Thread: My Boring Life Stuff

Friday I worked all day long, and then did a cook that evening. Fed 800 screaming teenagers BBQ chicken, mac & cheese, baked beans and garlic bread. Sweet tea and lemonade as well. They were dancing and hollering and having a good time and they liked the food. I didn’t get home until late that night, and when I did I was stiff.

Next morning I was waiting on her majesty to get ready to go fishing. Waiting means being patient apparently. Finally at about 9:30 she emerged ready to go fishing. We headed to the lake that is just down the road a piece. Cloudy skies, warm, and very light winds. A gorgeous Fall day here in the Sunshine State. We have had a months worth of these days and they are super enjoyable. 50’s in the morning, 80’s mid day.

The launch was fairly busy but we got done and gone pretty easily I guess. Headed mid-lake and started trolling. There were a few boats around but it looked like most folks were fishing somewhere else. We trolled around for about 2 1/2 hours and decided to call it quits. We were catching a few fish, and had I really tried we could have caught more, but other things were on the schedule.

Like fetchen Thanksgiving food items. I visited the store and they had Butterballs on sale 99 cents per pound. I got two of these fine birds, but the cashier would only ring up one. Limited she said. I put everything in the truck and came back in for a second bird. Not hoarding or nothing, it is just that I have to serve two birds. They taste so good the bunch screams through them and they always want a taker home container.

I got the canned yams for sweet potato casserole. Got green beans for that casserole. Bread stuffing stuff for stuffing stuff. Herbs for a favorable and aromatic poultry presentation. Pickles and such for a pickle plate. My brother brings stuffing, mashed potatoes, and mashed sweet potatoes. His wife is a vegetarian so he also brings special stuff just for her to eat. I have seen it and he does a great job to please her.

I will have up to 14 people, but maybe less. I will get the final guest count later this week so I can fill in any gaps at the store before the big day.

I used to brine my birds, but with a Butterball there is no need. These birds come pre-brined and anything I would do would be unnoticeable. I just thaw in the fridge for four or five days, and then break them out morning of. I wash them very well, inside and out. Pat them dry and prepare them with some apple slices, onion slices, rosemary thyme, and some orange slices. I pack the cavity very lightly so hot air can enter the cavity and cook the bird from the inside as well. Packing them with stuffing blocks air flow and means having to leave the bird in the oven for too long. Dry bird.

After the death of my father, I have been the go to for the bird. Ever since, I have followed the Martha Steward Perfect Bird recipe. It does a fabulous job, and has never failed to leave me with the perfect bird. I wrap the bird in cheesecloth and saturate that with a mixture of butter and white wine. Then carefully monitor using a digital thermometer. I pull the bird at 160 because he will continue to rise to 165 while setting on the counter top. Oh and I remove the cheese cloth a hour ahead of estimated time so the skin gets that golden brown color.

The birds stay out while everything else is finished off. I like the presentation part as it puts everyone in the mood. They see them birds in all their glory and they know it is going to be good grub. Just prior to eating I take one of the birds into the kitchen and fillet off his breasts. Then I slice the fillets into 3/4” thick slices. Cutting against the grain ensures these will cut with a fork. Ummmmmm good. Doesn’t need to be slathered in gravy to get a moist tender piece. Dad used to cut slices down the side of the bird, just as in the Rockwell painting. That leaves you with stringy meat that you have to hack at. Removing the breast and slicing against the grain is THE way to go.

The other bird will get pretty much the same treatment, but out on the smoker. From there he will sort of time up with the oven bird and be done about the same time. This one is a tad darker but still gorgeous. This is how I do two large birds. I like the 20 pound size, and at 99 cents per pound, why not ?

I use the oven pan to make the gravy. I use Wondra and try to get the little pieces to show up in the gravy. This beats gravy from a jar by about a million miles. It is very much worth making your own gravy. After all the basting I do with the butter and wine, there is plenty of juice to be had.

Thanksgiving was my father’s favorite holiday. I like to make a big deal of it so that the family can make it their favorite, too. I keep extra tables and chairs in the shed for extra seating, and aside from a party every so often, they only get used for this event. I have a big kitchen so nobody feels crowded and they walk in and snoop around during the lead up. I never understood why people would take their family out to a restaurant. No leftovers is really bad, but how about the people working there ? They have to sacrifice their holiday so others can have theirs. Folks say to me, well they are getting paid, but big deal their boss is making them work. I am sure they would rather be preparing food for their family. Just learn to cook.




Today we will go for our bike ride. Mountain bikes. We have worked our way up to a ten mile ride. Not sure I want to do ten today though. The weather is just fabulous. Next weekend I will try to shoot a doe off my back porch. Thought about trying it from the hot tub, but visibility is limited. I suspect it will be an evening shoot. I want to have some venison, and you can’t taste them horns, so no need to sit in a tree for weeks on end. Them slick heads do just fine for me.



The lake is chock full of hydrilla. So I present to you……. The Godzilla of the Hydrilla

Boring stuff again……


My IPhone 6 finally got so bad a new phone was in order. Got the 15 Pro for Christmas. It’s OK, I mean it doesn’t have an app to clean fish or anything. Decided to try the Visible phone service @ $25 a month unlimited. Haven’t found any blank areas as I roam about. Of course these companies shift you secretly from the go anywhere version to their Ha Ha Ha plan after about a month. My phone is unlocked so if they do that I can switch again.

The USC plug to charge the phone isn’t a USB plug. Hmmmmmmm….. tricked me there. Now ordering USC charging stuff. The metal insert is a tad smaller. Just enough to ensure it doesn’t work.

Christmas was a hazy affair and I never really got into the spirit. In fact, I didn’t get into the beer either. Eggnog prices are outrageous so only had a little taste of that. Maybe I’ll have something interesting for this next holiday.

The old woman made out like a three armed bandit. We made her open two gifts for every one of ours and she still had stuff to open after we were done. Lotions, silk pajamas, books, all manner of things. The girl was overwhelmed and wanted it all to just stop. I liked the silk long johns she got, but they look to be a bit small for me. Long johns can keep you warm on those cold days where the wind is howling. She might be cold, but I would be nice and toasty had they fit. She got lots of stuff, and I got a phone. Hmmmmmmmm……

I put a four bone prime rib on the smoker and slow roasted it to absolute perfection. Prime rib is simply rib eye steaks all stuck together. I enjoy the flavors of the crust mixed with a nice hunk of pink meat. I pulled the thing at 115 F and let it finish off on the counter top. Cut it half hour later and it was juicy and delicious. Baked potatoes are always a nice compliment.

Last trip to the store found me buying a whole tenderloin for $50. This is the muscle that is on the inside of the abdominal cavity. On deer it is small and most folks don’t even harvest it. The meat doesn’t really have the flavor of the rib eye, but it is very tender and lean. I like cutting the thing into 2” hunks and put them in the seus vide cooker to cook, then roll them around atop the Charbroiler to finish. Another nice finish is to start the charcoal starter cone thingie, wait until it gets jet engine flamage, then holding the steaks in tongs, roast until charred nicely. This gives both taste and appearance qualities.

I also like to seus vide chuck roasts, then sear them, and eat sliced on a plate with the other stuff. Very tasty indeed. I also like chili. Chili is always good on a cold day, like today.

Bought a new heat pump and air handler. Nice and big, too. Not so large that it will not work right. See the unit has to recirculate the air. If the unit is too big it cools too quickly and shuts off before the air has been moved around. Doesn’t get to all the moisture. Mine is just a little too big. These new units are very efficient and it will save me money on my electric bill. The old unit is 25 years old and still in place running.

Heat pumps should come with instructions. When the temperature drops down below 40 degrees, switch the thermostat to Emergency Heat. This will use the heat strips inside the air handler to heat the house. Yes, those cost more to run, but they cycle off. Leaving the heat pump set to Heat means it will run and run and not do much of anything for you. Other than waste electricity. Most people do not know this little fact, and instead of calling it Emergency Heat, they should call it Below 40 degrees Heat.

The new unit will re[lace the old and tired unit I have been milking along with parts. I am finishing off my garage to convert it into living space and needed a larger unit to service the extra 500 square feet. Now I can add the space to the new unit and everything should work out nicely. My A/C friend suggested that I buy before the end of the year, and he will install it later. Apparently our friends in the government have some nasty surprises for us in the works. Regulations that require us to spend more money to remain cool inside our homes. I heard new systems will be unserviceable, or less so than current systems. Closed systems that require complete replacement where the old ones just got more fluid pumped in. Don’t quote me, but you can be sure the new regulations are not there to help us.

I am thinking this garage deal will give me a place to tie my jigs, and work on other projects. Inside the house there is no room for me. Everything concerns her some how. Man Cave. I abhor dry wall finishing, so I suspect a wooden wall look to the thing. I also intend to run a section of roof out away from the garage to allow her to pull up and park underneath it when it is raining. Keep my smoker out there, too.

In order to claim this garage, I had to purchase a shed to store all our junk. Christmas and Halloween decorations, tools, gas cans, generator, just a collection of stuff. The shed has been a real blessings in this regard. Really cannot finish off a garage as an extra room without somewhere to put garage type stuff. The garage has shelves that I built, which will get doors to clean up the look. Hide the stuff on the shelves cabinet style, only using large swinging doors.

I can also create a small room to hide the air handler and hot water heater, and have a regular door there. Inside I can add shelves for storing various sundry items. Dead bodies, stuff like that. I figured out how to make it larghe enough to service the water heater and the air handler should they need be.

My wife wants me to adjust the temperature on the how water heater. I want to please her but at what extra cost. She kind of stands around in the shower already. I am in and out and don’t see the need to just stand there. I can’t take the heat from just hot water as it is, so how can she ? I think I will just try to ignore this some more and hope she stops asking. I also considered insulating the new hot water heater that I myself installed. Might be a waste of money, might not.

The mosquitos are taking it on the chin today baby. Cold out there. I think it is below 40. Brrrrrrrrrr cold. That is the kind of cold where a man could freeze to death. It will reach up into the 50’s later today, then drop back down over night. The people up North must be especially happy about the weather. Nothing says a great place to live like 8 hard months of Winter. Dreary skies, all the trees look dead, the snow is dirty and ice is everywhere. Bundle up little darlings, it’s cold outside.

We were wearing shorts just a few days ago, and soon enough it will warm back up. I love me some Florida baby.

I have to go to the grocery store this morning. Don’t say that too fast. I get a horrible feeling as I insert my card to pay for essentials. The cost for eggs has come down some, but people are accusing the sellers of price fixing. This was common place during the flu epidemic. Everyone just raised their pricing, and then the created inflation came along and added to the cost of everything else. A $200 receipt turned into a $300 receipt and it has stayed that way every since. I feel for those that are struggling to feed their families. I see what they are getting, and how little of it there is. Don’t understand why any of it was necessary.

Costs alot of money to eat healthy. The vegetables, fruits, and such are high dollar. I buy frozen fruits in bags and while they lack the quality of fresh, they can be much less in cost. Canned fruit is also cost effective, and the trick for me is choosing which ones I like. Not all are acceptable. Spinach, roamine lettuce, onions, carrots, potatoes, citrus, apples, cucmbers, mushrooms, bananas, pine apple, cantalope, and such are the most part of my bill. I buy very little from the inside areas. I buy meats in bulk and vacuum pack and freeze to store what is on sale. Milk is still a fair deal I guess. I also like cheese in bulk sizing vs. the grocery store portions. Bread is high dollar and we eat much less of it now because of that fact.

I will eat fruit, some fresh some thawed for breakfast with a little snack. Then for lunch a big salad with cheeses and leftover meats. Then I eat a snack or so for dinner and done. I am trying to lose weight and so far it has worked out well. I consume the calories during the day and not just before bedtime. I feel this gives me a chance at working them off. Folks comment that they think I have lost weight, so it must be working. If I could just get down to my fighting weight of 350 pounds…….

OK…..250 pounds.

Been riding our bikes for exercise but I still want an electric bike so I can keep up with her without killing myself. Cheat a little and cruise whilst behind her and she can not see. Electric bikes are pricey devils. My next purchase needs to be a metal roof for the house. The shingles on it now are past their life expectancy. Metal roofs are expensive but she wants she wants.

She hired a dog trainer for the hound and I laughed and laughed. She is very serious about it all I assure you. The dog just wants to eat snacks, play and get petted. She doesn’t realize that her mama is serious. As a rescue she won the lottery when she came to this home. Doggie door to a really large fenced yard. Not much more needed to please the dog. She still chews some things, and has passed her first birthday. I say she will grow out of it, she thinks training will work. So far neither of us has been right. She is however stioll the sweetest dog I ever had. The woman too.