March, 2019

I am pretty sleepy this morning due to Gandalf’s demands last night that I not go to bed.

It’s no longer just a pig jowl. It has soaked in the cure for 6 days in the fridge, lost 40% of its weight, and is now hanging in the cool spring basement to dry and ripen. It’s now proto-guanciale.

Lis and I went for a walk along the Charles today. We saw a large number of gulls, and it’s not until I looked at the pics that I realized they’re ring-billed.

One of the advantages of working downtown is access to specialty stores like Au Chocolat which is about 300 ft from my office.

The Mighty Squirrel taproom in Waltham, location of this evening’s Doug’s Office Hours. A great spot. We will be back!

I last made guanciale in 2016. This pig jowl is from our CSA, and is considerably meatier than the last one. It’s not much to look at now but I’m really looking forward to the result. It’ll need to cure for a few days in the fridge, then hang in the basement for a few weeks, before it’s ready to eat.

OK readers, what is this warning in reference to?

Today I cleaned an old squirrel nest out of our screech owl house, and installed a new entrance guard — this one made of oak to deter the furry bastards from enlarging the hole. I hope we get some feathered occupants this year.

Amazon.com has nothing on fresh fava beans, which must be both shucked and hulled to get to the edible part. It’s a good thing they’re delicious!