Karma

Last week we called out our pal Richard Beamer for not having a meat thermometer. We thought maybe we could light a fire under our pal, to get him in to the smoked meat lifestyle we enjoy. We don't know if it worked or not, but we did learn that Karma lurks behind every key stroke.
We have a meat thermometer, and we smoke meat on a regular basis. Lately, we've been using the thermometer for canning dill pickles. It's actual use is a trade secret, but one of the first things we learn when using a wireless thermometer is, never get the wires wet. We got our wires wet this past week in the bath canner.
We also had planned on smoking a big ol brisket on Saturday night. Our regular Saturday night out (Dude's Drive In) takes a week off every July so it's employees can have a vacation, this week is it, so we needed something eat. Our brisket takes two weeks of prep time, and we planned ahead to have it ready for Saturday morning. Thursday of this week we grilled some chicken breasts to chop up in salad, and Big Man fired up the thermometer. According to the readout, the air temperature was 142*. Since neither one of us had burst into flames, we postulated the thermometer was bad. And with too short notice to order a new one in time for Saturday brisket, we had to move the smoke back until next week, after the new thermometer arrives. Some will say it serves us right for calling out "The Beamer".
So, on with the week.
First off, the pickles that killed the thermometer.

Fresh dill, it's how we roll

Next we have a new arrival here at The Acre, chocolate pie. Cupcake had a recipe from long ago she recently found, and since Big Man is king of the pie crust, we combined our efforts for a mouth watering dessert. We used the powdered Dutch chocolate from the ice cream recipe, and we think it really made a difference in the taste.

No Jello packs in this pie

No store bought crust either

Our second new thing to mention is roasted potatoes. We dug up a hill of our blue potatoes a week or so ago, this week on steak night we did a hobo pack with bacon and fresh garden onions. The blue potatoes keep their color after you cook them, and we think they are really neat to eat.

And speaking of garden fresh items, we picked a few more things this week.

Re-potted our cabbage sets this week

Fresh basil, rosemary and dill

Our corn is not quite full yet, so we will wait another week or two on them to mature. The green tomatoes are due to our egg ladies discovering a taste for green tomatoes on the vine. Cupcake lost her sense of humor when we started finding six or seven ready to turn tomatoes eaten each morning. So we picked the ones in the above picture to keep them safe, then we went to work putting an electric fence around the vines. Knowing chickens the way we do, we know once the birds get a jolt or two from climbing under the ribbon, they will leave the vines alone, and by Saturday they were back to patrolling the beans and potato vines for bugs, leaving the tomatoes alone. Problem solved, problem staying solved. (We hope)

Our last pic of the week is our giant sunflowers. We planted one at every post around our new garden fence. Some are doing better than others for some reason, who knows how mother nature rolls? But we can't wait for them to bloom. They are also great deer repellant, so they are pretty and useful as well.

 We ended the week with wings.
K&K