Tested: Quadcopters – Tested
On average, these costlier models have similar features to sub-$50 quads, but they are larger and more powerful.
Source: Tested: Quadcopters – Tested
Makin Bacon and Possibly Corned Beef
Corned beef prices have been very high laterly $5-$6 per pound but whole brisket I can get for $3-$4 per pound. Also I have always wanted to try making bacon and other cured meats. So I ordered Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn’s book on curing meats and some curing salt to get me started. Should be picking up a brisket (from GFS) this weekend to start the process and will head down to the West Side market to check in on getting some pork belly.
Michael Ruhlman’s recipe for corned beef
Home-Cured Corned Beef
Michael Ruhlman’s home cured bacon
Home cured bacon
In the bacon recipe it calls for adding brown sugar and juniper berries. I plan to leave those out as I don’t like a sweet bacon.
Candy
No big display this year but did put out some zombies. Big box of candy.
Kids
lovely
First flight
So my first quadcopter I got stuck at the top of my neighbor’s tree the second day after I got it. I tried to build a pole to get it down but it was too high to reach. I waited for a storm/wind to see if it would knock it out or lower. Finally last Sunday it did and I was able to extract it from the tree. It had been rained on a few times but surprisingly still worked fine with zero damage. Below is the video of my first flight.
Syma X5SW
While waiting for the quad to fall out I ordered a second one and some additional parts. I practiced a lot and got fairly comfortable with it. It is a very fun quad to fly. Very durable. Only problem is that with it being so light wind can affect it easily. I find trying to fly it high presents a very real possibility of losing it as the wind is faster and you lose control and go out of range easily. Below is a video I did yesterday where it got caught in a wind and flew out of range landing in the front yard of a house the street behind me.
Update, this is the quad I have and having now owned this a couple months it is a nice beginners quad. The camera quality is not great but I normally fly without it. I bought a small tool box from harbor freight and some spare replacement parts and batteries. Replacement parts normally ship from China and can take awhile to get. So if ordering for Christmas, I would suggest ordering now.
Chicken, burgers and more
This past week there was a sale on chicken halves for .39 cents per pound. Came in a 10 lb bag so made a few and vacuum sealed and froze the rest. Chicken was coated with oil then a Tuscan Chicken blend spice.
Sunday we celebrated my daughter’s fifth birthday so on the menu was burgers, bratwurst, chicken, and threw on some kielbasa for a snack. To make the burgers I first cubed a chuck arm roast then pulsed 8-10 cubes at a time in the food processor
It takes awhile to process all of them. After that was done I skinned 4 of the brats and added them to the mix along with onion powder, pepper, and garlic.
Mix that all up and formed the burgers. No salt until just before hitting the grill.
Made some garlic butter to brush on the corn and buns.
Some hot dogs were cooked as well.
Camping at Pymatuning in Jamestown PA
Annual camping trip to Pymatuning. This year we stayed at the Jamestown, PA camp ground due to the closing of most of the Ohio sites because of the bald eagles nesting. Good weather for the days we stayed. Fishing was a bit off I think because of the algae and water visibility. The sites were 222 and 223 and were fairly large and pretty isolated from the neighbors because of bushes. I think the ohio side is cleaner and these sites did not have electric unlike the Ohio ones. Also, there is no dumpsters close to the sites so you need to drive to the entrance to dispose of trash. We rented a pontoon boat from the marina nearby for about 6 hours at the cost of $120. The boat had a fish finder which was nice but did not really help us with catching much.
Vacation
Vacation week.
Started out with a trip to Lake Erie Bluffs, a very nice park in Perry, Ohio.
Sunday we stayed at home where I made a brisket
Monday we went to the Lake Erie Nature Center then a trip to Huntington Beach and a little park in Olmstead Falls
Tuesday was the Cleveland Metro Park Zoo
Wednesday we went to the Cleveland Botanical Garden then Lake View Cemetery to see the Garfield Monument, Eliot Ness, and Rockefeller.
Happy Days Trail – Peninsula
We hiked the Happy Days trail in Peninsula, Ohio this weekend with the kids. Started out at the northern tip near the lodge and made our way to the Ice cave then down to the overlook and the very southern tip. Criss-crossed over several minor trails then back up. Very nice trail with some moderate elevation changes and rocky terrain. Kids liked it and Eddy only had to be carried thru a few places.
