30 September 2012

Saucy

Last Friday I put another roast in the crock pot to become pulled pork.

Here in the Carolinas we have three different kind of sauces to use on pulled pork. In North Carolina we have two primary types; there are those who refer to them as right and wrong, but the traditional terms are eastern and western. The third is a mustard based sauce that is popular in South Carolina, I haven't tried it but it sounds delish so it might need some further investigation.

At any rate the Eastern sauce is vinegar based, rooted in the Scottish tradition when tomatoes were, so I've heard, considered poison (although I have also heard that it is due to vinegar being a preservative). The Germans brought us the South Carolina mustard-based sauces and the tomato based sauces were favored by the English in western North Carolina.

Regardless of the sauce, the Spaniards brought the pig and the natives showed us the proper way to cook them, over red hot coals. In eastern North Carolina they tend to go whole hog and in the Piedmont and western NC the use of large cuts such as shoulders are the norm. Either way the meat is traditionally smoked for a long period of time. I cheat by putting mine in a crock pot, but truthfully it is better when it spends 8-12 quality hours in the company of wood smoke.

This time around I was looking for an alternative to the store-bought tomato based sauces that have seemed to sprout up in my refrigerator so I thought I'd try my hand at making some of the eastern NC type sauce. It is actually pretty simple, consisting of vinegar and spices, and it turned out well. Of course I did have to add my own touches to it, you may choose to leave them out.

And without further ado, here it is!

1 cup white vinegar (I have seen recipes using only apple cider vinegar as well)
1 cup apple cider vinegar (two if you are not using white vinegar)
1 T packed brown sugar (I have seen recipes calling for as much as 1/4 cup, so add more if you want)
1 T cayenne pepper (I used red pepper flakes)
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I used this but Tabasco would work just as well for a milder flavor)
1 t salt
1 t ground black pepper
ADDED INGREDIENT: 1 drop of Daves Insanity Sauce. Use this with caution, it gets its name honestly. I just put a bit on a toothpick and stir the vinegar with it until it is washed off. Throw that toothpick away immediately, you do NOT want to use it on anything else. Not even as a joke. Trust me on this.

Mix all of this up in a Mason jar with a tight fitting lid and shake it up every once in a while for two days as the flavors mingle, keeping it in the refrigerator between shakes. After two days shake it up really good again and decant it into a bottle (or just leave it in the jar) for serving. It keeps for a couple of months, so I've heard. The way it's getting gone I doubt it will last that long.

Enjoy!

28 September 2012

What A Revoltin' Development This Is

As you may have noticed I like pictures.

It took a while, but I have finally exceeded my limit in my Picasa web album, which Blogsnot uses for its photo storage. The new header pic (it's for October, which means it's early, which means I should have waited...D'oh!) was the last one.

As a result I had to actually buy photo storage for the blog. I have no issues with that, but I do have issues with the fact that it can take up to 24 hours for the expansion to kick in.

Until then, no more pictures for you! I know you would like to see how my new plate looks

but NO! I would like to put a bigger picture in my header. DENIED! You will have to deal with just text and LIKE it.

Oh well, I guess I'll have plenty of room for car show pics next weekend.

UPDATED: I guess that wasn't TOO bad...

24 September 2012

On My Desktop

Since you asked...


I have this one at work, stolen shamelessly from MSgtB. It's almost worth going in to work just to see her.


Now that it's almost a new month I'll have to find another RotM (Redhead of the Month) for my work desktop. I've been warned that this one was pushing the limits of good taste (Philistines! it's COFFEE!!!) so I'll have to find something more...subtle...


Alas, she's not a redhead. My search continues. After breakfast. I have a hankering for waffles and coffee...

HT: An NC Gun Blog

UPDATE: I'm guessing she would be right out as well.

Shame, really, as I've cropped out all the good bits so that she would fit on the desktop. Some people have no appreciation for art.

23 September 2012

Weekend Adventures

Saturday was supposed to be a display day with the Mustang club, but Friday night Eldest Sister called and asked for my help to move.  She needed my little trucklet and trailer to move the big stuff to her new place.

Youngest Son and I went up Friday night, stayed over and worked all the next day until after midnight helping them put everything in. I didn't get a picture of the rosebushes, but there are pink roses all along the front of the house bordered with those little lights that come on at dusk. It's a nice place, but my favorite part of the house was this:



Knotted pine paneling and matching bookshelves on one side of the fireplace, the other side is where her knotted pine entertainment center sits, it's a perfect match. I could just imagine my entire book collection on those shelves...well, maybe not all of it, but quite a bit of it anyway.

We got home this morning about 4:30 AM, I did my laundry and caught a little nap just in time to get up and spray some carburetor cleaner in the Idle Air Control Valve mounting hole on the Subaru before getting ready to go to work. The check engine light is presently extinguished, we will see how long it lasts this time.

I'm hoping next week is a little less busy.

21 September 2012

"Who Are You Voting For?"

I guess my reaction startled her a bit because she stepped back, clipboard in a defensive posture over her chest. All I really did was stop short with my hand on the door handle and abruptly turn my head towards her. "Romney" I snapped. "You are registered then?" she asked. I replied to the affirmative and she scurried away to bother some other mall-goer.

I really shouldn't have been so short with her I guess, she was only doing the job that...someone...put her up to, but I really didn't think it was her business. Funny thing though, an Asian woman who had been following me in answered that she didn't know who she was voting for but caught up with me once inside.

It turns out that she, too, will be a Romney voter, and for pretty much the same reason as me. Romney wasn't my guy...in fact I really didn't have a favorite although I liked Perry...but ol' Mitt has stepped up pretty well lately so I think I can vote for him without holding my nose. (I might still have to breathe through my mouth until I get back outside, time will tell.)

She said that she would be voting Romney because Teh One has done such a stellar job, and even if Romney was a total and abysmal failure he would still be orders of magnitude better than TFG. I told her not to forget the down-ticket races, that it is even more important to control the House and Senate, and she went off on her way.

I'm getting quite a bit of that in fact, when folks realize that I won't be pulling the "D" lever come election day they come clean and "admit" to being a conservative as well. They have just learned not to wear their political affiliation on their sleeves, it just saves time and irritation (case in point, Youngest Daughter had one of her customers tell her if she was voting for Romney then little miss O'bot would "have to sit her down and show her some pictures to get her mind straight" which is just the sort of thing that most of us don't really want to bother with. It's probably good I wasn't there, I have been known to get rude sometimes and oh boy can I find some pictures for her).


Anyway, as Roberta so succinctly put it, you can at least get rid of the worst offenders and the SCoaMF has certainly earned his spot (right next to James Earl Carter, and that's doing something right there to make Carter look good) on that list. That has to be worth something.

And if nothing else, voting gives me the right to bitch about it for the next four years.

What The Hell

I don't have an iDevice, but the top 20 played on the pony's thumb drive are:

1. BTO - Blue Collar
2. Moonshine Bandits - Whiskey In My Soul
3. One Republic - Everybody Loves Me
4. Adele - One And Only
5. Glen Miller Orchestra - Polka Dots and Moonbeams
6. Rob Thomas - Getting Late
7. Metallica - Through the Never
8. Chris LeDoux - Horsepower
9. Bree - Hands Up (the only video I found was an acoustic version that I didn't like much)
10. Blue Oyster Cult - Veteran of the Psychic Wars
11. Black Crowes - Go Faster
12. John Fogerty - Rock N Roll Girls
13. Kris Allen - Live Like We're Dying
14. Cee-Lo Green - Bright Lights Bigger City
15. The Jane Dear Girls - Merry Go Round
16. Lady Antebellum - Something 'Bout a Woman
17. Rob Thomas - Real World '09
18. Glenn Miller Orchestra - In The Mood
19. Aerosmith - Big Ten Inch
20. Robert Plant and Allison Krause - Gone Gone Gone

Actual content later. Maybe.

19 September 2012

Shiny!

I already donated and I'm ready to donate again just for this.

Cause like Erin says, I'm just all about the catsuit. Or words to that effect.

So what are you waiting for?

Just to be clear here...it's all in fun, but Jennifer is a good sport for agreeing to do this. That in itself is good for something, isn't it?











I got the picture from here. Credit where it's due and all that.

15 September 2012

What's For Dinner

I'm more of a cook than a chef, I usually just use pre-packaged ingredients in my cooking. If you want gourmet go here. While you are there make some slaw.

Tonight was pork sandwiches, made in the crock pot it is not so much quick but it is simple. Here you go!

1 pork roast, I used a Boston Butt, not too big to go into your crock pot. It works just as well with beef.
1 bottle of Allegro Hickory Smoke marinade
1 bottle of Allegro Hot and Spicy marinade

Put the roast in the crock pot. Add 3/4 cup (about half the bottle) of Hickory Smoke marinade. Add 1/3 cup (about 1/4 bottle), or more to taste, Hot and Spicy marinade. Turn the crock pot on high and go do something else for 3 or 4 hours. Turn the roast over and go do something else for another 3 to 4 hours.
Pull the now cooked and succulent roast out of the crock pot and strain the juice out. Keep the juice, you will need it in a bit. Peel the roast off of the bone if there is one (your dog will love this part), de-fat the roast and then chop it into little bits. Put the chopped up pork back into the crock pot and then stir the juice back in a little at a time until the pork is nice and moist. Don't overdo it, you want the meat moist but not swimming in juices. Warm this back up in the crock pot on the low setting for about 30 minutes. Serve on buns with BBQ sauce if desired (it's not really needed) topped with slaw. (You did make the slaw, right?)

Enjoy!

Kilted To Kick Cancer

In case you have been living under a rock haven't noticed there is a fundraiser going on around the blogosphere to raise money for cancer research.

This particular form of cancer is the kind that affects menfolk, the prostate and testicular kind. I, of course, abhor all forms of cancer with a burning seething hatred bordering on madness.  But I digress.

You can find lots of places to donate from, please do go somewhere and lend your support. I put my shekels with Evyl Robot. Every little bit helps. Even if you think it's not enough, it is enough.

No, I'm not wearing a kilt. There are just some things that are too heinous to contemplate. I do wonder how that would work in a convertible though...wind blowing through...

ok enough of that. Go somewhere and donate, won't you?

And if you're my age, get checked.

This picture, which as far as I know has nothing to do with KTKC, was shamelessly stolen from The Feral Irishman. From whence he obtained it, I know not.

14 September 2012

Just Because

it seems to fit my mood today.


12 September 2012

Rabbit Holes

Any time any sort of discussion regarding disaster preparedness, be it natural or "man made", takes place it doesn't take long before the rails completely disappear into the sand (or in this case, the comments section).

I was following along pretty well, even through the inevitable "AR's SUCK!!!!" "No, YOU SUCK!!!" portion, until the space aliens (or more accurately, their reverse-engineered conveyances) showed up.

And to think...these people are walking around un-medicated, without muzzles or leashes or anything...

(for the record, I'm gathering up all the ginger wimmenz for my post-apocalyptic underground secret bunker fortress-like compound to become my world-conquering Amazon army. They will likely then kill me in my sleep so the Amazon Queen can take over the whole shebang. Such is the life of a nascent dictator.)

CorreiaTech Presents


The most valuable copy of Recoil Magazine on the planet.

Official CorreiaTech photo

Theirs Or Ours

I fear it will take one or the other.

I vote that it be theirs.

11 September 2012

9/11

Happy Birthday Youngest Niece.  Sorry they ruined it for you.

07 September 2012

Smoke And Noise

The day started bright and early at the range, manufacturing .45 ACP brass out of perfectly good ammo.

Range Partner and I met up with a couple of his friends at the range and a good time was had by all. Afterwards I picked up the reloading supplies I had left at his place, along with a donated brass tumbler and 476 pieces of empty small-primered brass.

A quick trip by the toy store and I was the proud owner of a box of small primers, a pound of Alliant Power Pistol powder, two 100 round cartridge boxes and one 50 round box. Along with the box of 250 Nosler 230 grain jacketed hollow point bullets, this gave me all I needed to make more ammo.

When I got home I went off to the lumber store to get some 1x6 for a bench backstop and I was also planning to get a plain kitchen cabinet to hang above my reloading bench to store all of my reloading supplies.  What I didn't expect was the price, almost 100 clams for a simple 24" cabinet.

Instead of buying a ready made cabinet I got some 1x10 and a piece of 24x24 plywood and built my own 2 shelf open front cabinet. If I want to put doors on it later on I certainly can, but for now the open front is just fine. With the completion of the cabinet my benchwork is now complete.

I ended up the day by reloading the first 50 rounds with 7.0 grains of Power Pistol powder, 0.1 grains shy of the suggested initial load for that propellant on the chart that came with the dies. Online data charts suggest anywhere from 6.5 to 7.4 grains for initial loads but Range Partner loads light at 5.5 grains.

I know how Range Partner's loads do, so I'll load another 50 rounds each with 6.5 grains and 6.0 grains and see how they perform at the range. That should give me a good idea of what I want to use for my regular loads.

All in all a very satisfying day.

04 September 2012

September Header

September's header picture is chosen in honor of Roodharigendag Breda. Enjoy!

03 September 2012

Final Project

The last project of the weekend was benchwork in the big shed.  This was supposed to be my workshop but it has gotten filled with all manner of non-workshop type stuff. But I digress.

I just tied the backside of the bench into the wall studs and put them over the top of the shelves that were there. The bench top ends up being right at 41 inches, which is not too bad. I need to get some 1x6 for a backstop now to keep things from going between the wall studs.



I put it right to work. When all my toys arrive I should be all set for ammo making fun-time.

It's All Vanity

I've just ordered personalized plates for the Mustang.

I kicked around several different ideas. I could have gotten the US Navy Retired plates with my Tomcat SMAAG NEC (8345), it is available as is the Hornet NEC (8335). Maybe I'll get one of those for the 'Boat, but for the Mustang I went with...

LFNTHWND

What do you think?

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend was well named, I spent most of it laboring.

It was a regular four day weekend for me, but the company threw in Sunday and Monday as well (for the bargain price of vacation days) so I have been away from work for going on six days.

Wednesday I slept, as is normal for me working nights. A bit of grilling capped off the day. Thursday the bling came in for the car and I got it installed and took some of the pieces for engraving. I wasn't expecting them back until Friday, but they surprised me by having them there that day. I put them on as well and the results were very satisfying.

Then the weekend started in earnest.

The first day I got up early and went to the lumber yard to get some 2x4's and plywood. The intent was to rebuild the shed doors and then build some reloading benches. I got the doors pulled off the shed and one of them rebuilt before nightfall. Grilling ended up this day as well.


The second day started off with Cars n' Coffee at Waverly Place, and when I got home the second shed door got finished and both were re-hung on the shed. The shed doors are now presentable with fresh wood, but they could use some paint. Everything else got stored away because we were expecting rain.


The third day we fished.


The first fishing spot we went to was lakeside, we had never been there before and didn't have much luck. This slithery fellow showed up, stuck his head out of the water for a minute or so and then moved down the bank a few feet and repeated his performance. Based on his markings I'm calling him a banded watersnake. He left us alone and we did the same for him.

Youngest Son snagged his line on  something while we were there and I broke his rod trying to pull it loose, so we had to go get another rod for him. Since we weren't having much luck lakeside anyway we went to the fishing pier instead.


We had a bit better luck there.


Youngest Son was the big winner in the fishing contest, he caught three catfish. Only two of them were (barely) big enough to keep, but keep them we did.


I managed to mildly annoy two very small fish, much to Youngest Son's amusement. They went back in the lake for a future engagement.




It was the first time we had been fishing in a very long time, and it was time very well spent.

Today I'm hoping to at least start on the benchwork for my reloading toys, but this will necessitate some cleaning out of the shed first so I will be laboring this Labor Day.

I hope your weekend was good as well.