a lite weight cast iron pot ?

           I love my cast iron skillets and pots but they are heavy. Since my surgery I have had trouble with my left wrist because of the skin graft and nerves that they removed . Some cast iron demands 2 hands to handle. I have mostly Lodge  but a few Griswold and Wagner pieces . I  always keep a 12 inch lodge skillet on the stove .     Remove It and DIE !!!!!    Why, because it hurts my wrist to dig it out of the cabinet. I use it Everyday its my tater and egg skillet .  I also have a lodge 3.2 quart fryer with a skillet lid combo that I rarely use now . My son asked if he could "borrow it"
You know kid code for if you say yes kiss ever  seeing it again  goodbye.  Lodge 
                                                           I was willing to get him his own pot and skillet and found this  at Wal-Mart  In there Ozark trail line .Ozark trail 3.2 combo

          

    It is only a 1/3 as heavy as the lodge but it looks well made and was only 11 $ . So far I have just cooked bacon in the skillet  I think I like it. Time will tell how it holds up and cakes up a good seasoning layer. I may get these down the road . cast iron is a true multi generational item. 

                               2 quart

12 inch

8 inch

Women in the kitchen are sexy Or am i getting old??

    Was catching up on reading when I found this set of pictures posted on Goodshit

 

     Now picture 1 and 3 did nothing for me # 2 you would have to be dead not to enjoy. The rest made me feel old. Was I enjoying the beautiful lady's or the fact that they were in the kitchen?

Not all customers are good .

     This weekend I  was told a friend's little dinner was closed. Me and the wife used to eat there a couple lunches a week . Old Max was a fair cook that did a decent meat and 3  plus clubs and burgers. Well Max is in his mid 70s and decided to retire . I saw him about 6 weeks ago and he asked me if I would buy it, he gave me a very good price . 12,000$ and he would take it at 1000 a month for a year from me. I know it would pay for its self but he is open from 5am till 2  6 days a week. After expense's it would have been 500 to 750 a week but it would have been 60 hours a week! I told him I appreciated the offer but it wasn't what I planned on for a retirement.

    Now I know I could have changed the menu dropping some and adding others items as Max has done his thing for 15 years unchanged. My biggest problem was the hours, limited seating (40 maybe) and a Bullsitting crowd. The bane of small dinners a group of 6 or so that sit 1 to a booth or 6 out of 10  for lunch and a hour of B.S. after. I have seen to many potential customers leave because of no seating . While I want a full time food sales setup I don't want to start into it with a "gathering hole" .

   Max found a Buyer for the dinner he thought. He worked with him the last week of March to turn the keys over so he could start April 1st. The new owner was a no show and it has been closed for a week. Max gave him the same deal he offered me . I don't know what will happen. 2 friends have asked me to take it this weekend.
 
    Me and the wife talked it over and agree it is not for US. I hate it for Old Max but he has let his regulars ruin his business . I will go full time but it will be a to go with patio tables only. The wife likes what I do now but I want a bit more.

Every one is at the lake .But me

      Friday I watched as campers and boats and flat trailers with totes and grilles headed up the road to the lake. Everyone was headed to camp or stay with friends at the lake it didn't seem to matter who what or how the road was packed . School let out Thursday and with the long weekend everyone wanted to be away.

      In years past traffic was never this heavy but the last 3 years the lakes seem to be the go to getaway for more folks . It seems that the longer trips are not  in the budget but the lake and river is still doable. Even us we plan on going to a friends next week to just getaway and use her yard as a camp site. All  it will cost me is a gallon of moonshine and her and my wife are a hoot when they get plastered .

    My BBQ grill hasn't cooled down since Wednesday night and I see no relief before Monday. So far I have worked my way through 4 cases of butts and 1 of ribs . I have sold butts headed to the lake ,river, Smokey MTs and Florida. I appreciate people thinking enough of my cooking to take it on vacation to me it is a great compliment .I still have 2 days of cooking left to go and I have to go and dress 12 butts and 6 racks of ribs for tomorrow . Next week is my turn at the lake . Then I have 2 weeks scheduled for Big Lagoon mid June .

Empanadas a perfect Prepper food ?

     Every one needs a way to make food storage interesting . I think Empanadas are a perfect high calorie way to keep your meals simple and tasty . All it is is a stuffed fried pie it can be stuffed with leftovers and fried to taste totally different. They can be fruit, meat, vegetables .I use Crisco instead of butter have made them with pork beef , chicken and rice. My grandmother made apple and peach and had never heard of an empanada . Simple dough stuffed with anything left over then skillet fried in oil. High calorie hand food  is always welcome in times of stress and activity .The link below is for Hors d'Oeuvres but you can make them large for a meal.

   http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/recipes/spicy-pork-empanaditas-with-avocado-relish/fd-acc2d2d5-3b33-5acd-8ef6-39b67f2fc723

Making basic everything bread .

     Over the last few months I have been doing a lot of baking. I have made a variety of recipe's but the one that seems to work well for loaf bread, pizza crusts, calzone's ,rolls, cheese bread. 

3 Cups  A.P. flour
1/2 tsp. yeast
2 tsp sugar
2 tbl oil
1/4 tsp salt or a bit more
1 cup warm water

   Ok that's the basic ingredient's mix , bloom the yeast in the water with the sugar let sit for 10 minutes or more I prefer it to bloom for 30 minutes . Ok mix it all together in a mixer a food processor a bread machine or by hand . depending on the crust you want knead 5 minute's for soft crust 10 for harder crust. Cover let rise for 45 minute's  plop on counter dust with flour cut in 1/2 for 2 loafs ,2 regular pizza crusts or 1 deep dish, cheese bread or make a dozen rolls. For a chewy bread let sit over night.
 




  this is a ultra thin crust pizza I made for my wife . Was good but a pain to roll out . For a pizza I add onion and garlic powder to the mix for soft loaf bread I add a couple tsps. dry milk. Now if you want whole Wheat increase the rise time and let it cook longer .

   Now if you have never made bread before I recommend doing rolls ( double the yeast YUM ). If it flopps feed them to the dog, if they are great lie and tell everyone how hard it is.

   A lot of people think this is a waste of time but a GOOD pizza is about 2.50$ ,cheese bread 8 x13 size about 2.50 $  yeast rolls 50 cents a dozen . I make bread on cold and rainy days because the oven warms the house the smell calms nerves  and pizza and cheese bread ends the question of WHAT,s FOR DINNER.

A couple of pics of my sons camperstead in the snow.

      I snapped these pictures when I delivered the heater and my son back to his place.

    The snow was a wet heavy  and as the picture shows the poach wasn't built for a load. Every thing we used was scrap or found .
 
 The camper I bought 5 years ago from a man that was headed to the scrap yard to see if they would buy it as is. I gave 200$ for it and spent 2 more on floors and walls. It is a 1976 Layton .And if you notice he now has 2 15 watt panels and a 10 watt at 40 watts he is at more than enough power. A friend checked on him today and he said heater was working good and power on every thing was at 98% or full ( we have had clouds for 3 out of the 4 days he has been there).

  

Pictures of the propane tank stove

     Ok I promised pics of the heater so here is one as we loaded it in the truck to go to its new home.


 

 

 

 

Here it is in the camper with a piece of roofing for a heat shield.

We had 4 inches of snow here at the house yesterday very unusual event. Where my son's camper is it got 10 to 12 inches of snow. We followed a snow plow when I was taking him home today. The vent going out the window is heavy duty dryer vent (the kind for running under the floor just 14$).Its set on 3 cinder blocks so I think it will be safe .

Old propane tank / wood heater

      If you have ever wanted a small wood heater and haven't wanted to spend a lot a lot . Or you have a small space and most store bought wood heaters are to big try making one out of a 20 lb old propane tank. We made one this weekend for my son . It cost 15$ and required no welding.
  

     Both of these are web pictures but the bottom one is identical to what we built . We bolted the door and vent on and used an old grill grate inside .This is going in a 27 Ft. trailer so it should heat it up nice.
     You could build a heater like this from any 20 ,30 ,40 lb. or larger empty propane tank do a web search lots of ideas available .
      Here is my BBQ smoker its nothing but a 200 gallon oxygen or propane tank .

    All we needed to make our heater was a sawzall and drill .A large hinge and exhaust flange and bolts and nuts.

     I have an old air tank that I think will make a nice medium /small wood heater just to keep in the shed just in case . I may make it a little more elaborate with a cooking plate and a small oven mounted on top.I have to admit I am now hooked on fresh bread and want a way to bake in any event !

 

 

Season is done .

     The fall festival season is winding down .Once cold weather moves in people tend to stay indoors around here all it takes is it to be in the low 50s upper 40s.I did the haunted house and this weekend am at a bike rally.Made a little on the haunted house but the rally is shaping up as a loss. Even a small business needs to reevaluate its business model from time to time.Over this winter I will be giving some real thought to what kinda events I will be working in the future.
    
     I have dabbled in many different types of food and setups in the last few years the only one that has been consistent is BBQ. The BBQ has done good as a free standing stand and generates its own traffic.The funnel cakes and shaved ice has worked well at family events with moderate crowds.Most other items have been a Bust and lost money.At least in the off season I have time to plan next year.To be successful you Must have a plan!

A cheap prepp that has great shelf life.

     OK we all know about beans and rice,whole wheat,sugar.All these are great long term storage items.Alone they aren't very appetising so you need other items to benefit from them.One item every prepper should have in my opinion is Krusteaz pancake mix.I get a 10lb bag at Sam's for 6.98 It makes 200 or so pancakes that can be eaten plain or with butter and syrup.
    I have eaten a bag that was 4 years out of date and could not tell it from new.No it wasn't froze it was in a 5 gallon bucket in the basement.Now it had not been opened was just stored in what i call a grab and go bucket.Usually they are stamped with a use by date 18 months to 2 years out.I have no fear of this product 3 to 5 years or more past the use by date.A 10 lb bag has 16,000 calories add in a little sugar syrup(1 quart hot water 4 lb sugar tbs vanilla).For under 10$ you get over 24,000 calories.

Bike rallys are differant in every way

     Well I did it,I went and had a learning experience.I was so out of my element I had never attended a bike rally and if you have never been it is a world in its self.Now i am no prude but i saw a side of people i never expected.The term   PARTY NAKED  and PARTY TILL YOU DROP have taken on new meaning to me.
     Here i was with a limited menu selling funnel cakes and corn dogs and BBQ sandwiches  surrounded by 1500 people  drinking thinking about getting naked or 100 already drunk and naked .Some looked real GOOD but most should have stayed dressed.Just for the record I STAYED DRESSED deep frying and nudity is a bad idea OK at my age and weight cloths are mandatory.
     Back to business I had the wrong product for the crowd the main goal was to get drunk and get L^&*D.Food was just so they could keep drinking and not fall out. Th pizza and hogie stand was booming and so was the guy selling cheese fries big burgers and PO boys. I broke even.Now i could have made a profit but at midnight i was beat the other vender's had help and worked 24 hours for 4 days I worked 10 hours but skipped Saturday nite due to dehydration. It was a educational experience and nothing like a festival or any event i have worked in the past.
     Now i did get the stand inspected and meet the health department lady that i will be dealing with in the future.It passed and she said it would pass a permanent inspection.
    
     Was this weekend profitable? That depends on how you look at it.
1. passed first inspection
2 got to meet the inspector
3 made 2 contacts for company catering
4 may have a haunted house to be sole vender at
5 gave the stand a working test
6 Saw more naked women in 3 days than in my life combined(i am51) and broke even for the event.
  
     Yes this weekend was profitable!
     Yes I would do it again but i would have a menu to match the crowd. fry ed starch and salty. I was an outsider but felt welcome these vender's work this circuit full time and the crowd knows them by name.

Back to work.Sorta

     I have been busy the last 2 weeks getting my vending trailer cleaned up and reset.I have decided to go legal as a food truck and to do that i had to deep clean my trailer repair some pluming and electrical issues.Me and my wife have talked at length about what to serve and if we wanted to just do festivals or set up around the city.
     This weekend I am going to be working a biker rally that should have 1500 to 2000 people.Since this is my first non BBQ set up in a while and i will be health department inspected i will be doing Funnel Cakes.

     Yes I know its standard fair food but I wanted to keep it simple because it my first time in 6 years of doing an event.I will be doing corn dogs and silver Dollar pancakes also.The Rally is a 4 day event but it is less than 20 minutes from home so i will be able to sleep at home (if you call leaving at 1 and being back at 6 sleep).
     This is the first step in getting into a fully licensed and permitted food operation.The real start date will be October 1st that when i will get my annual license and permanent health permit this is a special event permit but the lady that will inspect my set up is the same one that will issue the permanent licensee.The event may be a gold mine and it may be a bust but it is a start.

      The Family that puts on the rally also does a haunted house on weekend nit es all October and have asked me if i wanted to set up as a food snack stand outside.It has between 3 to 9 hundred teens on Saturday and Sunday niter.Between the rally and haunted house i should be on good ground opening up.
      Will post first of the week and let you know how it went.

Do you have useful junk to.

     At some point in every one's life we need to inventory what we have in our home and what purpose it serves.Anyone that is over 40 probably has a lot of stuff that has accumulated and no this isn't a post on having a yard sale.I have a packed house and 3 sheds.The sheds are my domain and the house is my wife's.I was thinking about building a new shed because the 3 were over flowing but i have changed my approach.USE OR GET RID OF THE CRAP!!!! If i haven't used it in 5 years it needs to go.Yard sale Craig's list E bay or dump.Now the part that kills me is I paid good money for some of the crap that is just sitting.The first thing i did was clean out an area in one building for stuff that i will need for my vending trailers.This was the inventory part.

     I do BBQ for a living but i have 4 trailers not counting 3 campers.3 of the trailers need to be set up for something.When i was going through the sheds i found I had a ton of equipment not in use.
 stoleing ice cream machine
 funnel cake cooker
 shaved ice maker/snowball
 a 50 count hot dog/sausage cooker
 cotton candy maker
 nacho cheese and chip station
 pizza oven commercial set up
 full size propane stove/oven
 2 box smokers capable of 400lb cooking
 3 high output 2 burner stove tops
 40lb 2 basket fryer
 20lb 4 basket counter fryer
  This list is'nt bragging it is STUPID that i have all this stored and not in use or sold.I closed down my store 3 years ago sure some of it was from it but most of this crap i just got for a steal.BUT what good is it doing in my shed.Between now and the first of the year I plan on setting up 4 trailers.My trailer is already in demolition stage and will be built by November(I told you in an earlier post i was building a LARGE multi use one)but i will have 3 trailers to set with 
   1. funnel cake and ice cream
   2  shaved ice ,cotton candy, nachos
   3  pizza hot dog/smoked sausage,Sub/hogies
  This will clear out my sheds of a lot of large item's and my yard of vending trailers.First i will see if any of the kids or grand kids may be interested in using them.If that fails it is time to sell them.I am 1man i can't use 2 at once let alone 4.I hope the kids will try it my worst weekend in 3 year i made 180$ for 8 hours work and my best i made 1600$ in 10 hour of work.The kids think it is a waste of their time to even try.I love it, it isn't work its fun, smiling people make it worth doing.Its paid for equipment it needs to be put to use.I do not need to store stuff i want to clear out and not have the up keep.
    What have you stuck back and got that needs to be used or got rid of ? I bet it is more than you think.For me it was an eye opener.

Cast iron cooking ! free link

     If you want a easy to read book on cast iron cook ware care and reciepies that are easy try this free kindle book.
    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KHW4LA6/ref=wl_it_dp_v_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=58YGJME6KYI4&coliid=IZXRS1954ULDJ 

Hobbies can be more than fun.

     I have a few hobbies that occupy my time.Some are just fun .Others are educational . And a few hobbies are profitable.I think most people have interest that fit into these classes.
    A lot small businesses start out as hobbies my BBQ started that way.I know several local breweries started as hobbies.Stop and think do you have a hobby that you could turn a profit?If your a prepper is your hobby useful after a collapse.give it some thought.

   

I survived the 4th.

     Sorry i haven't posted but the week before the 4th was busy.Had a lot of cooking and serving to plan.I had as good a 4th as memorial weekend was.The main problem was everyone wanted to pick up between 10 and 12 o'clock last Friday.It was difficult to have 36 racks of ribs and 48 butts done and ready to go in such a rush.
      In the spare seconds i had to chop make sandwiches fix plates.I am sure some things were not as hot as i like them the doors on the smoker was being opened and closed to much.Will fix some of my troubles this fall by building a new BBQ Trailer .
    
     I have been planning on building a nice all in one trailer for a few years i have all the kitchen equipment and plumbing.I have had an old 1968 GEM camper 23 ft that I paid 200 for and have used as a storage shed.It was gutted but water tight.Now it will become a log cabin BBQ on wheels.This year has been hell on my legs and back the in out and up down of my present set up is taking a toll.This will be built for looks and easy of use. I plan on doing this for a long time so i better build it so i can operate it despite father times affects.I hope it will resemble this but with smokers on both ends .

What is a cache?

     A cache is a place to hide and position items of use and value for future needs.But is that all it needs to be?Can it be a shelter can it be a safe place hidden to?
      I think we have all thought about a survival retreat in the woods.Usually our mind goes to a cabin with a wood stove a well right out of a Danial Boone book.Now in today's world if we had this it would be broke into looted used as a meth lab or a dozen other things if we didn't live there.

     Now we have all read about PVC caches Bucket cache and others.I have several of these myself but due to size they are limited in what can be stored and provide little shelter.The PVC cache is usually for 3 or 4 days food some ammo and a few other items. A Bucket cache will hold a weeks food for 2,ammo other items to help for a short period.Here are a few pics of typical tube and bucket caches

   These are useful but are limited in scope.The good thing about them is they are away from our houses and hidden.As preppers most of what we have is in our homes and at risk if SHTF happens.
      Most preppers will refuse to leave their homes the idea of "bugging out" isn't an option.For some it due to age others its health.For most its "This is my castle" i have all my prep's in the basement,garage,shed.I feel the same way but if the  Feds or a zombie hoard comes you will die.At best you will flee and lose most of your supplies.Then you are down to what you hid in buckets and PVC caches.
     I want something safer with more options.I want it for the house or on other property.I don't want to have it found and robbed to crackheads or government flunkies (little difference both are parasites).I want capacity to have a chance.

Weekend Done!

     This weekend kicked my butt.I cooked and sold 44 Butts and 32 slabs .I am a greasy sweaty smoked mess.Made good money but I worked for it.Had a lot of people making 2 trips because it went fast when served.Had one man that has never baught from me even though i have known him for years buy a slab for his wife come back because she wouldnt share.I love seeing people smile when they pick up an order.

my baby

Price of pork a sign of whats comming!!!

       What does the price of pork have to do with the future.Huge and rapid price increases!! On March 19th I bought pork butts for 1.32 $ a pound by the case a week later it was 1.48 then it jumped in one week to 1.98 now its 2.08 a pound case price.
     Beef has climbed .60 $ to 1.00 a pound and a lot of other items have increased.Processed meats will be following.Gas has gone up 40 cents a gallon in a month .
     If you still have food storage shortages you better act soon.Some of the prices are because of low inventory cattle herd is at 1952 levels  Hogs remember China owns Smithfield the largest pork producer in the nation.Even chicken is up 15 cents a pound and we all can say Tyson.
     We have all read about hyper inflation remember it starts slow then becomes a water fall.This may or may not be the start but why chance it. Stop and think what do you use or eat that has gone up this year more than 10% ,Then try to think what has decreased or stayed the same that you use.