happy birthday creasy doggie -- you're two!

i only hoped it could be this good!

friends at the beach

we hung a split level door for easy access to the smoker and played around with drafting vents on the top to pull the smoke through the pipes all the way through the box.



this is a cold smoke machine as opposed to hot smoke. cold smoke is done at a lower temperature, between 80-90 degrees and keeps for a lot longer than hot smoked goods. there is 12 feet of burried pipe from the fire pit to the box for the smoke to cool before hitting the meat. we used oak and alder wood for the beef and its really smokey flavored. we just stoked the fire all day long and let the fresh air run through at night to rest the meat.


it took about three days for each round of beef to be completely dry. we might have over dried some of it, chewy but good.

smoker assembly

the foundation of the house of meat.


i looks like an out house, but it is packed with meat.



we used these baking racks as shelving, perfect fit and we were able to get a lot of meat in at once.
trimming and cutting the meat took A LOT OF TIME. like way more time than you really want to spend doing this sort of thing. plus we had to do it at night because the flies were so bad. the first time neil and i cut meat we were swarmed in the most disgusting display of winged creatures i have ever seen.

jeryky time

warning. the following pictures chronicle the demise of a 1600 pound bull with a bum hip and how we subsequently turned him into jerky over the last 3 weeks.



it took us less time to skin this year because we didnt gut it we just took the legs off to hang in the unfinished bathroom/meat locker. we cut out the briskets and brined them into corned beef. we cut as much other neck and shoulder meat as we could and left the carcass to the coyotes and mountain lions.

im on the night train

mycological wisdom

thanks to gil for sharing this paul stamets video. take 17 minutes and educate your selves!

6 WAYS MUSHROOMS CAN SAVE THE WORLD
(I cant embed it for some reason, here is the link)


http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html

pumpkins for obama

ashlyn and her jack o lantern

its hard to say and mean about too many people, but i hate this woman. she is the worst thing that has happened to the political playing field in a long time. everything she says irks me past reason; her accent, her "straight talk to the american people", her supporters and her perfect hair.

low carb diet from the mainstream media: medscape

DFamily Reunion

Camping on the Umpqua River. Neil and Crime Dog did a lot of fishing. Amanda and I played a lot of cards and made a lot of food. We hiked to some hot springs, watched the dogs swim in the coldest water ever and had a great time.

Crater Lake. Mom and Dad said this was the first place they took me when I was 6 weeks old. Just how I remember it.





Hello. Anenome.


Applegate Valley: Southern OR, Wine Country



Weird mini donkies. head scratchers.

all the way for this?

South Dakota
dont do it. no matter how tempting. this is worse than south of the border (and no pedro)


this was slightly better.

These mushrooms in Montana were way more worth it. Spiny Hedgehogs, they are toothed mushrooms that are slightly bitter but edible. Also called hawk's wings. We sampled some, not great, but if you're hungry. ...





Then we found these shaggy manes. MMMM. egg batter and sauteed? yum.

LET THE BROKEN HEARTS STAND AS the price you gotta pay

BISON. another national park grazing bison herds.

CAMPING IN THE HOT DRY SUN.

BADLANDS. YOU GOT TO LIVE IT EVERYDAY.

This is what creasy doggie looks like before she rolls around in fresh bison poop and smears it all over her entire body.

chi town with wilson

little poland. first a buffet with all the golomki, kraut and perogis you can eat then a sausage shop with more intestines and potted meat than you can shake a slim jim at.

larks bbq and car wash: the best of benton harbor