This is...WHO I AM!

When I'm gone, you might remember things about me.  You might remember my love of Harley's, my woodworking knack, my humor...any one of a number of things.  But one thing you must never forget about me....is my culinary expertise.  Cooking is my life (as are many things, but its close to the top)

Today that expertise turned out the most incredible pork shoulder I can remember.  I started off the process last nite with rubbing an 8 pound shoulder with a mix of Bad Byron's Butt Rub and brown sugar.  I wrapped it in cling wrap and let it dry marinate overnite.  At 8:30 this morning I started the smoking process on my Weber grill with hickory chunks, and after 4 hours started to baste it with apple juice.  2 hours later I wrapped it in foil and left it on the grill for another couple hours, then removed it and let it rest for 1/2 hour on the counter.  You talk about the most tender and juicy, perfectly seasoned pork, with just the right amount of "bark" on the outside of the meat...OMG!  and of course it was accompanied by some great baked beans and my special potato salad.  I'd put a plate of this up against any BBQ i've had and with confidence know I had a winner.

So, this is who I am, for better or for worse...taking a second seat to none!

Our Morning Greeting

Our lilies, which refused to bloom last year 'cause of the heat, are making up for it this year!

They greet Nancy every morning when she goes out to water, as does the ribbongrass and parsley in the foreground.                                                             

...and our zucchini/butternut forest, monstrous!  Don't ever recall having zucchini plants grow this tall?!?

They are making squash for sure...here's four of them just in one spot!

 The Jetstar tomato plant in the back is providing us with very nice fruit, no bugs, nice big size, good flavor, and about 1 per day at this point.  In the far back right are the rest of our tomatoes...cherry & grape varieties.  They are just starting in now...on the ground amongst them, our cantelope plant has several melons on and the watermelon plant is just coming "in-stride".  Anyone know where I can buy a filet migon plant or maybe a ribeye plant?!?!                            

Thought for the Day

"Re-electing Obama for President would be like backing up the Titanic and trying to get thru the berg again!"

Funk's Hibrids-Latest Project

It has been established that the craftsman at Funk's Hibrids are accomplished at woodworking, but did you know that they are also trained in metal work?  The latest project to be built at FH is this little contraption...very handy and needed.  Can you tell what it is?

A grand total of $8.49 was spent on materials for this project...the majority of materials coming from the scrap pile at work, and $6.49 spent at the hardware store for a spray can of high-heat paint.  Figured it out yet?

Its a rain cap/deflector for our new chiminea!  It keeps the embers from flying out(expanded metal in the ring underneathe the disk) and the disk to keep rain from getting into the chiminea.  Saw one at the store where we bought the chiminea...they wanted $40 for it, figured I could build it myself for less than that.  So a junk disck blade, a 1-1/2" cross section of 6" pipe, some scrap pieces of strap iron, and a piece of expanded metal later, there you go.  One very important lesson was learned during construction I want to pass along...TURN ON??? YOUR WELDING HELMET BEFORE WELDING!!!  Who knew that a auto-darkening welding helmet needs to be "turned on" before use...NOT ME!  So, i got to deal with a slight case of welders eye yesterday and today, but not too bad.  SO if you're in the neighborhood and wish to see this latest marvel of engineering/construction, stop by, we'll be glad to show you it.

Arts in the Park, North Newton style

Just so you know that we're not completely devoid of fun things, we did go to the first of the summer 2012 Arts in the Park-North Newton this last Thursday nite.  They have a stage set up on the west side of MoJo's coffee house and have a new act scheduled for every Thursday thru the summer.  This evenings entertainment was Ana Loucks from Hesston playing her guitar and singing her own songs.

We took our 2 hounds along, and they behaved very well...until 2 other dogs showed up, at which point Cooper had to let them know in a loud voice that he was there first.  This lady's kids really like our puppies, and of course our dogs reciprocated.  It was a nice evening for it, untypically cool. The next fun thing on the schedule (after my knee replacement) is judging a bar-b-que contest here in Newton (2nd annual) in a couple of weeks...yummy!                                      

...so what do you do on Sunday?

...you mix 5 eggs, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 500 grams flour, and 1-1/2 tsp salt in your KitchenAid, add a little water, and make homemade noodles with your noodle-maker.  Let them dry for 3-4 hours, then boil them in lots of chicken stock, add fresh clipped chives from your garden, a little parsley, and the leftover chicken...

and viola', homemade chicken noodle that has no match.  It made 5 batches to eat for lunches and enough for our dinner tommorow night.                              

Another Saturday evening...

Here's yet another beer-can chicken awaiting roasting in the oven...see how festive he is with his rosemary sash!  Bought some light apple cider at the liquor store last week, didn't care for it...but it makes a great liquid for the beer-butt chicken!                                                   

You know you're getting old when you take more pictures of your dog than you do your kids/grandson...well it may have something to do with the fact we see the dogs more and they live with us!

Cooper eventually didn't like me getting up close and personal with the camera...he actually growled at me!

Hope it doesn't rain tommorow...wanna make a run to Cassoday on the scooter!