Update on September Projects

So once again, it's been an incredibly busy month with work and family, but of course, it's prime harvesting time even with the bad garden year.

Here are a few of the projects I've been working on this month.

1. Bacon ( naturally ).  13lbs of Tails and Trotters  pork belly is now on it's way to becoming PCP bacon.

2.  Pickling - 100lbs of cucumbers ( most from Kruger's on Sauvie Island ) - were turned into awesome hot dill pickles.

3. Beets - 6 lbs of nice baby golden beets were turned into Hot Indian Beets ( the Indian part is the cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, and clove ).

 

4.  Smoked Salmon - This is prime salmon smoking season, but I'm pretty far behind.  I've only done about 5-10 lb's total, and I usually need about 40lb's to get me through to the following summer ( what with gifts and parties and nights in front of the fire ).

5.  BlueBerry Jam - 10lb's of awesome Oregon BB's are on their way to becoming PCP jam!!

6.  Yellow Tomato Jam - I've gotten about 2-3lbs of beautiful yellow pear tomotoes in the past week and I decided to makea  Yellow Tomato and Onion Jam.. I won't get a lot, but it will be great on burgers.

7. Canning Tomatoes - I have about 5lb's of San Marzano's ready to go, and another 15-20lb's sitting on the vine soaking up this late sunlight... sometime in the next week I'll can them with basil, garlic, and hot peppers from our garden.

8. Fennel - I've been waiting for the seeds to finish developing so I can make fennelcello... my fennel liqueur.. and when I've harvested the seeds, then I'll take the tenderest part of the bulbs and make fennel onion bacon jam.. stay tuned for this one, it's going to be good!

9.  Sometime around the end of October I'll be getting 4 whole pork legs from my friend Morgan at Tails and Trotters, which I'll be turning into PCP Proscuitto.... the last one we made with John Pence (Caprial and Johns Kitchen ) turned out freaking awesome ( see pic )

Oh, I also splurged and used a week of PTO to backpack around Mt Rainier with two old friends ( ~100 miles, 54,000 feet total elevation gain and loss ).   Absolutely beautiful!!

Our Chocolate Lab pup is sort of maintaining her size.. she's only grown about 5lbs in the past month.. she's now 5 months old, and just about 45lb's.

 All of this work has made me thirsty.  Time for a cold one.  If you're in the neighborhood, stop by for a cold beer and we'll talk pickles and charcuterie.