Halloween Pumpkin Carving 2016

Bacon

Brine ready for pork. Apple cider, brown sugar, salt, pepper and water. The pork bellies hang out in here for about 10 days.

After brining, the meat has to dry to form a pellicule so the smoke will 'stick'. Dried about 4-5 hours with a fan this time. then smoked for about 6. We haven't tasted it yet, but it doesn't generally fail me.

Go Nooks!

This photo makes me awfully proud. For all you non Facebook folks, a re-post of the Alaska Rifle full team promo picture that was posted today. Liam with his team from University of Alaska Fairbanks, ranked 6th in the nation right now. They will compete in the season opener this weekend against Air Force (7) and Texas Christian University (3).

Kim-chi

I tried my hand at some Kim-chi, its very garlicky and strong this time! Time to make some more bi bim bob...

Terrible

I am so slack about posting here! I have just spent a very enjoyable 30 mins scrolling through old posts, 2009! How did my kids get so big?! My poor dog is so gray now! I'm still sad we don't have the RV anymore...such fun adventures.
Well, our life is very different now. Liam is in college and his schedule for the rifle team keeps him very busy, most days he leaves the house by 9:30 and doesn't return till 8. Abbie is in Junior High so her bus comes at 8:45 and doesn't bring her back till 4:40, she still does girl scouts and actually just returned from a weekend camping trip! Kyle still works strange days/hours and I have an accidental job being in charge of the TVSA range building 2-3 times a week and administering the state gaming licence for them.
We still manage to cook crazy things and definitely eat well around here :) we made sauerkraut, seasoned sauerkraut and kimchi this fall that needs canning. I have also ordered pork belly for more bacon. There are concerts and rifle matches coming up to be involved in too...such doings!!

A pic of Abbie and I on the beach in Seward. We had an awesome summer road trip with Zara this summer and definitely plan to go back some day.

Tasty things to eat

I don't have much love for Walmart, but the do carry some really great produce. Interesting new things I haven't seen before and great prices on staples that will always get eaten.
The guava was tasty but had hard seeds I didn't care for but the apples were great and even cheaper than Sam's club!

A very Liam bowl

Rice, salmon, and broccoli. Soy and spice, garlic and ginger, gotta keep him fed!