Cold And Slimy

Well, I went to the doctor this morning to have my echo cardiogram. I won't know if there were any problems detected for a couple days, but I think everything went well. It was cool watching my heart on the monitor, seeing the blood flow in and out of it, and watching and listening to the rhythm of my heart. If only the technician didn't have to jam the probe into your ribs so hard to get the images! lol

They check the heart from 3 different locations. Two of them they didn't have a problem with, but when they tried to take an upward shot of my heart from around my stomach (just below my solar plexus), they couldn't get a clear shot so they took a "clip" of the image and then entered in "some type of scan" attempted. They said that a lot of guys have a thick wall of muscle and/or fat that often makes viewing the heart from that angle difficult.

Anyway, she finished up, and then handed me a paper towel to wipe of the lubrication gel (and there was a LOT of it!) The paper towel couldn't handle all of it, so they handed me a hospital gown, telling me to use that instead because it would absorb the gel better. I felt like Peter Venkman from the first Ghost Busters movie...I'd been slimed! That was some pretty thick gel, and I hadn't realized they'd used that much! lol Females going for ultrasounds when they're pregnant deal with the stuff all the time, but most of them (hopefully) don't have copious amounts of chest hair to contend with, which made getting the goop off that much more difficult. Still, it was no big deal, and other than some briefly sore ribs, the procedure was painless. I now have to wait and see if they found anything to be concerned about. I'm a little worried because the technician kept zooming in and focusing on one particular area of my heart, but they're not allowed to give the patient any results, whether they be good or bad. She basically said, "Well, it works!" which was good to know (although rather obvious given the fact that I was sitting there alive. lol)

There was one time during the procedure though, that one of the electrodes kept pulling away from my chest (the uncooperative chest hair again.) I was laying there on my side, watching the monitor, and the erratic line that was my heart beat suddenly went flat. The technician didn't notice it at first because she was chatting with the other nurse who was in the room, standing behind me on the other side of the gurney. The other nursed reached over me from behind, and pressed the electrode firmly against my chest, and my heart activity was once again apparent from the twitching line. She said something to the effect of of "Thanks, I didn't notice that, I was busy chatting" to the nurse who was holding the patch on, and I was like, "Yeah, I was wondering about that. Usually that means you're dead." No big deal though. It just meant that I had 2 nurses poking and prodding me for a little while instead of just the one.

At any rate, it was a fascinating procedure to watch, and I hope the results will all be positive (or negative, depending on how you interpret the situation.) Nicole, the doctor came in towards the end of the procedure, thanked me for the "organized" chart of blood pressure readings I'd taken myself at home, and recorded for her, saying that she wished all of her patients were that organized, and she said that they'd take my blood pressure one more time before I left.

So a nurse took the reading, once on my right arm, and then again on my left arm because the right reading was suspiciously high, and I can skip the visit to the doctor that would have been scheduled for next week, because my blood pressure seems to be slowly coming down. She told me to keep taking the HCTZ diuretic pill I'd been prescribed, filling both the refills, and then come back in 3 months (when the meds run out) for another check-up. So that's it for now...unless they find something on the echo cardiogram. I'm just glad those migraine headaches I had to live with for 3 weeks have gone away. That was the worst part about this whole situation so far!

Anyway, that's about it for MY doctor visit. If I find out anything else, I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for taking the time, once again, to peruse my disjointed ramblings. Have a great weekend, and take care of one another. Peace.

The Week Ahead

Well, today I decided to try a bit of fishing at the lake behind our house. I ignored the fact that it was 94 degrees outside, and that the smog level was at "Code Red", and dangerous to people with breathing issues like me (I have bronchial asthma, but not chronic thankfully.)

Anyway, after a brief jaunt through the woods, I arrive at the lake shore and proceeded to work my way around the cove, looking for a decent spot to fish. The water isn't really deep enough where I was fishing, but I cast out a few times here and there, moving around the cove as I went, watching all the boats and PWCs go by. The humidity was INSANE! I was just standing there, dripping with sweat, looking like I just got out of a shower, and really feeling like I needed one! Shortly after this I decided that I'd had enough fishing for today. Not because I wasn't catching anything, but because I was afraid I might end up throwing my fishing rod into the lake one time while I was casting, due to the fact that my hands were slick and slippery with sweat. I honestly thought that if I kept it up, I'd end up swimming to recover my rod (a thought that was only SOMEWHAT unwanted, because the water was warm, and a swim might have felt good. Not it jean shorts though. *sigh*) So I slogged back through the water and mud at the lakes edge, squelched back up through the woods in my wet sandals, and retreated back into the dark coolness of our home.

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Okay, so this is the week that I go for my echo cardiogram. I go to work at 7:00 AM on Thursday, work until 10:30 AM, and then leave for the doctor's office. I'm not sure what they're going to do exactly; whether they're going to put me through a stress test or just administer the ECG, but I have the rest of the day off from work, as I have a feeling I'll be needing a shower, either to get all the gel stuff they're going to use off my chest, or because I'll be hot and sweaty if they do the stress test. At any rate, I have to go back to the doctor again at the end of this month/beginning of next month, for them to check my blood pressure again. I've been taking a diuretic for the past month or so, and I've been testing my blood pressure at home, keeping a log of it. The next visit to the doctor, after this Thursday, will be to see if my blood pressure has come down any more. I know that I'm getting a lot lower readings at home than they've been getting in the doctor's office, but I don't know if it's because I'm using a wrist cuff instead of an arm cuff, or because the automatic/digital gauge is more accurate than the manual ones the doctors and nurses use, which depend on the hearing of the person administering the test to determine when to stop inflating the cuff, and decide what the reading is. Who knows? These are some things that I will discuss with Nicole on my next visit.

Well, that's about it. I'm at work early every day this week, except Tuesday or Wednesday which will be my normal 8 AM starting time. I can't wait until we get our 4th key carrier at work again. Then I'll be able to go back to my 8 AM start time on a regular basis again. Anyway, thanks as always for taking the time to read my ramblings. Take care, and have a great week. Peace.

Cooking With Matt! - Pulled Pork Update & Grilling Tips

Well, the outside was nice and crispy, and the first few layers pulled fairly easily, but it got harder to tear apart the closer I got to the bone. The meat was cooked, but I think it could have used a little bit longer on the grill. I let it get up to about 187 degrees F, but by then the grill had cooled down a lot, and it wasn't going to get much hotter any time soon. So I pulled it off and let it sit for 30 minutes, covered loosely with tin foil. After that, I spent ages pulling the meat apart by hand (close to an hour probably.) It isn't the best pulled pork that I've made, but it's still delicious. I've made pulled pork 3 ways now. The first was in the crock pot, and that was fairly easy but took 10-12 hours. Next came the oven, which was also pretty easy, and cut the cook time down to about 6 hours. It heats up the house a lot though, so I only use that method in the winter. Finally there is the grill. This can definitely bring out the best taste in the meat, but you have to watch your fire's temperature a lot to control the speed at which the meat cooks, at least if you're using a charcoal grill. A gas grill makes heat control much easier, since you have a thermometer, but you don't have the same taste as when you cook with charcoal. And if you want the BEST taste, use a charcoal grill (or smoker) and use either natural lump wood charcoal, or chunks of actual wood. Here are some good types of wood to use, depending on the kind of flavor you want: hickory (my personal favorite), mesquite, pecan, apple, alder, oak. There are many other kinds of wood or wood chips that can be used, but these are some of the more common ones. Sometimes you have to mix 2 or more of the wood types together, to mellow out the flavor, because some of the previously mentioned wood varieties can give a very strong and sometimes overly "sweet" taste to the meat. So you balance them out with the addition of hickory or mesquite, to tame the sweetness and bring back more of the smokiness.

Well, that's it for now. Tune in next time for another EXCITING episode of "Cooking With Matt!" Who knows...maybe I'll even post a video version in the future, and make it an actual show! Now that would be fun! lol

Until next time, thanks for reading, and take care. Peace.

Cooking With Matt! - "Smoked Pulled Pork"

As much as I hate summers in the South, the great thing about them is that I spend lots of time outdoors grilling on my second-hand Weber grill (something I picked up at Jack's "junk store" that used to be up the road. It's some "indoor market" or something right now, so I'm not sure what they're selling besides fruit and veggies.) Anyway, I payed 12 bucks for this thing (plus the money I spent at Home Depot to fit it with a brand new (i.e. - clean) top grilling rack.) All in all, I probably spent about $20-25 on a grill that costs over $100 if you buy it brand new. It's been one of my best purchases since I moved in, and I have made (and continue to make) so much use of it. Right now, for instance, I have a 7lb or so Boston butt smoking away over indirect heat. It's supposed to cook for 5-6 hours, reaching an internal temperature of 180 - 190 degrees, but the digital probe thermometer that's inserted in it while it cooks is showing 150 degrees already, and it's only been cooking about an hour, so I think I'm going to have to slow things down a good bit. I want it to cook slowly, getting good and smoked, and sealing in all the juices. I want it to fall apart so I can shred or chop it up easily and cover it with some sauce that I'm also making. So I'm going to pause for a few minutes here, and go check how it's coming along. Back momentarily...

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Okay, I'm back. Didn't even seem like I was gone, did it! :) Anyway, I just put a foil "smoking packet" of hickory chips that have been soaking in water for a couple of hours on the grill. It's basically just a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil folded around the wet wood chips, with a few holes punched in the top to let out the smoke once it starts to build up inside the foil. I also put some of the soaked wood chips straight onto the coals, to get a bit stronger/quicker smoke action. The temperature probe was reading 171 degrees already, and the meat's only been on the grill for 2 hours. So I've almost completely closed the top and bottom vents, to cool the coals down and give the wood chips a chance to do their job. The meat cooked a LOT faster than I was expecting it too, but as long as it's the right temperature internally, and it pulls apart easily, it's all good!

Before I put the pork on the grill, I let it sit out for about 30 minutes or so, to bring it a bit closer to room temperature. Then I rubbed on a basic barbecue rub mixture and placed the meat in the center of the grill, with a drip pan filled with water below it, and a ring of coals circling the meat and the pan, but leaving the area directly below it open (that's where the drip pan goes.) This is known as an indirect cooking method, and is used for larger and/or tougher pieces of meat, and anything that needs to be smoked. Ultimate you'd want to use an external smoker box for your coals, but I don't have that type of grill yet, so this is the method that must be used. You can either stack the coals to one side of the grill, and place the meat on the other side, away from the coals, or you can do what I've done and circle the coals around the outside of the grill, placing the meat in the middle. You can also add a second pile of coals on the other side of the grill, if you choose to use the first method. It all depends on what kind of grill you have, and how much space you have to work with. At any rate, the object is to cook the meat slowly, over several hours, bringing the internal temperature up gradually to the desired range. Then, when the meat is cooked to the temperature you need it to be, you remove it from the grill (and this bit is important), cover it loosely with foil, and let it rest for about 30 minutes. This allows the meat to cool slightly (although it will continue to cook internally over this time), making it easier to touch if you plan to do something like pull it apart for barbecue. More importantly, it allows the juices that will have risen to the surface of the meat during the cooking process, to be pulled back into the meat, increasing it's tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. Otherwise, if you just cut straight into the meat as soon as it comes off the grill, you'll end up with a dry piece of meat, that will have lost a lot of potential flavor. The "burned" bits on the outside of the meat ad a lot of flavor to the final product too. Often referred to as the "bark" these crispier bits, when mixed in with the rest of the meat, ad all sorts of interesting textures and flavors that you would otherwise be missing out on!

Okay, my Boston butt is now at an internal temperature of 175 degrees. The probe's alarm will sound once it hits 180 degrees, but I want to take the temperature a little higher, bringing it closer to 190 degrees. This will make the meat fall off the bone that much easier.
Now I have all sorts of recipes and whatnot for rubs, sauces, marinades, etc., but I thought I'd share the ones with you that I plan to use (and have already used) today. These come straight from the wonderful "Weber's Real Grilling" book that I picked up at Home Depot several months ago. So here is the simple recipe for what I'm doing today.

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Smoked Pulled Pork
in Hot Chile Sauce


Prep time: 30 minutes
Grilling time: 5 to 6 hours

Rub

1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared chili powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 bone-in pork shoulder roast [Boston butt],
5 to 6 pounds
2 handfuls hickory/mesquite chips, soaked in
water for at least 30 minutes


Sauce

1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

12 hamburger buns, lightly toasted
Mayonnaise (only if you like it)


1. To make the rub: In a small bowl, mix the rub ingredients with your fingertips. Allow the roast to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before grilling. Massage the rub mixture all over the roast.

2 Grill over Indirect Medium heat until the meat is very tender but still juicy [the internal temperature next to, but not touching, the bone should be 180 degrees F to 190 degrees F], 5 to 6 hours, turning every hour or so. Add the smoked wood chips to the smoker box or coals about halfway through the grilling time. When done, remove the pork shoulder from the grill, lightly cover it with a piece of aluminum foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine the sauce ingredients with 1 cup of water and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Keep warm.

4. Pull the pork into shreds with two forks or your fingers, or chop it with a knife. Discard any out sections that may have burned or any large bits of fat inside. In a large bowl, moisten the shredded meat with the sauce [you may not need all of it] and mix well. Serve warm on toasted buns brushed with mayonnaise.

Makes 12 sandwiches

This is where patience has its rewards. When you barbecue pork shoulder slowly, until the internal temperature climbs nearly 190 degrees F, the meat tears into shreds of pure satisfaction. If the outside gets dark, that's even better. Barbecue aficionados call that the "bark", and its crispy texture is fabulous in combination with the rest of the meat.

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I also made up a small batch of cola barbecue sauce, but I'll save the recipe for that for another day.

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I hope you have enjoyed this first installment of "Cooking With Matt!" From time to time, as I cook or grill different things over the summer, I will be adding new items to this blog. Also, at times, I will post recipes I've found that I enjoy, or ones that I've come up with on my own, so keep checking back to see what's been added!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Peace.

I'm On Fire!

Well, not literally (although I do smell strongly of smoke from the grill right now.)

So I have been a bit slack on my blogging lately, so I have some new pictures and stuff to put up today.

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My brother-in-law, Josh, was injured a couple nights ago when he was doing some tree work. A rotten limb fell on his head, cutting his face, neck, and chest up, and breaking the C-1 vertebrae in his neck in two places (of course, since you're probably the only one that reads this blog, Clare, you already knew that and I'm just stealing a line from YOUR blog.) Anyway, Josh miraculously avoided serious injury (such as paralysis or death), and he is back at home with my sister and the family. We just have to thank God that everything turned out the way it did! We have seen enough hardship in our family over the last 6-8 years...we DON'T need any more! Anyway, Josh, we're extremely glad that you're home, and we wish you a speedy recovery!

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We have new neighbors next door, in another one of the houses our Dad and Sandra own. There names are Paul and Amanda, and they seem like nice people (plus they are close to our age, so maybe we'll actually have someone to hang out with around here for a change.) They have a son and a daughter, and there's a baby there too, although I'm not sure yet if it's a girl or a boy. They also seem to have a cousin or something (and maybe his family?) staying with them on a regular basis, and helping them get sorted out and fully moved into their new home. One thing that they've done, that's been amusing and entertaining, is let fireworks off (I think) every night since they moved in. And I'm not just talking about some firecrackers and small stuff. Every night I here several "whoomp" sounds followed shortly by explosions, pops, crackles and/or whistles. They let aerials off every night, and I've been trying to take pictures of them (you know how I am with fireworks), but every time I've made it out there with my camera, they seem to be finished for the evening. Well last night I was able to capture a few decent shots, so here they are, in no particular order.

Well, that's about it for this post. Now I'm off to introduce a new section to my blog, something I used to do on MySpace. I call it (for lack of a better, less lame name) "Cooking With Matt!"

Incommunicado

Well, my cell phone, much like the one Monica was using, given to her by her friend Louise, seems to be possessed. Everything was fine untili last night, when the screen suddenly went blank and white, then off, then back on and white (with a number something like 2:14-58 or something flashing on the screen briefly.) When it came back to "normal" all my menu item text, on every menu, was replaced by numbers. So instead of "Pictures" it might say something like "2:14-76." Needless to say, this does not make operating the phone particular easy. I was okay with it though, and it still worked for calls and everything, but I think I've screwed that up now, by trying to access the "Master Reset" option. I did this, but I think I selected a full reset instead of just a reset of the settings. Apparently it was going to erase everything on my phone. I tried to stop it, finally taking the battery out of the back and rebooting the phone. Unfortunately it was in the middle of resetting itself at the time, and now it appears to be frozen in that process.

So what all this boils down to (most likely), is that I'm going to have to buy a new phone (and one for Monica too.) Right now, I have no way to make or receive calls, which is a major inconvenience, because my cell phone and my email are pretty much my only forms of contact. So needless to say I'm a little upset at the moment...

So if you try to call from me, and I don't answer, or you don't hear from me for any reason, that's why. I hope to have the situation fixed soon. Thanks.

PS> I'm kind of tired while I'm writing this, so if there's a bunch of typos and errors, I appologize.

Time Lapse Photography

Okay, Monica and I were talking about trying to do some time lapse photography. So I thought I'd get out my trusty digital camera again, and see what it could do. The first picture I took, using a 30 second exposure time (the longest that camera can do, I think) let in too much light with the settings I used. So I adjusted things a bit, and while not quite what I was after, this is the image I came up with. Basically it's a still shot of a flower vase, with me sitting behind it on the couch, moving things around. This is the first time I've tried to take a picture like this, so it isn't much to look at. But it opens up some interesting possibilities. I have plans. Oh yes, I have plans.....

30 second exposure

Rumbling Thunder and Sparkling Lights

I'm sitting here at my computer, listening to the near continual rumble of thunder in the background. A storm is brewing in the vicinity, creeping ever closer at a sedate 5 mph. Maybe we'll get some more rain tonight, maybe not. Earlier this evening, before the "natural fireworks" going on outside right now, some of our neighbors were letting off fireworks again, Roman candles this time, for the most part. I have been out with my camera the past couple of nights, trying to capture some pictures of the festivities. Here are a few of those attempts.





Not very exciting obviously, because I wasn't able to zoom in before I took the shots, and they were too far away to look that good (I CAN actually take good firework pictures, these just aren't some of them.)

Anyway, Kate had give us a couple packs of sparklers on Friday, and I'd brought a few out for Monica and I to light and play with. Monica tried taking pictures of them with her phone, but all she ended up with were large, glowing balls of light, because the shutter speed on cell phone cameras is too quick, and you can't control the length of the exposure. So I decided to see how my Sony camera would fair with the sparklers, using the Fireworks setting to shoot them. Here are some of the more interesting images that I captured.

I have quite a few more, but I didn't want to take up the space. Maybe I'll post them all on Flickr, if anyone's interested.

Anyway, that's what we did this evening. It's back to work tomorrow, for both of us, and then off to the doctor for me again, to have my blood pressure rechecked and give them a status on my headaches.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July, and I'll talk to you all soon. Take care.