More Photos of Yacht Tender

These are just a few photos, of the finished boat and what it looks like today.

 

 

It was an ambitious project, but I learned a lot about woodworking during the process.

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Home made Pizza Pie

 Back in the 1950s when Pizza hit America by storm everyone called it Pizza Pie.

Simple basic ingredients, heres my recipe:1 and 1/2  CUP WARM WATER (105 to 115 degrees)1  TABLESPOON YEAST3  TABLESPOONS  OLIVE OIL 1  TABLESPOON SALT1 TABLESPOON HONEY4 CUPS OF ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

Cover and let rise in a warm place.If your house is on the cool side, turn the oven on for a few minutes, then turn it back off, and  set your bowl in. let rise for 1  1/2  hours or so.

The dough will at least double in size.

I love punching it down after it rises. Doesnt that look good?It smells good too!

 

Now its time to have fun!

Putting corn meal on the wooden peel keeps the dough from sticking.

I would love to be able to toss the dough but it would take a lot of practice and I dont make pizza often enough.

Marinara sauce.Mozzarella and turkey pepperoni, sweet basil leaves right out of our garden. We will add cheddar cheese,black olives and mushrooms.

We have a pizza stone on the Grilla pellet grill. We are at 550 degrees.

Wow does that ever look and smell good.

YUM!!!!

For the second pie we have garlicky hamburger, mozzarella, basil, black olives and mushrooms.

Such beauty!

In it goes for 10 -12 minutes.

Double YUM!!

Grab a plate and lets eat! Thanks for stopping by my blog.Please leave a comment.(I hope this made you hungry)

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Pig Roast

I smoked this 220 lb (live weight) pig at an event to feed 160 people.  The construction crew starts very early so they have lunch at 9:00 am.  This means that my helper and I had to start cooking at 9:00 pm the night before.  Get ready to stay up all night with just a catnap or two for this cook.

This is the chuck wagon box I built that sits on the tailgate of my pickup.  This is some serious tailgating.

Here is another view of the chuck wagon box and of the back side of my home built smoker.  I havent said much about metal working on this blog but I designed and built this smoker myself.    The fire box is a 20 inch length of 30 inch diameter pipe with a piece of 1/2 inch steel plate welded on the top and bottom.  I use the top of it to cook with my dutch ovens and cast iron skillets. The cooking chamber is an old air compressor tank.  In this shot I have water heating on top of the fire box to wash dishes.As you can see, the smoker is on a trailer so we are cooking on site.  

Here is where people miss out on the magic of BBQ pork.  They make the mistake of bringing the meat temp up to 160 degrees or so and calling it done.  But if you slowly, and I mean SLOWLY, bring it up to 190 degrees, something magic happens.  All the collagen in the meat melts and everything relaxes and starts falling apart.  Were talking pulled pork here. After 11 hours of cooking on an all apple wood fire at 225 degrees this baby is falling apart tender and smoky.  Notice the stainless steel tray I built to cook pigs on.  When they are done I can pull the whole tray out and carve them right on the tray.  Have you ever tried to pull a hot falling apart pig out of a smoker? 

I had the pig skinned when it was butchered but left the fat on it.  This not only bastes the meat throughout the entire cook but also protects the meat from any build up of carbon.

Before carving you simply scrape the fat off with the blade of your knife and succulent smoky meat is revealed.

Am I making you hungry yet?  Hope so!

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This was one of my early projects.  It had to look nice and float or Id never get my wife in it.In fact she flat out told me "Im not floating in anything you build"

I ordered plans for a 9 foot yacht tender from Compumarine.com.The plans came with full size patterns for the plywood stations. See photo below.

The skin is made out of 3/4 X 1/4 inch cedar strips which I cut from western red cedar 1x4s.Each strip then goes through the router for a bead on one edge and a cove on the other.  This makes the strips nest together.

As you might imagine this is not a fast process.  I only worked on it when I felt like it but you could probably build one of these choice faster than I did.

Whoops! I never did anything with fiberglass before and started getting in over my head.  Here is my sweetie taking over the glassing while Im cooking Sunday dinner.

A toast of sparkling cider to celebrate the last cedar strip glued into place.

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Road Trip To Dry Falls

 The other day my wife and I decided to grab a picnic lunch and take a little road trip.  This is why I love the area that we live in.  There is no better artist than our dear Lord and His creations are beyond mesmerizing. 

This is dry falls lake, a popular fly fishing spot.

 This is a view from the bottom, of where we were standing in the first photo.

This is the country of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce` tribe.  This was their land.  Even today after many years of pioneers, farmers, and industry, this land is still an abundant hunting and fishing area.   

Looks like a scene from a western movie.  I can almost see John Wayne riding across the desert.

Fly fishing only.  Dry Falls Lake at he base of these cliffs attracts fly fishermen, not just for the catch, but for the serenity of the environment.   If you would like to see more photos of our road trip, you can see them at my wifes blog: http://crafty-home-cottage.blogspot.com

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Motorcycle Rocker of Granddaughters 2nd Birthday

Motorcycle Rocking Horse You may have seen this project on my Connies blog if you follow her.Crafty home cottage @blogspot.com

 This is what I built my 1st granddaughter when she turned 2 years old. Following are photos that will take you from plans to finished project.

As you may guess,  this project took a lot of time and patience.

I made a base for my router that extended out about a foot to one side.  This choice to cut the wheels I was able to screw the router base directly to the wood, turning the router itself into a compass.  You cant get an any more perfect circle than that.To cut out the spokes I had to drill starter holes then insert the scroll saw blade through each hole, cut it, then unclasp the blade, moving to the next hole.  A little tedious but it was a labor of love.

This project was complicated enough that I had to break it down into many work sessions.

The rockers.

The biggest challenge was getting everything to fit together correctly.

The seat and gas tank are several pieces of wood glued up and then cut to shape.

In the original plans, the handle bars are supported only by the center post.  Not strong enough for these energetic girls, not to mention their play date friends.  So I decided to run the fork tubes clear up to the handle bars.

Notice anyone having fun here?

It was well worth the effort to build something that will be a family heirloom.Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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