Small Thoughts for Small Minds

Because everything is better with bacon, right?

[All pictures are hot-linked to the corresponding page on Flickr. If you get a Flickr account and ask me to add you to my "Friends & Family" list, you can see the large/original versions. I had to restrict access to the larger versions due to what I suspect was an unhealthy interest in some of the pictures of Dyson. Sigh…]

The last stuffed pork loin roast was too dry. So, how to fix that? I decided to take a three-pronged approach this time:

1. Less cooking
2. More fat on the inside
3. More fat on the outside

As usual, I removed the thick layer of fat from the outside of the loin (and the "silver" as well). This time I reserved some of the fat, chopped it up and spread it out throughout the inside of the now-flat meat:

Hopefully that will make up (somewhat) for how lean the meat is…

For the stuffing, I decided to go with a bit of a cherry theme. Why? Because I saw the dried cherries on the pantry shelf. Good enough reason?

I chopped up a handful of dried cherries and put them in some red wine (a cheap Australian Shiraz/Cabernet blend) to rehydrate. (Of course, after I took the cherries out of the wine, I drank what was left. A bit odd due to the slight garlic flavor. I had initially tried to use my mini food processor to chop the cherries, but they were too sticky and I ended up doing it by hand. But they had picked up some extra bits from the food processor since I had just used it for the garlic…)

For the rest of the stuffing, I used bread crumbs, a bunch of chopped garlic, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and (for good measure) a coating of garlic powder and paprika.

Next I rolled it up per usual. The difference this time is that I wanted to wrap it with bacon to provide some additional fat (yes, I know, I went to all the effort to remove the fat that came with it naturally…) and flavor…

Because the diameter of the rolled loin exceeded the length of the bacon slices, I stretched each piece and overlapped them slightly to make a meat sheet.

For a bit of extra flavor (and because I have so much of it), I grabbed a handful of sage and pineapple sage (along with a pineapple sage flower - oh well…), chopped it up and spread it out over the bacon.

I then plopped the rolled-up loin on the bacon and used the side of my Santoku knife to lift the bacon sheet and drape it over the roast.

Since the bacon strips ran in the same direction as the twine I used to hold the stuffing in, I needed something to provide support in the orthogonal direction. So I figured I would use several sprigs of thyme. Why not?

My roast pan is too short, but I managed to cram it in. I couldn’t use the rack though, because the rack has handles…

This time I decided to pay attention to advice on the net and not cook it until the interior temperature was 170 F (like my meat thermometer recommends for pork). Most people now recommend taking it out of the oven at 140 or 145 and letting it continue to rise to 150. (Trichinosis is supposedly killed at 137 F (although I doubt there is a magical single temperature….).)

But I couldn’t quite bring myself to take it out at 145 F and left it in until it reached 160 F.

Here is the cooked version, without the twine and the thyme…

And here it is, sliced and ready to eat!

I really liked the flavor, although I could’ve used about twice the cherries.

This was more moist than the last one, but still not where I want it.

Next pork loin I’m definitely gonna take it out of the oven a bit sooner. (I struggle with the deeply ingrained "pink pork is poison" concept…)

Kel’s mom is getting worse.

Her diabetes, previously requiring only two (I think) shots a day, now requires regular monitoring and shots or snacks (sugar). This came about a couple of months ago when she woke up in the middle of the night and started babbling manically. Since coming home from Carrington Place, she avoids talking whenever possible. She’s embarrassed because she can never say the right words. That night, she talked more than she had the previous year (not that it made ANY sense). When it happened, we didn’t know what was wrong and called 911. Turns out her blood sugar was too low. (And we had another episode like that early Tuesday morning.) As I mentioned, since then we (and I mean Kel, Jerry and Karen*) have to check her blood sugar at least every two hours. Depending on a schedule from the doctor and the blood sugar level, we give her one of two types of insulin or give her something to eat.

The caregivers (Mon-Sat, 10 - 4 p.m.) are NOT nurses. They are not allowed to give shots, so either Kel or Karen has to be home during the day. Kel has a couple of leads for a good job. Once she’s employed, that leaves Karen to handle the shots during working hours. Which means that Karen can’t leave the house for more than about an hour and a half at a time…

We can’t go out for dinner as a family (Kel, myself & the kids) without coordinating with Jerry and Karen (mostly for Haley’s cheerleading practices, tumbling, games, etc.). We can have Haley babysit Keira and Dyson, but not the old folks. Unfortunately, Kel’s brothers are not willing to help out with the shots and potty duty, so the four of us (Kel, Jerry, Karen & I) can’t go out together for dinner and drinks, with or without the kids. (Luckily Ian (Jerry & Karen’s 20-year-old son, who’s currently staying at Mike’s (Kel’s oldest brother) house in Daleville (nearby), and he’s been willing to take care of them, but he’s going back to college in January.)

We’ll have to make a decision soon - hire full-time nurses (instead of part-time caregivers) or put her in a nursing home.

Even though she can’t express herself very well, Nana seems to know that we can’t take care of her at home much longer. And she seems to accept this…

Kel has found a nice place associated with a Catholic church in Roanoke (her parents are Catholic) where they can share a small "apartment".

But Pop, as opposed to Nana, is going to be really pissed when we move him into a nursing home. He isn’t sufficiently aware of his shortcomings to understand the need.

Plus, he’s a bit paranoid - on a number of occasions, he’s told the caregiver that we are stealing his money or similar accusations.

While Nana has given up, and doesn’t even try to communicate, she seems more mentally cognizant than he is.

We can’t let him get his own pills out of the pill caddy any longer because he can’t keep track of which day/time it is.

He used to be able to put away the dishes after the dishwasher finished (although he couldn’t tell the difference between "clean" and "rinsed but not washed"). He can’t remember where to put stuff any more, so that’s out as well.

Pop doesn’t have good control over his, umm, bathroom functions, which leads to the caregivers and Jerry/Karen/Kel** having to clean up messes in his bathroom on a regular basis (sometimes more than once a day). That kind of thing is grinding them (Jerry/Karen/Kel) down.

I used to believe that he’d live to over one hundred. Now that doesn’t seem too likely…

It is hard to watch. I never knew him before his first stroke. Apparently he was a very different person (personality) before.

Sigh…

* Yes, I am a bad son-in-law. I’ll do the testing and shots if I’m the only one in the house, but that’s rare…

** Again, the bad son-in-law. I will NOT wipe Nana or clean up after Pop. Sorry. Just can’t do it. I had serious gag reflexes changing Keira and Dyson’s diapers, but I did do that because they were my own children. I just can’t handle strong odors… At least I do the cooking when I’m in town…

I had to go to Coral Springs for a work-related training course. The course was at the Marriott (which has a convention center AND a golf course).

Every day during the class breaks, I’d go outside (with the smokers) and try to take pictures of the ever-present brown anoles. (I saw a couple of geckos - one even dropped on my hand and I shook it off before I saw what it was - but I couldn’t get a picture…)

Almost all of my pictures are uploaded in their own Flickr set (I still have a few left to identify, manipulate and upload). I won’t put all of them here…

[All pictures are hot-linked to the corresponding page on Flickr. If you get a Flickr account and I add you to my "Friends & Family" list, you can see the large/original versions. I had to restrict access to the larger versions due to what I suspect was an unhealthy interest in some of the pictures of Dyson. Sigh…]

I arrived at the Fort Lauderdale airport just before 8 p.m. After waiting on my luggage, renting a car and driving to Coral Springs, it was getting pretty late. So as to not waste any more precious time, I drove directly to the brewpub instead of checking into the hotel…

Since my US grand-boss is in Miramar, Florida, and I’ve had to go to that particular HQ a couple of times, I had already located the only brewpub in the area, Big Bear Brewing Company.

Their selection isn’t terribly challenging, but it’s good enough. (I like to support small brewers when possible, so I ate there Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday…)

Here are a few of their beers…

And some of their equipment…

After class the first day, I spent some time wandering around one of the many little ponds (and canals) in the golf course. Some flowers, some bugs, some lizards… I was happy…

This is a hairypod cowpea (Vigna luteola). I spent HOURS looking for an identification on this flower. I went down the wrong path initially because I thought it was in the Crotalaria family - see my picture of Crotalaria rotundifolia for comparison. Then, late at night last night, I stumbled across a picture of a flower like this labeled, simply, "cow pea". That didn’t help right away because, apparently, cow pea commonly refers to the cultivated variety of vigna. But I got there eventually and, exhausted, went to bed…

This butterfly is a dun skipper (Euphyes vestris). I am still trying to identify the plant upon which that the butterfly is perched. (Edited to add: I found out what the plant is… It is a firespike (Odontonema strictum). Identification was difficult because the inflorescence was dramatically fasciated.)

Lately, I’ve been obsessing about taking pictures of mushrooms (as you might’ve guessed from the earlier post). (A few really cool mushroom pictures that I took during our trip to Orlando: dog turd fungus, bird’s nest fungus, maybe a Collybia, and an unknown mushroom.)

This one is, I think, a common earthstar (Geastrum saccatum). Perhaps. Mushroom identification ain’t easy…

It was hiding in the mulch under the shrubs around the hotel. (Yes, I was crawling around in the mulch in my business-casual clothes while other employees from my company (but not my particular group) watched in bemusement…)

Here is one of the MANY brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) that I saw. I think I have another five or six pictures in the set. Go there if’n you want to see ‘em…

The little buggers are flighty and FAST. Without a proper zoom, you have to sneak up on them and move sooo slowly they think you’re part of the landscape. I wasn’t terribly successful. (And these are the best of HUNDREDS of pictures…)

On Thursday, the class let out around 2 p.m. I should’ve gone back to my room and done some work. Instead, I went on a (not quite) four hour hike. I walked through the housing development surrounding the golf course to the undeveloped area bordering the Everglades. There was a bit of a gravel road running next to a long, straight canal. I headed north and, after a bit, the houses on my right gave way to a water-filled rock quarry. Overall, it was a pretty good walk. Except for the section populated by biting deerflies, which I walked through in both directions. One deerfly got trapped between my neck and the collar of my t-shirt. It bit me quite a few times before it managed to work its way down to my shoulder (still under my shirt) where I slapped it to its bloody death. (It left a blood stain the size of a quarter. It ALSO left, where it was originally trapped, what looked suspiciously like a hickey on my neck…)

Found some interesting things on the way. For example this desiccated lizard (probably another brown anole) ("Lizards! Get yer lizards! Onna stick!!")

I’m guessin’ that a bird snagged himself some dinner but got a-scared off before he could eat it…

When we were in Orlando, I took a picture of a flower and was never able to identify it. This time, while focused on the ID for the hairy cowpea (above), I stumbled across a picture of a wild bushbean (Macroptilium lathyroides). Yeah for me!

Here’s another one…

While messing around near the water’s edge (taking a picture of a flower that I just got around to uploading), I saw these tiny globes that looked like some type of eggs.

After a bit of on-line research, I’m pretty sure that they are from a Florida apple snail (Pomacea paludosa). (If you click on that link and scroll down the page, you’ll see some very similar eggs.) I found what I am sure is a Florida apple snail shell not so far away…

Could be wrong, but I’m sure it is some type of freshwater snail. (And I don’t think a lot of them lay their eggs out of the water, but I dunno…)

Speaking of freshwater snail shells, here is an abandoned shell (probably goldenhorn marisa, Marisa cornuarietus). Repossessed as a result of an escalating adjustable rate mortgage given to some snail with questionable credit, I’m sure…

I was constantly on the lookout for a gator. Unfortunately the scrub growing along the canal didn’t give me to many opportunities to see the water. Luckily one such opportunity paid out. This is an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). It was a bit shy and every time I moved closer to the water, it ducked under…

I’m not too sure of the following identification. There are a few factors (click on the picture if you want the details) that don’t seem to fit, but I can’t find a better fit. I think it is a camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris). They were all along the side of the dirt road…

I really liked the look of these "pine cones". It is from an Australian pine (Casuarina equisetifolia), which is not a true pine. According to the web site linked to the name, what appear to be long pine needles are not, in fact, needles but rather long, thin twigs. Huh…

I saw a LOT of green & black dragonflies. Here’s a picture of one of them eating another dragonfly…

They are eastern pondhawks (Erythemis simplicicollis). The eyes are so cool. It really makes me want to get a fancy camera instead of my little pocket camera. Something with an actual zoom lens and manual focus so I don’t have to take a hundred pictures to pick out ONE with almost the correct focal length…

One more flower before I wrap up this post. (Do go up to the Flickr set to see the other pix!)

This is a moonflower (Ipomoea alba). It blooms at night (apparently it unfurls within a couple of minutes) because it is pollinated by moths. The flower bulb is a couple of inches across - gonna be a big flower… The heart-shaped leaf in the background goes with this guy…

After I finished up my hike, I was feeling tired and a bit grubby, so I decided to skip my nightly trip to Big Bear and eat in instead. So I drove over to the Publix (mega grocery store chain) and picked up a few things that caught my eye.

Fine dining at its best! (Well, maybe not - the chorizo was pretty bland. But the plantain chips were plenty salty and garlicky; the pasta salad was tasty; and the Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale was quite nice as was expected…)

Hopefully that was an interesting mix of pix…

Post script:

Here is one of those pictures that I had not yet uploaded when I wrote this post. It is a primrose willow (Ludwigia peruviana). When I got around to picking the best of the bunch for this particular flower, I liked this one so much, I had to add it to this post…

A couple of weeks ago, as I was pulling out some spices for whatever I was cooking for dinner, I noticed a little bag of crystallized ginger. It was left over from a desert that I had made quite some time ago. (Chopped up some toasted almonds and the crystallized ginger and mixed it with some vanilla ice cream, which was served with some pears that were poached with spices in my sweet mead (with a reduction of the mead over top).)

It got me thinking, "What should I do with this stuff?"

I spent a few minutes on the innerweb looking for interesting recipes. I found a couple that seemed like they might be tasty. The first one that I made was chicken crusted with crystallized ginger and pistachios. The second, which I made on Tuesday, was chicken with peaches and crystallized ginger. Very simple, but (despite the simplicity) surprisingly good. (After the chicken was cooked, I took out the chicken, lemons & peaches and reduced the liquid some, adding a bit of corn starch to thicken it…)

To accompany it, I made rice cooked with garlic powder and the remainder of the crystallized ginger. The peach sauce was very good over the rice…

Oh yeah, with some veggies as well. Gotta have the veggies…

Dyson has been struggling with learning to read. Since Kel is currently "between jobs", she’s been working with Dyson every day after school. (I blame his school more than I blame him - I was unhappy with how little they worked with him on reading last year…)

Last week, Kel was talking to Dyson’s teacher and she said that maybe Dyson was "mildly" dyslexic and/or ADD. His teacher told Kel that, even though the kids go to a private school, we can get Dyson tested at the county school system (since we pay county taxes after all). Before doing that, we had to have a current physical checkup. As such, Dyson went to the doctor today.

He was very concerned about getting a shot. Obsessed with it. Constantly talking about how he did NOT want to get a shot…

While we were in the examining room, Dyson got bored quickly (I don’t know why I never think to bring some of his toys…) He decided that he wasn’t going to get a shot and he hide under the examining table. (Just being silly…)

Once I pulled out my camera, the clowning was notched up a level…

Here is the terror:

Here is the resignation to his fate:

Luckily they had the nose-spray version of the flu vaccine. He was happy in the end.

Now to get the testing…

Personally, I think he’s fine.

Apparently, on Oprah the other day, they said that women have a larger portion of the part of the brain that is devoted to worrying then men have. Kel’s seems to be especially well developed…

I’ve got a LOT of these mushrooms growing just in front of my house. (The north side, which gets absolutely no direct (and very little indirect) sunlight.)

So, the question is, "What are they and, more importantly, are they edible?"

I feel fairly confident that it is Clitocybe. But which one?

Perhaps Clitocybe geotropa (edible)? Maybe Clitocybe clavipes (inedible)? Possilby Clitocybe rivulosa (deadly poisonous)?

Hmm…

Edited to add:

Here is a detailed cross-section of an individual mushroom:

This is one of the smaller ones. You can see the size relative to the nickel.

[note: pictures are hot-linked to their counterpart of Flickr. If you want to see a bigger version click on them and click on the "all sizes" icon just above the picture.]

I moved to Roanoke in 1992. Just before then, they shut down a brewpub in downtown Roanoke (Blue Muse, I think). In 1992 - 1993, there was another place set up all the equipment but never got the legal papers and they shut down before ever selling any of their beer. Since then, nada…

So, after all of these years, we finally have a brewpub in Roanoke!

Awful Arthur’s (Towers location) purchased the adjacent storefront and converted it into a brewery. (The awning to the right in this picture.)

The sign on the window sez:

As I understand it, yesterday (Monday, 6 October 2008) was the first tapping of their first beer, a Belgian wit. Here is my pint sitting on the bar with the brew kettle in the background:

Yes, that’s a frozen pint glass. We’ll have to work on that bad habit…

In the works are an American pale ale (APA), and Indian pale ale (IPA), an extra special bitter (ESB), some kind of lager (sorry - poor memory) and a few others. The APA should be on tap tomorrow. They need to dry hop the IPA, so that may be a bit longer…

The beers are currently being brewed by a consultant out of South Carolina. (He was familiar with this particular equipment in its previous life at a brewpub in Illinois and before that in UC Davis, California.) The brewer of the future is Sean. (I didn’t catch his last name.) He’s been a homebrewer for years, yet has never once made it to our homebrew club meetings! Shocking, I know!!

He wasn’t too sure about posing for my picture, but oh well…

Here is some of their equipment…

Brew kettle:                       Bitter wort manifold:

Brewery control panel:         Hot liquor tank/mash tun

The fermenters are in the storefront of the expansion area (in other words you can see them from the sidewalk).

Here is one fermenter in the process of lagering. You can clearly see the glycol (coolant) path - the ice formed on the outside of the glycol jacket kinda gives it away…

I’m surprised that they don’t insulate the fermenters. Seems like a waste of energy. (Not terribly "green", huh?)

If I remember correctly, the fermenter to the right of the one shown above has the IPA. Either way, it is undergoing vigorous fermentation at the moment. This is the blowoff tube to allow excess foam and CO2 to escape without contaminating the batch by leaving it open to airborne baddies…

They have eight serving tanks in a walk-in cooler. Here are two of them:

I’m looking forward to actually having a "local". What I’m not sure is how I’ll fit this in with my efforts to try lots of different beers (see my "trophies") and to make (and drink) my own homebrew. All of that drinking runs counter to my efforts to keep from returning to my previous porcine state…

I like beer…

This is the barn across the street. Now if we only didn’t have a road between our house and this view, I’d be happier.

Maybe our NEXT house can have a bit more privacy…

I’ve been silent a long time. Why? My previous photo hosting site closed down (for new activity at least - luckily all the old pictures are still there…)

I haven’t found one that works well with this blog (the size that I want, etc.)

I don’t think I will find one that was as easy for what I want (good size for the blog posts with a link directly to the largest size).

Since I’ve stopped posting, I’ve been going nuts on my Flickr account.

So I’ll try to use that account for this blog. I’ll start off with a stuffed pork roast that I made on Saturday…

(Note: if you click on the picture, it will take you to the Flickr page for that picture. From there you can select a different size should you wish to do so.)

I stuffed the pork loin with apple, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and chèvre (goat) cheese.

After stuffing the meat (and not in an inappropriate way AT ALL!), I rubbed in some salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and paprika. Then I seared the outside in some olive oil.

I don’t have a roast rack, so I improvised with the rack from the toaster oven and some knives:

Getting ready to go into the oven:

The final results weren’t up to my expectations. (I make stuffed pork loin fairly often - it can be found for $1.99 per pound at Kroger every other week or so. When you cook for nine people you have to look for deals…) The taste was very nice, but the outside was a bit too crisp (a bit hard) and the inside was not as moist as I normally achieve. The stuffing flavors worked well, so it was just a matter of execution…

If you look at this, let me know how the pictures and links work for you (at least compared to the previous image hosting site).