so waht ya doin today?

[Winelover]

+1 on leasing land for hunting. I did it for many years, back in Michigan. Had a RV, at the time, leased the land, year round. There was a sand ridge, on the property, I used for a berm/backstop. Once a year, I recovered my lead. Could shoot almost 400 yards, down a lane, between the 40 acres of woods and the 40 acre field.

 

[L Ross]

I gave away one full bucket and half a bucket (of horseradish roots), to my farmer friend to plant.
I ground up about a pint jar full, and cleaned enough roots to do another couple pints...put them in the freezer and will grind them when needed.

I read up on how the process should go, for best results, and shelf life (in frig) of prepared horseradish is about 4 months, for best quality product. The whole roots will keep a year or so (they say) in the freezer.

I am not totally impressed with what I prepared, I'm thinking it needs a few days or weeks in the frig???

I tried preparing horseradish only once before (like ten years ago)...that was a failure...I didn't get it ground up enough.

Jon, I understand the not ground enough problem as the resulting product is sort of woody, but why else are you not totally impressed with what you prepared this year. I won't be able to dig mine until sometime in October.

 

[fiver]

they estimate the Caribou Ntl Forest had 1.2 million visitors last year.
if you look on a map, that's where I live right smack dab in the middle of it.

the thing is you have to look much closer from the ground, there is a lot of acreage there but there is not a lot of access points to that acreage.
you can go 50-100 miles looking at the forest from the highway but you can't get there because it's all privately owned property surrounding the forests.
so any access spots immediately become inundated.

the thing that surprised me was them being at the lake, you have special rules you have to follow to fish it and your only allowed 1 fish per day.
ain't nobody coming from Utah or Oregon to do that when there is a bigger lake right at the bottom of the canyon where you can keep 2 fish that will be bigger by far.

I have a feeling someone is selling them a bill of goods up there and is letting them hunt his cow range for a nominal fee.

 

[JWFilips]

Trying My hand at making some Ancho and Chipotle chillies ! Got Red poblanos and red Jalapeños drying on a light smokey fire. I don't have any pecan wood left but I'm using White Mulberry and Plum wood for the smoke ....Got my new Weber Kettle down to about 200 deg with coals and smoke wood in the center and the Chillies distributed out on the non-coal perimeter. and 1/2 bottom draft and 1/4 top vent! Been holding well for over 1 hour!..... Probably will finish off in the dehydrator tonight! Not traditional but will enjoy them in this winter's meals!

Partial retirement is agreeing with me! Work when I have good paying jobs from loyal clients and spend the rest of my time in the garden or taking day trips.... yes I can get used to this!
However, I got some news thru the grapevine that our building that houses my studio may sell by next spring!
That is an issue bugging me in that I was hoping to work off & on with my big clients I have had for 40 + years....They do not want me to go and I feel obligated because of their loyalty .....but I'm just too old to move and start a new studio at this point in my life!
Causes me some sleepless nights

 

[JonB]

Jon, I understand the not ground enough problem as the resulting product is sort of woody, but why else are you not totally impressed with what you prepared this year. I won't be able to dig mine until sometime in October.

I am not happy with the flavor...I'll just have to wait and see if it develops.
It's a BIG punch of spicy heat, then is gone just as fast as it hit.
Once that spicy heat disappears, there is no flavor at all.

 

[fiver]

might need to doctor it up with some vinegar, pepper, salt, sugar or the like, just to help the flavor roll over the tongue better.

 

[CZ93X62]

We have a lot of the same sorts of access issues in the deer zones I hunt locally, Lamar. It is also no help at all to be an hour's drive (not counting gridlock, crashes, or road rage) from a population center with 13 million people living in it. Weekend hunting? Surely, you jest. Opening Day hunting? Not happening. Add in that the season starts about a month earlier than it should (heat, lack of water, etc.)--well, I won't be afield on the opener (Oct. 5). Most years, I give things a couple weeks for the excitement to die down, then hunt weekdays from the 3rd-week Tue/Wed/Thur segment and Tue-Sunday the final week. 30-day season, so 10 shopping days until the Opener here.

 

[Ian]

Jim, in the "South West" they smoke chilis with whatever they have, typically cottonwood or willow, so it doesn't matter much.

 

[Ian]

I thought prepared horseradish had a fat added like veggie oil or mayo, plus some vinegar and salt and was blended into an emulsion. Fat of some sort and some salt brings out the flavor of anything, such as squash on the grill or salad greens.

 

[KeithB]

Around here real horseradish is just ground roots, vinegar, and salt, Some add just a little onion. Creamy horseradish has mayo but that is not considered "real" in this area. And no sugar ever!

 

[fiver]

well we got to the hot Anaheim's today.
it was comical because I was having the Hatch peppers.
we sliced them in half then stuffed them with cheese tomato paste and rice.
then put them on a cookie sheet and added bacon grease around them from the 1/2 cooked bacon we toped them with and baked them in the oven.
think stuffed potatoes.
kind of an odd dinner with the bacon and garlic bread on the side, but dang good.

I was just sitting there eating my peppers having a good time with the G-boy and his cousin when everybody started heading to the kitchen for some milk.
nobody wanted the Hatch peppers because I had grown them right next to the ghost peppers, but those anaheims must have been hot judging by the runny noses and red faces.

 

[JonB]

Around here real horseradish is just ground roots, vinegar, and salt, Some add just a little onion. Creamy horseradish has mayo but that is not considered "real" in this area. And no sugar ever!

Yeah, same in my area.
My preparation recipe went something like this.
I thinly sliced the roots (so the fibers are short), then run those thin slices through a mini food processor.
The amount I can run is about the same size as a typical hamburger patty, so one batch is kind of small.
I sprinkle some canning salt on the mix, like I am lightly salting a hamburger patty.
I spin the food processor a bit more.
I let it sit for about 5 minutes (see note below)
I add of vinegar, and spin.
I add a bit more vinegar and spin.
I repeat until I get the pasty texture/consistency I want.
Put in Jar in the frig.

So, when I was researching on the interwebs, I see countless comments that the grinding starts a reaction that makes it spicy hot. They also say vinegar stops that reaction. So, they say to not add vinegar until near the end of grinding and letting it sit a bit before it's added.

I tasted some this evening, either it is getting better, or my taster was shot while I was processing it?
---

Ian,
In my area or my circle of friends, prepared Horseradish is typically used more like a ingredient, than a condiment...so in some instances a fat would be undesirable (like when canning spicy pickles). If I were to use as a condiment (like on a Hamburger), and I have, I mix it 50-50 with real Mayo.

 

[Ian]

That makes sense, Jon. I'm not really a "foodie" but I do like some foods and spices more than others. A mayo/horseradish blend slathered on a grilled bratwurst stuffed in a toasted hoagie is pretty tough to beat when I'm looking for high-octane working fuel.

 

[smokeywolf]

Machinery mover came today and took the lathe, mill and the Wells Fargo chest safe. Refused to take my big safe, as walkway is uneven and it scared him. Moving and storage truck came just before he pulled away. Asked them if they would be interested in making a little extra money. With the help of my "safe dollies"and the sight of several $100 bills, they took the big safe.

With the exception of three folding chairs, no furniture left in SoCal house. Turn keys over to new owners tomorrow and head for AR with a cargo trailer hooked on behind the truck. Mom's truck and van are being moved by a vehicle transport company.
Still a lot of stuff to load in trailer, so won't leave until later in the day.

 

[CZ93X62]

That has to feel VERY GOOD.

 

[Bret4207]

Good for you Smokey! Safe travels!

Gonna try to get the side by side UTV out to the warranty place today. Been down 2 weeks or so. I really need to hunt up a suitable trailer.

 

[Rick]

And another family escapes from . . . . Utopia.

 

[fiver]

if you get a move on you'll stay ahead of the rain coming in in the next few days.

 

[Rick]

That has to feel VERY GOOD.

Yuma is calling.

As I see it CA still has way too many tax payers and what they really need is fewer people paying taxes. When is Al gonna bail out of utopia? Just to help out the state don't ya know. Hhmmm . . .

 

[CZ93X62]

As soon as we figure out just how strong I will be at the end of the recovery from last year's little medical adventure. That should be known in 9 months to a year. I just got into the permanent prosthetic 4 weeks ago, and things are going well--instead of 2 good days/5 bad days per week, it is now 5 good/2 bad.