The quills are used as toothpicks.
I used to see porcupines all the time in west Texas.
And people have eaten them.
I personally think they're too cute.

I've got a slab of ribs out in the smoker. No rain yet but it's almost here. It's 55 and dropping with a stiff 15 mph wind out of the ENE and I'm having a hard time keeping the temp around 250-275. The ribs now have 2 hours of smoke on them so I just might bring them in soon, cover the pan with foil after brushing on some sauce and finish them at 250 in the oven. Once they're covered, degrees are degrees whether it's from charcoal and wood or oven, not to mention a more even heat.

We'll have these today and tomorrow along with deviled eggs and cole slaw. I won't have to cook anything tomorrow except play with game time munchies.

I forgot I pulled a whole frozen chicken out to thaw.
So I cleaned and covered it with the same rub and popped it in the oven on the lower rack.
I just don't want to mess with an outside fire going in and out of the house.
I was in the 50's in the house when I woke up because I had the heat turned down.

@Sue_CT; swallowing quills will hurt...TWICE......

And even if it wasn't authentic Porcupine, the meat (sans quills!) is edible. https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/small ... vival-food

The Gotch

More mushroom Risotto

Mushroom Risotto

Roasted chicken with root vegetables. Turnips came from my garden.

Took forever but here it is.
The brisket is outstanding.
The rub I made had so little salt I had to finish with beef bullion powder for the needed salt.
I've also cut off the extra fat and letting it render in the beef tallow.
Chicken is good and the breast is juicy.
My method was unorthodox but effective.
Both were wrapped after internal temperature was in the safe zone for long period resting but not all the way up for complete doneness.
Turned oven off and went to bed.
Brisket at 202F.
Chicken at around 145.
Other more complicated things like resting at ever decreasing temperature.
I figured the chicken would be dried out but wasn't.
This morning I blasted it at 350F to bring back up fast.
Also made a thin sauce with the brisket drippings fat removed with my homemade tomato ketchup and mushroom ketchup.
Plus one tablespoon of sugar.
Needs black pepper.

I'm going nuts.
Some sort of ancient nut concoction that is.
No recipe just following traditional cooking methods
Unbelievable amounts of hand crushed roasted almonds and pecans in the molcajete.
Raisins.
Beef crackling.
Huge amounts of freshly ground.
Black pepper.
Real cinnamon.
Allspice.
Cloves.

Light brown sugar.
Flour.
Baking powder.
Water.
Sherry.
Vanilla extract the good stuff.
Used my new batch of ghee and flour to line the baking pan.
No egg.
Probably turn into a brick.
But by hoot the batter tasted fantastic.

Against my better judgment I decided to make a frosting.
A butter cream frosting made with.
Cream cheese.
My homemade ghee because I didn't have any unsalted butter.
Leftover candied cranberries.
Orange extract.
Powdered sugar.
Mixed the frosting and folded in the cranberries for a marbled effect.
Waiting for cake to completely cool.
All of this stuff was what I had around the house.
No special trips to the store.

No decadent self indulgent thing like this would be complete without orange sprinkles.
Off to the cooling chamber to wait for that ever widening King Henry VIII to come over.
I hope he doesn't chop my head off.

Made Chinese today. Simple home style, minimalist.
Oil, bay leaf, cayenne, minced ginger and garlic in the pan. Sesame oil too. Pork was cubed up from slices left over last time I cut up a 'roast'. Carrots and red peppers and some big leaves/stalks of napa cabbage from the greenhouse.
Sauce is standard by tablespoons, 1 tapioca flour(instead of corn starch), 1 rice vinegar, 1 sherry, 2 soy sauce, plus water to make a paste. That goes in for the last two minutes. It's all very quick, once you've done all that chopping!

Last picture and taste test.
It's amazing and you can't tell what spices I put in it.
Black pepper way in the background.
Yes black pepper was used in this manner hundreds of years ago and even today by some people.
Cake not overly sweet and very nutty.
Frosting not overly sweet because I used only 1/3rd sugar of what you would normally use for this type.
I can't stand really sweet frosting.
It is creamy sweet and tangy.

Over all a good cake fit for a king.

I made a giant roast beef brisket sandwich for lunch.
Probably 4 inches thick.
Tender and juicy too.

I got a roast out of the freezer for stormy day dinner. It's in now getting a sear before I turn it down to 250 F. This roast is still frozen in the middle but I don't expect it to take more than an hour, because it's pretty thin. At least that's what I guess from past experience, but will see...
Either way, there'll be lots left over for shovel day dinner tomorrow. Operation empty freezer... continues.
Dressed with evoo + salt and pepper, garlic, fresh rosemary and balsamic vinegar. Vegs just tossed with oil and pepper.

Choice NY Strip Sirlon Steaks for the grill. They’ve been inexpensive lately. Grilling to medium rare, then sliced and tossed with garden mixed lettuces and arugula, then crumbled feta and blueberries.

The flat and the middle flat are being made into corned beef and maybe pastrami too.
Here's the solution its going in..
Many spices to say the least and fresh garlic too.
Black pepper corns.
Allspice.
Coriander.
Mustard seeds.
Celery seeds.
Whole cloves.
Real cinnamon.
Sugar.
Salt.
Insta cure #1 after water cools.
Heating up half the solution to bring out the flavor and cooling with the other half of the water needed.
Smells wonderful.

Salad and steak.

I recall the time they tried to make corned beef hash in Prudhoe Bay Alaska.
They basically chopped up raw corned beef and warmed it up.
It was like hard red rubber balls and potatoes.

I made some salad today (too hot to eat soup again. lol), with some chickpeas, kidney beans, and some oat groats, cooked in the Instant Pot, draining them, and rinsing with the cold water, when done.

While cooking those things, I got some sardines broken up, some feta diced up, a large bell pepper diced, a small piece of celery, chopped, a scallion chopped up, and a couple of green Thai peppers, minced up, along with some parsley. Then I mixed the beans and oats in, with just a simple olive oil and white wine vinegar, with some fish sauce, and a generous amount of fresh ground pepper, for the dressing. I just ate this rolled up in some of those pieces of the leaf lettuce, from the hydro.
Salad, with chickpeas, kidney beans, oat groats, sardines, bell and hot peppers, feta, and a few other things. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

No time for real cooking today as I have two potato beds to prep in the garden before rain comes in again tonight. Pickles is out and about this morning with a medical appointment so nobody has time to cook this morning. This is where the Heat & Eat plan gets tapped. There's some baked chicken pieces in the freezer that will get nuked along with whatever fresh veg Pickles will pick up on the way home. I think I'll make a tossed salad as well. These kinds of days are why I like to stock pre-made stuff in the freezer!