December Flowers

Actually have some flowers in Bloom thanks to the moderate weather.
Snow Drops, I had one bunch pop up in December last year as well, the rest will show up in January.

Periwinkle, I expect them in the Spring, but was happy to see this brave soul.

Won't be long before the Witch hazel blooms.

I also have flowers on one of the Coral Bells, a Rose in bloom and had a few Lavender sprigs in color.

Opening gifts a bit late Christmas morning with my foot warmer. An unexpected trip to the Urgent Clinic Christmas morning changed the morning plans a bit, but everything was fine after that.

2012 Tree with the Golden Baked Potato in place of the traditional Santa Hat.

A very festive table.

Birthday Boots

Yeah, the boots I ordered for my birthday showed up.
This is the Official photo.

and these are mine. I ordered them from Russel Moccasin Co. with no pull tabs and Newporter soles with a 1/4 inch heel wedge.

I slid my feet in and they were very comfortable, like they were made just for me. I can be very picky about shoes. The shoes also smell great for now.

I wore them around the house for 2 days and then wore them to the office as their first outing, after a short while I forgot I was wearing new shoes. I'll wait for a dry day to take a walk in the woods, wouldn't want to muddy them up first time out.

For a comparison, these are Bass Clifford boots that I purchased at an outlet for a great price. Very comfortable straight away, but very thin leather, canvas and soles. A lot of seams in the leather outer sole and I'm sure the vamp does not wrap around the foot. My new shoes have a seamless molded outer sole and a wrap around vamp. Plus the pull tabs on these bug the heck out of me, they should probably not extend past the top of the boot. No other complaints about the Bass boot, but they just won't be here as long as my new boots (Thula Thula "PH"). I prefer to keep things for as long as possible, plus I like the routine of maintaining things like shoes, wax jackets and tools.

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.