MEAT!!!

So I finally broke down and bought a Sam's Club membership. The main reason is I wanted to buy big pieces of meat and you just can't do that at Publix. Publix sometimes has beef roasts on sale but it is only for holidays. So I bought this:

 

That is a 8.7 lb Black Angus Grain Fed Choice untrimmed whole filet.  It was a $104 so that got a dropped jaw from Lisa. I watched a few you tube videos about trimming and cutting it into filet so I went at it. After about a hour of back breaking work (or maybe my back was just sore from digging up bushes earlier in the day), I got 4 lbs of center cut tenderloin fillets (10.7 oz, 10 oz, 10 oz, 8 oz, 7.5 oz, 6 oz, 6 oz, and 5 oz), 1.75 lbs of cubed tenderloin for kabobs, and 0.75 lbs of thin shavings for salad. Basically, I saved about $10 and got all the extras for free. Hopefully it makes good kabobs and salad.

I did enjoy the big 10 oz filet. Don't worry, I had a banana and a salad too.

 

I also have this little guy for next time

Like Strawberry Wine...

Its been awhile since I have updated. The first half of the year was real busy with work and the kids. I almost ran out of beer but work let up so I have been able to catch up. I've brewed a couple beers and two more wines. I decided to get a bit more adventurous and make one from scratch instead of a kit. I started with 12 pounds of strawberries.

Washed then and cut off the stems

 Then started to crush them

 

 

 After a a fifteen minute arm workout, the results are not that impressive. I added some sugar (some  = 10 lbs of sugar) and some chemicals to make sure there were no wild yeast left. I waited a day and then added some yeast nutrient and pitched my yeast. After a month, the yeast had eaten almost all the sugar and I took out the bag of strawberries. Most of the color and liquid has been removed so it all that is left is the skins and seeds. I tasted the wine and it seems like it is off to a good start. I am going to wait a few more weeks to allow the yeast to finish and then I will kill off the yeast and clarify the wine. Hopefully it will be worth it in two months.

Smokin'

This year for Christmas my Dad got me a smoker. The day after Christmas we started with a nice brisket. It was real good but didn't quote have enough smoke flavor for me. The next weekend I cooked a pork shoulder with only hickory to have a stronger flavor. It was great. It took much longer to cook but it had juicy and had great flavor. The seven pound shoulder only lasted three days. We had friends over for pork tacos on Monday and ran out of it. Pork shoulder was on sale at Ingles and I almost bought another one yesterday but this weekend I am going to make some ribs. There are tons of different ways to make ribs so I will have to try a few to find out my favorite.