Barbeque and Bird Feeders

My neighbor has homing pigeons.  The only problem is they like my home, or to be more specific, my bird feeder more than they like their own home. They have taken over my bird feeder.  My husband, Dave, decided we wouldn't fill the feeder and the pigeons would go away.  He was concerned about the cost of the shelled sunflower seed hearts I like to put out for the wild birds.  I, on the other hand, love watching the wild birds come and go and the cost of some seed wasn't going to stop me.
I wanted a bird feeder for a couple of years, I even bought one and it sat in the pantry for about 6 months.  One day my brother-in-law screwed it to the fence for me. Dave was not too happy, who knows why, something about a mess on the fence I had him put in a couple of years ago.
I love watching the birds come and go.  We get Black Capped Chickadees and Red Poles and now pigeons.  I am not happy.  The pigeons make a mess all over that fence Dave worked so hard to put in, they eat all the seed and scare the little birds away.  Dave was ready to take the feeder down when my brilliant friend, Nancy, suggested he build a cage around the feeder so the little birds can get to it, but the big birds could not.  Dave was ecstatic he had, yet another, project!  Now, had I suggested this, he would have ignored me, but because Nancy suggested it, he built it.  He built a frame from 1x1s and then stapled garden fencing around it and on the bottom.  The top opens up with hinges so I can refill the feeder.  It works like a charm!

 

The pigeons can't get in, but the little birds can come and go as they please!

As a reward I made pulled pork.  A little taste of summer for us at -30ºF.  It is such an easy recipe, everything goes into the crockpot, you turn it on low and leave it for 8 to 10 hours.  Dave was pretty happy when he got home.  It warmed him up enough to carry in wood for the woodstove  while I thought of the next project...

Memphis-Style BBQ Pork Shoulder

adapted from  Sandra Lee Semi-homemade, Grilling 2006

3.5 lbs. pork shoulder roast

1/4 cup steak rub

1 Tablespoon dry mustard

1 cup apple cider 

1/2 cup whiskey

Mix steak rub and dry mustard, rub all over pork roast and let cure in refrigerator 1 hour.  Place meat in slow cooker, pour apple cider and whiskey over pork.  Cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

Remove meat from slow cooker, on cutting board placed on top of a cookie sheet, shred meat, removing extra fat.  Place on buns or Texas style toast and top with sauce.

BBQ Sauce

2 cups bottled barbeque sauce

1 cup Pepsi

1/2 cup yellow mustard

1/2 cup steak sauce

Mix together and warm in saucepan.  Serve extra sauce on the side.

O.K., so I'm going to tell on myself.  I made this for Dave, it was very good.  I was copying down the recipe on the blog and I came to the ingredient of 1 cup apple cider.  When I made the pork roast I added 1 cup apple cider VINEGAR.  Why I thought I read vinegar I'll never know.  So this last time I made it I cooked it in 1 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup whiskey!  It was still good, but one of those things I'll never forget (or do again) and one of those things I'll never live down.

December 4, 2011   Daylight 4  hours,  28 minutes,  55 seconds     Current Temp. 38ºF