Birch and pine tea light holders

This is my first attempt at making a Birch tea light holder.  I actually used 2 pieces of wood that were in the pile for the fireplace.  The third holder is not Birch, but rather pine.  It is the bottom 4 inches from our Christmas tree.

My son helped me sand the two ends of the holders.  I took the wood to a local wood hobby shop and used a drill press and a 1 1/2" wood bit to carve out the spot for the tea light.

These 3 were given to my wife as her Christmas present.  I hope to make a few more of these and then consign them at our local thrift shop.  I don't expect to make a lot of money with these, just a little extra for spending.  The wood was free and it cost me $10 for 2 hours of work at the wood hobby shop.  Now that I know what I am doing, more or less, I can knock out a few more even faster.

I'll try to get a better picture uploaded.

"You are a stay at home dad? So what do you do all day?"

Yes, this is a serious question I have been asked...more than once.  Well, has your spouse ever been an at-home-parent?  Then I am pretty sure I do just about the same thing they do/did.  You know, sit around in sweatpants, eating ice cream right from the container, watching daytime television while the kids run around the house in nothing but a diaper if they are not sitting in front of a television in another room watching the cartoons that play on it 24/7.  Right!?!  WRONG!

I make the majority of the 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks a day for all 5 of us.  And I typically am the one cleaning up all the dishes and pans following those meals.  I pack the one school lunch and snack.

I do some cleaning, not as much as my spouse would like or as much as she does, but I do some.  The iRobot vacuum runs every day and takes care of the major eyesore, all the dog hair.

I shop for the food that I cook, although my spouse is usually the one who comes up with our weekly meal plans (menus).  I take her clothes to the cleaners and can usually remember to pick them up in time for her next event that she must attend.  I try to do laundry, but I am very forgetful and it will sit for a day, or longer in the dryer.  If I do remember to get them out, fold them and into a laundry basked, I rarely put them away, she does that.

Then there is the never ending honey-do list and list of chores.  But there is also rough housing and playing, singing songs and dancing around, helping with homework, and reading books.  Once in a while we will do some crafts, but I'm not a craft guy, again, I leave that up to my wife.

Yes, sometimes I schluff off my chores and honey-do list to do a little bit of hunting or fishing, absolutely.  Do I take the kids with me, yes I do.  My 4 year old plays with a dead duck like it is a baby doll.

Sometimes, I can catch a break and get the kids into hourly drop in care at the child care center.  If that happens, I can usually get some of my bigger chores out of the way like changing out the snow tires and summer tires on both vehicles.  They don't like little kids being in the auto hobby shop for some reason.

I also do some volunteer work for a few organizations when I can.

Occasionally, the stars align and everyone is either napping or reading and I can pound out a quick blog post.  I should probably be taking a nap, too.  Yeah, I get to take a nap once in a while too, that is one of the other perks of this great job of being an at-home-parent.

#Dadsdontbabysit  It's called parenting!  http://athomedad.org

Fried Turkey at 20 Below!

I fried my first turkey and I did it in Alaska on Christmas Day when the temperature was 20 below 0.

Hardware:
1 full propane tank (and 1 for back-up)
fire extinguisher
Digital thermometer with "oven safe" wired probe
Turkey fryer:
 - Large pot with lid
 - Poultry rack or basket
 - Oil thermometer
 - Burner and stand
 - Gas line with control knob - I cover the gas line in foil to keep it from getting burnt with hot oil

4 gal. peanut oil for frying

Injection marinade:
Fresh rosemary
Fresh thyme
Fresh sage
course sea salt

1/2 C Broth
1/2 C White wine
1/2 C melted butter


Start with a clean fryer pot.  Place the turkey (with the giblets removed), neck down onto the poultry rack/basket.  Place rack and turkey into fryer.  Fill fryer with water until it just covers the turkey.  Remove turkey and allow to completely drain.  Mark the level of the water in the fryer.  This is how much oil you will need.  Drain the water and dry out the fryer pot.  Water and hot oil DO NOT MIX.

Put the herbs and sea salt in to a food processor or coffee mill and chop as much as possible.  Transfer to a bowl with wine and broth.  Use an immersion blender to grind herbs even finer.  You want the herbs small enough to fit through the injection needle.  Add melted butter to wine and broth mixture.  Inject marinade throughout the turkey.  If the herbs are still too course to fit through the needle, strain the marinade.  You can loosen the skin of the turkey and stuff the strained herbs between the meat and the skin.

Let the turkey sit at room temperature for for about 30 minutes or until your oil is ready for frying.  I kept the turkey on the poultry basket and placed the entire basket and turkey in a large pan.  This allowed the excess blood and water to drain and gave me something to carry the whole thing in without making a mess.

I began heating the oil inside the garage.  Once the oil reached 250 deg F., I turned off the propane and disconnected the tank.  Then I carefully moved the fryer and propane outside and continued heating the oil until it reached 350 deg F.  I used sections of cardboard to create a shelter for the fryer so I would not lose as much heat.  If I had some, I would have rather used plywood or something more sturdy.  When the oil reached 300 deg F., I removed the digital thermometer probe.  Then I inserted the probe into the breast of the turkey.

If the turkey skin is not dry by the time it is ready for frying, pat the skin and cavity dry with paper towels.  Again, water and hot oil DO NOT MIX.

Once the oil reached 350 deg F., I turned off the burner, just in case there was a boil-over.  Then I inserted the turkey into the oil using a large hook.  Once it was submerged, I removed the hook and lit the fryer again.  I kept the lid on the fryer to help retain the heat and still could not get the oil back up to 350 deg F. again.  The oil stayed between 275 and 300.

When the digital thermometer read 155 deg F., which was about 35 minutes into the cooking process, I turned off the gas and removed the turkey using the hook.  I placed the turkey and basked back on to the pan and immediately brought it into the kitchen and let it rest for at least 20 to 30 minutes.   Then I moved the turkey to a carving board and began serving.

Changes in latitudes...

Major change recently.  We are no longer on the Central Coast of California.  We are now in the Interior of Alaska.

But our quest to find real, whole food that is Non-GMO and preferably Organic, has not changed.  Our first two weeks here, we purchased the last offerings at the local farmer's market.  We were able to get: potatoes, carrots, beets, squash, brussels sprouts and two bushels of tomatoes.  Organic meat on the other hand has been hard to come by.  Well, maybe next year we can fill our freezer with caribou and moose.  But I'll need a new gun and that is just such a shame.  -- Sorry, my sarcasm font just does not seem to be working correctly.

Then there is also all of the salmon and halibut.  Yeah, it's going to be rough.  -- See, still not working.

Real, Homemade Almond Butter

I made a 45-minute trek (each way) to Whole Foods only to find that the peanut butter grinder was "Out of Order".  With no real good options for a jarred organic and Non-GMO peanut butter (or almond butter) at the stores near our home, it was time to get creative.  So I searched the internet for way to make my own peanut or almond butter.  I secretly hoped it required a grinder!  This way I could finally buy my own grinder for processing game!  But I found out you can use a food processor or blender.  Guess that grinder will have to wait.

I came across this recipe:  http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-peanut-butter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-199110

Well, I decided to experiment and try it out with our 6 yo son.  I washed an old glass jar and then I started my stop watch.  We pulled out the food processor and began our trial run.

I pretty much followed the recipe but we used 1 cup of raw, whole, organic Non-GMO almonds. 

I did not add any oil and only 1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt. 

At the very end, we ended up with about 5 or 6 ounces of almond butter.  I filled the jar, put it in the fridge and stopped the stop watch.  13 minutes and 30 seconds.  From now on, I vow to being looking for quality whole, raw, organic Non-GMO nuts to make our own nut butters. 

This was TOO EASY!  And, the kids can help make it! 

Finger Cuffs

     Awake at 5:30 am.  At least coffee is ready.  Nothing else is, though.  Two laundry baskets full of clean clothes in the hallway.  Two more full of dirty clothes in the bathroom.  Dirty dishes and cookware are stacked in the sink and on the stove.  This just means that before I can start breakfast, the kitchen will need to be cleaned, or at least everything gets stacked on the counter.  There are 4 or 5 half-finished projects around the house.  And here it is 6:15 am and the kids are already getting out of bed.  I get one to go back into the bedroom and as I shut the bedroom door, the other one opens.  Ugh!  You just cannot convince a 6 year old and certainly not a 3 year old to go back to bed.  They just don't get the concept of sleeping in on a weekend.  So "game on!"  
        
     Now it is time to play referee and goalie -- trying to keep them from fighting and arguing or playing too loud so Mom and baby can sleep.  It also means trying to keep them from going into the bedroom where Mom and baby are sleeping.  I think they believe that if they are awake, everyone should be awake.  When they ask to go get their friends to play at 7 am, I should let them go!!

     Throughout the day, it just seems to be a game of getting by rather than getting things done.  Just about the time a meal is ready and served up, we all sit to eat and something happens - the baby wakes up and is ready to eat too, the dog starts barking at the mail man, or one of the kids needs something or spills something.  When dinner is over, the kids are wound up and so the dishes can wait.  Once the kids to get to bed, plus another 30 to 60 minutes of "get in your room", "go to bed", and "go to sleep", we are too wiped out to do anything and one or both of us falls asleep in the living room -- which is why the dishes are still there come morning.

     Frustrations build because things are not getting done - I have not touched my homework, her work is stacking up, and we barely seem to have enough energy to talk about the things we need to talk about.  The house needs to be cleaned, bills need to be paid, and chores need to be done.  It just seems that the harder we work at getting these things done, the less that actually gets done = finger cuffs.  The harder you struggle and pull to get free, the tighter the grip it has on you.  

Light Green Living

I had the pleasure of listening to a talk given by Jen Boulden of JenBTV.com (http://www.jenbtv.com/ )last month.  It was like a town hall meeting type of discussion and there were many things that came up.  But the one that really hit home with me is something she calls "Light Green Living". 


It reminded me of the story of the two people walking down the beach.  One person picks up a starfish and throws it back into the ocean.  A little further down the beach, another starfish.  This goes on for a little while and the other person asks, "What are you doing?"  The first person says, "I am putting the starfish back into the water."  The second person comments "Look at all these starfish.  You cannot save them all.  It doesn't matter."  The first person replies, "It matters to this one" and tosses another starfish into the water. 


So to me and the way Jen Boulden explained is something like that.  Do what you can to the level you are comfortable with.  You don't need to live "off the grid", make your own soap and grow your own food to be green.  I recycle as much as I can.  I even lead a recycling program for the PTA at my son's elementary school.  And here's the kicker, I take them to the recycle center in my big 3/4 Ton diesel truck. 


My wife and I lived in a small town in Germany for 7 years.  Maybe it is from that experience that I find it so easy to recycle.  We had 4 trash cans: 1 for aluminum and plastic, 1 for cardboard and paper, and 1 for, get this, compostable materials. The last trash can was what was left over and it was probably smaller than most American kitchen trash cans.  Glass wine bottles were recycled at the local store and glass beer bottles are turned in for a refund.


Why can't we figure that out here in the states?  I attended an Earth Day event this year.  There were two trash barrels next to each other, one blue and one black.  Should be pretty easy to figure out, especially at an Earth Day event.  But both trash barrels had cans, bottles, paper and food waste in them.   And Kudos to Mayor Bloomberg (City of New York), for trying to get a compost program started in that city.  It is not that difficult. 


We have a "yard waste" can that the trash truck picks up.  I called the company asking why can't I put kitchen scraps into the yard waste bin if it is all being composted.  What is the difference if it is a pile of weeds or carrot tops or old lettuce?  Oh no!  I can't do that!  But they couldn't give a straight answer as to why. 


Anywho, you cannot save them all but you can make a difference if you just do what you can.  Recycle.  Use a refillable water bottle.  Use real plates and silverware.  And go visit Jen Boulden's website and blog for some really great tips on Light Green Living.  You can find her at:  http://www.jenbtv.com/  and her blog is at:  http://www.jenbtv.com/category/jens-blog/