Summer Holidays Are Over ...

September 2, 2016

Wow ... where has the summer gone ???

It is the first day of school for Craig ... James and Ella ...

Excited to see them later ... when they arrive for the weekend ...

The Kokanee were ready to be placed in the smoker ...

it will take a few hours to cook thru ...

I decided to prepare a fresh peach crisp for our dessert this evening ...

The dill was dried and ready to be placed into a container ...

The Kokanee took about 7 ½ hours to be fully smoked ...

they sure were tasty once again ...

Looking out my kitchen window ... seeing this beautiful rainbow ...

it was weird watching it rain in the front yard ...

and not in the back yard ...

The rainbow was from one end of the field to the other ...

I'm sure we would be able to find the pot of gold ...

at the end of the rainbow ...

 

Garden Time ...

August 20, 2016

Time to hit the garden ... produce needing to be picked ...

The worm tower seems to be working ... the little worms were thriving ...

A few apples had been blown off the tree ...

gathered them up and will store them ... hoping they will ripen a bit more ...

The bees and wasps were busy swarming around the dill plants ...

at times the plants were covered ...

Beans ... beans ... and more beans ...

These plants were exploding with growth ...

Smoked salmon was on the menu for dinner ...

this evening ...

A couple pieces of fish ... a little seasoning ... and they were ready ...

to be placed in the smoker ...

About an hour later ... they were cooked ...

Smoked salmon ... steamed squash ... wild rice ... and a fresh garden tomato ...

made a delicious evening meal ...

The next day in the garden ...

I focused on gathering mainly root vegetables ...

The onions had been drying on racks in the woodshed ...

it was time to bring them in to be stored in the garage ...

 

Working in the Kitchen ...

August 20, 2015

Preparing the salmon fillets to be smoked ...

a dry sugar and salt brine was used ... covered and put in the fridge overnight ...

Morning the liquid had been drawn out of the fish ...

ready to be placed on racks to dry before putting them in the smoker ...

August 21, 2015

The salmon pieces were placed in the smoker ...

2 ½ hours later ...

the fish was done to perfection ...

Mike put on a thin coating of honey for the last half hour ...

It was delicious ... !!!

The smoked salmon was cooled and then packaged up ...

in sealer bags ...

 

August 22, 2015

A basket of vegetables was gathered ...

to make a batch of Fresh Vegetable Salsa ...

The tomatoes were put into boiling water ... then ice water ...

to peel the skins off for the salsa ...

The vegetables were chopped ... and placed into a large pot ...

mixing in all the other ingredients needed ...

brought to a boil ... cooked down ...

then poured into sterilized jars and into the water bath ...

for processing ...

Spent more time in the garden ... taking pictures ...

Couldn't resist picking some of the ripened fruit and vegetables ...

It's been quite busy the last few days ... !!!

Loved every minute of it ...

 

 

Fishing In The Rain ...

August 19, 2014

It was an interesting morning ... started out quite nice and then a rain storm blew in ...

we still managed to stay dry with the canopy and rain gear ...

only a couple hours later we caught our limit ...

Just goes to show you the fish are still hungry and biting ...

when it storms ...

 August 20 and 21, 2014

Another batch of filleted fish ...

ready to go into a brine ... refrigerated overnight ...

and then smoked the next day ...

We were pleased with the taste result of this batch of fish ... !!!

Fishing with our Neighbour ...

August 12, 2014

A day of Kokanee fishing out on Lake Koocanusa ...

we invited our neighbour Mike ...

to go fishing with us ...

He was amazed how easy the fishing was ...

that within a few hours we all had our limit ...

We then spent some time cruising on the lake ...

before heading home ...

We decided to fillet and smoke this batch ...

this was my first time ...

taking the knife in hand ... helping out with filleting the fish ...

there is quite a knack to it ...

Didn't take me long to get the feel of it ...

Putting the fillet into a brine then placed in the refrigerator overnight ...

The next morning  ... letting the fish dry on the racks ...

before placing them into the smoker ...

using Apple and Hickory chips for flavour ...

This batch took about 5 hours to smoke ...

Packaging them when they were cooled ...

into small portions sealing them in vacuum bags ...

and popping some of them into the freezer ...

but leaving out enough to munch on and share with others ...

Will definitely make a few more batches ... they were really tasty ...

Guess that means we have to go fishing again ...

Darn It Anyway ... !!!!

2 Day Process ...

Since we have a freezer full of fish ...
we decided to smoke the Trout ...
we caught on Sunday ...
Mike fillet the fish ... I mixed up the brine ... covered it up ... put in the fridge overnight ...

Early the next day ... took the trout out of the brine ...
patted it dry ... and placed on Smoker racks ...
once again placed in the fridge for 6 hours ...

Placing the racks into the Smoker ...
and let it smoke for 6 hours ...
using Hickory and Apple wood chips ....

After sampling the smoked fish ...
setting aside a couple pieces ...
the rest were packaged up and put in the freezer ...

Absolutely delicious ... !!!

Jerky For Nathan ...

 

Well this was definitely a new adventure for me ...
Nathan had given me packages of frozen deer meat ...
hoping I would take the challenge ...
and make some Deer Jerky ...
And I did ...
 

It took quite awhile to find a recipe online ...
watching YouTube videos ...
learning the process ...
mixed up the brine ingredients ...
put in the deer meat ...
and placed it in the fridge to marinate overnight ...
 

Took out the batch of marinated meat in the morning ...

laid them on trays to drain and dry a bit ...

before they were put in the smoker ...

about 7hrs later ...

took out the smoked ... dehydrated jerky ...

amazed at how much they had shrunk ...

some of them were a little well done ...

due to the thickness of the slices ...

and darkened by the marinade ...

think I will remove the excess next time ...

all in all when it came down to the taste test ...

they were incredibly delicious ...

packaged them up and are in the freezer ...

Hope Nathan will be happy with the result ...

because there is another batch marinating (different brine) in the fridge ...

to be smoked tomorrow ...

now that I have an idea of what I am doing ...

and getting some tips from our neighbour ...

the butcher ... !!!

Fire Up The Smoker ...

 

This was the first time that I used the fillet knife ...
on the Kokanees ...
to get them ready for smoking ... actually wasn't that difficult ...
was less work for removing the bones before ...
rather than after the process ...
 set here on the trays to dry ... from being in the marinade overnight ...
before I put them on the racks ...
in the smoker ...
 

A couple hours later ...

using Hickory and Apple chips ...

for the smoke flavour ...

ended up with over 4 lbs of delicious smoked Kokanee ...

packaged and stored in the freezer ...

Yum ... !!!