Post #288,984
7/14/07 11:40:29 PM
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Lika a moth to a candle - I just couldn't resist.
One of my local markets (the Russian / Mexican one) had a sale today on pig heads. Well, actually half pig heads.
My Polish and Lithuanian ancestors spake unto me and they sayeth, "Well, it's not exactly wild boar, but hell, you know what to do".
So I'm going to make it into head cheese following a fine old French recipe. But the recipe called for a head with ears on, so I stopped at a local Philippine market and bought a tray of ears, along with enough fresh hocks to provide the extra meat and hide the recipe calls for.
I'll report back later, because it's going to have to pickle in salt for at least a week. The recipe calls for four or five days "in a cool place", but we don't have places like that in Southern California in July, so it'll have to pickle in the fridge.
[image|http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/img/ap_head02g.jpg||||]
Oh, and I have a photo of the other side too if anyone wants to see it.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #288,986
7/15/07 12:59:22 AM
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NSFL -- Not Safe For Lily (but then, I'm sure she knew that)
===
Kip Hawley is still an idiot.
===
Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #288,987
7/15/07 1:05:26 AM
7/15/07 1:22:32 AM
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Hey, she might enjoy the (not shown) reverse side . . .
. . which is quit an interesting view of pig head anatomy. She just has to not think about eating it.
On the other hand she might enjoy even more imagining the front side is her Ex - and I don't think she'd have any problem not thinking of eating that.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #289,006
7/15/07 11:01:32 AM
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I'm only gonna say this once more.
That is a lab project. It is not food!
Imagining the front side as my ex helps. Except I wouldnt dream of eating it. It would go straight down the garbage disposal. I would flip the switch with glee and feed the entire head down the disposal in manageable chunks. One at a time. Grind. Slosh. Tear. Break. Rip. Then I would clean up the kitchen until it sparkled and sit down with a nice cup of tea and feel very relaxed and satisfied.
Me and Jeffery Dahmer.
Oh God. I need to relax.
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Post #289,016
7/15/07 11:50:47 AM
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Lab project yes - but . . .
. . what good is a lab project if you can't eat it when it's done?
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #288,998
7/15/07 9:52:02 AM
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waits in high anticipation /me loves head cheese
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #289,020
7/15/07 12:27:36 PM
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Actually, when this is done . . .
. . I'm going to do a version that doesn't require an actual head, since snouts, ears, tongues, hocks and hides are all easily available in Asian markets. Dealing with the head and disposing of the skull would be a bit of a hassle for many people.
Ummm . . . speaking of which - I tossed it out in the compost pit last night to deal with it in the morning - but it's not there anymore.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #289,022
7/15/07 1:02:00 PM
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ROFL! there is a tribe of lost small boys around there
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #289,075
7/16/07 4:01:11 AM
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Just *half* a tribe, apparently.
(It was only half a pig's head. :-)
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Post #289,108
7/16/07 1:35:00 PM
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I'm still betting on a dog . . .
. . taking it home to master as a gift.
"Fido! you're never to go outside the house again - hear me?"
Bit it isn't really that bad since I scooped the brain out - but the eye is still in there.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #289,112
7/16/07 2:41:31 PM
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How big are your crows out there?
Crows around here are constantly picking up spare rib bones and putting them in gutters (I guess to soften them up or something). Maybe you've got a big crow that carried it off...
Cheers,
Scott.
(But who wouldn't bet on it.)
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Post #289,119
7/16/07 3:48:55 PM
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We don't have crows here - we have ravens . . .
. . they're a lot bigger than crows, smarter too - but I'm pretty sure that thing was way too heavy for even the largest of them.
Overheard a lady just in from the South calling back home, "They have crows here as big as chickens!"
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #289,324
7/18/07 12:19:06 PM
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Decent book about ravens... .
[link|http://www.amazon.com/Ravens-Winter-Bernd-Heinrich/dp/0679732365/ref=sr_1_1/105-4246075-1162046?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184776624&sr=8-1|http://www.amazon.co...1184776624&sr=8-1]
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Post #289,327
7/18/07 12:28:25 PM
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odd, ravens in the north are friendly to predators
man included because they know predators share. If moose hunting they will help you find one because humans leave most of the good stuff in the gutpile. Bears and wolves dont.
thanx,
bill
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #289,170
7/16/07 10:16:01 PM
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You have a compost *pit* ... wow
===
Kip Hawley is still an idiot.
===
Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #289,176
7/17/07 12:24:08 AM
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Yes, I dig a new one when one fills up . . .
. . shoveling all the dirt over the old one. It's a mound for only a few weeks, gradually sagging back to level with the rest of the ground. A year later about all that can be found is a few crumbling bones.
I have a compost pile too, but that's just for stuff that's been fed through the tree eating machine - no kitchen waste in that one.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #289,278
7/17/07 5:08:52 PM
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What do you do with the compost?
I didnt know you gardened.
You arent supposed to compost animal parts,dontcha know. It makes foul compost and ATTRACTS ANIMALS!
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Post #289,282
7/17/07 5:23:41 PM
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Well, knowing Andrew...
... it's probably an ingredient in some obscure Asian recipe.
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
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Post #289,289
7/17/07 6:07:18 PM
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I don't have to do anything with it.
It's just absorbed by the ground - never to be seen (or smelled) again. I'm presuming it adds nutrients to the ground but when I dig a new pit a year later there's nothing there but sand and a few disintegrating bones.
If I'm planting something I use stuff from the pile that's been through the chipper - no kitchen wastes in that pile.
Things planted or trnasplanted within the last year or so: kaffir lime tree, angelica, basil, rue, lemon verbina, epazota, turmeric (yellow and white), Jerusalem artichoke (accidentally), horseradish, sage, marjoram, oregano and papyrus reeds.
The papyrus is doing very nicely, about 7 feet tall and spreading fast - it burst it's original planter. I thought it would need more water than it does, but it's quite tolerant.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #289,290
7/17/07 6:16:17 PM
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Limes would be nice.
We've got an apricot tree and a nectarine tree in the backyard, but the squirrels and the wasps are the only ones who benefit from it.
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
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Post #289,291
7/17/07 7:03:16 PM
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Kaffir limes are a bit different.
The leaves are a little strange, two leaves per leaf stem and small warty fruit (often much more warty than the one in the picture). The fruits are highly aromatic but a bit dry so not good for squeezing.
Kaffir lime is an essential ingredient in Thai cooking with no satisfactory substitute. It's rather inconveneient to get though, if you don't have your own tree. The leaves are used in endless dishes while the fruit rinds are used in curry pastes. Ya just can't do Thai without 'em.
[image|http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/img/ci_kafir03d.jpg||||]
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #289,304
7/17/07 9:30:17 PM
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Why no kitchen waste in your compost?
I think I can understand no animal waste, but I thought vegetable waste would be good for it. My Dad's had a compost pile of some sort for many many years. I know we put vegetable waste in it, but I don't remember whether we put animal waste in.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
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Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
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-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. | · my ·
· [link|http://staticsan.livejournal.com/|blog] ·
· [link|http://yceran.org/|website] · |
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Post #289,305
7/17/07 10:12:27 PM
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Well, it comes down to two things . . .
First, there's no sorting in the kitchen - there's just one container, so it all goes into the pit, usually in the dead of night because - well, because that's when it gets done.
Second, the chip pile isn't particularly well managed, it just piles up in front of the chipper as stuff gets chipped. It'd take a lot more discipline and attention to run a proper compost system. It takes a real gardening enthusiast to do those things right.
The pigeon poop needs better handling too - and the fireplace ashes of which there are plenty because that's where I dispose of a lot of the debris from the blue gums. You can't use those leaves for mulch or compost because they're toxic.
Incidentally, bugs from Australia have finally made it to California. 20 years ago it was almost impossible to find a eucalyptus leaf with a bite out of it, now it's getting hard to find one that isn't bitten around the edges.
The long horned bark beetles have gotten here too, but they haven't caused the devestation predicted when they first appeared. In my experience they only go after newly cut logs, but boy do they munch on those!
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #289,359
7/18/07 9:03:10 PM
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Blue gum leaves are toxic? How about sweet gum?
===
Kip Hawley is still an idiot.
===
Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #289,370
7/18/07 11:23:39 PM
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They are completely different - related only . . .
. . at the Class level (Magnoliopsida), and that's very distant indeed. Blue Gums are Eucalyptus, members of the Myrtle family. Sweet gum leaves are not toxic - eucalyptus is mildly toxic unless you are a Koala.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #290,022
7/29/07 9:58:42 PM
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Here it is - the Big Cheese! Yay!
Home made [link|http://www.clovegarden.com/recipes/gam_headchz1.html|Head Cheese] by an antique French recipe.
This project was quite successful. Next I'm going to do a version that doesn't require an actual head but uses parts more easily available in Asian markets - hocks, snouts, ears, tongues, etc.
But not this week. I still have plenty left. I remelted it, simmered it and re-molded it today to make sure it didn't spoil before I can eat it all.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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