shred anyone trying to cheat or bully me, and there’s nothing on the planet that will get me to back down or give in once I’ve got my back up.
The 9-y-o we sorta take care of is the one I mentioned a year ago, with the insane mother and to-a-first-approximation useless father. The kid needs food and birthday presents and someone to show concern for her and to listen to her. We can do that.
The teenage girl and her mother are staying with us “for a short time” because they sold their old house but something went wrong with buying the new one. The mother is a friend of my wife’s and is somewhat vaguely tolerable, I guess, and the teenage girl is less annoying than the usual teenage girl. (A low bar indeed.) I’ve been showing her how to cook American food, mostly ignore the mother, and mostly hope they find a place to live soon.
The one I haven’t mentioned yet is a 20-ish girl. My wife knows her mother, and the girl needed a place to live for her last year of college. I mostly just rolled my eyes and didn’t bother asking why she needs a place now and didn’t last year; the explanation provided by my wife likely would not make sense and likely would be different if I asked again the next day. This one is barely ever in the house: going to school full time, doing a nurse internship or whatever they call it in a hospital, and working in a restaurant. She’s supporting herself and putting herself through college. I respect that, enough to help her a bit with her car and the like.
F the aggies. I was up there today, and they’ve banned any bags that aren’t clear. F’ing prison. And no CHL either.
n
Not that any of you should really care, but my Thanksgiving feast will be 1/2 a frozen pizza. I don’t have any family left here, and my mother’s having died on Thanksgiving a few years back more or less took the edge off the holiday for me.
Barbara will be down in Winston for Thanksgiving, returning Saturday. Colin and I are having PB&J sandwiches. I don’t celebrate religious holidays anyway, other than Saturnalia.
“Not that any of you should really care, but my Thanksgiving feast will be 1/2 a frozen pizza. I don’t have any family left here…”
If you can manage a plane ticket, slide on up here; the house is a frickin’ mess thanks to major cleanup ops underway, but we have a spare bedroom and both of us can cook pretty good, whether T-day or whatever. We’ll come get ya at the airport. It’s just the two of us, the liberal Irish-Murkan Dem wife and me, the Waffen-SS wack job.
(still a long ways to go to come anywhere near the very nice charitable impulses and walk-the-walk activities of one soft-as-a-sneakerful-of-baby-chit Mr. SteveF, though…) Hats off!
And here’s some nifty prepping info from a century ago, Russia, circa 1914, as the Great War starts to get underway…
“ISSUE OF RATIONS to the families of reservists, for each member of a family of a man called to the colors: per month, 68 pounds of flour, 10 pounds of barley, 1 pound of sunflower seeds…”
From a period newspaper clipping found on page 564 of the late A. Solzhenitsyn’s “August 1914” It is the first “Knot” of his “Red Wheel” trilogy concerning the Great War in and around Russia and the roll-up to the 1917 Revolution and rise of Lenin. I’m almost done with it and about to start the second “Knot,” “November 1916.”
That’s 17 pounds of flour per week per family member plus 2.5 pounds of barley and 4 ounces of sunflower seeds. Presumably this would be augmented by butter, eggs, milk, etc, if available, and any poultry, pork, fish, etc. And whatever summer vegetables and fruit.
Nasty OFD bastid w/more political chit here:
http://starvingthemonkeys.com/2016/11/22/faithless-elector-update-22-nov-2016/
Sounds all too plausible but read the last several paras; we need, like Mr. DadCooks says, to keep our eyes and ears wide open all the time 360 degrees from here on out.
I was beat up for years by family (especially in-laws, of course) for having to work on “holidays” but now that most of my generation have been retired for a few years, nobody cares any longer about getting together… unless, of course, I’m the single guy who has to travel across several states…
And… @ pcb_duffer:
I enjoyed pizza for Thanksgiving with my mother, not very long ago, because that was what we both wanted to eat and nobody else was there to tell us what to do.
More tasty than going out for some restaurant staff’s annoyance at having to work the “holiday” !
“I was beat up for years by family (especially in-laws, of course) for having to work on “holidays” but now that most of my generation have been retired for a few years, nobody cares any longer about getting together… unless, of course, I’m the single guy who has to travel across several states…”
Ditto. And beat up for sleeping during the days after working night shifts and that loveliest of working times, ROTATING shifts. “Can’t you sleep at night, WTF?”
“No, dumbass; I am WORKING at night while YOU sleep.”
And not just holidays but any and all family and friend social events, too. “What the fuck, are you sleeping again???”
In self-defense, I locked the doors, closed up all the windows, cut all the lights, used white noise in the bedroom, and ate breakfast at 10 PM before going to work, lunch at 2 or 3 AM, and a supper when I got home, where I usually stayed up a little past noon doing stuff or drinking. Then crashing until 9 PM.
Worked with a young lady once who would bring ham for holiday feasts (in fact the boss liked them so much he would give her money to assure she would). Her glaze was a jar of apricot-pineapple preserves over the top. She even did it to canned ham, driving a large knife into the ham after pouring the glaze on. Excellent.
Second best thing I ever had was a beer glazed brisket, even better with corned beef brisket. Gives you a sweet salty flavor.
they’ve banned any bags that aren’t clear
UT (the one in TN, not TX) also did the same thing. Plus you are not allowed to bring in any liquids including water. Thus you must pay their $5.00 for a bottle of water or find one of the three drinking fountains in stadium that holds 108K. You also cannot bring in a camera with a removable lens or any camera that looks “professional”.
All that money in the football program and the urinal in the men’s restrooms are nothing but a trough with a slate wall for a back splash. Some fool next to you tries to prove his manhood and stains hard enough to splash three people on either side.
I have been to three games only because I had free tickets for the game and for parking. Even when I worked on campus my parking pass was no good on game day. Vehicle had to be out of the garage eight hours before the start of the game or it would be towed. If you needed to work on game day there was a parking lot about three miles away with a bus that ran every two hours starting one hour before the game and ending one hour after the game. They really did not want you on campus during the game unless you were spending money.
Turkey for TG here (should have bought some pickled tounge too but I forgot).
http://hungryriders.com/wool-growers-basque-pickled-tongue
Ham is for Christmas Eve and standing rib roast on Xmas
[snip] If you can manage a plane ticket, slide on up here; [snip]
Thanks, but I’ll pass. I’ve already seen snow once this millennium, and that’s plenty. Plus the machinations that Atlantaflot Airlines would put me through would boggle the mind and bankrupt the pocketbook.
“I’ve already seen snow once this millennium, and that’s plenty. Plus the machinations that Atlantaflot Airlines would put me through would boggle the mind and bankrupt the pocketbook.”
Aw, ya don’t know what ya missin’, stereotypical Hallmark Holiday card snowscapes up here now, and over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go…yes, wife is a grandma and I’m a step-grandpa. The other actual grandpa is all messed up and non compos mentis or whatever in parts unknown up here somewhere, has zero contact with us, last seen at his adopted daughter’s funeral several years ago, and did not speak to me. Whatever. And my three step-grandkids are in the East Bay community of Brentwood, CA. Seen and heard occasionally via FaceTime and Skype from here. And wife’s assignments out there, if she ever gets one again.
You’re probably right about the airline hassles; my last trip via one of them was OK from up here at the Burlap “International” Airport but sucked rocks at the Newark Airport. Now wife wants to get us a cheap fare via her accumulated United miles and me for about twenty bucks to Shannon Airport in Ireland so we can be-bop around Donegal for a week or two, maybe next year. I gotta go get a passport downtown, I guess.
Now she’s out mooning around in her newly windowed studio and making big plans; a dream of hers for many years to ramp up the artist thing. I say go for it; what makes her happy makes me more or less copacetic and happy for her. And less potential flak for ramping up my firearms ops from this location, mostly attic work space.
Knowing my brother, one of those turkeys might be a turducken.
Only *three* animals? Try six.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xc5wIpUenQ
“I like that animal.”
Nasty OFD bastid w/more political chit here:
The latest *rigging* is possible lost votes in several States for Cankles according to some doofus cyber security professors at U of MI. The Libturdians are on it, led by Joss Whedon. He wants everybody to call the DoJ and leave a message to investigate this rigging. He thinks when enough people leave messages, the DoJ will just investigate. The DoJ has already called them a bunch of fools, but who knows, it’s still Ofukstik’s DoJ.
And the Electoral Vote thing. As I understand it, the House has to approve the EC votes. The Redumblicans control the House and will quash any hanky-panky.
The latest *rigging* is possible lost votes in several States for Cankles according to some doofus cyber security professors at U of MI.
Perkins Coie only had so many “car trunk” ballots ready to go on election day, and the paralegals who fill those out get this weekend off.
Well, let’s see how all this rolls out in the next few weeks until 12/19 and 01/20; lots of funny chit can happen. Watch your six and keep eyes and ears open.
I better go check on wife out in her studio so she doesn’t fall asleep out there….
We are doing a spiral ham I got at Costco on Thursday, and the Thanksgiving dinner on Friday, since my nephew can’t be picked up from my brother’s ex until Friday. The menu for Thursday is ham, scalloped potatoes, broccoli, rolls, pie. Friday is turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato souffle, peas with mushrooms, berries with brown sugar and balsamic vinegar, rolls, pies.
My wife makes the stuffing. The recipe starts “fry a pound of Jimmy Dean sausage in a stick of butter”. We also make stock for the gravy from the giblets and a few extra turkey necks.
Tonight I’m about to put two racks of baby back ribs into the pot to cook with my sous vide setup for 12 hours. I got a sous vide pump via a kickstarter and my experiments with it have been successful – perfect steaks, salmon, eggs poached in the shell, and more. Well worth the money.