Goodbye to the Crepe Myrtle

Goodbye to the Crepe Myrtle in our front yard, after living probably more than fifty years, the house we live in was built in the mid 1950's.
Crepe Myrtle trees live well past 50 years so we assume it was planted sometime after the house was built so could easily have been 60 years old.

Two thirds were dead and the rest struggled to produce any flowers or leaves this last summer. So this week we replaced it with a deciduous flowering Ash, a great shade tree that will give shade to the driveway and the front of the house in our hot summers but let sunshine and light in in our chilly winters.

The wood from the Crepe Myrtle will make fine firewood for the wood fired pizza oven this friday evening. Hmmm pizza - http://wfrblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/hmmm-pizza.html

 

 The new

 The old

In situ

Helen Week 1

Helen 9 Weeks old and settling in well.

Our newest family member Helen.

After the passing of our beautiful English Staffordshire Terrier, Hermione last October we needed to fill the space she left. Hermione, in Greek mythology, is the only daughter of Helen of Troy. So Helen was the name chosen for our new blue and white American Staffordshire Terrier.

Helen, a pure bred American Staffordshire was born on the 16th of April and is currently 8 weeks old.

Here is a picture of her Mum.

History

In the nineteenth century in the English region of Staffordshire, crossing among the Bulldog and various terriers developed the muscular, active, combative Staffordshire Bullterrier.

Introduced to the United States, the English Staffordshire breed was developed by American breeders who increased its weight and gave it a more powerful head. Now recognised as a separate breed, the American Staffordshire is larger and heavier than his British cousin, the English Staffordshire Terrier.

The American Staffordshire Terrier is extremely strong for its size. They are agile, very muscular and stocky with a broad, powerful head. Dogs of this breed make good family pets and are loving with children.

This breed is recommended for an active owner who is firm, confident and consistent with their dogs training. This is a brave dog which is loyal to its family, tenacious, tough and will make a good watchdog. Ironically the dogs are usually a great big loveable sook.

Wild Caught Organic Blue Fin Tuna

 The harvest

 Smoked Tuna

Sushi

Cooking with fire

 Wood harvesting

 Wood seasoning

Pork Charcuterie from Paddock to Plate

 From paddock to plate.

Spraying the cotton 

Somewhere in NSW 

 Wild harvested organic pork Cheese Kransky Sausages
 

Pork meat 80/20 lean/fat 4 Kg, GF Cooked Kransky Russian Easy Pack Pre-Mix 250g, Iced Water 750g, Diced Low Fat Cheddar Cheese 500g

Flavour / Spices
Smoke in smoker on low heat for 2 - 3 hours

 Wild harvested organic Pork Kabana II
Kabana Pre-Mix 10 Kg Block. Pork meat 8 Kg Kabana Pre-Mix 500g Iced Water 1.5Kg

Flavour / Spices
1 whole garlic bulb crushed
25g packet onion powder
Smoke in smoker on low heat for 2 - 3 hours

 Wild harvested organic pork Strasbourg Sausage

Quality Ingredients GF Cooked Strasbourg Easy Pack Pre-Mix, 20 Kg Block.

Lean Meat 80% + Fat 20% = 100% Block

Lean Pork 15 Kg Pork Fat 2 Kg
GF Cooked Strasbourg Easy Pack Pre-Mix 1Kg Iced Water 2 Kg
Flavour / Spices
Place the filled casings into the refrigerator overnight (or for at least 12 hours) to stabilise.

Cook in water at 90°C until internal temp reaches 68°C.

Wild harvested organic pork Boneless Smoked Ham

Cure.

‘Denco' Total Cure 1.7kg cure per 45L of water, 3.5kg of salt per 45L of water to brine after cure has been dissolved. 1 kg dark brown sugar per 45L of water  Inject/pump brine into meat to 35-40% of weight. Soak in brine 2-3 days

After the curing process, remove your meat and thoroughly rinse it under a cold running tap, ensuring to remove any and all excess salt and spices. After this, soak your meat in room temperature water for 2 hours to further remove excess saltiness and cure.

Equalise and form the Pellicle.
Place the meat on a plate uncovered inside your refrigerator for 24 hours. The remaining cure and salt should 'equalise' throughout the meat, resulting in a less salty and more 'even' tasting final product.

The meat will form a 'pellicle'. This is a tacky sheen that will appear on the surface of the meat. The pellicle will help your meat more readily absorb a Hickory smoke flavour when smoking.

Smoke.
Set smoker to 110° C and add hickory chips. Cook hams until they reaches an internal temperature of 65° C.

 

 Wild harvested organic pork Salami

Lean Pork 18Kg + 5.4 Pork Fat = 23.4Kg Block, Sodium Nitrite 45g Denco Salami Pre-Mix 1Kg

Flavour / Spices
150g coarsely ground black pepper,  220g minced pasted fresh garlic, 1.5 Lt (2 x 750 ml bottles) red wine (Shiraz), 200g Paprika, 175g Hot Dry Chilli Flakes

Air dry 4-6 weeks.