Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Pigs are Cute Until They're Not

The Tucsonans are freezing!  I'm freezing.  It's in the 50's and it's pretty windy.  I will be very surprised if there is any hiking today, especially on my part.  As I age, I seem to be losing my tolerance for cold.

Yesterday we were confronted with this.  This is the neighbor across the street's garbage being assaulted.


The pig  javelina has zero fear of humans.  I got pretty close to him banging two sheet pans together to make noise, he just looked at me an kept digging in the bag.


Another neighbor got him to move, but he came back.  Eventually he moved on and we cleaned up and put it with our bags.  I think this is why we have in-ground trash cans.  It's so the food waste can be locked up.  I still hate using them because I don't think it's good for the backs of the sanitation workers.  The truck used to come early, but now it's pushing 11:00 before they get to our street, so there is time for the pigs  javelinas to raid the bags.


Yesterday afternoon we did a short fast hike through the desert.  We saw a bone.  If you look at the top of the photo, there is a clump of pin cushion cactus.  Those things can live anywhere.


Here are the lengthening afternoon shadows.  We were out for an hour of fast walking.


Last night we made Coq au Vin in the instant pot.  It took forever to come up to pressure - 20 minutes.  We pressure cooked for 10 minutes and then did a natural release for 10 minutes, and then vented it.  I am still not using the saute function, it's just easier to haul out my big pan and do the saute step in the pan.  The main advantage is being able to get the pan under the exhaust fan in the range hood and vent the cooking smells.  It was good, there's enough for dinner tonight, so we're happy about that.  This recipe also messes up everything in the kitchen.

12 comments:

  1. I just hate it when a meal messes up every pot and utensil in the kitchen. Hate it, I'm telling you.

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    1. Me too! I'm working on streamlining the process.

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  2. I had the idea that the insta pot would be a pop it in and leave it experience and it is most decidedly not.

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    1. I had that thought, as well. We've done one recipe that fits that description, the rest are complicated.

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  3. My game in the kitchen is to see how few pots I can use for a delicious result. I hate a mess in the kitchen! So....what are in-ground trash cans?

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  4. Sauteing in the IP is great...less dirty pans, higher sides can keep some of the splatter contained. You do need to make sure you deglaze and scrape any burnt bits off the bottom before pressure cooking though, otherwise you could get the dreaded Burn notice. Note: if you had sauted in the IP it might have come to pressure in less than 20 minutes because things would have already been hotter from the saute.

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  5. I LOVE the javelinas. It looks like a male, meaning they aren't scared of anything. Yes, they can be dangerous. As to the instant pot, if it's not up to pressure in 8-10 minutes, just press down lightly on the top. Sometimes it just needs a little help to seal. Also, check your seal to be sure it's seated all the way in. Sometimes I just move it a tad left or right.

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  6. the javelinas just killed a lady in texas wwm.

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  7. I hear you about the cold. I'm the same way, the older I get the less I tolerate the cold. I had in mind that I'd take a walk yesterday afternoon but, it was just too cold. And, this morning, the wind is blowing like crazy.
    Those javelin used to do that same thing at my friends cabin. He put pumpkins out one time for Halloween and the pigs devoured them.

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  8. I never had any tolerance to cold.

    did you notify the neighbor that you cleaned up their mess/garbage that they let the pig get into?

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    1. No - we all put our trash out in bags, he just happened to get picked by the javelina.

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  9. I never thought the javelinas were cute - they're a worst pest than loose dogs or feral cats. We didn't see too many where I lived in Tempe but people I worked with had problems frequently.

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