A pinch of this, a sprig of that, eye of newt and some spam

Lime Aftershave
I ran out my Truefit and Hill West Indian Limes aftershave and now have run out of my Caswell Massey Lime spray so I figured I would try to make my own. Of course I searched the web, then I did my own version of all I had seen.

• peels of 3 limes (no pith)
• 18 allspice berries
• 2 oz. vodka
• 0.5 oz white rum
• may add witch hazel after the limes have given their all

 Almost like Lemoncello sans the simple syrup.

 Sweet Bacon for Christmas

• 955 g pork belly
• 45 g dry cure*
• 32 g brown sugar
• 25 g maple sugar
• 2 tablespoons Crown Royal Maple Finished Whisky

I used to buy my Dad Crown Royal, it came in a blue bag. I had seen a writeup of the Maple Finished on Drink Spirits  and figured I'd give it a try. When I purchased it, it was in a box and I was disappointed that I wasn't going to get a bag. I was wrong, it came with a brown bag, I'll probably use it when I travel to keep my shoes in, I have awfully tiny feet.
In our scientific tasting, 33 and 1/3 of those samples thought it was like firewater while over half of the sampled population liked it. It has a pronounced maple aroma, but is not overpowering upon drinking. A good companion on a cold winter's night of boar hunting with spears.

Savory Bacon, for cooking

• 728 g pork belly
• 40 g dry cure*
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 bay leaves
• crushed black peppercorns

Savory left, sweet right

The bacon will sit in the fridge for 6 or 7 days and I'll smoke them next weekend.
I also rendered some of the extra fat and chucked it in a jar for use in cooking.

Bought the pork belly at the local Pork store, imagine that. It usually is difficult to get it in large slabs if the food stores have any at all.

Bacon recipes from Charcuterie by Ruhlman & Polcyn.
* dry cure 8:4:1 kosher salt: sugar: curing salt

Obligatory Beer Photos
I like Newcastle Brown, especially in the small kegs, this is very nice as well. I like the fir trees on the label.

This Winter Lager is very drinkable, though I am waiting for more Holiday brews to arrive so I can pick my favorite.

Quite looking forward to the Harpoon Winter Warmer and the Samuel Smiths 2012-2013 Winter Welcome Ale.