Me:1 Welder:0

Don't worry, I didn't leave it that way.

After all the trouble I went to to get my hands on an old Lincoln stick welder, when I went to plug it in I found a vintage 220 dryer outlet where I had expected a serviceable 220 welder outlet to be. I went to Lowe's, bought a receptacle (and a plug, just in case) and came back just in time for it to be dark out. To leave the lights on would have meant to leave the breaker on, and even I wouldn't do that.

Aside from having to break the rust off of some screws, the install went without a hitch and once I restored the power, was greeted with the familiar low hum of the old buzz box. One more project, down.

Hardware, restoration. Part I.

In the process of cleaning out the shop I discovered this sewing machine. It's a White Brand, from the early 1900's. As nearly as I can tell from asking around, it belonged to my great-grandmother. Even the contents of the drawers are exactly as she left them, as if she left one day and never came back. There are buttons, needles, thread, and even an old passport-size school photo of a distant relative.

I'm going to restore it- not because I have a need for a foot powered machine per se, though many of them are still in use in China. The technology is old, but it still works (kind of a theme here). I'm going to restore it because it will give me insight into historical construction methods, and help to develop my skill in fitting and finishing furniture and rebuilding vintage machinery.

I can't resist. Really.

Vinegar salad.

One of the hazards of not eating any grains --because they'll kill you-- or processed foods --because they'll kill you, too-- is that I do an awfully lot of cooking. This morning, I decided to throw together a salad so that I had something to go with the charcoal grilled steaks I had leftover from Sunday night. I settled on a vinegar salad. Vinegar salads are dead simple.

What you need:
A large cucumber
Ripe tomatoes- either sliced or small, whole
1/2 medium white onion
1/4 cup cold-pressed olive oil
White vinegar

Chop everything up. I like to peel the cucumber, and slice it into half rounds and the onion into thin slices. Add the 1/4 cup olive oil and enough vinegar to give the veggies a good soak. You can eat this immediately, though it's much better if left to chill for a few hours or overnight.

Or if you're the kind of person that understands the superiority of fine mustard as a condiment, you can do it like this:

Save the tomatoes and onions for another dish. Mix equal parts Dijon mustard, white vinegar, olive oil, and salt to taste. Toss cucumber slices in mustard mixture. Enjoy.

More on why I don't eat grain later. If you want a head start, read "The Primal Blueprint," "The Paleo Diet," and "The Vegetarian Myth" and articles that are readily available at Mark's Daily Apple. Forget 'Big Brother' - Big Ag is filling their pockets while killing you and turning the earth into a wasteland. Let's talk real change, real sustainability, and real health.

Your workout is my warmup.

This morning I woke up to the sound of cars passing in the rain. I wasn't going to get any more sleep, so I shook myself out of bed and headed down to Maltese Crossfit for the workout of the day (WOD).

I did 10 burpees, 10 pullups, 10 hanging knees-to-elbows, and 10 squats 3 times through. And then we actually worked out. Today's WOD went like this:

100' walking lunge
21 push up
21 sit up
100' walking lunge
18 push up
18 sit up
100' walking lunge
15 push up
15 sit up
100' walking lunge
12 push up
12 sit up
100' walking lunge
9 push up
9 sit up
100' walking lunge
6 push up
6 sit up

... for time.

It took me 08:57 and I was feeling the after-effects of yesterdays sprints and deadlifts. Yep. An eight minute workout. Crossfit prizes work capacity and functionality above all else. In short, you train in the gym to be good at life.

We run and jump and lift and climb and row. Our workouts draw from Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, gymnastics, strongman, & track and field. And all of it is set against the clock.

I started Crossfit as an experiment last summer as the product of 10 years in the gym searching for better methodologies. I've trained as a bodybuilder, track athlete, powerlifter, martial artist, and strongman. I've used Zatiorsky's methods, Medvedyev's methods and read Siff and Rippetoe and Simmons. And in that time my weight has been as low as 168 and as high as 240. I now weigh 205 at 6'2" -- I deadlift over 440# and I completed a 50 mile marathon in 26th/50. I have never been stronger, faster, more flexible, or more endurant. And I do this in less than 30 minutes a day. I will never do anything else.

Crossfit is truth.

Going scaveng-- er... shopping.

This is not a 3rd world country.

Run by Luis, a Mexican who speaks perfect English with an Eastern european accent, Bob Jonak's place is akin an island that can only by found by people that already know where it is. Mythic in its size and diversity of scrap, it's over a square mile of agricultural-industrial graveyard. And it's where I get most of the steel that I need for my projects thats either unaffordable or unavailable due to its size, rarity, or (usually) obsolescence. It's a place for the repurposing of things and at Jonak's I can buy most anything for a song. 50' of lath fence? $5. 50 links of 1/2" tool steel digger chain? $0.25 per link. Bolts, wheels, gears, chain, wrought iron-- and I could never exhaust the supply.

I happened to snap a picture last time I was out, and now that my shop is back in commission I'll be headed out for more project materials soon.

--UPDATE--

Went out after my workout and found everything I needed for a project, save maybe a piece of spring steel for $10. How about that?

Rending lard & making chicharrones.

The finished product. As it solidifies, it will turn a nice white color.


I'm sure you're looking at this title saying to yourself, "Who the hell just renders some lard?" Well, I do. I cook a LOT and I don't want hydrogenated-anything in my cooking fat. And besides all that, hog fat is $0.20/ lb.

Rendering fat has been around for centuries and remains a reliable way to produce shelf-stable cooking fat or shortening. It's a great source of the RIGHT KIND of saturated and unsaturated fats-- read as, not hydrogenated and not TRANS-anything, and it tastes great. You can render it in water or in a dry pan. Water-rendered lard gives you a tremendously mild product, while pan-rendered can be a bit porky. Since I don't bake much (and vegetable shortening will KILL you), I use the dry pan method.

What you need:

Cast iron pan (I prefer cast iron for its heat-retention, but any pan will do)
A few pounds of hog back fat
'Lil bit of water
Sterilized wide mouth canning jars + lids
Butter muslin
Rubber bands, 1 per jar



Pork on the slab, and cubed.

You start with fat back pork. You can buy this from your local butcher-- I buy mine in slabs, skin on. If you can get it skinned or better yet, skinned & cubed you can save yourself some work.



The fat, mostly rendered.

Once I have it skinned & cut into smaller cubes, I put it in a cast iron pan on medium low heat with a few Tbsp. of water to keep it from burning. As the fat melts, you can gradually increase the heat some until you're at a medium-medium-hot. Eventually what you'll you have looks like the picture above-- some pieces of tasty golden brown fat pieces & a lot of liquid. When these are nice and crispy, they can be fished out and snacked on. Known as hog cracklings, chicharrones, or pork rinds they're delicious with a little bit of salt.



While all this is going on, you should have sterilized those jars and lids and placed butter muslin over the opening with rubber bands. This will filter the sediments (little burned bits) out of your lard. I like to let it cool a little bit and then transfer it into a 2 quart Pyrex measuring cup-- the kind with a pour spout. Using that, pour the lard VERY SLOWLY through the muslin. It won't flow quickly and you can get over-invested, so take your time.

When the jar's filled, twist the lid on tightly and refrigerate. While lard is shelf-stable and many a Grandmother has left a jar in the cupboard for whoever-knows-how-long, I err on the side of caution and refrigerate. It will keep in the refrigerator for months.

Enjoy!
B.

Shop, moved.

After an arduous weekend of pushing, pulling, and dragging equipment from Blackfoot, my shop is mostly reassembled.