Don makes his perfect food (Cajun Hot Dog)

I love hot dogs. But hot dogs are ultra processed foods. And I avoid ultra processed foods. But I’ve always had an idea that a hot dog could actually be a perfect food. Ground chicken, veggies, fruit, seasoning, olive oil. So tonight it finally came about. It took a lot of work, so I’m not doing my white egg based bun tonight. But I do give you… My Cajun Chicken Hot Dog. Ground chicken, carrots, jalapenos and apples with cheddar cheese and Cajun seasoning. I did add a bit more cayenne and some minced garlic. I’ve never made my own sausage before…and surprisingly enough, it worked perfectly. Natural pork casings and a new sausage press. I’m shooting for a perfect food bite here. Chicken, veggies, fruit. Air fried. Tasty, yet...

Coffee Chipolte Steak

A friend brought over a local cut of sirloin strip beef. To be exact, 1.48 lb of Beef Sirloin Strip Steaks from Willingham Farm (Remington, VA). My initial thought was to do my classic garlic thyme butter treatment. But I wanted to do something new and up the stakes (steaks!) so the wonderful cut meets a rub made of coffee, chipolte, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. This will sit in the fridge for 2 hours, then room temperature before cooking. This is critical to get the flavors into the meat. To make this different than my other steaks I decided to do 2 things, one was a ‘reverse sear’ and the other was to cook in in a cast irons skillet on the grill. This would allow me to cook a bunch of...

Paddle Boarding

To spend more time on the water and to get more exercise, Chase The Dog and I have taken up paddle boarding. Most evenings we can be found on Monroe Bay, enjoying the sunset. My board is a High Society Shadowcatcher. It’s an 11 wide board with extra inflatable pontoons on the side for incredible stability. I also mounted a Larry Chair to...

Chase and I go Glamping

Chase The Dog and I went on our first Glamping Trip this weekend! We stayed in a cool wall tent on 60 acres in the Shenandoah Mountains (only 4 tents). After we settled in we swam in a spring fed pond on the property and then hiked the White Oak Creek Canyon trail to the first waterfall. We didn’t plan on swimming, but it was a hot day, so we found a secluded pool, stripped down to our skivvies (yes, Chase has skivvies) and dove in. It was a great trip and I look forward to returning. I found this on Hipcamp, a great site for non-conventional campsites (people’s back yard, vineyards, vacant property…)...

Tennessee Onions

So here is something completely out of left field. And also completely wonderful. I had this Sweet Onion left from what is now casually called “SmashFest2023®”. So this is one onion, one man, one 9″x9″ glass dish. This is a take off of something that is called a Tennessee Onion. And it is…fantastic. I sliced one sweet onion in about 1/4 thin slices and kept them in their circles. I placed them in a glass dish that was coated with olive oil to keep them from sticking. Heat up your oven to 350°. I coated them with… Dried thyme Dried parsley flakes Garlic powder Dried oregano Dry mustard Cayenne pepper I topped this Kerrygold butter, smoked gouda and cheddar. About a handful of each. This went into the oven for 20 minutes, covered...