(no subject)

Last night's outing to Smuggler's Cove for the curvy upstairs neighbor's Significant Birthday was a lot of fun. The place is small but has great ambiance and many, many excellent rum drinks. The best I had was the Black Prince, but I'd happily return to try others. Herself got exceedingly giggly on cocktails.

Beforehand, Jean Guillaume and I made 11 pounds of finocchiona, a fennel salame. The test bit we fried up was very tasty and I can't wait for the rest to be ready. In three months, alas. The batch of lonza I sliced up from three months ago was just about perfect. Unfortunately the paprika-dusted batch I made at the same time doesn't taste much of paprika. And the coppa (lonza made with shoulder) was too salty, even though I went through the same process. I guess the shoulder holds salt more than loin...

Today is about doing more dishes and relaxing, though.

*Preen*

I took some of the just-sliced batch of lonza to the farmers' market this morning. When I walked up to Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats, the conversation went something like this:

"Hi, Ryan. Can I interest you in some -"
"Yes. Whatever you're offering, I'm happy to try."

He made some nice comments about the texture and flavor; this is the best of the batches so far. I might still need to soak out the brine a bit longer but it's just about there.