Of late things have been keeping me away from updating and
writing. I regret not taking time to update the journals I am keeping for each
of my boys and I was recently reminded I haven’t posted here for a while. It
seems the tyranny of the urgent has a strong hold on a lot of my time. Not to
mention we tend to keep a full schedule most days. So, in truth, the crunch is
self inflicted.
I will share a new cooking area I have been exploring:
Charcuterie, the art of salting, smoking and curing meats.
I purchased a book,
of the same name, written by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn to help me with
ideas and recipes.
It all started with bacon, oh bacon, wonderful bacon. I found that I could make it at home simply and for half the price of the store bought product. With a little exploration I also discovered ideas to reach the flavors of some of the higher end bacons. I think I am now on my fourth or fifth pork belly, and I even experimented with using a lamb belly with mixed results. It seems the brown sugar and maple cure smoked with black pepper is favored by the family.
Athletically, I continue to run. Running and aging seem to
be topics that are popping up often in my circles. I was even informally interviewed
for a blog “The Bell Lap” put out by a
college buddy focusing on Masters Running. Last year I enjoyed several runs
including the Grand Ridge 50k (finishing third overall), a successful ½ marathon in Duvall (placing second in my age division), the Northwest
Passage RAGNAR Relay, and a 10 mile trail race with my sister in law. This year I
have a couple interesting challenges scheduled. I am currently getting ready
for the Big Climb in the Columbia Tower in Seattle. If you would like to help
me reach my fundraising goal visit here: The
Big Climb In the past I have done the firefighter event in full bunker gear
on air but this year I am doing the open climb as part of the Alaskan Airlines
Team. It should be a successful and fun event. I am also gearing up for a
Spartan Super obstacle coarse race here in Snohomish in April. To prep for that
I have built a course of my own in our woods, including a pull up bar, thirty foot balance beam, tire run, monkey bars, rope climb, army
crawl, tire drag, log military press, over/under, 8 foot wall climb, bucket
carry (5 gal bucket filled with gravel), and spear throw. The sixth-tenths of a
mile course takes about twenty minutes to complete, and just like the race if I
fail an obstacle I drop and do thirty burpies. Burpies, gotta love em. The race
will be about eight to nine miles long with twenty five or so obstacles, most
with a thirty burpie penalty if failed. I anticipate well over one hundred and
twenty that day.
It all started with bacon, oh bacon, wonderful bacon. I found that I could make it at home simply and for half the price of the store bought product. With a little exploration I also discovered ideas to reach the flavors of some of the higher end bacons. I think I am now on my fourth or fifth pork belly, and I even experimented with using a lamb belly with mixed results. It seems the brown sugar and maple cure smoked with black pepper is favored by the family.
I also played a little bit with different spices and
dry-curing to produce a flat pancetta that I use in a lot of cooking dishes.
Delish!
I was fortunate to harvest an early season black bear this
year that had been feeding on berries and apples. A lot of the meat combined
with venison and ground pork was used in bratwursts and smoked summer sausage,
both seem to be well received. I haven’t ventured into the realm of dry aging
yet but maybe someday I have the ability to hang sausage and produce some of
the harder cured meats.
Athletically, I continue to run. Running and aging seem to
be topics that are popping up often in my circles. I was even informally interviewed
for a blog “The Bell Lap” put out by a
college buddy focusing on Masters Running. Last year I enjoyed several runs
including the Grand Ridge 50k (finishing third overall), a successful ½ marathon in Duvall (placing second in my age division), the Northwest
Passage RAGNAR Relay, and a 10 mile trail race with my sister in law. This year I
have a couple interesting challenges scheduled. I am currently getting ready
for the Big Climb in the Columbia Tower in Seattle. If you would like to help
me reach my fundraising goal visit here: The
Big Climb In the past I have done the firefighter event in full bunker gear
on air but this year I am doing the open climb as part of the Alaskan Airlines
Team. It should be a successful and fun event. I am also gearing up for a
Spartan Super obstacle coarse race here in Snohomish in April. To prep for that
I have built a course of my own in our woods, including a pull up bar, thirty foot balance beam, tire run, monkey bars, rope climb, army
crawl, tire drag, log military press, over/under, 8 foot wall climb, bucket
carry (5 gal bucket filled with gravel), and spear throw. The sixth-tenths of a
mile course takes about twenty minutes to complete, and just like the race if I
fail an obstacle I drop and do thirty burpies. Burpies, gotta love em. The race
will be about eight to nine miles long with twenty five or so obstacles, most
with a thirty burpie penalty if failed. I anticipate well over one hundred and
twenty that day.
The boys and Cheryl are doing great. Jon, Gabe and I made our sixth trip Man Camping to Tatoosh Lakes this year for a great time fishing and rolling rocks off cliffs.
Jon continues to pursue
his passion of playing soccer. He competed on two team last year; Monroe HS and
his recreational league team. He also continues to be involved with 4H and FFA
Dairy. Oh, and he turns sixteen this year! Gabe is becoming a man-cub. He
continues to be our creative child in every aspect of life; sports (wrestling,
track, lacrosse), art (his pencil drawings are fantastic) and “driving his
parents crazy” seem to be the latest passions. This is his final year of
Classic Education and he is looking forward to High School next year and what he
thinks will be less homework…right! Cheryl is off right now enjoying a weekend
with her dad and sister snowshoeing in Leavenworth. She continues to enjoy
being a PT and a mom and riding horses with her friends. As a family we are
excited to still be a part of Hope In Haiti.
The over seven hundred children in primary and secondary education at the two
schools we support in Dessalines and Kawo, Haiti are a source of excitement and
personal growth for all four of us. We have seen the organization touch so many
lives since we stepped up and became involved in 2008. This year Gabe and I
will venture into the mountains of central Haiti to a region called Kawo to
visit one of the schools we support. It will be Gabe’s second trip to the
mountains and he is excited to go back.
Well, there is the update. I look forward to posting again
soon. Hopefully I will make it a priority and you all will hear something of a
more creative bent next time
Tony
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