Beef Jerky, Dehydrator Style

Cactus Kate — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:36:39 +0000

My food dehydrator (well, technically my MOM’S food dehydrator) has been sitting on a shelf in my garage for years. Possibly decades. I had some bottom round steaks in the freezer (you remember, from my braising experiment?), so I decided it was time to make some beef jerky. Everyone in my family loves jerky, so I figured it would be a hit. My mom used to make this same jerky for snacks for me when I was a kid. I loved it then, and I love it now.

I thawed the steaks, and sliced them into strips (with the grain, per the recipe, and about 1/3 inch thick). There was about a pound of steak. There were a few fatty strips, so I roasted those in the toaster oven for Mindy, who was VERY appreciative.

The marinade was simple: 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce, 1 tsp garlic salt, and 1 tsp seasoned pepper (which I didn’t have, but I DID have a bottle of ‘Gullah Luv’ seasoning from South Carolina, so I used that).

I threw the strips into the marinade, and let them soak up all the flavorful goodness for a little more than an hour.

Once they were done marinating, I spread them out on the racks of the dehydrator, and plugged it in. The recipe said to dry for 5 to 7 hours, but my jerky took a little over 9 hours, for whatever reason. It turned out perfectly, though, and I think Rich has eaten almost all of his half already, 2 days later.

It’s nice to be back at home!

Day Eleven – Roswell and Home

Cactus Kate — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:59:21 +0000

That’s right, we’re home! It was a long and wonderful vacation, but home is nice, too.

Thursday, we got up, had breakfast, and visited the Roswell UFO Museum. It was interesting, and well put together, but I think it’s hard to base a museum on unsubstantiated evidence and ‘facts’. Most of the information was eyewitness accounts, blurry photos, and artists’ impressions. Rich brought up a very good point – why is it that now, in this digital media-filled age when everyone has a cell phone with a camera, are there fewer photos of UFOs and similar phenomenon than ever?

Here are some photos from the museum:

The drive home was long, but not too long. We ran into a little ugly weather just outside Moab, but overall, it was fine. Here are some pictures of the lovely weather just outside Shiprock, New Mexico.

Thank you all for following us on our trip, and double thank you for all of you who commented!

The truth is out there (with big plastic-looking bug eyes).

Day Ten – To Roswell

Cactus Kate — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:22:31 +0000

We’re in Roswell this evening. Today was a long day on the road – all the way from Corpus Christi. We didn’t really stop anywhere except a few places for food, since it was such a long drive. Here are a few photos I took from the car.

This is a photo of the main street in Pecos, a statue that’s on a corner in some town between Pecos and Roswell, and a refinery just outside Roswell. I wish I could remember where the statue was, but I really don’t.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. If we have the chance to stop anywhere tomorrow, I will certainly post some then.

Thanks for reading & commenting!