Dry Brined Smoked Salmon

Dry Brined Smoked Salmon

1 slab of salmon fillet cut in 4 inches pieces across
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix sugar and spices. Place salmon in a large
non-reactive baking dish.
Pat sugar mixture over each salmon piece.
Cover and refrigerate over night.
Next day wash salmon pieces
to remove excess brine. Pat dry and
let salmon pieces dry with a fan to develop the pellicle.
Smoke with some whiskey soaked hickory chips.

So far I've made salmon dip.

Mix sour cream, whipped cream cheese,
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish,
ground pepper and fresh chopped dill.
Better the second day when flavors meld.
Up next will be some smoked salmon risotto.

Blooming Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Blooming Stuffed Baked Potatoes

4-6 small to medium baked potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
4-6 half inches cubes of butter
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground hot pepper of your choice
3/4 cup grated cheese such as cheddar or gouda
green onion slices or chopped parsley for garnish

The potatoes are cut into blossom shapes just like onion blossoms.
Photo shows a potato with bacon but I omitted bacon this time.
Cut potato bottoms off to make a flat potato.
Then cut in quarters or 6ths down to one inch of bottom.
Slice bottoms into thin strips to place in cut sections.
Put potatoes in an 8x8 inch baking dish rubbed with olive oil.

Put one cube of butter in each potato opening in the center.

Sprinkle with spices, then top with grated cheese.
Bake in preheated 375 F oven for 45 minutes
tented with aluminum foil.
Remove tent and bake another 15 minutes till browned.
Sprinkle baked potato blossoms with green onion or parsley.
Serve with protein of your choice.
These potatoes are quite striking on the plate,
and sure to impress your guests.

Blueberry Picking Has Commenced for 2026

Blueberry Picking Has Commenced for 2026

Gary does the picking, freezing, and packaging.
He freezes them on trays and then packs them when frozen.
We have five plants and they produce 
approximately 40 pints a year.

This year will be a little less due to dry conditions
and should have fertilized more last year.

Blueberry plants are sensitive to over fertilizer,
so we must be careful of overdoing that.
Nothing like organically grown blueberries.
Planting blueberry plants is well worth the rewards.

Here's a down view of one of the plants from
several years ago. The plant was loaded with blueberries.
The plants are now 12 years old and produce an abundance.
They're planted against a south facing half-wall
of our solarium (an enclosed porch).
Plants were covered with ground cover cloth to keep the weeds down,
then mulched and a topping of pine straw on top of that.

Mountain Laurel

Mountain Laurel

Blooming now deep in the wood as an understory plant.