The Pauley Principle: NOW THAT'S A NUTCRACKER!!!

Welcome to The Pauley Principle!

The Pauli Principle, named for Wolfgang Pauli, deals with atoms and electron-sharing that results in new, stronger bonds. Think 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen, a shared delectable (!) electron and VOILA! Water!

Similarly, when you prepare whole food to share with family and friends, especially foods you've grown, something amazing happens. Meals become tastier and healthier. Your soul, not just your stomach, becomes fulfilled. You live life more abundantly as a result. During a shared meal, the bonds that people create grow stronger and become something new: GREATER than the sum of the parts! I give you The Pauley Principle.

Monday, December 26, 2011

NOW THAT'S A NUTCRACKER!!!

AN UNHAPPY ONLOOKER

We have a new nutcracker at our house, and it's creating
quite a stir!

Chris designed it, built it, engraved it, and surprised me with it at Christmas.

Chris is demonstrating the various positionings of the nut.

This tool is a thing of wonder, and it works just the way Chris planned. With a little pressure on the handle and a well-placed nut, VOILA! The nut is cracked! Not shattered and flying all around, and not smashed so that you end up with ground nut meats, but cracked so that you can actually pick out the nut!

Of all the nuts, black walnuts are the worst nuts to crack. To make black walnut fudge, I used to get a hammer and crack the nuts from our walnut trees on a big rock out in the yard. Then, I'd crawl around looking for little nut pieces. Actually, the nuts ended up more smashed than cracked and the pieces would be so small that, when I tried making fudge, you wouldn't detect any hint of black walnut flavoring or pieces of walnut.

I've already tried the new nutcracker. Fun, fun, fun! I am so ready to make some yummy black walnut fudge. And Chris already has a buyer for his next nutcracker!


(Bye bye, little nutcracker-in-name-only! I've got a brand spankin' new nutcracker and you're being replaced. Admittedly, this one isn't pretty like you, but you couldn't live up to your name. Now it's the end of your game.)

11 comments:

dr momiDecember 26, 2011 at 3:09 PM
Cool! .....and does he have a buyer for his third nut cracker??????
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JessiDecember 26, 2011 at 4:04 PM
I love that it looks like a backhoe/bulldozer man made it :) If you need a home for the holiday nutcracker, I have friends for him.
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UnknownDecember 26, 2011 at 7:45 PM
Dr. Momi(aka Jean), it is cool! I would inevitably have smashed thumbs with my old method. This nutcracker requires only minimal muscle and it leaves the nut right beside it, not five feet away! In just a few minutes, I had a half cup of walnuts shelled! Would you like to be the third? If so, I'll tell him!

Jessi, I'm afraid if I had more of the nutcracker soldiers, they would make a battle plan. Give me an offer and this little officer is yours. He keeps giving the new design a menacing look.
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dr momiDecember 26, 2011 at 9:35 PM
....yes, yes, yes! I would like to be number 3!
A nutcracker for black walnuts was on my list to get this year, and it looks like a great design!
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UnknownDecember 26, 2011 at 11:02 PM
dr momi, the answer is YES! You will be the buyer of the third nutcracker! Chris will build it for you. He has some other evening projects that he needs to finish first (chicken coop, the second nutcracker, and hawk-proofing the chicken pen if he can [the hawks have discovered our little hens but no loss so far]). It will be a little wait. He's sorry but it takes awhile. I asked him to buy enough steel to do 4 or 5. Lehman's has a steel nutcracker that can do walnuts, I believe. Theirs is a different design but looks workable if you need one fast.
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RUBY SLIPPERSDecember 27, 2011 at 2:32 AM
This is so neat that he invented, built it and made it a gift to you.

My favorite Ohio-grown nuts are the butternuts....somewhat similar to black
walnuts in the appearance of the hull, harder to find. My son has one tree. I found another one in a public park. This was my Dad's favorite. Mild, golden and buttery nutmeats.

but I will say...nothing like a great black walnut cookie with a cup of black coffee. YUM!~
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dr momiDecember 27, 2011 at 6:13 AM
I have seen the one in Lehman's....but I am in no hurry (didn't pick the black walnuts this year)and would love to have Chris' design. Whenever it's ready let me know and we'll connect up and pay up! Thank's!
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UnknownDecember 27, 2011 at 11:48 AM
Ruby Slippers, I think we have a butternut. It began as a volunteer little sprout in the picnic area. Since it was new and different, I kept watching to see what it would become, sort of like watching your children develop and wondering what they will be like as adults.
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UnknownDecember 27, 2011 at 11:52 AM
Dr. Momi (whether to capitalize or not, that is the question), I am delighted that you like the design. Chris designs well and does neat work. He's happy to have your order! We'll of course be in touch.
Tonight we're getting snow on this (TWC quote of the day) "white random Tuesday". Our first, maybe an inch of mush.
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Granny SueDecember 29, 2011 at 3:12 PM
I want one, I want one! Email me the cost, so I can start budgeting :) Our method--hammer and an anvil--works like your original method; nut shells and meats flying everywhere. This is an awesome tool!
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UnknownDecember 30, 2011 at 10:49 AM
Granny Sue, Chris says he'll be happy to make one for you! He just delivered his second one, and it takes a little while since he does it in his spare time. I'll get back with you soon!
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Give Yourself the Fast Food Alternative: 1, 2, 3 makes 4 and More

For many people, late night ballgames, church, work and other events make fast food too convenient to resist, but what's in that stuff? I can't begin to answer. Big franchises such as Taco Bell say the 63% or so that isn't beef is made up of "the secret ingredient". If we consume their food, don't we have a right to know what that secret is? And more importantly, what's it doing to our bodies? My plan is worth the effort since meals eaten at home with the family benefit our physical and mental health.

Here's an alternative and my answer to Rachael Ray's A Week in a Day. I call it 1,2, 3 Makes 4 and More. On the fifth day, Friday, make a quick and easy pizza.
In one day, you can make a roast, a hearty soup, and a one-dish casserole to get you through most of the work week.
Meal 1: the roast with salad and a veggie.
Meal 2: the soup served with warm bread or in a bread bowl.
Meal 3: the casserole with a salad.
Meal 4: soup from Meal 2 served with sandwiches using the roast, Meal 1.
Meal 5: homemade pizza.

Plan meals and shop for it. Then take a few hours to prepare the entrees ahead. Start with a roast seasoned to taste. I'm talking real meat. While that's slow cooking, start chopping veggies and meat for a good, hearty soup, one that will be a meal in itself. Get it started and simmering away and then begin a one-pot meal that takes a little more attention.

This week my plan is Day 1, a slow roasted ham with salad and mashed potatoes; Day 2, minestrone; and Day 3, shepherd's pie. I'm making mashed potatoes for two days (meals 1 and 3) at one time on my cooking day. The fourth meal will be ham sandwiches with minestrone. Salads and breads round out the meals for the week. Fruits with cheese make a quick and good-for-you dessert. A truly delicious recipe for shepherd's pie is in my blog.

Be good to you. Be good to others. On days 6 and 7, change it up by going out, having a pot luck with friends and family or grilling out. Remember, live your life abundantly.

About Venison

Venison should taste really delicious! No kidding. It is my favorite meat, except for crab.

Some things to consider though:
*If you wouldn't think of eating a bull, then don't eat a deer that had huge antlers or was in rut. I don't. It affects the flavor and tenderness of the meat.
*Replace the deer fat with beef fat for your ground meat for an 80/20 ratio. Deer fat tends to be slightly bitter and leaves that thick coating in your mouth that, although edible, is not palatable.
*For roasts, sear with butter and olive oil. These impart a wonderful flavor.
*For sausage, use pork shoulder, at a ration of about 3 parts ground venison with 1 part ground pork shoulder.
*Venison by nature is a lean red meat. A good young deer processed properly will give you many delicious meals.
*Anything you would do with beef, except ribs, you can do with venison. Look for my recipe for Shepherd's Pie. Use either beef or venison. Enjoy, share, and live abundantly.

Plan Now for Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is cooked down from sap that you gather from sugar maple trees. There are no other ingredients, not even water. And it's incredibly good. On the market, maple syrups will often have corn syrup, gluten, color and other additives which can stretch profitability and decrease the steaming time required. Since it takes 35-45 gallons of the thin slightly sweet sap to make a gallon of pure maple syrup, doing it the old-fashioned way takes time but the result is pure YUM!

If you have the opportunity to tap into maple trees and decide you'd like to give this a try, plan ahead. If you steam off the sap inside your kitchen, it can strip your wall-paper! Been there, done that, at our old farmhouse. If you cook it down outside with a gas turkey fryer, the cost can end up being around $8 a pint. We began cooking over a wood fire a few years ago, using a tripod and kettle. Oh, and a large firewood supply. Whatever method you choose, proceed slowly and with caution.

Gather your supplies. We use food safe plastic jugs, buckets, and little water line spouts. Maple syrup production houses will collect into stainless steel vats using long water lines but we simply gather the jugs, pour into buckets and bring it to the kettle twice daily. I buy little pint jugs to store it in. Very fresh, very pure. Start tapping the trees when daytime temperatures are going to be above freezing but nights are still very cold. In Ohio, the sap will be running fast sometime in February.

Try my cousin Stephanie Krupla's recipe for Sticky Bun Tea Ring and you'll want to search for maple trees you can tap into yourself!