ness

This cookie was the prettiest cookie of all the cookies!

Acclimating Rusty to loud noises:

Nice! I’ve never done it with venison, but Guinness beef stew is a favorite around here.

Back when my boys were playing football, one of the dads told us he had a bunch of geese out in his front yard plucking up the grass. So he picked up a BB gun and shot out into the group to scare them away. He ended up hitting one in the head and it started flopping around. So he grabbed it, wrung its neck and disposed of it. The neighbor lady saw it, freaked out and called it in. His fine was supposedly $10,000

The cider had aged for a couple weeks and we decided to pop one of each and test. The missus and I both kinda wanted to like the middle one because it just has a nicer color to it. But after doing a blind test we both ruled it out. Not bad, just the other two were better. The remaining two, Cote des Blancs and Safale S-04, were very close. My wife had a clear preference for S04. I kinda waffled back and forth between the two but in the end I picked CdB on the left. CdB has got a definite haze to it that the other two didn't, and it's the palest of the three. I don't think it's suspended yeast because I killed them dead through pasteurization. It may be a pectin haze, but I added pectic enzyme to all three so that shouldn't have happened. Unless I goofed. In the end it has been an interesting experiment. The flavor differences were not drastic. The color difference surprised me. All three are pretty tasty and will only improve with age. Number 10 has really slowed down but it's probably not finished. It's been stuck on 1.005 for a few days but should go to 1.000 or below. I'll check again in a day or two and decide whether to bottle now and hopefully carbonate, or go longer and do a dryer still cider. I'm hoping to give a few 4-packs away on Christmas Eve.

Once I learned I was 1% Jewish, I thought I should explore my culinary heritage. So, I schlepped a box of Manischewitz matzo ball & shoop mix home to try. I was sure an ancient ancestor was looking down from above crying, ‘Oy Vey, he’s meshuggenah!’, but I soldiered on. I followed the directions on the box to the letter, but found it nish keet. I knew I wanted something better to nosh on. Tiring of going back and forth to the website ‘32 Yiddish Words You Should Know’, I decided to just post a picture of my shooped up shoop: So, mazeltof!

Since we’re telling - We’re in too. We’re pretty fortunate and we know it. We try to help where we can. The missus taught many years in a lower-income school district and has seen first hand kids that depend on school for food. One that she told me about, that I’ll always remember, was a kid she ran in to outside school. Asked if she was looking forward to summer the kid said no-it just means I’ll be hungry. The approach this organization is taking is just right. Engage with folks, figure out what the need is and act. Show some love and don’t be judgmental. That’s so much more impactful than free money raining down from above from an anonymous benefactor. So, pony up!

Annual get-together with friends tonight. Baby brother did a pork rib roast with a port and mushroom sauce. Friend did homemade gnocchi with mushroom and spinach. I did bourbon and maple glazed carrots. Didn’t get photos of appetizers and dessert but it was cheese crisps before and chocolate poke cake after. My brother cut those huge chops. I couldn’t finish mine. Then it was out to the garage where the other dudes fired up their stogies. They’re always considerate of the non-smokers. 😀

I appreciate this forum and the lack of obnoxious ads. Thank you Phil! From a book I’m reading (with a slight modification): “At this festive season of the year, you blowhards," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time.”

It's a great story and movie, and not because it's about fishing. It's always been interesting to me to learn about how they put movies together. Back in the day, ness 2.2 and I loved to watch movies on DVD/BluRay and then the special features explaining the process, background, whatever. He's now working in the film department at KU.

More than likely she’s doing a strategic delay, waiting for just the right moment to pounce. Keep your head on a swivel!

I've got all my fly tying material in a medium-sized Rubbermaid container. This being a fly tying thread, I don't feel the need to disclose my other clutter.

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!