Saturday Grilling

The other night I got out a pork loin out of the freezer and began to defrost it.  Its finally done no it became a question of what to do with it.  What it had to do was fit into the side that was going to be cooked.  The last time that I made this was nearly 2 years ago.  It was very good and had forgotten about it till earlier today.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/grilled-corn-salad/

 

Grilled Corn Salad

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire-style marinade for chicken
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• few dashes bottled hot pepper sauce
• 6 fresh ears corn (with husks)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 20 miniature sweet peppers or 4 medium sweet peppers, seeded and halved
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Cotija or Parmesan cheese (2 ounces)
• Romaine leaves (optional)

The main entrée is going to be the pork loin and its marinating in some teriyaki sauce.  All I can say is that once I get the grill going and sit out there under the patio drinking some adult drinks all will be well in this world once again. 

August day off

On Friday 8/9 I decided to take off the day and just not think about anything much that morning.  To help with this I took off from our house and headed up to Plymouth, CA.  The previous night I did my research on Yelp and found this little dinner up there.  The place was Marlene & Glen's Diner.  It fit the bill perfectly so I rode up there.  Above is the corn beef hash that they had.  I am a fairly big guy and could not eat it all.  It was just that much food.  What is not in the picture is a big homemade biscuit.  Let me tell you since moving out to CA many years ago it has been very hard to find a place that makes a good biscuit.  I have found a few around here but this is a good place to start if you are looking for a biscuit.

After getting home I broke out the food mill. I will tell you without a doubt that it made short work of 20 some pounds of ripe pears.  I ended up with a bit more than 11 quarts of pear sauce that will get tucked away for the winter.  I did find up the road some they are selling 50 pounds of pears for $12.99.  At that price I might head up there and get a bunch more and make the sauce all over again.  That should be enough to feed the monsters for a few meals. 
http://www.amazon.com/Victorio-VKP250-Model-Strainer-Sauce/dp/B001I7FP54/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1376166507&sr=8-5&keywords=foodmill

After canning the pear sauce and being done in less than 2 hours it was time for a nice relaxing afternoon.  With the weather here in the valley being absolute perfect for a mid August day nothing said relax some more as a some reading in the hammock underneath one of the trees in the backyard. 

All in all it was a lovely day off.  I hope to do this more often.

Start of the Summer 2013

It has been so long since I last wrote and not much has changed. There are still 4 kids in the house and plans for no more. So far this spring/summer has been fairly productive in the garden. So far the spring has seen some 90+ days already and it has done wonders for the blackberries. So far we have gotten 9+ pounds of blackberries. Converting that it Costco prices for the same amount and its over $55 worth of produce. I estimate another 4+ pounds out there to be harvested as it matures. If this comes true it would be nearly $70 of blackberries alone saved by my own plants producing. I also cut over 5 pounds of artichokes today. I looked at the plum and apricot tree's and I estimate 250+ pounds of fruit coming off the trees before too long. Rough math puts that at over $370 in stone fruit coming in. Fruit alone this put us in nearly $450 in saving to my pocket books. I'm often asked why I do this. The answer is simple. I save a bunch of money, the kids know where their food comes from, and most importantly I know what I'm feeding my kids is as health as I can make it. Looking at the tomato's and peppers that are growing I see some real goodness coming. I spied a yellow pear cherry tomato that was sitting there soon ready to be picked. Veggies will be kicking in shortly and will help feed and put away much food for the winter to eat from. May the yumminess continue.

Mid-July Update

I'm sitting up here in Oregon watching the history channel just trying to relax. Went out to dinner and had a decent dinner. A seafood ravioli. Nothing special but tasted might yummy. I was watching the all-star game just relaxing. Down the way was a grocery story. Stopped in there and took a look around. It reminded me of Whole Foods but much more of a organic niche market. Not bad at all. They had a bunch of freshly made items, many that looked so yummy. I decided to get some basic snacks so that I have something in the room for the next 2 days. Its interesting just sitting around not doing anything. Actually very boring. However when talking to one of my coworkers they mentioned their beach house over in Long Beach, WA. I got to thinking about the family trip from 2 years ago and the nearly 2 weeks off. I so want a vacation now but I will have one in few months. Granted it won't be long enough like any really are long enough. I think that it would be nice to get down to the beach for a few days just to take the edge off. Considering the last time that I took a few moments off was nearly 6 months ago. What am i doing to myself just by working.

I want to get the boys out and go camping but who knows when that will happen. We are already half way thru the year and then halfway thru July on top of that. Its just one of those years that time is going to get away from me and the next thing you know the year is done and there is very little to show for it. Granted we had another boy 2 months ago. But once again its 2 months and time has already passed. I guess I wont win will I.

Still here

I'm still here, Things are hectic, the boys are eagerly awaiting their new brother. The garden is looking real good. The tomato plants are blooming. We have already began to harvest peas and radishes. The pumpkin and zucchini are growing quickly. Its hard to believe that just a week ago they were nothing more than a few leaves. Give a little TLC, good soil, full sun, and some water and they will just love you to pieces. I have gotten some riding in, a lot of it has been put on hold due to the up coming birth. I did manage to get some nearly 200 miles in the beginning of the month. I still want to get 300 more in this month alone. I still need to get minimum of another 3 centuries in this year. I have identified 5 that would be good contenders.

Riding fool

I went riding with the boys today and was simply shocked. Garrett was out there riding like he was having a grand old time. Its hard to believe that here he is a bit over 2 years old and riding away. I firmly believe that he will be off training wheels by the time that he hits 3 in less than 8 months. This would mean that he is about 6 months ahead of his brother but who said life wasn't a competition.

I signed up for a century ride here a month. That will be a fun time and a good easy one for the start of the season. But its all relative. Who ever said riding 100 miles on a bike is ever easy doesn't fully get it. That's part of the reason that I decided to "Ride the Buttes 09". Its a good first of the season ride and would give me good distance. That means that I just have to figure out the other 2 or 3 that I will do this year. So far I have one in April, May, and Oct. What it do in between is the question. I have time to figure it out. I plan on getting Trevor up to 10-12 miles and that would give me a chance to get him out just the 2 of us for a 15 mile ride or so. That would be fun. We shall see but its likely to happen next year at the latest.

All is going well

I was out there working in the yard today and it was starting to look good.  I had to get the yard mowed and some work in the flower garden.  It was over run with a shrub of some sort and had to be removed.   It freed up a lot of space that will get filled before too long.    In the vegetable garden the peas or green beans have sprouted.  I ran the string for the plants to climb up shortly.  After this past week's frost the tomato's seem to be ok.  I went out there and covered them with a sheet so that they wouldn't die.  The onions, strawberries, lettuce, and brussels sprouts are doing great. 

Other than that it was a quiet weekend with some screens getting fixed so that when the windows get opened we don't get invaded with bugs.   I was hoping to get out and play more with my camera but the weather wasn't do great.  It was sprinkles and windy.  Went out to the vernal ponds with Trevor and saw some flowers and a few small shrimp. 

Splash is a local org that helps educate folks about the local vernal ponds and why they are so important to preserve. Not great but got a preview of what I have to look forward too in a few weeks. When driving up to Folsom the California Poppies where just beginning to pop open so its will be a short time before they are fully open and I can take advantage of that. Yeah. Oh well back to work tomorrow.