Nearing the end of Project Deck... Yes, now I'm designing and building as I go, ahem...the surround of the A/C - Heater device that lives at ground level. It's a big square box...6' by 3' and on it's own concrete pad. To build the deck addition meant enclosing it on 3 of it's 4 sides and pretending that the top 6 inches doesn't show. A joke but there IS a plan about that will partially negate it's appearance. A piece of deck furniture will fit on top and allow it's full operation but pretty much hide the infernal (but well loved) beast. The deck addition has been a two person task with Kelly providing painting activities to protect the el cheapo nature of the douglas fir decking by applying a coat of grey primer then a coat of grey epoxy paint on the topside. It's not the most glorious deck ever built but it will serve the purpose of allowing us the use of the southside of the house and beautify it at the same time. I started the project about the same time that Kelly's Prius bellied up last month so we've been at it for about 6 weeks. Of course I'm not complete yet. Left to do is the painting bu Kelly of the existing decking from the old deck and touch up of the new one from walking on it prematuredly with dirty shoes. Then there is the part around the AC/Heater unit. Projects like these are pretty rewarding, it looks immeasureably better that before and will lead into the painting of the east and North sides of the house before winter really arrives...hopefully.
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I'm preparing Carnitas (Braised pork, pulled pork Mexican style) for dinner tonight. I use roasted dried chilies, chopped tomatoes, a piece of cinnamon, a teaspoon of mace, another of Cumin, 4 cups of chicken stock, 2 tablespoons of Apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 rouchly chopped white onions onions to make the braising liquid. Then brown a 3 - 4 lb whole pork butt rubbed with dried chipotle or chipotle en adobo, salt and pepper. Chop up the roasted peppers and add all the rest to a large pot. Boil, then simmer for 20 minutes before adding the thoroughly browned pork butt to the pot, it should be about 1/2 way submerged in the braising liquid. Cook coverred for 1.5 hrs turning over every 1/2 hour. Remove the lid and continue braising for another 1/2 hour. (Total of 2 hours in the liquid.) This is all done on the stovetop, you can use the oven if you wish.
Remove the butt from the liquid and place in a baking dish. Tear off chunks and ribbons of the pork and spread them over the dish in one layer or use a second dish if it will not fit. Place this in a preheated 400 degree on the bottom shelf set the oven to roasting (top element ON). Brown the pork by cooking for 10 - 15 minutes. In the meantime, saute some fresh corn tortillas, put aside to cool and drain fat. Heat black beans and serve as tacos with tomatoe, strips of red and green bell pepper, and red onion.
Delicious! Vibrant and earthy!

Labels: Carnitas, cooking, Mexican, tacos

  ¶ 2:57 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Ten Years On...A Dead Battery So off to scenic Berkeley for dinner with Ted and Diane at an Indian Restaurant. Into the trusty but feeble Penny The Prius and off we go about 2:15 last Wednesday. Thru the canyon and down the hill into Vallejo Kelly drove in the fairly light traffic. We crossed the Crockett/Vallejo Bridge (Carquinez)and as we gained the other side and found ourselves on the uphill climb out of the bridge Penny gave a lurch and went into high speed engine mode with the Brake lite on and the check engine light still on from a few days before. Teh all manner of Dead Prius indicator lights came on and she ran slower and slower as Kelly pulled over to the right to get out of the flying traffic. We sat there a minute, she turned Penny off and then back on and away we went like nothing happened...but it HAD and shortly it performed the same set of tricks again, Kelly pulled over once again and turned her off and on and we headed south once more. Third times a charm isn't it? Yes, same thing about a mile further on. More Master Warning indicator, check engine and the racing engine and slow speed business along with it. Shit! So we decided to abandon dinner with our friends and return home and I would take Penny to the Toyota Dealer in Fairfield tomorrow. We turned around and she made it back to the bridge and I told Kelly we could still go to dinner...we'd just get Penny to the Toyota Dealer in Vallejo instead which was about 10 minutes away. I called the dealers number on our cell phone and asked about a rental car and told them of our Prius problem. They said they had one and we arrived a few minutes later with only ONE failure coming back. They took mu description and promised service the next day. We drove the 2010 Prii across the bridge and had a wonderful time and meal at the Indian Restaurant previously chosen by Ted and Diane. The next morning the dealer called and said they didn't have the car key! In the excitement of the moment I had taken it to remove some things from the back of Penny and place them into the rental's trunk...and put the key's into my pocket where I found them. Kelly was going to Vallejo shopping anyway so she dropped them off at the dealer along the way. About 11am the dealers rep called saying they had fixed the air flow sensor by cleaning it, had done to analysis of the codes and after checking the HV battery found cell #9 was not at the normal voltage. Than meant replacing the HV battery, a $3700 proposition plus the other repairs! She's our car, the only car we have outside of my trusty Ford truck...what to do?! Say yes and deal with it. I called back and told them to go ahead. They called later that afternoon saying the work was done and Penny was good to go once again. We picked her up the next morning and came home $3940 dollars lighter. Penny IS 10 years old, the California Emissions Warranty says 10 years or 150,000 miles whichever comes first. It IS September 2010...it's LIKELY she is 10 years old when the battery bellied up...but is this fair or should there be some pro-rated rate for the few possible months? I don't know...but when you Prius owners have battery failure...hold on tight! It's an EXPENSIVE repair!

Labels: battery, cell, Hybrid, Prius, Toyota

  ¶ 9:16 PM 0 Comments Links to this post