Got off my lazy and in the kitchen and cut up that whole chicken I bought the other day. Nice to renew those culinary skills. Spent some time making about a cup of “smaltz,” which I’ve never made (and barely heard of) before. Almost every bit of fat I could find on that chicken went into the pot. Worked out fine. Now to find something to use it for.

Making a chicken stock out of the chicken bones and back. Roasted it with some spices for about an hour and it’s been slow cooking for a couple of hours now. Only approximately 3 hours to go on slow cook. It’s starting to smell pretty good.

The beef tallow I made Thursday looks good. Had to let it cool to separate it from the (beef jelly?) but it worked out. Still no idea what I’m going to do with it other than some fries. Real Fries cooked in Beef Fat! We should have never let them talk us into all those other oils for fries.

Funniest Headline I’ve Ever Read: Dominant trans swimmer for Penn narrowly loses to trans swimmer for Yale

One of the worst: Biden admin says ethnicity should be key factor in deciding who gets COVID medications first

The Absolute Worst and I Don’t Know How To Help: Nearly twice as many service members died from suicide in 3 months than from COVID since 2020

Marinaded a steak for most of the afternoon. Cooked my half in the instant pot and her half under the broiler for 4 minutes each side. Taters & Carrots. She ate all of her share so I guess it passed.

Last Wednesday SWMBO and I made a shopping run and during that shopping run we bought a 37 lb chuck lump of meat at what used to be “Cash-n-Carry.” (Holy Fookin’ Hell it was spendy!)

Spent half of yesterday turning that into 25 1-lb sucker bagged ground chuck and almost 8 lbs of various chuck steaks (which I’ve never had that I can think of but it should go through the pressure pot like any other lump of meat) and a chuck roast (see previous parens…). Well, maybe not half the day; but a couple of hours at least. Took a video of me cutting it up but will have to edit it a bit before uploading it to YouTube.

So now we have our burger for the next 6-8 months sucker bagged and in the freezer.

Can’t wait to get a freeze dryer.

SWMBO always comes in when I start the grinding because I cut too much of the fat out and, sometimes, (Usually!) have to add some liquid to the pan to get it to cook right. I don’t eat much fat. Not since having my gall bladder removed (HAD to; not elective surgery just to remove something). So she comes in and adds some back. Because.

Yeah, I know about fat and how some is needed for taste and some is even good for you, BUT, dumping syndrome ain’t fun and I avoid it when I can. Usually with chicken. Lots of chicken.

Today was Date Day and she took me to the All-You-Can-Eat Chinese food place in Port Orchard. Jade something? I always get a couple of bites of everything I like and it’s always too much. But ice cream still fits no matter how stuffed I get. Rarely go back for 2nds but pay the higher price for buffet because a meal will get you only a few of the tastes. So it’s worth it to me.

And still the best part of any meal is her sitting across from me.

We’ve had a bit of snow around here the past week or so. ALL of it melted last night. My back yard has a river running through it from the drainage overflow from the water coming from uphill. Dog and I tried making a tour of the back 40 but it was just too wet. Feet got soaked anyway about 20 meters in. Old Guy. Cold Feet. Come on, Dog. Let’s go home.

Yes, I said Meters. Y’all might as well get used to it; metrics is going to take over and there is nothing you can do about it.

I have my garden out back. Built cinder-block raised beds cause I really hate bending over too far for too long. (Getting OLD, you know.) I don’t grow much; lots of peas, some taters, onions and such. Occasionally some cauliflower or eggplant or broccoli. Keeps me busy and outside in the nice Wx.

BUT, been watching video’s on YouTube about hydroponics and would really like to get into those hydroponic towers and grow some stuff in my basement during the Winter. Kinda spendy to get into it though.

So, thought I’d start small and work my way up as I got more into it. Started some seedlings in the living room window and got a large plastic container to try the “Kratsky?” method of growing stuff. No pumps and all that. Just keep the bucket full to the bottom of the roots with the grow solution.

Well, once I got the “grow light” it started to get intrusive. Bright all the time and the reflected light was messing with my sleep 2 rooms away. So, I did this:

First: I must explain that our house has 2 bathrooms upstairs (where we do most of our living). “Hers” & “Mine.” Hers has our shower (which I get to use with or without her as needed) and is HERS. Mine, is also the guest potty but otherwise I’m pretty much expected to use this one for my daily absolution’s. Seems “someone” takes having her own bathroom extremely seriously.

But I haven’t used the shower in my bathroom in almost 12 years. No One has used that shower in the past 12 years. So I thought “Hmmm. WHY don’t I turn that bit into the experimental green-house area? It stays fairly warm. Its over the tub in case anything leaks. I can close the door at night to block the light. It’s handy. And I don’t have to go through the expense and effort to make the same area in the basement. (It’s Cold Down There!)

So, I did it. So far it’s working nice except that 0230 piss is bright! But I think I can get used to that. My lettuce is already sprouted and I have the nutrient stuff on order and it should be delivered by Friday. Hope the peas grow and still need to figure out where they’ll be able to climb.

Hydroponics Experiment underway. IF this works out I could, sometime in the future, turn our basement into a hydroponics farm for the Winter(s) and grow “stuff” all year.

Otherwise: SSDD around here. Snow finally started melting (sometimes in the rain) and that made our morning walk wet and slippery. Then it snowed like the dickens for an hour.

Took SWMBO to Walmart for a new iron. Stopped at El Serape for lunch/dinner. Hailed a bit. (Was almost like Lake Effect snow in Cleveland.) Got gas on the way home. (Danged pump was pumping at a blazing 1 gal every 1.5 minutes.) Twelve minutes and I had pumped only 11.5 gallons so I gave up.

Letting Gordon Ramsey teach me to be a better cook. His YouTube is way better than his tv show.

Did you know Instant Pot makes the best boiled eggs?

Think I’ll finish this YouTube Documentary on the Volkswagen: The People’s Car of Nazi Germany | War Factories | Timeline and go to bed.

SWMBO and I have a bet on which neighbor will fire more shots into the air tonight.

Man, I hope 2022 turns out better than 2021 has been.