Market Monday: Lehigh Valley Abrasives

August 25, 2014 by

This week’s Market Monday is Lehigh Valley Abrasives. They have high quality, low cost metal working abrasives. They have a wide variety of abrasives including grinding disks, sanding disks, sanding belts, surface conditioning disks, saw blades, grinding wheels, and a whole lot more. Give them a look to get some good, low cost abrasives.

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Refrigerator Pickles

August 18, 2014 by

What’s better than a pickle? A homemade pickle!

This recipe is quick, easy, and tasty. I think it took my 30 minutes start to finish. That includes washing the dishes. Quick!
Ingredients:
  • 1 lbs cucumbers
  • 1.5 cups white vinegar
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt (3/4 tsp Kosher)
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • Dash of red pepper flakes
  • Onions – optional
Directions:
  • Slice the cucumbers how you like them. I slice them about 1/4″ thick with the crinkle blade in my mandoline. They come out uniform and it is easier than using a knife. Put the cut cucumbers in a bowl big enough to hold the brine also as it will get added soon. If you add the onion, slice it up into rings/slivers and mix with the cucumbers.
  • To make the brine, mix everything but the cucumbers (and onion) together in a pot.
  • Bring to a boil while stirring so the sugar dissolves and does’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Boil for about a minute.
  • Pour the brine over the cucumbers and stir well to make sure everything is submerged.
  • Let cool and refridgerate.
  • Eat pickles!

Slicing Cucumbers 1 Slicing Cucumbers 2  Sliced Cucumbers Pickle Brine Pickles

Notes:

The taste will greatly improve over the next three to four days as they pickle. I have stored them in the refridgerator for several months with no issues.

When I’m in the fridge and think of it, I give the bowl a shake to make sure the pickles stay covered up and to mix up the brine.
My bag of cucumbers was two pounds so I doubled everything to make sure they would all get covered by the liquid.
The brine will stain because of the tumeric. I have a green spoon and a shirt with spots on it. Be careful.

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Market Monday: Bolt Depot

August 18, 2014 by

Here is a new feature for the site: Market Monday. Each Monday I will share a supplier of some sort that may be useful to someone. They will be quite varied and all will be useful in some way.

First up is Bolt Depot. They have nearly every kind of hardware imaginable – wood screws, metal screws, hex bolts, carriage bolts, lag bolts, washers, eye bolts, J bolts, U bolts, etc. Next time you need some hardware, check them out.

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Easy Bacon Cooking! Part 2

August 17, 2014 by

A long time a go I posted about cooking bacon in the microwave. It involved a lot of paper towels, a bit of a mess, and a few minutes of time. Well, times have changed. I now cook my bacon in the oven. It takes longer (about 35 minutes) but there is not nearly the mess, it tastes better, and more can be cooked at once.

I set the oven for 350° F, place a cooling rack in a baking sheet pan, fill it with bacon, slide it in, and wait. It takes about 35 minutes to get the bacon to perfect crispiness. The meat is perfectly cooked and the fat melts. Your times may need adjusted depending on your oven.

I can fit 10 slices on my half sheet pans quite easily. I cook a bunch and stick it in a bag in the fridge for when I want bacon without the hassle. Another benefit is the grease gets collected in the pan to be saved for other uses. When cooled a bit, I pour it off into a jar to be saved in the fridge for later use.

Give it a try next time you need to cook bacon or you need to cook a lot of bacon at once.

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