As we start a new year...

Time to think about how we move forward and what we expect out of 2010. I'm sure hoping it holds more positive energy than 2009, which was a tough year for me.

It has been said that "We are the Masters of our own destiny" and while I believe this to a degree, there are some things we can't control. As we age, so do those around us and you start to feel your own mortality- I never realized I was at that point of life already until 2009, when I lost both my Mother and a number of peers- people I've known personally and worked with collaboratively and professionally for decades.

So I start this year with a fresh perspective on some subjects.

Friends? (No, not he Facebook kind!) YES- and because they are, I plan to engage with them as frequently as possible. Not just the occasional email- but phone calls and face time, actually 'pressing the flesh' with them. These are people in your life for a reason- at one time or another, you shared REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES with these people - you spent time together, maybe hoisted a glass or many, broke bread, shared conversation about each others kids or family members, attended sporting events, fished, hiked, camped... but you SPENT TIME TOGETHER because you both wanted to.

I think we've all grown accustomed to a simple email or sending a joke here and there, but over the past 5 or so years, no one picks up the phone anymore and for people that you 'raised kids with' as your kids have grown up and gone on to college, you don't have that bond that pulled you together periodically where you actually shook hands, or hugged, or shared an open laugh. THAT needs to change! Every month, I plan to reach out to one or two friends and hopefully the old connection is still there and they'll reciprocate in the following month or two and we'll re-establish that REAL connection.

Family? Well, I guess that's a different subject, isn't it? I have a very small 'nuclear family' my wife, 2 daughters and myself. All four of my grandparents and both of my parents are gone. I have one brother and he has one son... that's the extent of the actual blood family. One of my Dad's sisters are still alive, but she's the last of his 7 siblings. None of my Mom's siblings are alive any longer.

I maintain a close speaking relationship with my nuclear family, even though my eldest daughter is about 500 miles away... we remain in regular contact. Youngest is still at home, but that will change in the next couple of years, I fear. I love my daughters very much, and I guess like most parents you want them to grow and have lives of their own, but you want to keep them close forever. So my wife and I are entering a different phase of our relationship- no longer focusing on the kids, and its time for us to find each other again and remember the things that brought us together almost 40 years ago =) ... and to reconnect on that level.

We see my nephew and his wife regularly- but I don't see or speak to my brother much at all. And that is troubling, but... its' how do they say? ...complicated... We actually see my wife's family a lot more frequently- she's fortunate to still have her Mom, and she has 3 sisters and one brother- and they're ALL within an hour drive or less of us. We get together for dinner at least once a month, and I'm ok with that.

Work? Well, unfortunately I can't divorce myself form that- still need the income and benefits, haven't paid off the house yet, and it needs work. I like what I do, I don't mind where I do it, but the organization I work within needs work... LOTS of work. =( The one thing I draw solace from is I know I'm not alone in this.

Health? Yeah, I really need to work on that. I promise myself to not forget this, and I will start thinking about how to deal with some of the issues I have the ability to change. No action plan yet, but at least THINKING about it.

"Me Time"? I REALLY need to work on this- camping, fishing, fly tying especially... I've started reading more again, and if I can get going on the health dealio, I will start walking more again. I'm focusing more on cooking and learning to cook smaller batches of food for fewer people and/or spreading the wealth and sharing more when I cook 'country style'- I mean, when you do pulled pork or a brisket, they only come in one size- and who makes a small batch of carnitas, chili, or chile verde pork?

And organizing my 'stuff'- information AND physical stuff, I really need to work on that too

That's an ambitious year I think... wow, I guess I've got my work cut out for me. Okay 2010, let's DO THIS!!

The Holiday Season

Every year since 1981, the holiday season is one I've greeted with mixed emotions. I lost my Dad that year in November and it really put a damper on the holidays for me... I was relatively young at the time, and while I had shared some good years with him, he had JUST retired and I was getting to see him in a whole new light. Unfortunately, he passed before either of my Daughters were born.

After their respective births, the holidays once again took on a new light. Not much matches the joy of children at the sight of a huge roasted beast, a table filled with non-customary foods and the smells that accompany them filling a house... or the purchase and trimming of a Christmas tree and seeing the presents start to appear under it. These are times made for families, and you get great joy from the opportunity to spend time together and draw upon memories from the past, and make new ones for the future.

As time has passed and my children (and I) have gotten older, the holidays changed again... my eldest moved out, and having her back for the holidays was always a welcome sight. She was local for a few years, but for the past four, she's been quite a distance away... but she always makes it home for at least ONE of the 'big holidays'. Seeing her now is even more enjoyable, knowing that she has survived college and is making rational decisions on her own, when she comes home it's a relief to know that she's making her way in the World. Fortunately, my youngest is still home with us, but it won't be long before she breaks free for college and we'll go through this transition again.

This year, once again, there is a major change in how the holiday season will be viewed. My Mom passed away a few months ago, and while losing Dad was tough... this is much tougher. She was the anchor of our family, and the source of those great sounds and smells you associate with the holidays from your youth. While they were young, the girls had the chance to spend the day with Gram while she was preparing things, including cooking and baking, and fortunately they were able to learn some of the tricks and the recipes (for the most part) were handed down. I'm just starting to feel the impact of this recent change.

For the past 6-7 years, she's spent most of her time house bound with arthritis and failing vision, and my Wife, Daughters and I have been taking care of many of her needs- medical appointments, financial services, shopping, chores and the like. Every holiday season, I was given the lists for food items to buy, early on accompanied with strict instructions of "make sure you get the right brand, don't buy that low fat crap, it's okay to buy a bigger one but not a smaller one" and other admonitions. But as time progressed, I think her faith in my ability to do the job right improved, and I just got the list.

Over the recent weeks, trips to the grocery store which is brimming with holiday food items and ingredients have been more emotional for me than I ever imagined them to be. Last week, the sight of pitted dates, walnut halves, nut bread mix and candied fruit... ingredients for something as stupid as fruitcake set me off. Last night, it was the bags of ribbon candy and peppermint straws- I wasn't a big fan of the stuff, but every year, a red ornament shaped covered candy dish and a cut glass stemmed dish filled with both was on the table.

Fortunately, we will be having Thanksgiving with my Wife's family this year... and I think I'll buy a turkey to smoke after the holiday, but I couldn't bring myself to make the traditional family stuffing or buy the ingredients to make any side dishes. Maybe next year.

As for Christmas, we've all decided we can't be home this year, so we're going away and spending it together as a family in a place substantially different than home... Disneyland. It's as make believe as it gets, and maybe it will give me a chance to make believe that everything in my world is alright again... even if it is just for a few days.

Happy Birthday, America!

Wow here we are on the edge of 233!! We've seen a lot of tumultuous times in this Nation of ours, and I'm hoping we're once again on the right track. The last 8 years were tough; I personally didn't agree with many of the course of action taken by the individuals granted power to rule the Nation, and about all we could do was stand by dumbfounded and wait for a changing of the guard. And Man-o-Man, did WE GET CHANGE!

There are some that aren't excited about where we've gone in the past 6 months, but I must remind everyone it's ONLY been 6 months... it took a lot longer for the Nation to get where it is than that, and the repair crew is working hard to bring things back on course, but you can't turn a ship as large as this on a dime.

Many among the minority (that would be the party whose candidate DID NOT get elected) are arguing that things are getting worse, especially financially, but again I ask who is to blame for that? Honestly, do you think ANY of the actions of the past 6 months have caused the stock market, job outlook, auto industry, increase in gasoline prices, or the slump in home sales and increase in foreclosures to be what they are?? All of these are attributable to past actions that were still taking effect set in motion by the previous administration.

Between the years 1992-2000, the debt increases from $16T to $27T; from 2000-2008? It increased from $27T to $52T!!

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, most commonly referred to as the "Stimulus Bill" was without a doubt a costly piece of legislation, but it has the potential to put many Americans to work, improve our infrastructure, education, health care and much more. And if you want to know where the money is going, is the place to find out.

But for this weekend, we celebrate... we honor our men and women in combat and our veterans, remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, and support the efforts to bring America back to the proud status we once held as a Nation who supports the rights of all humans equally.

Happy America!

Wow... only 14 hours to go and once again, I can proudly refer to the individual who resides in the White House as MY PRESIDENT!!!

Haven't posted for awhile, been pretty busy and will fill in the gap later, but all that aside, I am **STOKED** about tomorrow and can't wait for the new era to begin. There is no question that there is a long way to go to get out of the pit that's been dug for all of us, and one man won't be able to make this happen, it's going to take all of us to help get the U.S. back on its feet and back where we belong.

So let's all do what we know needs to be done, find a public service project that suits you and dedicate some time to helping America stand up again. Personally? I'm dedicating time to a local public school- speaking to students that are ready to begin the next phase of their life when they graduate in June.


I'm intending to ensure THEY know about public service and what it means and the opportunities for them to give time and effort to helping in their local communities and beyond. And how to help them become better citizens themselves... many of our students voted this year, but that needs to continue. And they need to find issues they feel passionate about and find out how they can help support that cause with their time and voices. And when they go away to college, to continue that work.

I think it's time for all of the ugly rhetoric to stop and for us all to support the efforts of our Nation as one, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans.

Congratulations Mr. Obama and Mr Biden, but more to the point, CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!

The woman I'm thinkin' of, she loved me all up, but I'm so down today...

Out on the weekend

For those of you that didn't already know, the SF Bay Area is quite a place, a truly eclectic mix of just about any and everything you could think of and I feel pretty fortunate to have called this place home for almost all of my life.

So I've decided to share my Sunday ramblings with you all today in my little corner of the World. First stop, Fart and Sminal, (okay, well, it's REALLY Smart and Final, but that's nowhere near as much fun to say!) a great place to find stuff in semi-bulk quantities with shorter lines than COSTCO fer sure! Found this sign, and thought it was GOOD advice!








Next stop... the Farmer's Market and I'd like a cup of Kona coffee with a little attitude if ya don't mind!















Let's see what else the Farmer's Market has to offer today... YOW! Buddha's Hand!









And what would it be without a little local entertainment? This gal plays at both of the markets I go to on the weekends (along with a number of other minstrels) She's from South Africa and is legally blind, has a great voice and enjoys performing for kids a lot. She asks their names and customizes standard folk tunes especially for them. Right now she's saving up her donations to fund a trip to see her 84 year old Father in SA. =)









After gathering up a good stash of local Fuyu and Hayachia persimmons, Arkansas Black apples, a jug of cider, some pizza crusts, and that great coffee... time to take a pilgrimage to Berkeley for a dose of fixin' whatever ails you.





















But on the way, a stop at a very somber sight that everyone should pay honor to... the number on this sign never ceases to amaze me, and the gravity of the number of crosses representing our fallen men and women in this current tragedy weighs heavily.











And to end the day on a bit of a brighter note, what could be better than a Canadian Sock Monkey Aviator's hat??


Hope you had some fun stompin' around the Bay Area with me =)

Smokin'... smokin' ...I Feel allright mamma, I'm not jokin' !! Yeah

Smokin'....

Not sure if they do it this way in Boston or not, and I KNOW this isn't what Boston was talkin' about...



But this is how Thanksgiving 2008 went down at MY place.

Brined the '16# guest of honor' overnight and got the smoker up to 220 degrees, added in a good dose of soaked cherry and apple wood chips and away we went for a good 2 hours.



After a nice layer of smoke seasoning coated the hen, she was moved into the oven to finish up for dinner.



Heated the oven to 500 degrees, and then inserted a probe thermometer in the thigh, dropped the temperature to 400 and in she went. One hour and 5 minutes later, she registered at 155 degrees internal and out and wrapped in foil to rest.

Turkey Time! Make mine SMOKED!!!

You can cook a turkey any day of the year, but there's something special about cooking a turkey for thanksgiving dinner. Those of you who own an offset smoker and have experience slow cooking a turkey know how long this takes... and yo u also know the shortcut method of par-smoking and finishing the bird in the oven (right?)



This involves starting the bird in the smoker, giving it a minimum of 2 hours there, then transferring it to the oven and finishing it using the high temperature "Quick Roast" method (more on this later)

In any event here's the start-up for the whole process. You don't HAVE TO BRINE a bird before cooking it, but once you do, you'll never skip this step again!!! The bird is so moist when brined that you'll wonder why you never knew about this before.

Brine ingredients:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon cold water
2 oranges, quartered and squeezed
1 lemon, quartered and squeezed

Combine all brine ingredients, except water and citrus, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature.

Combine the brine, water, and citrus in a clean 5-gallon PLASTIC bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for at least 6 hours. Fill 2 large Ziploc bags with ice and place these on top of the bird. Turn turkey over once, half way through the brining process.



Remove bird from brine. Discard brine. Let turkey reach room temperature. Depending on the size of the turkey, this may take up to an hour.

Place a drip pan under the grates where the turkey will be cooking to catch the drippings, there is likely to be quite a few, especially if you smoke the bird all the way until it's done. Some people put the bird in a pan, I prefer to put it directly on the grates.



IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT STUFF A TURKEY YOU ARE SMOKING!!!!!!! #1, the stuffing tastes terrible, #2 it severely slows down the cooking time.

While the bird is coming to room temperature, begin heating up your smoker and soaking you wood. You can use whatever wood you choose for your source of smoke, but for poultry I prefer apple with a small amount f cherry mixed in. Soak a few pounds wood, because you want a nice coat of flavor to penetrate into the bird.

For a heat source, I use lump hardwood charcoal, because it burns hot and clean. Place about 5-8 pounds in the coal box and start a load of briquets in a chimney. Create a "hole" in the center of your lump charcoal and dump the briquets in to get the coal burning. YOU WILL NEED MORE LUMP COAL before you're done, so check it every 3-4 hours and see how it's doing. If you need to add coal, I suggest starting it in the chimney instead of adding it 'cold'.

Prior to smoking the bird, place the following aromatics in the body cavity:

1 red apple, sliced
1 onion, sliced
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage

Once the coal is glowing well, let the smoker rise up to about 200-220 before placing the bird inside. At this time, add in a few handfuls or 'sticks' of your smoker wood. which you will replenish every 20 minutes or so for the first hour.

Now some folks say don't open the smoker once it reaches temperature or it cools down and you have to start over. Personally, I think this is a bit extreme... I agree you shouldn't constantly open it and peek inside, it's take care of the magic all on it's own... but I don't like placing poultry into an unheated smoker. I'm okay with doing this with pork or beef, or other long cook cuts of meat, but poultry or fish, I'd rather load in once the smoker comes up to temperature and then let it rise back up after I close it.

Okay, here's where you have to make some decisions...

Smoker start to finish
IF YOU PLAN TO SMOKE THE BIRD UNTIL IT'S DONE... you will want to insert a remote read, or long cable thermometer into the deepest part of the thigh, but don't let it touch the bone! Also, if you are smoking the bird, you won't want to baste or coat the exterior of the skin with oil, because it hinders the smoke penetration and coloring of the skin.



You'll need to make sure the bird reaches at least 160 internally before removing it. A tip here for people that are afraid of 'rubbery skin' on a bird smoked all the way through. Depending on the size of the bird, this can take 4-6 hours, and if your bird is over 20 pounds, even longer. A thought here though... my personal preference if you need over 20 pounds of poultry is do two smaller birds- they're more tender and the cooking time reduces. You may want to rotate the birds in the chamber before they're done though, and you can get away with a thermometer in one bird only, because they'll cook the same.

Before removing the bird from the smoker, heat your oven to 450 degrees, and when you remove the bird, give it a light brushing of olive oil and butter, then place it in the oven for 15-20 minutes to crisp the skin. And yes, it's likely to start smoking a bit, but that doesn't bother US!!

Remove the bird, let it rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.



Smoker Start; Oven Finish
IF YOU PLAN TO FINISH IT IN THE OVEN, no need for the thermometer while it's in the smoker... you're simply 'smoke seasoning' it =)

Everything else is done the same, except the need to add more coal in intervals. Prior to removing the bird, heat your oven to 450 degrees. At the 2 hour point when you remove the wonderfully seasoned bird from the smoker, transfer it to a roasting pan with a rack and take your bird into the oven. Insert a temperature probe into the thigh, and be careful not to let it touch the bone. Place it on a low rack and cover the breast with a foil tent. Lower the temperature to 400 when you close the door.

In about an hour, turn the bird around 180 degrees in the oven, remove the foil tent, and apply a light basting of butter to the skin. IF THE BIRD STARTS GETTING TOO DARK, replace the foil. The bird should be done in another 45 minutes at most.

Remove the bird, let it rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.