A lot of history in this photo!

 

It's been awhile since I posted on my blog.  But here I am!

The photo above is the monorail that was up and running every Christmas at Midtown Plaza in downtown Rochester, NY.  Midtown Plaza was demolished some years back so today's young children will never know the thrill of a ride in the monorail and through the Magic Mountain as my twins did when they were not much more than toddlers.  Looking at the monorail here, I still can't believe both John and Michael fit into one of the cars!

Another piece of history here is the Clock of Nations - that round white and red item in the background.  Fortunately, that one still exists in storage, since being removed from its original location.  It was once a delight to adults and children alike when, on the hour, it would come alive with music and animation with dolls from many nations showcased.

I have lived long enough to see the transformation in shopping habits from large busy downtown stores to suburban malls, many of them now empty, ghost-like stores, to online shopping.  Yes, online shopping has a lot of advantages.  But a part of me will always remember the fun of being a small child looking around in wonder at the huge elegantly decorated stores alive with excitement!

A new smoker (the meat kind) soon!

I'm a big time fan of smoking meat.  A little background - for a long time, I was interested in smoking meat.  On a visit with my father in Florida, I went to a backyard party where smoked chicken was served.  Oh, my gosh, that was the best tasting meat I had ever known.  But it seemed so difficult.  And did I really want to buy a smoker and find I wasn't good at it and waste a lot of good meat???  That mindset lasted a couple of years or so until finally I decided to take the plunge.

I bought a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker, even assembled it all by myself. . . well, my two dogs at the time sat close by to supervise while I had all the pieces spread out on my living room floor.  My first venture was a whole chicken.  It turned out fantastic!  I was totally addicted!  

In over 14 years of smoking meat - chickens, baby back ribs, pork butt, a roast, a turkey, even several briskets - I am proud to say I have never ruined a piece of meat.  What I have done is produce some of the best tasting meat you could ever imagine.  In fact, I once gave my neighbors across the street a slab of baby back ribs.  Their daughter, after eating it, said she felt sorry for vegetarians!

The Weber Smokey Mountain is an excellent smoker, easy to assemble and use.  However, I began thinking of the other types of smokers and what they had to offer.  That thought simmered in the back of my mind for a few years until about a year or so ago I started researching different types of smokers.  

There are a lot of brands out there and easily available locally in the big box stores. . . Oklahoma Joe was one I was seriously considering.  It has good and bad points.

In all my poking around, I stumbled onto a small company in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Shirley Fabrications?  Never heard of them.  Must not be highly reputable for my needs if I've never heard of them.

I made an email inquiry to them to see if they had products that would interest me.  None other than the owner of the company responded within a couple of days.  Through a long series of emails and a picture of one of their smokers, I decided I wanted to go with one of their models.  Tyler Shirley, the company owner, was very patient with me, answering all my questions.  Meanwhile, I explored You Tube to find videos of their products and reviews from their customers.  Couldn't find any negative reviews, all owners proudly showed off their Shirley smokers.  They build everything from smokers for restaurants and catering operations to smaller versions for backyard smoking enthusiasts.

Winter has set in here in the North Pole (aka New York State) and I have no interest in smoking meat in this kind of weather.  I told Tyler I would want my new smoker in early Spring 2026.  You won't find their smokers in any big box store or any other store.  They sell direct from their company.  And they aren't cheap, not to mention shipping costs.  But you get what you pay for.

I decided to go with their 24 inch vertical smoker.  Tyler gave me all the advantages of that one rather than the offset models I started out wanting.  I can do a cold smoke with it, which is for making beef jerky, smoked cheese, and a number of other things.  It is about 4 feet high and 24 x 24.  Once I remove a storage shelf from one corner of my garage that mostly holds stuff that should've been thrown out long ago, it will fit perfectly in that space over the winter.  During "smoking season" it will live in my backyard with a good cover.

Changes

Things change over time.  There is nothing we can do about that.

Back in the 70's, 80's, 90's, and into the early 2000s, the Adirondacks of New York State was my playground.  I spent many wonderful times there car camping at fantastic state parks, backpacking, canoe camping to remote locations, cross country skiing through the woods, climbing 17 of the High Peaks.  I have so many precious memories of time spent there.

Rollins Pond, my favorite of all the state campgrounds just east of Tupper Lake, was such a joy to spend time.  A pristine lake with carries to other ponds and lakes.  All campsites were on the water.  In the early morning, I would sit on the shore with my coffee and watch the ducks go by.  At night there was the campfire to enjoy.  One night as we sat around the campfire at our site, a real live bear walked behind the fire pit.  At first we thought it was a big dog.  It ran down to the water and crashed into our canoe!  We later learned there were several second year cubs roaming around.  The mama bear runs them off to be on their own at that age and they are in search of their "territory!"

For the last few years, I've been hearing increased tourism has ruined so much of the Adirondacks.  People today, with no experience or skill, think it's fun to go hike a High Peak and post pictures on facebook.  Campgrounds are overrun with obnoxious people with little or no respect for fellow campers.

It's truly sad that such a beautiful place is being destroyed by uncaring people.

A new owl house

I just received this new owl house from Evensens Productions.  It is handmade cedar and turns out is much bigger than I expected.  I've been reading up on how to attract owls and the type of "accommodations" they prefer!  They don't build nests.  Instead you add wood shavings to the bottom.  The top opens up for cleaning but has two screws in it to prevent a strong wind from blowing it open.  I may wait until early next Spring to put it up.  That's when owls begin nesting and in the meantime, I don't want squirrels to take over the box!

First Smoke of the Season!

Few things bring me more pleasure than firing up the smoker with some kind of meat, this time pork roast.  Smoking meat is a time consuming venture but worth every minute I put into it.  I began last night with mixing up the brine and letting the meat soak in it overnight in the refrigerator. This particular brine recipe includes:  apple juice, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.  This morning, I removed the meat from the brine, patted it dry and rubbed it down with a homemade mixture of salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion powder and paprika.  Now it is in the smoker for an all day smoke with a hickory wood log on top of the charcoal.

I use a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker.  In my opinion, it is the best one out there.  Why?  Because it uses charcoal, is easy to use, and produces some of the finest meat you will ever taste.  Many guys on the pro circuit use it.  

A whimsical reminder

 

Forever Rely On God

Overcoming life's obstacles

I'm a mentally strong person, capable of overcoming those roadblocks everyone deals with from time to time.  But the last week threw me into a tailspin.

I will be taking a trip in a few weeks and made my airline reservations months ago to get a better price versus waiting till closer to the trip.  When I tried to access my airline app to get information I needed to reserve a car rental at my destination, the app would not accept my password.  After several attempts to resolve the issue that got no results, I went on the airline website.  When I couldn't do anything there, I clicked on the button asking for technical support.  Thinking I was still on the airline website, I found a tech support chat line.  The cost was $1.00 "fully refundable" the page stated.  After a lengthy chat session with a person whose name indicated he was most likely not an American, I had gotten nowhere.

I felt I needed to walk away for a moment to clear my agitation.  My next step to was to call the airline directly and speak with a live - English speaking - person.  She was helpful and finally realized the page I had been directed to for tech support was NOT the airline page.  She told me this airline would never direct a customer to another site other than their own.  Now THAT really annoyed me. 

When I checked my debit card account, I found this tech support operation had charged me $55.00, aside from the $1 I had expected, and furthermore this charge would recur monthly.  At this point, I was beyond upset.

My bank told me that because I had used a debit card, I could not dispute the charge until it appeared on my account, not just a hold.  Meanwhile, I discovered my laptop had been hacked.  All manner of horrible thoughts crossed my mind.  What personal information had this person found on my computer?  Did they have access to my travel itinerary?  I clearly was not thinking clearly and went into a state of extreme anxiety over this.  

My bank suggested canceling my debit card and they would issue a new one with a new account number.  Fine, but that could take days.  I carry little or no cash with me, instead rely on my debit card.

I dropped off my laptop at a computer store that I have used before and know to be reputable.  Yes, I had been hacked and it would be a 48 hour process to repair and since we were going into the weekend when they were not open, it added time to being without my computer.

Where does this all end?  This just was not fair.  I have always followed common sense procedures for trying to prevent things like this from happening.

In total despair, I turned to God.  I am a strong Christian and my religion is a big part of my life.  I asked God to help me through this problem and to bring me peace.  Today things started to happen.  My new debit card arrived by express shipment and I got my laptop back from the shop.  I was able to access the airline app on my cell phone and change my password there.  Thank you, God!

I made it to March!

Ugh, it's March already and we are almost done with this harsh winter of 24/25.  There was a time, in my younger days, when I loved winter in the North Country.  I went downhill skiing, cross country skiing, snowshoeing.  For many years, I spent a week in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks with friends.  Those were the days!  I've climbed several of the 46 High Peaks in the winter.  There are so many memories from those days.  But one I will cherish for the rest of my life.  My friend, Nancy Lauterbach, and I spent a long weekend in the Keene Valley area of the Adirondacks.  With the help of our Inn keeper, we left a car at our finishing point and she drove us into Lake Placid to the start of our day.  We cross country skied the Jack Rabbit Trail all day long.  I don't remember how many miles we covered.  But I do remember it was one of the best winter days I have ever had.  It was such a pleasant day on the trail, excellent snow and weather conditions.  We stopped at a ski touring place for lunch and that hot bowl of chili was just what we needed on a cold winter day.  We mostly had the entire trail to oursselves!  In the afternoon a man and his Black Lab passed us.  I don't know who was enjoying the trail more, that man or his dog!

Now that I'm older, well okay, I admit, I'm a "senior citizen," those things are in my past.  I'd rather curl up on the couch with a good book or watch a movie, or any number of things that can be done in the warmth of my home!

Compared to the last several years, this was a particularly rough winter, temps well below average, strong winds, snow. . .

But now we are into March and even today's temps in the teens can't take away my excitement!  Soon I will be firing up one of my two smokers to smoke a piece of meat.  And my annual cousins' reunion isn't too far off.  Bring on Summer!!!

An unexpected change

I love smoking meat. . . been doing it for over ten years now and never ruined a piece of meat.  Before I got into it, I knew nothing about it other than the wonderful meat you can get from smoking in your backyard.  So I did my research and learned a lot.

I have always ordered wood chunks from an online retailer who was top notch.  They had fruit wood that you can't find elsewhere.  And their wood was stored indoors, eliminating piles of wood left outside subject to bugs, bird droppings, and other unpleasant situations.  They are going out of business.  The owner is retiring.  Panic set in!

After searching online, I think I have found a reputable vendor.  You can't stockpile wood for more than 6 months or so as it loses its quality in flavoring the meat.

I'm a fair weather smoker so over the winter - and this winter has been particularly harsh - my two smokers sit dormant.  Hopefully in another month or six weeks I can fire up one of them.  Nothing is finer than sitting outside by the smoker taking in the wonderful aroma coming from my Weber Smokey Mountain smoker!  Even my neighbors enjoy the smell!

If you love great tasting meat - roasts, chickens, baby back ribs, briskets - get into smoking meat.  It is easy and with just a little knowledge, you can experience the thrill of this hobby.  And I highly recommend the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker.

The car wash

Going through the Delta Sonic car wash in Rochester is an unexpected joy!  Winter is hard on cars in the North Country.  Salt is a necessary evil on the roads.  It is needed on the roads to cut down on ice.  But it is rough on cars, causing rust.

The Delta Sonic is a premium car wash.  In addition to cleaning the car, they put a coat of wax to better preserve the metal.  And they spray a rust inhibitor to the bottom of the car.

Today, with the long line of cars waiting to go through the 4 lanes, it took me a little over 10 minutes to reach the tunnel once I pulled off the road.  Approaching the tunnel, you make sure all windows and doors and securely closed, take your foot off the brake, and put the car in neutral.  Then you sit back and enjoy the show!  The sights and sounds can lull your mind into a sense of peace.  I find myself, for the moment, forgetting about the rat race of the world.

Someone recently asked me if I had every taken my dog through the car wash.  No!  Not sure how Bailey would react!  She may settle down for a nap, or she could go nuts over this new experience!

Homemade dog food

Everyone knows how much I love dogs and how important my dog(s) are to me.  Currently, I only have Bailey, my 9 year old Labrador Retriever.  Bailey never learned that she is just a dog. . . to her way of thinking, she is a human with all rights and privileges therein!

Morgan, my 12 year old Lab who passed away several months back, had terrible allergies in her final years.  Apoquel, an expensive medication for allergy in dogs, was no help.  My vet recommended Purina Pro.  That was some help but not entirely.  Morgan got to the point where she was lethargic and had no joy in life.

Bailey showed no signs of allergies or other maladies while Morgan was alive.  Soon afterwards, she developed bad skin irritations.  She scratched herself raw, even to the point of bleeding.  I incorporated coconut oil into her food and that offered some relief.

After a great deal of research and thought, I am gradually switching her to a homemade diet.  Even though Labs tend to have a stomach of "cast iron" it is best to gradually switch to a new diet.

A homemade diet is not a matter of mixing up human foods, with the notion of "what's good for me is good for Bailey."  It is MUCH more than that!  I am keeping a food journal of everything I give her each day to see what works for her.

A good friend who has owned championship Labs for years, feeds her dogs a raw diet.  I tried that quite a few years back but ran into the difficulty of being able to get all the ingredients I needed.

While I can't go into all the things I have learned so far in this post, here are a few recipes and important facts I do know at this point:

Foods that are bad for dogs:  avocado, grapes, onion, garlic, corn on the cob, processed meat, raisins, chocolate, and citrus fruits.

Breakfast idea:  1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup chopped apple with peel but not the seeds, 1 tablespoon ground flax seed.

Dinner:  1/2 cup shredded cooked chicken, 1/2 cup chopped sweet potato, 1 tablespoon unsweetened plain yogurt 

Of course, you adjust the amounts above according to your dog's size.

Here are two of the books I read that I think are excellent resources:

Homemade Healthy Dog Food Cookbook by Scott Meier

The Forever Dog Life by Becker and Habib

 

Smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving!

It was an early start to the day this morning getting the smoker prepped for the turkey!  My first time smoking a Thanksgiving turkey.

Something to be excited about!

It will just be me and Bailey (my Lab) for Thanksgiving Day.  There will be a delayed Thanksgiving dinner with my son and daughter-in-law and family after Thanksgiving.

Every year I keep saying I'm going to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving.  But when the snow flies and the thermometer plummets, I lose interest in firing up the smoker.  NOT THIS YEAR!!!  I bought a small turkey and the weather doesn't look too bad (for this time of year).

Before daylight this Thursday morning I will begin the preparation for my first smoked turkey!  It's a 12 pounder so no need to start the night before like you would with a much larger turkey.

Mmmm!  I can just taste it now!

The Barefoot Contessa

I have long been a fan of Ina Garten and own some of her wonderful cookbooks.  Recently I read her newly published memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens.  This woman is phenomenal!

From what little I knew about her, I assumed she lived a charmed life.  Wrong!  She grew up in a home with strict, authoritarian parents.  She was in a dead end job in the government in Washington, DC that brought her no joy.  But she had the tenacity to go after what she wanted in life, despite any risks along the way.  By chance, she saw an ad for a small bakery for sale in Long Island, the Barefoot Contessa.  In a leap of faith, she bought the business and overcame multiple obstacles to grow it into a big success.

You don't have to be a passionate cook and baker to appreciate this book.  It is a story that speaks to all of us.  Early in their life together, she and her husband, Jeffrey, traveled to Europe "on five dollars a day!"  They dreamed of someday coming back to Paris and that someday came years later when they bought an apartment there.  

If you are looking for a feel good, inspiring book to read, this is the one!

Look what I saw in the Home Depot parking lot!

 

Cheap entertainment!

It doesn't take a lot to entertain me!  Last week I was aimlessly scrolling through ebay while watching TV and the dogs at my side.

"Lot of 29 community and church vintage cookbooks" caught my attention.  My finger stopped scrolling.  I had to know more.  After all, if you know me, you know I am a "cookbookaholic."  One of my cousins has already laid claim to all my cookbooks when I die!

When you buy books in lot on ebay, you don't get to choose specific titles.  I find it exciting to see what you get.  The package arrived today.  I felt sorry for the mail lady walking up my long driveway with this big box!  I eagerly cut the box open to see my treasure trove.  With each cookbook that I pulled out of the box, I got more and more excited.  There is a 1934 Hershey's Cookbook updated for today's kitchens, several Southern cookbooks, Amish cookbooks, many church cookbooks.  Oh! And a firefighters' cookbook.  Now those guys know how to cook.  These are from all over the country.

The Keiffer Family Cookbook is a collection of recipes handed down from multiple generations of Keiffers.

I was particularly drawn to the soup and stew recipes as this time of year I build up my inventory of soups and stews to freeze.  Avocado Soup!  Never heard of it but you can bet I'm going to try that one!

Cooking and baking are among my passions.  I thrill at the chance to try a new recipe.

Some of these have handwritten notes that are fun to read.  There may be one or two that are really tattered and worn, but scotch tape will remedy that!

Now I really must get back to my To Do list that I was vigorously attacking before this package distracted me!

The drawer underneath your oven

I didn't know this!  That drawer underneath your oven is not meant to store pots and pans.  In fact, storing plastics or other flammable materials can be dangerous.

It actually is intended to keep food warm until everything else is ready to serve.

Another reason for not storing pots and pans there is crumbs or tiny food particles left on them can attract pests.

Some newer range models place the broiler down there.  That would not be desirable to me having to get down on my knees to take a platter of food out!

My current stove does not have a bottom drawer and I was disappointed with that.  For my needs, I can't see the value of the warming drawer!   

The joy of smoking meat

Smoking meat is my passion.  For many years I wanted to try it but was put off by the unreasonable belief that it was difficult.  Ten years ago I decided I was going to learn how to do it, no matter how many pieces of meat I ruined in the process.   Poking around on the internet, I decided the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker was probably best for me.

I amazed myself that I could actually assemble it all by myself!  I started out with all the pieces spread out on my living room floor.  It was much easier than I expected.  With the dogs looking on, I took it one step at a time and soon it was standing - fully assembled - in my living room.

After ten years of smoking all kinds of meat - whole chickens, a roast, baby back ribs, even briskets - I am proud to say I have never ruined any meat!

There is nothing finer than sitting beside my smoker, enjoying the warm, sunny weather and watching the puffy white cumulus clouds above in the blue sky with a glass of wine and the dogs running around the backyard.  Oh, and the aroma coming from the smoker is divine.  I buy my wood chunks online from a very reputable company.  They store their wood indoors, away from the bugs and other undesirables that can infiltrate the wood.

Whenever anyone asks me about getting into smoking meat, I am more than happy to oblige!  Meat coming out of the smoker not only tastes delicious, it is so very tender.

There are all kinds of smokers on the market.  I am a strong - very strong! - advocate of the Weber Smokey Mountain.  It has worked well for me.  Many smokers on the professional circuit choose the WSM.  I now have two, my original one is the 18 inch (diameter) and a few years back I got the 22 inch.  I believe a charcoal type is the very best for flavor and wouldn't have an electric or pellet for any reason!  Admittedly, those types do have their proponents.

Retail has changed over the years

I'm old enough to remember when you put on your best clothes to go downtown shopping.  You could even find street parking close to the stores you wanted to go to.  Stores had high quality merchandise and knowledgeable sales people.   For children, like me, there were street vendors selling all sorts of wind up toys that I still remember playing with hours on end.

Then downtown entered a decline and the malls, out in the suburbs, became the go to place to shop.  From one parking lot, you could shop a multitude of shops.  One such mall opened in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida.  As part of the grand opening, three Shetland ponies were given away in a drawing.  I was 10 years old and dreamed of owning my very own horse!  Every time we went to the mall for weeks, I would fill out a card with my name and address and drop it in the large wire basket in each of the stores. The day of the first drawing, I had a strong feeling, that to this day, I cannot explain.  I just KNEW my name was going to be drawn.  It was!!!

For decades, the malls became bigger, more glitzy, and THE place to shop.  Why would we ever want another alternative?

Enter the internet.  I remember struggling to learn to use it, wondering what is the big deal?  How is this going to make my life better???  What does online shopping mean?  What are blogs?  What does facebook mean?  What is an e-mail?  What does "point and click" mean?  Pay bills online?  How do you do that???

Today we find many vacant malls, totally abandoned, or headed in that direction.  They are being repurposed.  In my city, Marketplace Mall, once a thriving, bustling place, has many empty store fronts.  What used to be Sears, is now the Orthopedic Center for the University of Rochester Medical Center.  At the other end of the mall, once stood Sibley's, then it was Kaufmann's and then Macy's.  All of those are history.

Like many of us, I prefer online shopping.  I can sit in the comfort and privacy of my home and browse dozens of sites, any time of the day or night.  Online retail has become very convenient.  Quick delivery times and easy returns if need be.  Who among us has never shopped dozens of times from Amazon, L. L. Bean, and all the small businesses that have popped up?  

Kind of makes you wonder what is next on the horizon!

I'm on a Greek food kick!

I love to cook and try new cuisines.  Somehow I never got around to trying Greek food.  Man!  What an exciting array of dishes.

I discovered Diane Kochiles' "My Greek Table" cookbook, filled with 400 pages of truly wonderful recipes.

Suddenly, my once favorite Spinach omelet has become boring after her zucchini omelet filled with fresh dill, lemon zest, feta cheese and yogurt.  And her Spanakopita Grilled Cheese is a taste delight.  There are dozens of recipes that I am anxious to try.

I'm in heaven!