Chocolate Gravy & Biscuits

Roughly 30 years ago my sons came home and told me that their friends, Mark and Kevin's grandma made this chocolate gravy and biscuits for them everyday.  I have wondered how good that might be all this time and now I know.  It was wonderful!  Equivalent to desert biscuits at places like Bojangles or Hardee's.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

I am not sure I will ever be a regular blogger again but I will share what I did with all the Turkey and Ham leftover from our dinner as these two dishes are pretty awesome and easy.  The turkey is easy as the recipe for Brunswick Stew is already listed here under "Soups & Stews".  It's always easy for me because I usually have some Pulled Pork and Brisket in the freezer.  So to start I cook the turkey frame down till the meat is falling off the bone then pull the good meat off and use that in place of the BBQ Chicken.  The 14 lb turkey frame done in this manner always provides a cup or 2 which is plenty.  Add to that the frozen  1 lb ea pack of brisket and pulled pork and add to the the the turkey frame making sure there is enough water to cover and cook until all the meats are stringy and if you are a Brunswick Stew lover as I am you know what that looks like.  Now your ready to refer to the recipe and add all the other ingredient and finish up which takes 1 to 2 hours more.  Enjoy!  What about the ham?  I will just outline the recipe for this casserole for you and don't worry, it will be good as it has a short list of great ingredients.  We made one and took it to my sisters dinner which was a delayed Thanksgiving dinner because it just fit everyone's schedule better and it was so good we made another the next day for us.  So, just start by boiling 2 cups of large diced potatoes and 1 cup of large diced celery and cook for 20 min or till soft.  Here's a little tip:  some casseroles are more flavorful if the ingredients are not chopped up too fine.  Now dice about 2 cups of the ham (this can be small dice) while you fry 5 or 6 slices of bacon.  After frying the bacon gently saute a cup each of sliced onion and bell pepper and remove from the pan and add the ham and cook it, yes cook it again as it adds so much more flavor.  Now add back the onions and peppers and add to your casserole dish along with the drained potatoes and the chopped bacon mix it well.  Add a tablespoon of butter to the same pan and enough flour to make gravy with using 1 cup of milk.  When the gravy starts to thicken add 1 cup of cheddar then pour evenly over the casserole, add about 1/2 cup bread crumbs and bake for 30 min or until bubbling.  Easy and so good, we froze portions of it on a sheet pan and food savered for later.  I will add that the Brunswick Stew recipe I use here is one I took from a magazine many years ago and I love this stuff and have enjoyed it at many fine BBQ joints and this will stand up to any I have ever had.  If you don't have the pork and beef you might just get your crock pot out the night before.

Honey For Sale

We have a new harvest of clover honey for sale  $20 / quart or  $10 / pint. Harvested just two weeks ago and pure clover, raw, unfiltered honey from Murray County.

Swarm Transfer

I am so shocked at how well the bees were doing in this nuc.  It is a swarm from one of my own hive that I had been thinking it was about to happen and got this trap put up just in time.  I'm thinking "let your bees swarm" might be a better strategy than all the fuss of trying to prevent a swarm.  The parent hive is doing well too with new brood. 

Learning To Keep Bees

In the next few days I will be doing full inspections on 3 established hives, one of which is a split from one of the other two with the hopes of seeing confirmation of sorts on all that I have learned over the past few weeks.

Swarming 

Tom Seeley's Honey Bee Democracy was certainly an eye opener in that it makes one aware of the lengths bees go to choose a new location for a swarm to reside.  I don't know that knowing all that I learned from that book had anything at all to do with setting up my two swarm traps near my hives in hopes of catching a swarm from them but catch one I did and I learned that unless I missed it in his book this swarm did not follow what he described as their normal methods.  The first thing they did was cling to the bottom of the Long Hive they came from for 2 days before I saw another smaller ball of bees do the same near another hive just a few feet away.  The next day the first larger swarm moved to a trap I had placed about 10 ft up in a tree and did the same thing, made a ball clinging to bottom of the trap for 2 days, but then that 2nd smaller ball joined the first one for another day before they all finally entered that trap.  Nothing I read prepared me for this and I am relatively sure all the bees are from the same parent hive.  It would seem that the bees Democracy was in as much disarray as ours has been for years now, but all worked out for them as I sure hope it does for us.

Hiving a Swarm

On this subject the results are not in as I am a day away from actually taking that trap out of the tree.  I have struggled and still struggle with the issue of whether or not the bees need to be confined to the trap after I move them, so my plan is as follows.  It worked before and so what I will do is screen the entrance, move as close to the new permanent hive and location as possible and leave them confined for 2 to 3 days before releasing them with a queen excluder covering the entrance in place of the screen.  After 2 days I will then transfer the bees from the trap to the new hive and attach the queen excluder on that new hive for 2 days.  I will report the results.

Swarming Practice?

I am confused and in a wait and see mode with this hive of bees.  This is the 2nd day of bees clinging to the outside of the hive and I fully expected to see them leave but they never did.  Maybe they are just practicing their departure. 

Dark Cherry Yogurt (Not Store Bought)

This simple dessert dish will make you happy.  I use a good quality Greek Yogurt (Fage) and mix in cherries and honey.  Add my favorite crisp Mrs Thinsters Coconut Cookies and you will love it. 

Not Your Mexican Neighbors Tacos

The beef used in these tacos is leftover Pot Roast (Chuck Roast) and you won't believe how good the tacos are with it if you cook it again.  I just rough chop the meat and add a little oil to the skillet and set on med high.  Cook and stir till it is getting quite brown and set it aside and keep warm while you put the rest together.  Finely dice onion, cilantro, and seeded tomatoes and season, then add lemon or lime juice and stir.  I made broccoli slaw and had corn leftover that was in the pot roast.  Rather than make Salsa Verde I used Green Sriracha and I never miss the Salsa Verde, it's all good.

Cornbread Spinach Stuffed Pork Loin

I have stuffed Pork Loin before but always used bread crumbs but all I had was Cornbread this time and it was just as good.  I'm really liking this little electric grill.  A lot of times even the convection broil in the oven smokes up the kitchen and this fixes that and it's easy.  Steaks and any grilled items to me just don't require or benefit from smoke and then what about grilled fish, it's another thing you don't want indoors.  Potato patty and roll and the veggies is in the stuffing, what else could anyone need? 

Glass Cover Boards

I had Ace Hdwr cut this glass and the total was only 18 bucks and I just couldn't resist giving this a try and so far I like it.  The thing I was finding about doing an inspection on the long hive was kinda feeling lost as to just where the concentration of bees were until you slowly made your way to them starting from one side.  With the glass you get to see them right from the start and if you want you can start the inspection in the brood area and possibly eliminate a good deal of pulling frames.  I don't have any langs now but if I did I think I might try some on them as well.  The jury is still out but if I do use them on the hives I will get thicker glass, I looked a plexiglass and it bowed too much and was not as clear.

Little Bun Big Meat

I really like Pork Loin this way so I cut down some thick cut pork loin and pounded them even thinner and since we are trying to avoid salt I used Organic No Salt Seasoning from Costco.  So tender and good.

Dead Nettle

I have this Dead Nettle all over my property and have lived there for 20+ years and just found out it is both healthy and tasty in many things.  I ate a bite yesterday and it tasted just o.k. fresh picked and raw but this morning I included a single twig of it in our Kiwi Smoothie and it was really good to me and my other taste tester was undecided but didn't hate it.  One of the things I plan to try with it is a Pesto on nice hard roll.  It's in the mint family and you can tell that by looking.  Some of the suggestion for how to use it is to use it as a herb in soups, salad, etc, in Smoothies and Pesto as mentioned and many more.  On another note, beekeepers are saying bees are wild over it and I don't find that to be true with my bees.  No one watches their bees more than I do and I have never seen a bee on the stuff but I think I am in a really good nectar / pollen rich area and it's just not at the top of their list and by the time they are out of their favorites it's already gone.

Bees and ants

I have no idea how well this will work in stopping the ants from getting into the hive but it was certainly easy enough and inexpensive.  I mixed approximately the same amount of vaseline (petroleum jelly) and cinnamon together.  My hope is the cinnamon will turn them away and the vaseline will help keep it there and not wash away.  Update: this didn't work at all, if anything it attracts ants.

Pecan Pie

Everyone knows how good Pecan Pie is and most have made them or bought the Edward's brand and called it good, and Edwards is sure nuff good.  Thanksgiving and all the other holiday meals have the standard menu at our house and two things on that menu would be Pecan Pie and Sweet Potato Casserole with the Pecans on top.  My Mom wasn't able to bring her Sweet Potato dish this year so we just made up a dish of Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes) and as I was looking over the desserts I noticed the Yams and the Pecan Pie were right next to each other the thought hit me, "I bet those warm Yams would be mighty good as a topping on a piece of that pie.  And it was!  I am the type person that even if it's the best thing in the world and I can think of a way to "jack it up a bit" I will do it every time.  As far as Pecan Pie goes, I like it warm and with a small scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream on top.  This Yam thing might even be better.

Lemon Pepper Chicken

You have to give the convection ovens credit, they do a fantastic job roasting meat.  Grated lemon peel salt pepper beats store bought every time.  Let me add that a 3 hour salt, honey, brine will do so much toward improving your chicken whether convection roasting, frying or any other method of cooking that you will find it hard to believe.  It retains moisture (no more dry chicken).  On another note, I recently bought a Nuwave air fryer and used it twice before realizing our convection oven is doing the exact same thing without the space limitations.  It is in the box and some lucky person will receive a nice gift soon.

Brief Inspection

I hate to feel lost and confused but that's exactly how I felt on this inspection on these new long hives. The bees do seem to be doing great though. 

Baked Pasta

The key to a good Meat Sauce is not in the ingredients so much as in the cook time.  I like to cook it in the crock pot 24 hrs or so.  Anchovies will make certain dishes really special.

Hot Wings Meal

What is your favorite Hot Wing meal?  I suppose fries, slaw, and a roll is the most common but if you like them as much as I do anything works.

Yogurt Fruit Cookie Treat

This is so good you really should try it.  The frozen fruits we use are: Dark Cherries, Pineapple, and Strawberries but I'm sure there are more.  Since the yogurt is plain Greek yogurt I add honey and mix it together with the yogurt and fruit before adding the Coconut cookies broken up some.  I use Mrs Thinsters but I'm sure any crisp thin cookie would be good, I think Archway makes some good ones.

Bee Hive Building

This will be my fourth Horizontal Hive if I can ever finish it.  The bottom is in and next will be the entrances, then I will work on the top.  This was suppose to be my first horizontal that me and my good friend Keith worked on but then I decided to have them built and that deal fell through after 3 and I wanted 6 or more total.  After this one I plan to switch to a Layens style with extra deep frames and it will be modified and use 2 med lang frames turned 90 degree and attached.

Brisket Philly Cheese Steak

I sure am glad we have this meat in the fridge often and that I tried this cheese steak with it.  It sure was good and having the meat already cooked made it a quick and easy friday night meal.