Monday, August 20, 2007

A long sea v'yage

"I have a son of my own," said he, "as like you as two blocks, and he's all the pride of my 'art. But the great thing for boys is discipline, sonny--discipline. Now, if you had sailed along of Bill, you wouldn't have stood there to be spoke to twice--not you. That was never Bill's way, nor the way of sich as sailed with him. --Treasure Island

Apologies for the absence--it's been a busy few weeks, interrupted by a 4-day canoe and backpack trip in the Adirondacks with my wife, father, and father-in-law. Yes, the movie will be released next summer as a sequel to "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle".

Round 2 of the hardtack is done--this time went much more smoothly. With less water added to the dough, it kept together better. I skimped a bit on the pounding of the biscuit with the weight, (15 rather than 30 minutes) but noticed no difference thus far. I also used whole wheat flour rather than the white refined flour, which may have made a difference. This round of hardtack will be beaten into crumbs for lobscouse. I'm having a little trouble sourcing corned pork, but the recipe says I can substitute smoked ham in a pinch.