Chicken Chalet! (For the urban chicken!)

[It's been awhile since I posted so I wanted to kick it off with something intriguing I found today!]

That's right folks! Chicken Chalet! Available at participating SAMs clubs. $300!!! Holds 4-6 hens, fresh eggs daily, easy access door, pull out tray for easy cleaning...

I am not sure whether to laugh, be amazed, or both! Which leads me to ask, which of you within city limits raise 'urban' chickens? And/or what is the law for keeping them inside city limits and your neighborhood?

The SEASON is here!

Ahhhh, all the things that keep me busy during this season are here: Men's Retreat, boys getting sick, Thanksgiving Fundraiser, Pancake Breakfast, Teachers Christmas Banquet, Church Christmas Banquet.... You get the picture.

Its hard to find the time to post during this Fall/Winter season, so I don't. No reason to feel guilty, real life is happening!

Have any of you thought about deactivating your Facebook account? I have. Recently I have been seriously contemplating shutting it down till the beginning of the new year. For several reasons: one less distraction, no need to update, waste less time keeping up with others lives, less commenting and/or ranting on things I (8 years ago) would have never paid attention to...and to see how it might change my life.

Don't get me wrong, I like to stay connected but not at the expense of my time and my families time. And then maybe in January I can re-evaluate and activate it again and discipline myself to use a set amount of time on it. I will make my mind up by end of week.

Anyone who really needs to contact me I am still available by twitter or thru comments on this website. Most of you who stay in contact with me on a regular basis already have my information.

Who knows, I may have more time for posting on my website!

I'm PACKIN' and it's LOADED!

I pack my boys lunches for several reasons but mainly because they eat a lot! And they love a variety of things. This topic comes up a lot with other friends of mine both parent and non parent when chatting socially on twitter or Facebook.

[ You can catch me on twitter @tyronebcookin or Instagram @tyronebcookn. Without the "i".]

My boys lunches have a lot of small portions and they are based off things we know they will eat. In the pictures/diagrams listed in this post it doesn't say but the apple sauce is no sugar added, the peanut butter granola bar and mini pumpkin muffins are home made(made by my wife, she also is an excellent cook). The fruit snacks are all natural with no corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup. Sometimes we even make the apple sauce when we get a good price on some tasty apples. 

Most of our food is purchased through Aldi's which is the parent company for Trader Joes (which is not in our area yet) and we recognize a lot of the food as the same products and quality. 

We interchange the food components as stuff goes on sale or is available. On the weekends I usually make big batches of waffles and pancakes that we eat then freeze for use all during the week. Lunch meat can be changed, restaurant take home and supper leftovers can be used...sometimes we just throw a couple of pieces of pepperoni pizza in there!

Tytus' Lunch - 3 1/2 years old:

Ezra's Lunch - 15 months old:

Soaking wood chips for smoker

Quick tip: A long time ago I figured out it was easier to soak all your wood chips, pieces, and/or small blocks of wood all at one time. Then you strain them with a colander and freeze them in a ziplock bag for the future. Why? Because most instructions on smoking with these size wood pieces tell you to pre-soak them up to an hour or more! And who wants to suddenly be slowed down by this last minute realization? No one ever!

My Thoughts on Wine

Not everyone has a taste for wine and even if they did, not everyone partakes in drinking. Nor should they just for the sake of appearing "cultured". But as a person steeped in the personal and professional development of a culinary education I have been called on to pick wines and/or pair them with food.

In the past I have been asked about my favorite wines for drinking, pairing, cooking, and how to tell the best! Repeatedly I would say "the wines YOU like the most!" because taste is subjective with wine as well as food and the pairing of both. 

Do you remember Two Buck Chuck? Sold only at Trader Joes? Those cheap wines that a lot of people just loved and raved about? According to The House of Mondavi it was surplus wine bought by the barrels at a discount from the Mondavi winery back in the day! The funny part is Robert Mondavi made fun of the guy but didn't realize the wine came from the over abundant harvest of his own grapes!

On a wine tasting tour in Napa Valley I partook in a class that was part of the tour experience at the Mondavi wineries. There is a technique, science, and steps to really "taste" a wine BUT the outcome of that experience is purely yours and not a "review" that everyone has to accept just because someone published it.

Robert Hodgson, a winemaker from California, conducted an eight year experiment at the California State Fair’s wine competition. Hodgson had this to say about the results..."The results are disturbing. Only about 10% of judges are consistent and those judges who were consistent one year were ordinary the next year. Chance has a great deal to do with the awards that wines win." ~ Wine-tasting: its junk science  

If your just looking to cook with wine, take the advice of your friends favorites or the flavor notes on the back of the bottle. Please don't use or buy "cooking wine" because they have salt in them and it will make it hard for you to balance the taste when you can't control the salt in the wine.

Leave wine snobbery to the "experts" if your just looking for a "take home" bottle suite your own tastes! If you want to wine taste and/or food pair wine, do what the experts do, "SPIT!". Wine tasting and/or judging was not developed for you to swallow every sample...but to narrow it down to the best! And then maybe enjoy a glass with dinner or special occasion.