#4 - Go Somewhere Where I Need My Passport

Technically, I completed this one last April with a one-day trip to our manufacturing plant in Juarez, Mexico.  So, the stamp at right was the first to adorn my shiny new passport.

Somehow a quick sprint across the border, plant tour and meeting, followed by a return sprint back to the friendly confines of El Paso did not really seem to meet with the spirit of item #4, so I decided to hold off and see if I couldn't come up with something a little more like international vacationing.

I was thinking that Denise might like a stay at some resort, maybe south of France sort of thing.  Came up with something much better; CANADA!  Kind of like France, French being one of their two national languages, better in that we are in western Canada, where I have a rudimentary command of the language.  By employing my limited vocabulary along with animated gesticulations I seem to be able to communicate with most of the indigenous peoples.
 
As proof of my being in Canada, I submit the following;

Exhibit A: Westjet boarding pass

Exhibit B: Passport stamp from the Canada Border Services Agency

Exhibit C: Canadian beef



Exhibit D: Me, with some woman, at Dutch Creek with Hoodoos in the background

Better than any resort, I am spending the week at the famous Hog Lodge; five-star guest accommodations, excellent cuisine, live entertainment (belly dancers), lattes on demand, kayaking, hiking, Cuban cigars, fireworks (and they don't even lock up their liquor!)

More to come, I'll post a link to the balance of the photos after I've had time to pare through them and redact some of the more incriminating evidence.

#43 - Make Pastrami from Scratch

I took minor liberties with this one.  Having on occasion made corned beef briskets (from our CSA green-fed beef) and reasoning that pastrami was pretty similar, I opted for Turkey Pastrami. The turkey variety is arguably healthier and significantly less expensive than beef, not that that necessarily factored into my decision. 

Using a recipe by Guy Fieri, I started it in time to be ready for the smoker on the Independence Day holiday.  Brined the turkey breast in the fridge for a few days, then 24 hours in a dry rub, followed by several (4 or 5) hours in the smoker on the morning of the Fourth.

My only slight screw up was when taking it out of the smoker, I decided to crisp up the skin a bit on the gas grill.  There's a lot of fat in turkey skin, as it turns out, and it flares up pretty easily.  Consequently I ended up with a sort of Blackened Turkey Pastrami.  Reminded me of Moose Turd Pie (Good though!)

Blackened skin or no, it turned out pretty well.  Sampled it in a sandwich on rye, unadulterated but for a little classic yellow mustard.  Delicious!