Tufted Rug Repair

We have a wool rug in our back entry hall that I bought about 15 years ago (I don't even remember where- maybe Marshall's Home Goods?) to replace a degrading polypropylene runner. This rug fits the back hall and adjacent boot mats perfectly as it's 23.5" wide and 64" long. For some time, it's been beginning to fall apart on the back of the rug, both the twill tape on the edges and the backing loosening from the rug and generating dust beneath it. I'd tried to hand sew the twill tape back on, but it just wasn't holding. It's pretty common with these types of rugs that the latex glue they use is pretty low quality, and that crushed rock dust is mixed in to use less glue. I started shopping for a replacement, but finding a wool rug with these dimensions proved impossible. I ordered one off Amazon listed as 27" wide, but when it arrived it was actually 28.5" wide and didn't fit. I had to package it up again and return it. 

I decided to try to rehab our current rug. With a little research, I learned that there are few types of rug adhesives that can be used. I bought this quart of Roberts 6700 at Home Depot for $12.

I removed the twill tape and backing from the rug, which was pretty easy as the previous adhesive was pretty well shot. I vacuumed the back of the rug with our utility vac to get as much dust and old adhesive as I could.

Pulling backing away

Backing removed

I used a disposable plastic putty knife to apply an even coat of the adhesive across the entire back of the rug, then carefully laid the backing down again, smoothing it and lining it up well. Definitely needed rubber gloves. I let a fan blow on it for 24 hours, then the next night used my hot glue gun to adhere the twill tape around the edges, and let it dry under the fan for another 24 hours. 

After repairing

Back in action

Sous Vide Cooler

We decided to drill a hole in the lid of a cooler we had so we could use it for sous vide following directions here. This cooler is a good depth to fit a variety of food to sous vide, but not so large as to contain a lot of extra water. It also fits in our utility sink for an easy cooking location and clean up. To fit our sous vide unit we purchased a 2.5" hole drill bit. We wanted to be able to use it as a cooler still, too, so I found a rubber stopper online with the dimensions of 2 1/4" on the bottom and 2 5/8" on the top. A good search term for this seems to be rubber stopper bung, a size 13. This works great for sous vide and the cooler can still be used for it's original purpose.

Cooking a pot roast for 24 hours

Pork

Brisket

Pork Loin

Salmon

Beef

Cornstick Pan

I picked up this vintage Lodge cornstick pan from a thrift store a few years back, but I haven't used it much, and the few times I have, I wasn't impressed with the cornsticks. Time to try again.

 

I wanted to try to make baked pancakes in it, so I found this recipe and modified it:

Baked pancakes

1/2 c flour

2 Tbsp sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

about 1/2 tsp spice of choice- cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. I used pumpkin spice blend

1 egg

1/4 c plus 1 tbsp milk

1 tbsp oil

Preheat oven to 400. Oil cornstick pan with about 1/2 tsp oil in each well and preheat pan in oven. I don't think I preheated the pan before, and that's a smart move. Mix batter, it will be enough for the 7 wells in the pan. Bake 15-18 min. I pulled them at 15 min but a couple of minutes more would be good next time because they were pretty brown on top but could have been even browner on the bottoms.

These came out pretty well. Nice and crispy, but fluffy on the inside.

Baked pancakes

Corn Sticks

Small batch, makes 7

1/2 c cornmeal

1/4 c flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 c milk

1 egg

1 1/2 Tbsp oil

Preheat oven to 450. Grease pan well with oil or crisco and preheat. Mix all ingredients. Bake 12-14 min.

Savory Muffins

2 Tbsp melted butter

1/2 c milk

1 egg

1 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

about 1/4-1/2 c shredded cheese

Herbs- rosemary or basil

Preheat oven and greased pan to 375. Mix wet ingredients, add dry. Bake 15-20 min.

Wool Wrap Blanket Skirt

 The home office gets cold in the winter. For a number of months, I was wrapping a fleece blanket around my waist with a binder clip, but this wasn't very glamorous. I heard about the NorSari "wearable blanket" made in MN, but it's made of a blend fabric consisting of a lot of poly and acrylic, and costs about $150. 

I found a Westaway & Westaway tartan 100% wool throw blanket (49" by 31") on eBay for $22 ($32 including shipping.) It's the perfect dimensions and I didn't have to do any edge finishing. I added a velcro strip so it could wrap around my waist. It keeps me so warm and cozy, and I love the colors of the plaid.

Pellet Smoking

Andy has been wanting a smoker, and after visiting a BBQ equipment store in Brainerd on a rainy day, he suddenly decided he needed one STAT. We found a used Pit Boss series 3 pellet smoker on Craig's List for $100. It was really cruddy when he brought it home, but after 2 hours of hard-core cleaning and scraping, I got it clean enough that you wouldn't be afraid to put food into it. Next time, I'll buy some oven cleaner for it.

In late July, Sara and Todd visited, so we had them over, along with Elizabeth and Tim, for smoked chicken and ribs. Major first success.

In Aug, we had Grandma and Grandpa over for chicken and ribs. The leftovers are tremendous, and can feed us for days.

In Sep, we hosted our college friend Karen and her boyfriend Kingsley from KC, along with other college friends, for more smoked chickens and baby back ribs. The fermented pickles were a huge hit, as well.

Also in Sep, the night before leaving for a weekend work retreat and the harbor, we had 18 people from Andy's department over for 4 smoked chickens (people brought dishes to share, as well) and gazpacho from our garden. It was a hit. Forgot to get pictures!

Pork butt. Enhanced set up with grill mat and small table from Costco

Cleaning the smoker remains a real chore. Even with Easy Off manual spray, it took me about an hour. Steps:

1. Empty bin of pellets (into a bucket) so they don't take on the odor of oven cleaner
2. Vacuum the bottom of the smoker
3. Scrub racks with a grill brush, remove racks and water tray and spray with oven cleaner on the curb
4. Spray the inside with oven cleaner, including the inside of the door, close door and let sit a bit
5. Scrub the inside with grill brush and paper towels
6. Repeat 4 and 5 many times. Use a green scrubbie to scrub the inside glass door
7. Clean the outside with Fantastic
8. Rinse grates with a hose
9. Once everything is dry, reassemble, return pellets to bin

Dirty door

Inside caked with grease and grime

After cleaning

Nov 2022

Andy roasted a turkey for Thanksgiving. He bought an injector to inject the turkey with a melted butter mixture- it came out delicious.

Smoked cherry crisp with our own home-grown cherries

Smoked brisket and drumsticks, July 2023

April 2024

Andy bought a new, bigger Pit Boss smoker, and sold the previous one (astonishingly, for double what he paid for it) and is ready to smoke even more.

Assembling the new smoker

Cooking chicken for the first run. Harriet approves

Smoked salsa, pureed in food processer

Dad's Smoked Mac & Cheese

• 16 oz macaroni noodles, uncooked
• 8 oz Velvetta
• 16 oz shredded colby jack cheese
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 4 c whole milk

Combine all ingredients in a 9x11" or so pan. Place in smoker at about 350 for at least a couple of hours, stirring at least once during that time.

Smoked mac & cheese

Small Batch Smoked Corn Muffins

2 tablespoons melted butter or oil

¼ cup milk

1 large egg

2 tablespoons sour cream (can sub greek yogurt)

¼ cup yellow cornmeal

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, then combine. Pour into greased muffin tin, bake in smoker at 400 for 18-20 minutes. This made 7 muffins in my cast iron muffin pan with small cups.

2022 Camping Retrospective

 Whitewater State Park, April 22-24

We booked our first camping weekend on the 23rd of December, when it was cold and dark. Turns out our spring weather has been so bad, not much has changed by the end of April. We picked up Betty from the State Fair April 8th, and Andy figured out how to dewinterize. The cool rainy weather didn't stop us from enjoying a nice first camping weekend together. After doing a bit of research on making our own awning, I ordered a tarp (10' x 15'), 10' of 5/16" keder rail rope and 4 nice telescoping tarp poles. I sewed the rail rope to the tarp, and we have a nice awning for about $120 in materials. Menu hits were the two cocktails from the Vikre camping cocktail cookbook Meg got me for Christmas (maple blueberry reduction with bourbon, and greyhounds), woofem's with chocolate pudding (made with crescent roll dough instead of biscuit, which worked better and resulted in a thinner-walled cup), and a potato and sausage hash on Sunday morning (cooked in the new 12" cast iron skillet Joe gave us, with a lid on part time to soften the potatoes). On Saturday night I cooked a chocolate cake over the campfire and our chicken and parsnip stew in honor of Andy's birthday. The other event of note was when Andy fell in the river while crossing the step stones, getting completely soaked.

Espresso and banana bread break

Check out the new awning

Whitewater State Park, April 29-May 1

We came back to Whitewater for a second weekend in a row so Andy could be in a fly fishing class from 5-7 PM both Fri and Sat. The weather was pretty gross all weekend. Gray, cold and misty, except the prolonged times in which it was real rain, such as the entire Sat fishing class. We cooked dinners in the camper, brats and beans Friday night and chicken fajitas Sat night. On Sat we hiked a bit at nearby Carley state park- there were a couple of crossings over the river, and the river was so high we had to find a detour to bypass one that was submerged, adding 30 min to the hike. We were tired of the weather, so on Sat afternoon we went to the Whitewater winery and each enjoyed a flight. Their Driftless white wine is actually really good, so I bought a bottle to bring home. Sat night, the cup holder adhesive in Betty gave way, dumping a cup of red wine into our sheets and memory foam mattress. Andy came back absolutely soaked, and we just threw his wet clothes in the bathroom. We left about 9:30 Sunday morning, after seeing the weather was going to stay awful. We stopped at Cabela's in Owatonna, where dad dropped some serious $ on new fly fishing gear (he ended up returing the rod a couple months later, realizing he could use his existing one). At least it's a nice hobby. More clean up than usual after this soggy weekend.

Fri night fishing class, they went to the river for Sat night

Hiking at Carley state park

Whitewater Winery- Better than sitting in the rain

Camper Stolen- May 21, 2022 

At 5 AM on a Saturday morning, I awoke to a scraping sound right by our garage and ran to the window only to find that the camper was gone, having been dragged by its chains, with the tungue jack down, across the neighbor's lawn. We immediately called the police, and they found it upside down less than a mile away. It was stolen with a stolen truck, so the likelihood of catching the thief is low. This set off a 2 month process with the insurance company (Horace Mann) to get the right expert to determine if it was totaled (it was) and ultimately reimburse us for essentially replacement value. Only 10 months old, and had been used only 5 times.

Such a sad sight

After the tow truck righted it

New T@B

There was a shorter queue for T@Bs right now than there was in 2020-21, and we were able to order then pick up a 2023 on Aug 20, in time to keep our Labor Day booking at Lake Vermilion. We needed to buy a few items to replace those lost or destroyed in the theft, and added enhanced security measures, but we were pretty ready to go. We've named it Horace, in honor of our insurance.

Bringing the new one home

Lake Vermilion State Park- Sep 2-5

With traffic and a couple of stops it took us 6 hours to get there, but the new campground is lovely. We also visited Ely, Tower, had a great BBQ lunch at Neighbor's outside of Tower and did a self-guided surface tour of Soudan mine. Andy brought the kayak and enjoyed some fishing.

Lopjoy for supper

Flandrau State Park and Oktoberfest, Oct 7-9

New Ulm is an easy 90 minutes away. We left Harriet with Will because we knew we were going to New Ulm's downtown Oktoberfest and didn't want to leave her untended for hours. We stopped for a German dinner at Turner Hall (sauerkraut soup!), then made it to the state park, which is IN the town of New Ulm, and clearly a long-standing one, filled with great CCC structures. We booked a few weeks ago, so had a spot with no electricity. Temperatures dropped into Sat morning, so they were in the low 30s, but we were comfortable with our furnace on. As the sun rose on Sat morning, a remarkable thing happened- as the frozen leaves started to warm a bit, they started dropping en masse and we heard them plinking on our roof like rain and watched out the windows at the yellow leaf drizzle. It was mesmerizing. After a blueberry pancake and Spam breakfast, we headed into New Ulm. A quick stop at the tiny farmer's market, the 11 AM parade (Andy accepted a shot of sauerkraut), a craft fair, beer garden with bands, we bought ourselves German wool alpine hats from Guten Tag Haus, watched the sauerkraut-eating contest, ate a German lunch from food trucks, then drove to the Morgan Creek Winery where I had a flight of bad Minnesota wines (but the views sitting outside were lovely) and then we went to Schell's brewery for beers, then we went back downtown for a soft pretzel (because they were out at Schell's). Then we went back to camp with the intent of cooking dinner, but we just couldn't get motivated, and besides, there was one more German restaurant we'd been wanting to try, so back downtown to have dinner at Kaiserhoff. My chicken spaetzel soup and Ray's salad was just the thing, and Andy had more sausages, German potato salad and sauerkraut (of course), plus apple strudel. We had a quick breakfast Sunday (more Spam for Andy) and left camp about 9 to get back home and help Will move into his first apartment.

Fri dinner at Turner Hall

A cold breakfast

Sauerkraut shot at parade

New hats, and I'm enjoying a Schell's sangria beer

Lunch

Setting up sauerkraut eating contest

Morgan Creek- not-so-great MN wines, lovely setting

A quick hike in Flandrau before heading back for dinner

Dinner at Kaiserhoff

Later that day, the hitch sees more action for moving Will

We wanted to bring the camper back to Elk River RV for a few things before we store it Oct 30 (fan handle broke off, bathroom door opens and flops around during travel, panel behind toilet is loose) but they don't have any appointments, so I guess we'll have to manage those in the spring.