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Post by cajunlady87 on Jun 5, 2018 14:24:22 GMT -7
Well this weekend I traveled to Lafitte to my brother, the alligator charmers house. His granddaughter turned five two days earlier so her birthday was celebrated Sunday. My brother had quite the spread of boiled crabs, (still fat and full of eggs), and many lbs of boiled shrimp. Had problems pulling the back from the crabs cuz my hand was hurting but I had enough help around me to chow down on them. As always the food and company was great. I did bring home some of those shrimp as they are the best size to dry. Today is my second day setting them out in the sun. Of course I lost some time today with afternoon showers. Tomorrow my brother and I have dr. appts. so it won't be till late afternoon if at all to put them out in the sun. It's taking me longer than I thought to dry the shrimp but it definitely will be worth it once done. Oh yeah, cold ones are on hold for the final results. My mouth is watering thinking about it. For those not aware, drying shrimp is a great way to preserve them and is something that is done in my area and has been done for centuries. The process is now more mechanical but the results are the same. These shrimp are sold worldwide and fetch a hefty price. They can be eaten as is to snack on or used to cook with and require no refrigeration.
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Post by woodyz on Jun 5, 2018 20:38:20 GMT -7
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dried_shrimpIn the days when there were no refrigerators, people used to cure their meats and fish with salt. It has been soaked in a salty solution and then dried until it is very hard, much like people used to do over a hundred years ago. Salt is considered antibacterial because it restricts bacterial growth in many foods. It preserves foods by lowering the amount of “free” water molecules in foods. Bacteria need moisture in order to thrive, so without enough “free” water, they cannot grow well in foods that contain salt. However, there are a few problems with using salt to preserve food. One is that the food tastes very salty–even harsh–because you need to use lots of salt to preserve the food. Therefore when using dried shrimp in your favorite recipes the salt needs to be modified or reduced. Ingredients 50 lbs shrimp or whatever amount you have on hand (heads and shells on) Handful of salt Directions First consult the weatherman and make sure that you will have at least 3 days of sunshine as the shrimp need that time to “cure.” Next, heat up a pot (size will depend on quantity being cooked) with water to boiling. Add to the water double the amount of salt you would normally use when boiling shrimp for eating. Boil the shrimp about 10 minutes or until they turn pink and start to float. Remove the shrimp and strain. This liquid can be kept and used for gravies, gumbos and stews. Have a surface of wood or screen ready and big enough where you can lay the shrimp singly with none of them overlapping or atop of each other. My Cajun friend uses two saw horses with an old wooden door laid across. Every three to four hours turn the shrimp rotating their position so that the shrimp dry on both sides. In the evening when the sun is going down, cover the shrimp with cloth or burlap and bring inside a shed or building. Generally night air has a tendency to bring in the moisture and moisture is the enemy of drying/dried shrimp and the friend of bacteria. Repeat for three days. You will see from day to day the head and shell start to pull away from the body of the shrimp At the end of the third day or the next, empty the shrimp into a sack with holes poked in it. Take the sack and shake it, even going as far as gently batting the sack on the side of a building or the ground. The shells and head at this point have turned to a fine gritty powder. By moving the sack around, downwind from you, all of the “grit” blows away into the wind leaving only your dried shrimp. Voila Store your shrimp in an air-tight sealed plastic jar in a dry area. If you have abundance, place them in the freezer remembering that moisture can destroy all your hard work. These shrimps can be used in making stews, gravies, piquant sauces and gumbos. It's hard to beat a shrimp, egg and okra gumbo. They can be used as a flavoring agent in potato salad.
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Post by woodyz on Jun 5, 2018 21:02:37 GMT -7
I have never dried any, but I have eaten them.
When I was doing ForeCon duty where I was out in the jungle for 10 days at a time doing sneak and peeks, I would have very little food or water with me so I would have to get it from the land.
I would carry rice balls and dried shrimp, (but I think They were freshwater shrimp, but I don't know) some dried fruit,etc. Then add fish, snakes and bugs and small game to what I ate. I would start the diet about five days before I went out so that my smell was influenced by what I was eating. There was plenty of running water as I was in high country but I used purification tablets and earth and stone filtering.
Wish they had life straws back then.
Ask someone you know about smelling the VC before they saw them. Same for me when I was on the diet I could smell the steak and pork on the Americans.
A cycle was supposed to be 60 days, so you had 10 days notice, spent 10 days outside the wire, where you would lose 10 to 15 # in body weight, then you were to have 10 days of light duty to repair your diet and gain back your weight and strength, then have 30 days of regular duty or training and get another notice to go out in 10 days.
But I have never seen it go by plan, instead you would get 5 days notice to start your diet, get your gear ready and learn everything there was about the area you were going to, then 10 days in, comeback and get 10 days to get your weight back on and go out again.
So it was easier to just stay on the diet of fish, etc and rice and stay away from steak and potatoes and camp smells.
I do know the dried shrimp was salty but that was a good thing in the heat, but it made you thirsty.
Maybe if I went on it now I might weight 170# instead of 234#
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2018 19:59:29 GMT -7
I had a easy day today.did lil bit of house cleaning. Added items.to my shopping list for the month.did laundry.helped a neighbor with a couple lil things.now im trying to decide what to home can next.
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Post by cajunlady87 on Jun 8, 2018 16:36:25 GMT -7
Back to drying shrimp. Woodyz I like using a window screen to dry my shrimp. In this way the air circulates above and under the shrimp which helps the shrimp dry faster.
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Post by USCGME2 on Jun 9, 2018 20:04:56 GMT -7
Enjoying a day off. Serving my two weeks and I have been busy as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! All is well and the Missouri shores are safe for now from the communist hordes of Illinois. Today I spent most of my afternoon in the kitchen and made a delicious pork loin roast, carrots and mushroom onion gravy. The blue velvet cake was another story! Edible about described it. Had the MIL and her husband over and enjoyed conversations. I'm on duty til Friday then back to my civilian gig.
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Post by solargeek1 on Jun 11, 2018 8:33:03 GMT -7
Spent my birthday weekend in downtown Chicago with DD #2 and SIL. Got some great walking in: 20,500 steps on Saturday, 16,500 steps on Sunday, and today's total still to be determined but we have to leave town at noon and drive home 4.5 hours.
I always forget how easy everything is in the city. The food at the restaurant was astronomically phenomenal. A lump crab cake that was simply crab piled on a plate and lightly roasted; lobster bisque to write home about; lobster roll drizzled wirh butter on a roasted bun with the lobster ice cold but the butter & bun hot– perfect!
One type of pasta I've never had that strongly reminded me of the German spaetzle Dropped no doubt into boiling water and then sautéed lately in a light sauce olive oil, Spring asparagus and garlic. Whitefish crusted with almonds sitting on a bed of orzo with all kinds of spring vegetables.
None of these dinners were particularly expensive because we know where to eat. One of them, because our son-in-law was with us who eats unbelievable amounts of food, probably cost a little more than normal for us. But we were celebrating my birthday and getting together with our kids.
Heading home later today; can't wait to get back to the garden! Garlic is already 1.5 feet tall.
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Post by Ceorlmann on Jun 11, 2018 12:53:15 GMT -7
Slowly, but steadily making things go right. We got our mail situation taken care of first. It was just a case of having the wrong key for the newly-installed lock; something the carrier was more than happy to fix. We got our internet activated today and are expecting a signal booster from T Mobile so communications can improve (I highly suspect the base has active jammers to prevent all cell phones from otherwise getting a decent cellular signal). Not quite done checking into the band, but they can hardly wait to start using me. My first projected gig will be on the 20th.
We are living in older housing, and already got some problems, but the landlord is on them and they'll be fixed this week. Our stuff is supposed to come this Thursday, and I'm assuming the worst as far as things being broken/missing are concerned. The housing unit otherwise has far more living space than we had in New Orleans, and there's a public playground a short walk away. To the family's delight there's also a horse pasture here, and they're happy to see us take interest because apparently they're fighting to stay around and not be shut down.
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Post by USCGME2 on Jun 16, 2018 5:09:44 GMT -7
Spent my birthday weekend in downtown Chicago with DD #2 and SIL. Got some great walking in: 20,500 steps on Saturday, 16,500 steps on Sunday, and today's total still to be determined but we have to leave town at noon and drive home 4.5 hours. I always forget how easy everything is in the city. The food at the restaurant was astronomically phenomenal. A lump crab cake that was simply crab piled on a plate and lightly roasted; lobster bisque to write home about; lobster roll drizzled wirh butter on a roasted bun with the lobster ice cold but the butter & bun hot– perfect! One type of pasta I've never had that strongly reminded me of the German spaetzle Dropped no doubt into boiling water and then sautéed lately in a light sauce olive oil, Spring asparagus and garlic. Whitefish crusted with almonds sitting on a bed of orzo with all kinds of spring vegetables. None of these dinners were particularly expensive because we know where to eat. One of them, because our son-in-law was with us who eats unbelievable amounts of food, probably cost a little more than normal for us. But we were celebrating my birthday and getting together with our kids. Heading home later today; can't wait to get back to the garden! Garlic is already 1.5 feet tall. I've only been to Chicago once back in the 90s. I ate a phenomenal meal at Harry Carry's, some sort of potabella mushroom angel hair pasta thing. Despite all of the shortcomings of a huge city, they do have incredible restaurants!
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Post by Ceorlmann on Jun 16, 2018 17:42:35 GMT -7
We've been unpacking our stuff since Thursday. Nothing sentimental has gone missing or broken. We're still not done unpacking because the storage configuration for this place is much different so we've been adjusting accordingly. Biggest annoying thing has been a lack of lighting in the bedrooms. A lack of proper plumbing at a very close second. Right now I'm looking forward to a ribeye steak over the grill tomorrow plus exploring some of the nature sections on this base.
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Post by woodyz on Jun 17, 2018 12:22:29 GMT -7
where are you now?
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Post by Ceorlmann on Jun 17, 2018 12:57:09 GMT -7
Cherry Point MCAS (air station), NC
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Post by woodyz on Jun 18, 2018 11:33:05 GMT -7
Yes I know Cherry Point, been there several times, but mostly just over night picking up Prisoners from the MP's. Your kinda stuck out there in the swamp, humidity can be a pain in the butt. spray the baseboards etc down with a Clorox/water solution so it gets behind the baseboards and trim. Base housing has been there a while and the clean the out side surfaces pretty good but don't get behind. also if I were you I would use a delivery water service for cooking and drinking. The existing water is ok for showers and washing cloths. Being an Air Station they used to flush the solvents used to clean the air planes into the ground water. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't offer a free delivery water service to base housing. Its not a terrible situation, and not a big problem but it is something to be aware of. You can find a websites about it, start here www.secnav.navy.mil/eie/pages/pfc-pfas.aspxalmost to the bottom of the right side is the heading SAMPLING AND IMPACT TO DRINKING WATER WITHIN DON the second bullet item lists the sites with Navy first then USMC
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Post by woodyz on Jun 18, 2018 11:38:59 GMT -7
on a brighter note it has some good fishing to north or south just stay out of the restricted areas due to unexploded ordinance. Mostly to the east/southeast where you wouldn't be anyway.
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Post by solargeek1 on Jun 18, 2018 12:43:35 GMT -7
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