Making Speghetti

I love pasta and found this cheap pasta machine at TJ Max for half price so I thought - why not. It seems to do a good job but this first trial did not go very well due to not mixing up the dough correctly and / or not letting it rest before starting. It was really good and tasted fresh and by the time I added a Shrimp and Homemade Summer Sausage with onion and garlic to some Homemade Bachamel Sauce it was pretty stellar.

Italian Spaghetti and French Bread

I made this spaghetti using a pack of Johnsonville Hot Italian Sausage links and a handful of smokey Canadian Bacon I made and the smokey bacon really made the dish special. It also had the benefit of home grown canned tomatoes, and some fresh basil and was cooked real slow, man it was good. I made the pasta from scratch and that was a first for me but definitely won't be the last. Making it was easy except for cutting it out and I did a poor job of that and got them too big. We finally convinced ourselves that we needed a stand mixer enough to actually go ahead and buy one yesterday and I think that's the best purchase I've made in a long time. Think about it, baking bread makes your house smell soooo good, fresh baked bread is one of the pleasures of life especially for a bread lover, and it should pay for itself as high as bread is getting these days.

Homemade Summer Sausage

Sooner or later people will start to know and appreciate the Traeger Pellet Grills. I have cooked with many different types of smoker grills and the one thing that stands out with this cooker is the EASE OF USE. Even with an experienced cook like me that never has a problem with operating various cookers, the EASE OF USE factor will definitely result in cooking more than you would without this pellet cooker. I did a double grind on 12 lbs of top round and 3 lbs of lean pork using the fine grind on the second pass. This meat was in steak form and thin so it was easy to cut into small cubes and I like putting the cure / seasoning on before grinding. Packed as tight as I could and smoked until an internal of 152. The taste test this morning says this is well worth the effort and I sure wish I could have got this done before Christmas for presents like I planned but I doubt the recipients will complain on getting theirs late.

Happy New Year

Moo and Oink meet in the cooker at the same time. It's a little unusual to find bone in Chuck cut this way let alone finding a bone in Butt cut the same way on the same day. I knew what I was going to do as soon as I found that Butt the same thickness as the Chuck I already had and that was make two roast with them adding onions, potatoes, and carrots just like my Granny use to make. Yesterday's traditional New Years Peas and Greens were the best I have ever had and that's saying a lot! We took a plate to Aunt Mary Lou at the rest home and she ate like she was starved to death and when they brought her tray I could see why. Here's wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

CHUCK ON LEFT - PORK ON RIGHT



PORK




BEEF





SO GOOD.....