This Blog Sucks. Who writes this crap, anyway?

https://www.melissassouthernstylekitchen.com/fluffy-southern-buttermilk-biscuits/ Ingredients 3 cups all purpose flour 5 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter or vegetable shortening 1 – 1 1/4 cup cold buttermilk melted butter or heavy cream to brush the tops All liquids and butter/shortening should be straight from the refrigerator or on ice. Thoroughly mix dry ingredients prior to adding liquids by sifting and mixing. Don't over knead ingredients once the liquid is added to the dry ingredients.  Doing so will make them tough by developing the gluten content.

 I wish I would have thought of this.  It is so simple, yet next level. Why was 6 scared of 7? Because 7, 8, 9! That is an old math joke, but the next part makes it next level and completes the joke. But why did 7 eat 9? You must eat 3 squared meals a day.  

Today I took the last pour from this amazing bottle.  If I can find another, I with but it again.  

 I am addicted to the coffee rub.  This makes a tasty product.  

 This year my advent calendar was from Drinks by the Dram.  Instead of recording the experience everyday, I am listing the drams and which I liked best. The Singleton of Dufftown 18 year old: no score Teeling Whiskey Small Batch Amber Ale Cask Finish: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dalmore Cigar Malt: ⭐ Tamdhu 15 year old: ⭐ Glenfiddich 21 year old reserve rum cask finish: ⭐⭐ Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23 year old: ⭐ Whiskey Works Speyside 20 year old: ⭐⭐⭐ Laphroaig 10 year old Sherry Oak Finish: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Egan's Irish Whiskey Conviction: ⭐ Jura 21 year old Tide: ⭐⭐⭐ Glenfarclas 15 year old: ⭐⭐ Macallan 12 year old Double Cask: no score Teeling Whiskey Small Batch: ⭐⭐ Amrut Peated: ⭐⭐⭐ Arran 10 year old: ⭐⭐ Berry Bros. and Rudd the Perspective Series 21 year old: ⭐⭐⭐ Whistlepig 10 year old rye whiskey: ⭐⭐ Yellow Spot Single Pot Still Irish: no score Johnny Walker Blue Label: ⭐ Teeling Whiskey 13 year old red wine cask finish: ⭐⭐⭐ Ledaig 18 year old: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mortlach 20 year old: no score Samuel Gulliver and Co. Eng...

  Savory Dry Rub (modified from My Recipes ) 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 0.5 teaspoon ground red pepper Mix the dry items together in a ziplock bag, shake to mix. Meat Prep 1 (1 1/2-pound) flank steak 2 tablespoons olive oil Rub the meat with the olive oil.  Let sit for a few minutes.  Put the meat into the ziplock bag with the dry rub.  Coat all sides of the meat with the dry rub by shaking and coating.  Release any additional air from the bag and seal.  Let sit overnight in the refrigerator. Cook on your favorite grill or smoker.  

Tomorrow is the 4th of July.  To celebrate a little early, I could not think of a better way than to partake in my favorite pastimes.  The fruit in the Cabernet franc comes through while smoking a medium bodied cigar from Perdomo.

Page Mill GPS wine, Smooth Jazz Workshop on Pandora , and an Oliva cigar Series V

H. Upmann 1844 Reserve Krobar Straight Rye barrel strength whiskey This is what make a great end to a good weekend.

My wife is the best.  She ordered an Advent calendar from Flaviar.  It contains a nice Glencairn dram glass and 24 whiskeys.  All tasting will be neat, without water, room temperature and then hand warmed to detect aromas.  I am a novice in describing what I taste.  I only know what I like and don't. The packaging is heavy weight cardboard printed with the "Galaxy of Whiskeys".  The booklet inside is a great reference to review after the first couple of sips.  I will write my reviews before reading the notes, so what I taste will differ slightly. #flaviar, #whiskey, #advent Dec 1st - Wyoming Whiskey Small Batch Bourbon.  Lots of caramel and a nice alcohol burn.  The linger was a bit too short, but a lovely sipping whiskey. Dec 2nd - Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye Distiller's Edition.  This one lags behind the previous day.  The marmalade comes through strong, but the linger leaves a bit of an unpleasant flavor on the tongue and throa...

Good bye old friend.  Finished my last dram of this bourbon.  What a lovely gift from a friend.  Final tasting, there were hints of maple on the nose and linger, a good solid alcohol hit from start to finish.  I've got to make my way to Washington State for another bottle.

The day was going to make this a bad idea.  With a temperature in the upper 80s, the internal Traeger probe was not going to function properly. The Rub 1/8 cup salt  1/8 cup course black pepper 1 tbsp garlic powder 1 tbsp paprika 1 tbsp chili powder 2 tbsp coffee, ground Dry rubbed, and left overnight in refrigerator. Set temp to 180F to smoke till internal temp reached 160F.  Wrapped in foil, chicken broth added, set back on Traeger to reach 204F I had to add a small great shield to the temperature probe side to keep the temperature even in the Traeger

Dry Rub 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 1 tbs cumin powder 1 tbs garlic powder 1 tbs red chili powder 1 tbs paprika 1 tbs Lowry's Season Salt Mix together and coat meat-side of the ribs.  Let sit for 1 hour at room temp. Smoke at 180F for 3-4 hours (probe temp about 160F) meat-side up. Remove and add BBQ sauce over ribs, wrap in foil.  Cook at 350F meat-side down for 1 hour.  

Recipe from:  https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-crackers-at-home-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-186144 INGREDIENTS 3 cups all-purpose flour, or a mix of all-purpose and whole grain flours 2 teaspoons sugar 2 teaspoons salt 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup water Optional topping: 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon sea salt Optional Cheese Crackers: Add 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese to the flour mixture. Pulse in a food processor until the mixture resembles course cornmeal. Proceed with adding the oil and water as directed. DIRECTIONS Heat the oven to 450°F: Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat to 450°F. Sprinkle a baking sheet lightly with flour and set aside. Mix together the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the oil and water: Add the oil and water to the flour mixture. Stir until a soft, sticky dough is formed. If a lot of loose flour remains in the ...

Same coffee rub recipe as on the 7th.  I had to bump the amounts up for this larger chuck (added 50%).   3 hour smoke at 250F over Signature blend.  Remove chuck (about 165F), wrapped it in foil and added chicken broth.  Sealed the foil and put it back on grill for another 2-3 hours till internal temp was ~204F. Plus a little something extra, Traditional Irish Stew.  Might as well use the whole grill, and all of the heat generated by the Traeger. That was a good night of cookin'.

I couldn't figure out what to do with the roast.  So, checking on the Traeger app, the coffee rubbed sounded good.   2 tsp ground coffee 2 tsp black pepper 1 tsp oregano, dried 1 tsp salt Mixed rub together and covered a 2 lbs chuck roast.  Let it sit in the refrigerator for 2 hours.   Filled the Traeger with mesquite and set the temp to 250F.  Smoke for 3 hours, foil wrap and add beef broth.  Put back on Traeger for 2-3 hour at 250F.

Traeger cooking a large halibut fillet.  The size was 1.5 pounds and cooked at 375 for 45 minutes on Signature Blend pellets.

The best thing from Calaveras County is a hard cider from Indigeny .

Two pound well marbled tri-tip, smoked at 180F for 2 hours followed by 1.5 hours at 275 till the internal temp hit 165F Marinated in Basque marinade for 24 hours, covered with black pepper and garlic before grilling.

It is grill day.  Time to smoke a nice piece of meat.  I started the day by putting dry rub on the chuck roast (straight from the refrigerator) at 7:00am.  After adding a nice thick crust of dry rub, the roast went back into the refrigerator for about 2 and a half hours.  I pulled the roast out of the refrigerator 1 hour before it was to go on the grill to rest at room temperature. I started the Traeger at 9:45am and set the temp to 225F.  At 10:00, the roast went on the grill (fat side down) after the temperature has stabilized at 225F.  I placed a ceramic coated iron pot (lid on) on the grate with a half inch of Swanson's beef broth.  Every 30 minutes, the roast is wetted with the hot beef broth. 10:30 was the first wetting with the hot beef broth. 11:00 the probe was inserted into the thickest part of the roast.  Another round of beef broth wetting. 11:30 the probe temp was 111F and another round of beef broth wetting 12:00 another round of bee...