Monthly Archives: January 2016

Hello Fresh

You probably heard that San Diego, along with most of California, was slammed with El Nino driven storms this week. We had heavy rain on Wednesday, lashing down at times as hard as I’ve ever seen it rain here. There was a short break in the weather in the morning. Donna took advantage and went out for a run. I made a break for it on the scooter and picked up beer at Keil’s. My timing was not so good – it started raining again as I left the store. We spent most of the day indoors.

Donna sent weekly Hello Fresh deliveries to her parents for Christmas. Each delivery includes recipes plus all the ingredients needed to create three healthy, tasty meals for two. Members get a discount code that they can share, so Donna used it to order a box for us. (We got $40 off the regular price of $69 and that gave Donna’s parents a $20 credit on their subscription – their discount code is DQVHHL – you’re welcome to use it!)

On Wednesday evening, she prepared the first meal – a skillet chicken pot pie.

Hello Fresh recipe and pre-measured ingredients

Hello Fresh recipe and pre-measured ingredients

The pot pie was different from the commercially available pot pies at the grocery store. It didn’t have a pie crust – it had biscuits similar to dumplings.

Chicken pot pie recipe ready to serve

Chicken pot pie recipe ready to serve

It was good and the ingredients were fresh. I thought it was a little heavy on the thyme. Although they claim it’s a meal for two, the portions for this recipe would be very large if we served it that way. We usually eat smaller meals, so we ate a little more than half and had leftover pot pie. I paired a special edition beer – it was collaboration between Sierra Nevada Brewing up in the bay area and San Diego’s Stone brewing. They brewed an IPA, split it in half and barrel aged them. Half of the batch was aged in a gin-infused bourbon barrel, the other half went into a rye whiskey barrel. Months later they brewed a fresh batch of IPA and blended all three beers together. It was an interesting ale. It didn’t have a heavy bourbon presence – I think the gin-infused barrel cut that a bit. It wasn’t overly hoppy. It seems like a lot of work to make a beer like this. I liked it but it didn’t leave a lasting impression on me.

North by South IPA

North by South IPA

We had a break in the rain on Thursday morning. I looked at the hourly forecast and the weather radar and told Donna we might have a passing shower around 9am and heavy rain around 11am. Donna walked to Enterprise to rent a car. She timed her walk to arrive there ahead of the showers and it worked out. She wanted a car to get to her appointment to have her hair cut.

The 11am rain prediction was true. Donna came home around then. I used the car to go play pickleball at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center. Donna stayed home to work on her blog post. We’ll have the car through the weekend. Originally we planned to pull out of here on the 8th, but I extended our stay until the 14th. I’m glad we didn’t have to pull out on a stormy day and hit the road.

On Thursday evening, the rain abated and we went to the Offshore Tavern and Grill for their holiday party – not sure why they decided to schedule it for after the holidays, but they did. All drinks were three dollars and free hors d’oeuvres were served by the wait staff walking around with trays. One of the appetizers was prime rib bruschetta with horseradish sauce. It was delightful. I also ordered a poke plate made with sushi grade ahi tuna for us.

Poke plate

Poke plate

There was quite a crowd and everyone was having a great time. We were lucky to get seats at the bar, but after an hour or so, we decided to head for home about 8pm. Back at the park we found new neighbors two sites down from us. They invited us to join their campfire. We enjoyed talking, sitting by the fire and imbibing adult beverages.

Neighbor's campfire

Neighbor’s campfire

On Friday morning, we awoke to abundant sunshine! It was a welcome sight after days of rain. California needs the water and the rain was a good thing. The snow pack in the local mountains and Sierra Nevada range will be a big help in the spring. Donna and I drove over to the Ocean Beach Recreation Center for pickleball. We always have fun there. We met a couple, Scott and Norma, that are full-timers staying here at the Mission Bay RV Resort. We hope to get together with them soon. Norma stopped by in the afternoon and invited us to visit around 6pm. I had to take a rain check as we already had plans for our friends, Bud and Mona, to visit us in the evening.

Donna made the second of three Hello Fresh meals Friday night. She made sage-butter pork chops with roasted broccolini and citrusy potato salad. It was very good. Donna is having fun with the new recipes.

Sage - butter pork chps

Sage-butter pork chops

With this meal, I tried another Stone special release in the Stochasticity Project line. It was called Grainiac and the grain bill included 2-row pale malt, white wheat, grouse malted millet, grouse malted buckwheat, carrarye, golden naked oats and triticale. It was definitely a malty brew somewhat reminiscent of their Arrogant Bastard ale.

Grainiac

Grainiac

Bud and Mona came over around 6:30pm. We sat outside and talked. As always, when we spend time with good friends, the time flies by. We chatted for a couple of hours before they had to leave. Mona had to be up early for work.

Bud, Mona and Donna

Bud, Mona and Donna

We wanted to go see Hans’ band, The Sand Devils, play at a club in North Park. But we weren’t up to it by 9pm, so we stayed inside and watched an episode of Penny Dreadful.

We have clear, blue skies again today. The temperature is below average in the low 60s. There’s a chance of rain around midnight. We’ll have to get out and enjoy the sunshine!

 

Floods and Earthquakes

Monday was a laid back day. Somehow the morning got away from me. Donna went out for a run around noon. I got out and walked laps around the park to stretch and get some fresh air. I knew I would be spending a lot of time inside the coach this week.

The weather is being affected by the El Nino condition in the Pacific Ocean. I’m sure most of us have already heard references to El Nino. It’s a warming trend of the waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The warmer waters are found all the way up the coast here in California. This week, the storms associated with El Nino that were anticipated by all of the weather guessers are materializing.

Storm clouds moving in

Storm clouds moving in

Out on my walk, I saw the first of the series of storms that will hit us this week rolling in. We had heavy cloud cover all day and a few showers.

On Monday evening, we joined our friends, Hans and Lisa (Metamorphosis Road), for dinner at their coach. We started off with sampler glasses of beer. I opened a Hop Highway IPA from Belching Beaver Brewery. We poured about four or five ounces each. We followed that with another IPA from their refrigerator – the name of that one escapes me. For dinner, Lisa prepared lemon pepper pasta with spicy shrimp. The pasta came from Trader Joe’s and it’s really good. Donna brought roasted cherry tomatoes with fresh herbs for a side dish to go along with LIsa’s garlicky green beans and mushrooms. I neglected to take any photos once again. So you’ll have to trust me that dinner looked as good as it tasted!

After our meal, we shared a Voo Doo American stout from Left Coast Brewing with a dessert of fresh fruit salad with pineapple and blood orange and some chocolate stout cookies Lisa made. We talked and also listened to a documentary on surf guitar. Hans plays guitar in a surf band called The Sand Devils. We came home around 8pm and watched the final episode of Mr. Robot.

The rain started falling in earnest during the night. On Tuesday morning, Donna sat down to write an article for Quill – an online office supply company – and had to meet a deadline. The night before, we made plans to go to the Pacific Beach Recreation Center (PBRC) with Hans and Lisa for pickleball. Donna had to bow out to finish her article. I joined Hans and Lisa at 11:45am and we drove to PBRC in their truck.

There was a break in the rainfall as we drove there.  While we were inside on the pickleball courts, we could hear the rain pouring down and drumming on the roof. I think the weather curtailed a lot of outdoor activities for many people, so they came to PBRC to play. At one point, I counted 16 people on the court and 17 people waiting to play. We worked out a more efficient rotation on the courts and things moved along smoothly. We all had fun playing.

On the way home, we saw palm fronds on Grand Avenue. The storm had torn them away from the palm trees that line the street. Back in the coach, the rain fell heavily at times – some of the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen in San Diego. Donna continued to work all afternoon.

For happy hour, I opened a bottle of Shipwrecked IPA from Mission Brewery – they’re in San Diego by the airport at the foot of Washington Street. This is strong ale at 9.25% ABV but it’s smooth and very well-balanced. It’s one of easiest drinking double IPAs I’ve tried.

Shipwreck double IPA

Shipwrecked double IPA

There was a short break in the weather right before sunset. On Facebook, I saw several videos of flooding in the area, including videos of dim-witted drivers entering flooded intersections and stalling their cars. Driving a car into water deep enough to reach the engine’s air intake can cause severe damage. The water enters the combustion chamber where air is normally compressed. Water isn’t compressible – something has to give so it usually results in bent connecting rods and an expensive repair bill.

This morning we were awake but still in bed around 6:45am when the coach started rocking. I asked Donna if she felt it. It was an earthquake. Later we found out it was a 4.5 magnitude quake centered in Banning, California – about 100 miles from here. That’s the second earthquake here in the last week or so.

Right now we have mostly cloudy skies with a break in the rainfall. This will change by this afternoon when the next storm rolls in from the Pacific. I have a things-to-do list for indoor projects. I’ll try to knock a couple of items off the list today.

Like Christmas Again

Saturday went as planned – after I posted to the blog, Donna went for a bike ride and I took my quadcopter over to De Anza Cove Park across from the RV Resort entrance (map). I practiced hovering, flying away from me and back and also flying from side to side. It takes a fair amount of concentration to keep it under control. Hovering requires constant throttle adjustment as the ‘copter will climb or drop with any change in wind or if I make a right-left or forward-back correction. The four rotors that create lift for the ‘copter also control the heading by making small speed adjustments thus tilting the platform. A half hour was enough so I walked back to the coach.

The day before, UPS had dropped off three boxes for Donna. When she returned from her 20-mile bicycle ride up Rose Canyon Trail to University Town Center and back through Clairemont, she wanted to open the boxes. They were sent from an editor at Family Circle magazine who is looking for product reviews from cleaning experts for the April 2016 issue.

I opened the smaller box first and we found it packed with household cleaning and laundry products. The next box had a lightweight Oxo broom and dustpan set with an extendable handle. That box also contained more cleaning products including a soon-to-be released shower and tub scrubber from Oxo that Donna said is a cleaning dream come true. The last box held a Shark Rocket AH452 lightweight vacuum cleaner with powerful suction. It’s a new product and I didn’t find this exact model online, but it’s similar to this one on Amazon. It was like Christmas all over again – opening boxes and finding surprise items inside.

Donna still had Sheila’s car, so she took a trip to Vons and Trader Joe’s to get groceries. We expected the weather to deteriorate by the end of the weekend, so she wanted to stock up for the week. She bought a nice five-pound whole chicken at Trader Joe’s. I prepped the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker/grill and we teamed up to season the chicken. It’s much easier if one person lightly rubs the chicken with olive oil, then holds and rotates it while the second person applies the seasoning inside and out. Donna did the first part and I shook the seasoning. I used the last of the Traeger chicken rub on the inside and back of the bird then applied Sweet Rub O’Mine.

I roasted the whole chicken on the high setting on the Traeger. The Sweet Rub O’Mine has a lot of sugar in it which caramelizes and helps attain a nice crispy skin. In the photo it looks like the skin is burnt. It isn’t, it’s just the caramelized rub. The chicken was flavorful with no burnt taste at all.

Traeger roasted chicken

Traeger roasted chicken

Dinner plate with a wild rice blend with dried cranbeeries, pecans and scallions.

Chicken breast and wing with a side of yummy rice and steamed green beans

Donna whipped up an absolutely delicious side dish. She added dried cranberries, pecans and scallions along with some orange zest and orange juice and honey to a wild rice blend after cooking. The chicken was moist and tender. I paired the meal with a bottle of Voo Doo American stout brewed by Left Coast Brewing in San Clemente.

Voo Doo American stout

Voo Doo American stout

This is a dark, full-bodied, malty stout with flavors of chocolate and coffee. It’s strong at 8.0% and balanced at 39 IBUs.

Sunday was a lazy day for me. I put away a few things we had out in preparation of rain in the forecast. Donna went out for a four-mile run. Then she took down the Christmas decorations and stored everything away in a basement compartment. I spent the rest of the day watching the last week of regular season NFL football.

We made stacked enchiladas for dinner. I cut about a pound of leftover brisket across the grain then diced it. Donna put enchilada sauce in the bottom of a pyrex casserole dish then added a layer of corn tortillas. Then she poured more enchilada sauce over the tortillas and added the brisket meat and cotija cheese. This was followed by another layer of tortillas, sauce, meat and cheese. Then the top layer of tortillas was put on and covered with sauce, cotija cheese and white cheddar cheese. Foil was placed over the casserole dish and it was baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. It made a great meal and I’m looking forward to reheating the leftovers.

After the last game of the day with the Minnesota Vikings prevailing over the Green Bay Packers – thus winning the NFC north division – we watched a couple of episodes of Mr. Robot. It’s a USA Network series that we’ve enjoyed watching. We have one more episode left in season one.

The rain predicted came overnight. It’s cloudy but fairly warm at 60 degrees this morning. Our friends Hans and Lisa (Metamorphosis Road) arrived here at the RV park yesterday. Tonight we plan to join them for dinner and sample a few beers. I have another bottle of Voo Doo and some IPAs. The rest of our week will probably be low-key. There are a series of storms lined up in the Pacific that will bring periods of rain each day in the coming week.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

 

 

Brisket Obsession

On New Year’s Day, I fired up the Traeger to cook the brisket I bought last weekend. Smoking a perfect brisket has become an obsession. Brisket isn’t like most cuts of beef. The brisket comes from the pectoralis muscles between the cow’s front legs. There are two muscles – the pectoralis minor which is often called the flat and the pectoralis major which is called the point. A layer of fat separates the two muscles and the grain in each runs perpendicular to the other.

The most tender cuts of beef comes from muscles that don’t perform much work. These are found along the back behind the shoulder and in front of the hindquarters. Brisket does not come from this area. The brisket is a hard-working muscle and can be tough and leathery if it isn’t prepared properly. The flat is very lean with a fat cap and the point is often marbled with fat and also has a fat cap.

Many people like their steaks medium rare. This is usually achieved with an internal temperature of 130-140 degrees Fahrenheit. You don’t want to try this with brisket. The muscle fibers in the brisket are separated by connective tissues called collagen. Brisket needs to reach a high enough internal temperature and hold that temperature long enough for the collagen to break down into a liquid form. This is what makes a tender, juicy brisket. But, if you overcook it, it can become dry.

Here are some photos I lifted from a forum that shows undercooked and properly cooked cuts of brisket.

Black arrows point to collagen

Black arrows point to collagen in undercooked brisket

Undercooked - the connective tissues will make this meat tough and chewy

Undercooked – the connective tissues will make this meat tough and chewy

The arrows point to voids where the collagen has broken down to liquid

The arrows point to voids in this well-cooked brisket where the collagen has broken down to liquid

Another example of well cooked brisket with the connective tissues broken down

Another example of well-cooked brisket with the connective tissues broken down

Most barbeque cooks shoot for an internal temperature of 195 – 205 degrees Fahrenheit for their brisket. I use a few techniques to achieve this without burning the meat to a crisp or drying it out.

On New Year’s Eve, I removed the USDA Choice brisket point from the refrigerator and prepped it. I trimmed it (the butcher at Keil’s already did a good job of trimming) and seasoned it with Brown Sugar Bourbon Rub from Brook’s BBQ in Oneonta, New York.

USDA Choice Certified Angus Beef brisket

USDA Choice Certified Angus Beef brisket

I wrapped it and put it back in the refrigerator to sit overnight.

On Friday morning, I fired up the Traeger and put the brisket on at 9:30am.

Brisket on the grill - Traeger set to "smoke"

Brisket on the grill – Traeger set to “smoke”

I left it on the smoke setting for two hours. The pit temperature was only about 170 degrees. The smoke setting doesn’t use the temperature sensor in the grill, it feeds pellets based solely on time. It feeds pellets for about 15 seconds, then shuts the auger off for 65 seconds. This creates a cool, smokey fire. After two hours I set the grill temperature to 180 degrees. This activated the temperature sensor and the pellet feed was controlled by actual temperature achieved.

An hour later, an instant read thermometer showed the internal temperature of the thickest part at 130 degrees. I reset the grill to reach 225 degrees. I spritzed the meat a few times with a mixture of beer, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce in a spray bottle. This was my mop sauce. After an hour at 225 degrees, the internal temperature of the brisket was 155 degrees and a nice bark had formed on the surface.

I removed the brisket from the grill, double wrapped it in foil and returned it to the grill. I also sprayed plenty of mop sauce inside the foil. After two and a half hours, I lifted the lid and checked the internal temperature of the thickest part of the brisket – it was 208 degrees.

I took the brisket off the grill and with the foil still covering the brisket I wrapped it in an old towel and put it in the microwave oven. I wanted to continue holding a high internal temperature without exposing the meat to external heat. The confined space of the microwave oven was a perfect place to let it cool slowly.

After 75 minutes in the microwave, I unwrapped the brisket on a cutting board. I let it cool for about 20 minutes to firm up, then sliced the meat across the grain.

Brisket unwrapped

Brisket unwrapped

Moist, tender slices

Moist, tender slices

We retrieved about a cup of au jus from the foil wrapping. Donna put the cup of jus in the refrigerator to separate the fat. As it cools, the fat solidifies and can be skimmed off. The remaining juice makes a great dipping au jus.

We picked up bakery rolls the day before. Donna sliced the rolls and we made brisket sandwiches. Delicious!

Brisket sandwich on a cheese bakery roll

Brisket sandwich on a cheese bakery roll

A bottle of ale to go with the brisket

A bottle of ale to go with the brisket

That’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about smoking a brisket. We have a lot of leftover meat. I plan to use the leftover brisket to make beef and cheese enchiladas.

Today we have nice weather – clear blue skies and the temperature should reach the mid to upper 60s – a carbon copy of yesterday’s weather. There’s no wind so maybe I’ll fly my ‘copter while Donna takes a bike ride. That’s what we did yesterday while the brisket was cooking.

 

Seventeen States in 2015

Happy new year! Wow. Our 2015 was a great year, full of fun and adventures. We rang in last year with our friends Debbie and Bruce at Hidden Shores on the Arizona side of the Colorado River near Imperial Dam. We traveled through 17 states plus Washington D.C.

Our travels took us to Texas where we visited with my middle daughter, then up the middle of the country to Minnesota where Donna competed in the Senior Olympics. From there we went east through the upper peninsula of Michigan and down to the Detroit area to see old friends. From there, we headed to upstate New York where we spent a month with Donna’s family before turning south. We visited Gettysburg before going to D.C. to see my youngest daughter, then came all the way across the country to finish out the year in San Diego.

In addition to seeing friends and family and making new friends along the way, one of the biggest highlights of our year was crewing for the Hearts A’Fire hot air balloon team at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Also, along the way, we picked up a feline passenger otherwise known as Ozark the traveling cat who has added much joy and entertainment to our lives.

WordPress sent me a link to my blog stats for the year. Although I originally started this blog so my family and friends would know where we were and what we were up to, it’s grown far larger than I ever imagined. We had more than 68,000 visitors to the site from 111 countries – most were from the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Yesterday I took advantage of the nice weather and flew my quadcopter. I went to the clubhouse area where there’s a paved area enclosed by a chain link fence. I was alone in there and didn’t have to worry about hitting anyone with the ‘copter. I kept it at an altitude of eight to 15 feet above the ground and practiced moving it away from me and bringing it back and going side to side. I changed out the battery pack and flew for nearly 20 minutes. On the way back to the coach, I flew the ‘copter again at the grassy area next to the security shack. I wanted the security supervisor, Thomas, to see me fly it – he witnessed my failure with the first ‘copter.

I have three fully charged battery packs and plan to fly it again today. Once I’m fully proficient, I’ll try video or photography by linking my Samsung Galaxy phone to the ‘copter camera.

Last evening, Donna prepared an appetizer plate and we went to visit with our friends Kris and Tom Downey (Open Road 365). I carried the appetizer plate with a martini in my other hand to begin our New Year’s Eve celebration. Tom made bacon-wrapped cheese crackers on his Traeger smoker/grill. They were really tasty!

New Year's Eve appetizers

New Year’s Eve appetizers

Since Kris has limited mobility at present with staples and other assorted hardware in her ankle, Donna offered to cook dinner at their place. She made a kale salad using a recipe she got from Lisa McGuire (Metamorphosis Road). She served it with steamed lobster tails, curry roasted sweet potatoes, and eggnog bread and we enjoyed a delicious dinner. I switched to craft beers with dinner and after dinner, Tom poured eggnog and Irish Whiskey.

We played Yahtzee and watched the telecast of the ball drop in Times Square at 9pm our time. We had a great time and I completely forgot about taking pictures. We left Tom and Kris around 10pm and came home. I didn’t make it to midnight – I was in bed by 11pm. I’m sure Sea World had a spectacular fireworks show, but I missed it. It’s okay, we’ll see plenty of fireworks at Lake Havasu next month.

We have lots of sunshine on this first day of the year. I have the brisket I bought last weekend smoking on the Traeger. Donna is heading out for a bike ride. I’ll hang out to keep an eye on the brisket. We’re looking forward to some yummy sliced brisket sandwiches later.

Our plan for 2016 is pretty loose. We’ll stay in the western states and make a trip to the northwest to visit my oldest daughter and granddaughters. We wish you good health and much happiness wherever you are and wherever you go in 2016.