Just another guy with a photoblog. Feel free to follow along as I work on various hobbies and projects around the house.
Recent posts
It’s taken me a long time, but I’ve finally perfected gumbo. I’ve gone through countless over-complicated recipes over the years and have systematically thrown out the steps and ingredients that were superfluous. This recipe is what remained. It’s the best gumbo I’ve ever had. I usually do a shrimp and sausage gumbo, but you could add crab, fish, chicken thighs, smoked turkey, or anything else you like. But you have to use one pound of hot andouille sausage or it won’t come out the same....read more
Posted 6 days 17 hours ago.
Last weekend, the wife and I used the holiday to squeeze in two hikes; Jones Gap Falls at Jones Gap State Park and Pinnacle Mountain Falls at Table Rock State Park. Pinnacle Falls is off the Palmetto Trail behind the conference building near the Table Rock State Park campgrounds (get directions here). You park at the trailhead and it’s a pretty easy hike until the abandoned dirt road near the ridge. From there, it gets a little more challenging as you make your way down the hill and parallel to a dilapidated church camp that looks like the abandoned set of a teen horror film. A little while later, you cross a little creek on what looks like an old stone cross-vane....read more
Posted 1 week 6 days ago.
This month’s issue of Bon Appétit is all about Southern Food. Paula Deen’s admission that she has Type 2 Diabetes is purely coincidental. The issue is actually pretty good, and I think that’s saying a lot. I’m usually put off by yankees’ attempts to bring southern culture to the forefront because it almost always drips of arrogance and condescension. They claim to appreciate the intricacies of southern arts, crafts and culinary heritage, but their amazement seems to stem not from the quality of the creations themselves, but rather from the fact that they didn’t think rural backwaters were capable of appreciable culture at all....read more
Posted 1 week 6 days ago.
I have a bunch of recipes that I’ve been meaning to blog for a while, and this is one of the better ones. I can’t remember where I originally got this idea; I think it was from some blogger’s variation that was a few degrees removed from an Ina Garten concoction. I’ve been roasting cauliflower for years, and I grill a lot of vegetables, but I think the best way to cook broccoli (and keep the meal healthy) is under the broiler. Here’s everything you need: Roasted Broccoli 4 crowns of broccoli, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, sliced 3 tablespoons olive oil ½ lemon, zested and juiced 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese salt and pepper This is a simple recipe. Start by preheating the oven to 425° (broil) and placing the rack in the second-highest position....read more
Posted 3 weeks 2 days ago.
As I’ve mentioned before, my family makes Christmas gifts for one another. Last year we made hollow book safes, beaded earrings and teacup candles. The year before that, we made some wine bottle stands and beef jerky. This year, we made chalkboards, barbecue rub, monogrammed aprons, and pottery Christmas tree ornaments. Most people think that DIY is always cheaper. It’s been my experience that the reverse is usually true. Almost all of the furniture I make costs double what I’d pay at a big box store. The same holds true for most of the clothes the wife makes at home. The only way DIY saves money is in bulk production....read more
Posted 5 weeks 6 days ago.
This spice rub is a based on a recipe developed by America’s Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated to mimic the taste of the ribs at Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous in Memphis, TN. The label on top of the jars is a custom QR code. When you scan the code with your smartphone, it links to this post of mine explaining the easiest way I know to cook ribs. The webpage is optimized for mobile devices, so you can take the recipe and instructions out to the grill with you. For the best deal on spices, look in the Hispanic section of your grocery store. Just mix everything together in the biggest bowl you have. This rub recipe will fill 12 pint jars. Each jar is enough to coat four slabs of ribs. Of course, you can put the rub on anything you like....read more
Posted 6 weeks 26 min ago.
As a way to cut down on the amount of money spent at Christmastime (and to limit the amount of useless crap we each accumulated), my family decided to start making gifts a few years ago. It was touch and go for a while, but thanks to creative online showcases like Pinterest, the quality of gifts has dramatically increased lately. This year, we made these chalkboards for some of the ladies on both sides of our families. About a month ago, the wife saw this page in a magazine: She pointed to the chalkboard and suggested that we make something similar for our homemade Christmas gifts. I’m not sure if she really liked this idea or just wanted to outsource most of the gift-making to me this year, but they came out great. The best part is that they were pretty cheap to make....read more
Posted 6 weeks 14 hours ago.
People who know me well know that I don’t like to shop. The exceptions to that rule are hardware stores, grocery stores and thrift shops. About once every few months, I get the itch to see what’s on consignment-sale in the area. I have a circuit of six stores that I visit around town. I usually don’t buy anything, but every now and then I see something in good shape at a price that’s unbeatable and I buy it. For instance, one time I picked up eight steel folding chairs for $4 a piece. Those are always good to have in the garage. Another time, I bought some brand new Timberland hiking boots for $3. I’ve bought everything from picture frames to audio speakers to specialty barware....read more
Posted 10 weeks 4 days ago.
Late fall through early spring is my the favorite time to hike in the mountains. The foliage has changed and fallen, there aren’t many people out on the trails, and you can see for miles from the mountain peaks. We got out early on Saturday and drove to Triple Falls at Dupont State Park just over the North Carolina line. We’ve seen the 120 foot high cascade from the bottom before. This time, we thought we’d hike up to the covered bridge at the top and work our way down to the river below. Triple Falls is a popular area for parties and company outings. There’s a pavilion at the top that people rent, so the trails are actually gravel roads. We should have brought our bikes. Afterward, we stopped at a roadside barbecue stand on US 276 near Traveler’s Rest, SC....read more
Posted 11 weeks 4 min ago.
When I was right out of college and teaching myself to cook, I tried to reverse-engineer Ruby Tuesday’s Sonora Chicken Pasta. I hate to date myself, but this was back in the days of Web 1.0 before seemingly everything was posted online. I didn’t want to literally recreate the dish, as I found the sauce too rich. I just wanted to perfect that creamy taste and texture that coated the noodles and tickled the back of your throat with a slight hint of spiciness. I never wrote down the recipe I eventually worked out, and it’s been at least five years since I last made it. The wife has been requesting it for months, so I thought I’d finally perfect the dish and record the recipe for posterity. If you search for the Sonoroa Chicken Pasta recipe now, it’s easy to find....read more
Posted 14 weeks 2 days ago.