Bruce's Journal

[Bruce]

I will have a problem replicating the bacon if it turns out really well. Other than a cup of salt and a cup of maple syrup I don't know how much of what I put in there I know there was some garlic, some fresh ground pepper (my hand gave out at what was probably about 1 tablespoon, the recipe called for 3), some fresh basil. The liquid smoke was CAREFULLY measured ... by pouring some on the meat then spreading it around with a pastry brush.

Yes, I do hope that Trouble will have an "enjoyable" life free ranging at his new home. I know he wouldn't be happy living here in a coop forever.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Don't feel bad Bruce....I never measure much of anything either. That's why I'm not a baker, cause ya have to measure for things to turn out right. It drives the daughters nuts when they want a recipe and I tell them a little of this, and some of that....oh, and add some of that over there and taste it to see if it needs more...

 

[Pastor Dave]

Most of the bacon today in groceries haven't been smoked. Pretty sure it's all chemical processed. That being said, I use Liquid Smoke a lot.

 

[Bruce]

Most of the bacon today in groceries haven't been smoked. Pretty sure it's all chemical processed. That being said, I use Liquid Smoke a lot.

Apparently true! I saw a video of how they make liquid smoke and it said all the large commercial smoked food is "smoked" with LS.

Moved Trill and Cassie into the coop last night.

The bacon came out OK, a bit too salty, I'll have to rinse/soak it more next time. All the different recipes were confusing. Some said to rinse it well, one said to soak the meat for 4-6 hours to get the excess salt out. I ate the outside end pieces I cut off to make the slices uniform length. I don't know if there is more salt in the ends or not. Wife said it was "different" but not in a bad way but yeah a bit salty. I will say there is more fat than I would like to see. Apparently this came from a really big pig. He had another from a smaller pig but of course being all packaged up by the butcher, neither of us could see and compare. I think next time I'll ask for one from a pig that hasn't had as much time to chow down

 

[CntryBoy777]

At least now ya have a reference point to work from, and it only gets better as ya increase the experience and knowledge......

 

[Bruce]

Well Trouble didn't make it 2 days at his new home. Apparently jumped the fence. They found his headless and neckless body down near the road. Clearly the mark of a coon. No idea why he went AWOL, there was plenty of free range space and free range "girl friends". I asked how the other chickens don't get eaten.
Because they don't go over the fence was the answer.
And why don't the coons come to get them?
Because the dog stays in the fenced area as well.

Replaced the 12V battery in DD2's "new" 2006 Prius today. 4th time I've done it on this generation of Prius, gets fairly easy with repetition. Since the 12V is behind the right rear quarter panel and you have to take out the storage tray under the rear "floor" to get to it, good time to check the spare which is then exposed. Sadly Toyota has it mounted such that you can't get to the valve stem without removing the jack bracket that holds it in place then removing the tire to get to the outside of the rim. As such it isn't checked nearly as often as it should be. < 20 PSI in a tire that should have 60 PSI so clearly not checked in a few years at least. Since I had the pump out I set all the tires on all 3 cars. The spares in DW and my cars were both at 50 PSI. Guess I haven't checked often enough either!

Moved more firewood. Just have some odds and ends short pieces left. I would have finished this afternoon but several of the girls were helping and I didn't want to stop their bug foraging.

Penelope is still being a b*tch on the roost. She tends not to go in until most of the other girls are already up, then proceeds to bully any bird below her in rank (which means the six 2017 "kids") and they run out of the coop. I got sick of it tonight after she shoved 5 of them off. Grabbed her and stuck her in the coop the younger birds had been using before I forced them to move to the more secure coop by not opening the door on the other one. Now she is stuck there until I decide to go down in the morning to open the barn.

 

[Mike CHS]

Do you have to go through all of that to get the spare out to use?

 

[Bruce]

Of course! Options in cars and trucks in the past have been:

• Buried under the rear floor of the trunk (assuming there is a "floor" of some sort to make it flat over the spare
• Suspended under the vehicle
• Mounted on the back of some smaller SUVs

Plusses and minuses to each.

• With it underneath the "devices" that hold it in place and get rusty. And if you need to use it, most likely you are wearing clothes you don't want to be crawling under a vehicle to get to the spare. But you don't have to get anything out of the vehicle to access the spare.
• With it under the floor, it is nice and clean but you do have to empty whatever is above it.
• Mounted on the back was easy access though you may have noticed that at least Toyota and Honda have changed that. Why? Because if you get hit in the rear, or manage to back yourself into a post, you destroy the rear door.

The '95 Odyssey I had was easier, the spare was mounted vertically in the back with a fabric cover zipped over it. Never had to use it though.

 

[Mike CHS]

I guess they have to make room for all the stuff you need whether you can get to it or not.

I drove a 1962 Triumph TR3 that I restored in the early 80's until I got tired of having to be MacGyver to keep it on the road.

 

[CntryBoy777]

I don't like or trust those little donut tires, and since it is just me and Joyce, the spare is inside the van along with a floor jack....on the side of the road...I'm not dealing with the dang scissor jack.....hop out hit the 4 way lug wrench, pop the tire off put the other on, tighten, lower, and throw everything back in the van....I can still change one in under 10 minutes...