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United States, North Carolina, Carrboro, English, Paul, Male, 56-60, All Music, All Food.

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Sunday, June 01, 2003

Only in dreams In beautiful dreams God, how I miss this guy. All the rainbows in the sky, gently weep and say goodbye. You won't be seeing rainbows anymore.  Nobody can do that stuff anymore. 4:26:01 PM    comment []

A first today - saw a woodpecker on the bird feeder. My bartender neighbor, who recently moved away from here to a house, said they'd show up if you put out shelled sunflower seeds said they were around, but it all just seemed too crazy. Now that her feeders have moved maybe the woodpeckers will probably come here. At least one did. Weird, a woodpecker on a bird feeder. Leading indicator: My pal Al is always 6 months ahead of the economic cycle. He is the first to get canned when a recession is coming, but also the first to be hired when things are turning around. He called me today to tell me he just got a job in Goldsboro, starting tomorrow. Things might be looking up. That's good. I've seen enough down for a while. 3:49:17 PM    comment []

I bought a set of OXO Good Grips funnels because I'm a sucker for gadgets, but also because of the raised rubber ridges along the sides. You get frustrated when a funnel tips and spill stuff down the side of the container. The ridges accomplish that but the also allow air to escape so the funnel doesn't back up. Great design! 11:04:51 AM    comment []

A cross section of andouille. The V-shaped darker portion is a chunk of ancho chile. They were a little too flexible to make it into powder in the food processor. I would have preferred a little more marbling, but that would have meant adding more fat. I also ground the fat and pork together. Len Poli suggests grinding them separately for a better texture. These things still reek of garlic. I put in a half-cup instead of the 1/3 cup the recipe says to add. 9:40:30 AM    comment []

The andouille has been drying in the refrigerator for nearly a week now. Generally, you don't like it when things dry out in the fridge, so you cover them - but it makes a smoked sausage better. I don't have any rafters to hang them... Technically, this is a summer sausage which basically means a cooked sausage. 9:28:39 AM    comment []

Potato Wine or Vodka Lite Serving Size : 1 Gallon Ingredients: 3 pounds potatoes 4 pounds sugar 4 ounces of Chopped green or light colored raisins 2 lemons 2 oranges 1 tablespoon yeast (wine yeast works best) 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient (if unavailable use 2 more lemons) Wash and scrub potatoes remove eyes and black spots. However, do not peel the potatoes. Grate potatoes into large pot and add 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and simmer fro a bout <sic> 15 minutes. Remove any scum that may be floating on top as it contains impurities you do not want in your wine. Continue to simmer until scum ceases to come up. Place the raisins and sugar into a two gallon (or bigger) container that you can put a lid on. Strain the water onto the raisins. Juice the oranges and lemons. Add yeast nutrient and enough water to make the whole amount into one gallon. Let the juice (also called must) sit for about a week. Make sure it is loosely covered so that air gets out but not in. (The fermentation will ensure that the air pressure forces the air out of the container. Siphon the must into a one gallon container with an airlock. (A balloon with a big mouth can be used in place of the airlock.) Transfer the wine into another gallon jug after about ten days to get rid of the sediment that gathers at the bottom of the jug. Let the wine sit in the second jug for about 6 months. The wine may then be bottled. Wait another 6 months to drink. Potato wine can be used in the same way you would use vodka, only it has considerably less alcohol content. 2:40:44 AM    comment []