North West BS Thread

Yeah, been that way for a while now. Sort of like trying to find canning lids and primers right now.

 

That’s no joke! We could not find canning lids for weeks!

 

No kidding? That's stinks.
I keep expecting that old avocado green freezer to shit the bed, but it keeps on ticking.

 

Hey, don't put that mojo into the universe. My kitchen fridge is 17+ years old now and I expect it to puke at any moment.

Guess there were huge lines at Costco and other stores yesterday after Gov. Inslee's announcement. Next few weeks should be fun. Can you imagine the grocery stores during the holidays limited to 25% capacity? Heck, if I have 18 people over for Thanksgiving it is just me at the store buying food. Now there are 4 separate groups going to the store for the same food.

What's going on in OR and ID? I'd heard the OR Governor has clamped down, but don't know the details.

 

Just glad we get most of our stuff from local farms and have a freezer full of meat and put up a lot of canning this fall. Ughh...

Sounds like OR was pretty similar to WA. Luckily we get to keep our offices closed to the public and construction is still under it’s own set of rules.

gonna be a strange holiday season for sure

 

I am no expert on the current policy(I don’t think anybody is ). It varies by county.
Grocery stores are limited to 75%.
Restaurant are closed for dine in(starting Wednesday).
Highly recommended to carry out(assuming that means any type of other store)
Social gatherings”limited” to 6 people.
This “pause” or now “freeze” is for 2 weeks unless you are multnomah county then it’s 4 but maybe 6.


I don’t have cable and dont pay attention to the news unless I’m at work....and most recently we haven’t even been doing that.

Guess we will see how this plays out.

 

Interesting stuff...The wife and I go to Costco every other week, but we've given up going into grocery stores. She just orders what we need at Fred Meyer and I do the curb-side pickup. It's pretty slick...and I'm much calmer. I'm generally fine in Costco, probably because I'm distracted by all the cool stuff, but our grocery stores quickly remind me I'm not a people person.

Some day we'll live in an area where we can buy our meats and food direct from local sources. Some day...

 

I hardly ever do the grocery shopping currently only due to the wife and my current work schedule.


With that being said I noticed a few months ago our local Safeway has like a 600 person capacity???!!

That just seems ridiculous to me.

My wife was against a chest freezer. Well I ended up scoring a pretty good size one for free without her knowing it. Well guess who all of a sudden loves this extra freezer!! Starting to slowly stock it up. Already have an extra brisket, pork butt and like 12# of hamburger in there....along with a couple frozen pizzas and waffles.

 

Yeah...we have a full size freezer that's usually pretty full and a garage fridge for overflow. Wife wasn't too keen on the garage fridge until she started needing it, especially during the holidays.

 

I like to ask my wife” where you going to put that stuff” when she gets back from Costco.

I know where it’s going but it’s a perfect starter question to lead into me telling her I was right again lol. This is not a recommendation...I like to live dangerously lol.

 

It's fun to drop those little reminders once in a while.

 

Now that you’ve got the freezer, start getting your meat in bulk. We buy a whole butchered hog and a half of a steer once a year and stock up on free range whole chickens probably 2-3 times a year. Cuts WAY down in the amount of time either of us have to spend at the grocery store.

There’s a place up near Centralia, WA, that has grass fed organic beef (yeah, I’m one of THOSE people) for $4.50-ish/lb cut and wrapped when you go for a half. They also will do quarters.

We get our pork from out near Trout Lake, WA. I think it runs about $6/lb cut and wrapped if I remember right.

 

This will be the plan once I find a place that isn't to far that can meet the meat demand. I know a couple places that usually offer bulk but currently though they don't.

One butcher shop in Beaverton is actually going out of business now..

I just got a flyer in the mail that we are getting a Cash n Carry (or whatever they are called now) in Wilsonville. May have to check that out soon. Would prefer a butcher though. Whites out in Gresham was where I was thinking of going but am open to suggestions closer to Portland.

 

Isn't all beef organic. Or is that implying no antibiotics ect for the steer?

 

If you’re anywhere in the outskirts or farther of the metro area, do a little driving out in the farmland and look for signs. Lot’s of local guys that will raise 1-5 heads (1 for them, and the rest to sell and help cover costs) and have a local butcher that will take care of processing. They usually have people that only want a quarter or half so it is easy to get in on a smaller order.

Typically you are buying the animal “on the hoof” from the farmer and then paying the butcher shop for the processing of “your own animal” so that you aren’t stuck having to go through some big/expensive USDA certified shop (any butcher that sells retail cuts has to be USDA certified and that is a bunch of added cost that you pay). There actually aren’t many USDA butcher shops around any more that will do custom cuts.

There’s a guy in my neighborhood that raises three head on his 5 acres and sells them. We already have the source we use, but there are guys like him all over. Yamhill area is full of little outfits like that.

 

Depends on how it’s been fed. Most beef that’s been finished on grain is not organic, because what it’s eating is not organic. Taken to the full intent of the term, if the field that the animal is grazing on has been given any chemical fertilizers or pesticides, then the meat isn’t organic. And yes, antibiotics or other medications play into it as well. To really take it a step further, you get into animal welfare too - was the animal kept in a feedlot pen with no room to move or was it raised on open pasture with room to move/eat/shit as it pleased up until the day it got turned into steaks.

and then there’s Wagyu... giving the animal massages and playing it classical music.

 

My numbers might be a little off... might be $3.50 on the beef and $4 on the pork. We also pay a bit of a premium for certified organic on the hogs too. I tried to talk my wife into raising the hogs ourselves (I used to as a kid), but she doesn’t want to be eating something that she has given a name to. I do my own hams and bacon...

 

Try Gartners if you havent:

https://gartnersmeats.com

 

I personally haven’t gone. I have tried their pepperoni sticks at work though. I’ll see if they are still doing bulk packs or anything right now.

 

Eastern WA guys, anyone been in the woods north of Spokane (GMU113) in last few days? Wondering what the snow situation is. Was up there last weekend with no snow but heard they got hammered on Friday. Looking to head up there this weekend one more time scouting before late Muzzleloader. Not sure how good access will be though.

 

Happy Friday fellow Northwesterners. Anyone have big plans for the weekend?

I’m getting some road therapy... Taking a solo trip up to Birch Bay and returning tomorrow morning. Looking forward to a quiet ride and evening. Smoking some turkeys tomorrow and delivering the meat on Sunday to family and friends. Should burn a whole tank this weekend; truck will be happy

 

This weekend......
Get a turkey butchered to chill out till Thursday. Work on my next knife, a Japanese style kitchen knife.
And the main event, I got one of our tundra bros stopping by for lunch
@TelemarkTumalo
Can’t wait to see that army green pro!

 

Nice. Never been up there. Going do some burning tomorrow morning, then work on the crown in my cabinets in the kitchen and laundry and picture railing in the dining room.

might build some under seat storage too.

 

Nice. He said he was making a run your way. Can’t wait to see that kitchen knife...

 

How about some pictures of the cabinets?

 

My internet isn’t cooperating... maybe I can get some uploaded tomorrow.

 

Just got in and unloaded. Had Tool cranked for most of the drive. Now that is some good therapy.

This is my drive up. Pretty happy since much of the drive was at 75mph and I was fighting some winds. Maybe I can get better tomorrow morning with less traffic and some calm air

 

Tool

 

Come on man, now I'm jealous. Solo road trip and Tool?