Friday, May 31, 2013

Makin' Bacon

Maybe it was the fabulous smoker wedding gift, maybe it was the gorgeous weather or most likely it was the just fact that we live in South and love bacon, but Aaron decided to make bacon.  Yay!

Aaron bought a pork belly from Whole Foods, rubbed it down with some tasty spices and covered it in kosher salt to cure it.  Curing meat means drawing the water out and preserving it.  He sealed it with our FoodSaver (another fab wedding gift!) and kept it in the fridge for 7 days, turning it and rubbing it each day.  Remembering the bacon became our biggest responsibility in that short week, turn, rub, turn, rub- it was like our baby, only it didn't cry or whine if we forgot it.  In that way, it was much better than a baby.

 
Bacon sealed and ready for a rubdown on day 1

 
Bacon on day 7-washing off salt and spices

After the week, Aaron rinsed the excess salt and spices off the bacon, chilled it for a day and then placed it on the smoker.  He used Applewood chips to give the bacon a great flavor.

 
yay!

This happened around 11pm last night (because midnight is the best time for bacon).  The bacon smoked for 2 hours and then we let it cool, finally it was time to slice and cook it.

 
getting terribly excited and peep the clock it's 1 am

 

 
and finally!!!

Oh, homemade bacon.  Thick cut and delicious.  Except it was salty, like really salty, like country ham salty.  We thought we misread the recipe-did we use too much salt?  I lamented this on the phone to my mom this morning who is a country girl, born and raised.  She grew up in a time homemade bacon was how you got it, not just what you do kicks.  You dummies, she basically said.  Go soak that bacon before you have a heart attack!  And so soak it we shall.  And we are looking forward to enjoying more of our homemade masterpiece tonight!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Wedding.  Honeymoon.  Moving In.  Cooking dinner together.  Traveling together.  Our first 3 weeks.

So far, so good.   Aaron suggested we start a blog so our family and friends can see what we are up to!  So what better way to start then with pictures from our honeymoon.  Soon I will share photos of our wedding!

After our wonderful-fabulous-everything-we-could-have-asked-for wedding, we spent the night at the Umstead.  The Umstead Hotel is a hidden gem in Cary, a 5 star hotel right in our town.  It was luxurious and I can't wait to visit for a much needed staycation during my residency.  Then we stopped at my house to visit the fam, then we were off to Asheville!


the lobby of the Grand Bohemian, where we spent a few nights


in front of the Biltmore


Gardens at the Biltmore


if you know me, you know I love flowers <3


Asheville is beautiful


Duck breast at the Admiral - pretty tasty!


we also spent a few nights at the Montford Inn, lovely

I didn't realize it at the time, but the bathroom of our suite is pretty famous!  I guess the builder took many pictures to promote it.  It's all over pinterest :-)
My picture

Pinterest :-)


La Zoom Comedy bus tour :-)


Drinks at Thirsty Monk


Our bling.