ness

I need to show this to the missus

I wish you’d take a walk around my house! I’d make it worth your while.

Agree! I just never buy a store tomato. Canned are always available and consistent. These were Cento whole San Marzano. I use them in this and in pizza sauce. We like 'em! Edit: I will buy a plum tomato to dice and put into guacamole.

After enduring the public humiliation of having to admit the use of canned sliced potatoes, I struck out to redeem myself with homemade tomato sauce and meatballs*. * Full disclosure: the tomatoes came from a can, the pasta from a box, the tomato paste from a tube, and the meat and onion from the grocery store. The garlic was homegrown.

The missus just took care of it and for that I'm thankful. <-Back on topic

My back itches, and I can't reach it.

I've never heard of that. That's cool! What all was in the kit besides the hooks?

Weeknight, baby!

Well I hope he got her a ring too! Very nice looking family there! That said, have your son in law roll that bill a bit

Oh, what the heck.... I used to easily beat the 10 second timer. Not so much now

Meanwhile, we had purchased some Old Orchard apple juice for a recipe we were doing. It was very delicious with a totally different flavor profile than the Louisburg Cider I have been using. It's pasteurized, so no preservatives to get in the way. It's from concentrate with added malic and ascorbic acid -- no biggy. It's a little less sweet, a little more tart and more full bodied. It is also noticeably darker than Louisburg. I checked and they both have the same calories and carbs, so I guessed the same amount of sugar. But it OO was just better tasting, so I fired up a 1-gallon batch using my favorite yeast from the 3-yeast test. I took the initial specific gravity and TA and it came in about the same as Louisburg (1.048/0.3), so the same sugar and acid. Interesting, because that's not my impression tasting it. That just goes to show there's a lot more going on than the two things. I adjusted the acid up to a more tart 0.6 and added some wine tannin to get to my targets. I started the fermentation about a week ago, and transferred to secondary this morning. It smells absolutely fabulous at this point, so I am very optimistic. Note color difference from previous batches with different juice:

The carbonation test bottle was firm yesterday, but I couldn't get around to it until today. I have been reading up on pasteurization and came across a guy that uses a sous vide device for it. What didn't I think of that?? After trying a couple different pots and number of bottles to get the water to the right depth both for the sous vide and for the bottles, I came up with a setup that worked. 155 degrees for 10 minutes is the target. But given the time to get the temp back up to 155 after adding the rom temperature bottles (about 15 minutes) and the lengthy cool down period (maybe 30 minutes) I'm sure I've got the yeast killed dead.

Looks great! Can you tell us a little more about the ingredients and cooking of this? The skin looks perfect!

I’ve heard of this business strategy before. Here’s a little more info on it.

Bummer! Get well! 🎶Love that chicken from Popeye’s!

Tick tick tick….😀

I looked for this thread and I’m a little surprised we haven’t done this since 2000, back in the depths of Covid. I always enjoy @rps twist on things and hope he’ll chime in. And then there’s the @BilletHead take which is always interesting. I told someone our Thanksgiving will be an awful lot like it was in 1970. My tiny little baby brother will roast a turkey and make gravy. It will be excellent because he’s a great chef. His wife, who is also a talented cook, will come up with a unique side or dessert. It’s different every year but will be very good. Kathy and I are doing a cider and onion braised brisket. It’s got a delicious sauce of cider, onions, rosemary and good old beef fat blended. Green bean casserole, cornbread stuffing, corn casserole and ho’made cranberry sauce. Three pies are coming. A realtor friend of mine gives us a pie every year. Not because he hopes we’ll move, but because he loves us. 😀 Kathy did pumpkin. We’ll have a couple more I’m sure. Anyhoo, tell us what’s on your menu! And—take a minute or 30 to think about things you have to be thankful for.

Hurry!

When we were in Tuscany back in 2019 wild boar was on many menus and considered to be a delicacy. Over there, boar hunting is a tradition done by large groups of men in the fall. We were warned to keep an eye out, especially if we were out at night as the place we stayed was very rural. Driving home from dinner one night a momma and several little ones crossed the road in from of us. I didn't get the sense that they were a problem when we were there, but I just Googled and they are a big problem. Apparently they're known to destroy a chunk of a vineyard in one night, and sometimes invade the towns.

My gosh! The number of shots it takes is unbelievable to me. Maybe these guys weren't taking the right shots, but still... Pheasant hunting about 10 years back we came across a field that was all torn up. I figured I didn't want to tangle with hogs, but took a little comfort in that there were about four or five 12 gauges among us. Those would have just ticked them off!

This is why I always spay and neuter my feral hogs!

It's worse that I had feared if some here know things like that

I'd be deathly afraid of what *thing* he might show

That's a great story all around!