Check the new review by survival monkeys

http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/gear-reviews/27529-volcano-grills-volcano-ii-collapsible-grill-review.html

Preparedness fair in Holladay

Tomorrow, Sat. Jan. 15th, I will be at an emergency fair

9:00 AM —12:00 PM
 

1750 E. Spring Lane
Holladay

Keynote speaker - Bob Cary from Dept. of Homeland Security

Will be worth your time!

The Easter Egg That I Promised

Remember that I promised an Easter Egg on the Blog? Today is that day. On ANYTHING on the website, INCLUDING the ASHBASH (Which, due to shipping issues is a LOCAL PICKUP ONLY) is 10% off. Example: The Triple Combo - Volcano Collapsible Stove, Volcano Lid and the Volcano Cookbook/Technical Manual is regularly priced at $191.35. The Package price on the web is $174.95 Saving you about $17.00. HOWEVER, use my coupon and get 10% off that price... and save another $17.50.. Making your FINAL price (before tax or shipping or both) $157.45. This coupon will be good THROUGH Sunday (The 9th of January) night at midnight.
COUPON CODE IS: CRAZYBLOGGER.

Check out the Video from Cowboy Flavor "Best of the West"

I was thinking..

About Preparedness today.. As I drove from Salt Lake City to Springville, I could see that there were many drivers who were not prepared. Either they didnt know how do drive in the snow, or their cars were not equipped to help them survive the TERRIBLE road conditions. I wonder, when TEOTAWKI happens, how many, especially if it happens in the dead of winter, will be unprepared? I know that A LOT of people have food storage. Few have fuel storage and even fewer yet have a way to cook/keep warm when disaster strikes.
To that end, watch our website in the next few days.. We will be putting up a "works" Volcano Package. I will be putting a coupon code on the BLOG that will give you an additon % off. JUST for being a blog follower.
Might do it for some of the accessories, also.. Maybe The Lid, for example. I am open to suggetions.

Left Over Christmas Ham idea...

First and foremost... I hate turkey. I know.. un-american.. I've never tasted your recipe... Ive not tried this or that.. Trust me.. been there.. done that.. got the T-Shirt. Deep fried turkey (Not as good as deep fried twinkies or mars bars) Basil rubbed turkeys.. Turkey cooked upside down in a bag.. Turkey stuff with pine nuts.. Turkey stuffed with stuff.. On and on.. I just don't like that texture. Ok! Enough about Turkey!

What I do like is a good ham.. Cure 81, Honey Baked ham, Bilinski's (www.bilinkskis.com)  Ham I am. (HamIAm.com) and a few others.. Sometimes the Costco ham (Believe it or not.. ) is pretty good.

The way I cook it is pretty simple. Face down, covered in tin foil. about 20 min per lb at 275 degrees. This gives you a juicy ham. Then add the glaze of choice.. I like this one:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup soft bread crumb

Directions:

Combine sugar, vinegar, mustard  in a bowl. Stir with a fork until sugar dissolves. Stir in bread crumbs. Spread glaze evenly over ham during final 30 minutes of cooking.

Ok. Cook your ham. Eat it. Like it. You will have a left over bone and, if you are smart, a little bit of meat on it.

Now is the time for your ham to be truly tasty. I like Ham hocks and beans.. Here is one of my favorite Recipes.

Ingredients

• left over bone and meat from your Christmas ham.
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onions( I like to go a little light on this)
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 1/4 cup minced green bell peppers
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 quarts Chicken Stock or
• canned low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed, picked over, soaked overnight in water to cover, and drained(Most beans have rocks and crud in them... CLEAN THEM WELL!)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup minced green onions (green and white parts)
• 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Score the skin of each ham hock with a sharp knife.

Heat the oil in a large deep pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ham hocks, onions, celery, bell peppers, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, thyme, and bay leaves and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours.

Add the beans and stir. Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the beans are just tender and ham hocks are very tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Season with the salt and continue cooking for 15 to 30 minutes, until the beans are tender and the ham hocks are beginning to fall apart. Remove from the heat.

Spoon the ham hocks and beans into bowls (or cut the meat from the bones and stir the meat back into the pot of beans before ladling into bowls) and sprinkle with the green onions and parsley.

Yield: 4 servings

Sorry no pictures.. It was a madhouse at Christmas.. and, frankly, I was focused on other stuff. Enjoy.. Im going to try and post something here each week. So! my 12 followers.. Get your friends to check this out will you? And I will try to get more picture happy!

A Soup from my youth..

Some of you know that when I was younger, I lived in Bogota, Colombia. I thought I would take some of the "comfort food" from my youth and post the Recipes here.

This sou;p is called Ajiaco.. I think it is delicious and it's not very hard to make. However. FOLLOW the ingredients or you will never get an authentic flavor. The critical ingredient is the Guascas.. That seems to be the foundational flavor of the soup.
Also, here in the United States we cannot get the same potatoes that they use there (A variation of yellow ones that dont fall apart in hot water like Russets seem to do) That being said, I think you will find this easy to make and tasty.
I halved this recipe and used a 12 inch deep DO. The Volcano, natch, was the heat source.

AJIACO BOGOTANO



Equipment


12" deep Dutch Oven
potato peeler


Ingredients
3 pounds  chicken breast, on the bone with skin (or 1 whole chicken, cut into parts)
6 quarts water
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
6 pounds  new red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 pounds  papas criollas (in the U.S. use Dutch Creamer, Baby Dutch Yellow, Yukon Gold, or Yellow Finn potatoes), cut into 1-inch chunks (In Utah country sometimes you can find them at Tenochitlan)
4 ears corn on the cob (fresh or frozen), cut into 3-inch pieces
2 handfuls of Guascas (about 5 g dried or 10 g fresh)






SERVE WITH
cilantro leaves
Crema Mexicana (or regular heavy cream if you can’t find the other)
capers
avocados, sliced
cooked rice


Preparation



 1. Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the DO, sprinkle with a handful of guascas, and add water. Bring to a boil and cook until the meat is tender. Remove chicken and set aside. Cover with foil and keep warm.

2. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for at least a couple hours, 4 hours is best. The yellow potatoes should start to break up in the soup, but if not, you can help the soup along by mashing some of the yellow potatoes in the pot.


3. Once the cooked chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones. Cut the meat into small pieces and drop them back into the pot.


4. About 5 minutes before serving, add the remaining guascas and let it cook for 5 minutes, then serve.5. Serve in deep bowls, making sure that each bowl gets some chicken and a piece of corn on the cob. Garnish with a dollop of heavy cream, capers, and cilantro leaves. You can eat the avocado on the side with the rice, or you can cut a slice into pieces and drop into your soup bowl. (I like the avocado chunks in my soup.)

Give it a whirl.. I think you will like it.. And I can report to my wifes grandmother that she will live on forever in her recipes.