I didn’t marry my wife because of tomato pie, (it was a picture of her nursing a baby goat that made me realize she was the one) but it was high on the pro/con list.
I had never heard of such a thing as tomato pie and was really hesitant to try it, but once I got a fork full I was hooked.
Our first year together was filled with this recipe – we even began to experiment with other additions to the recipe. I can’t tell you enough how good this is.
However, due to the high cheese content of the pie, and my wife’s dedication to the 21 day fix food plan, I don’t get to eat tomato pie as much as I would like, but I still ask for it on occasion.
As you watch this video, please take a few seconds to give Genny a thumbs up, she works hard for these cooking videos, and her shy and sensitive nature makes her very upset when she reads the troll comments. Be kind and give her some positive feedback.
I love her tomato pie, but I did make the mistake as a newlywed of commenting how I liked it, but not for every meal. Now I only get it about once a year.
Apparently the Taurus Judge is the most popular selling gun in the Taurus lineup, I didn’t know that when I started researching this article, but I believe it because I hear more students, coworkers and friends tell me how much they want a Judge for personal protection/prepping/zombie killing because it has the ability to shoot both centerfire ammunition as well as .410 shotshells.
I also did not expect the level of disagreement when I posted my video on my opinions on using the Taurus Judge for self defense.
I will admit that does give it some cool points, and I think it is a great concept, but I try to distinguish between true and perceived benefits and make any purchases based upon a cost benefit analysis rather than getting wrapped up with and enamored by features.
People Don’t Buy Features, They Buy Promises
The ability to fire 45LC ammunition in addition to .410 shotshells is a feature. It is perceived benefit is increased flexibility. However when compared with the size and weight of the gun, (the snub nose 2.5 inch chambered Judge is larger than my Glock 19), the small amount of ammunition available (5 shots), and the inaccuracy (more on that later), I just don’t see it as a justified self-defense purchase.
Now, don’t think I am bashing the Judge, I think it is a cool gun, and was a blast to shoot. I also do not think there is a better gun for backwoods fishermen to use as a tackle box gun for snakes. – It would also be great in a shoulder holster for farmers on tractors out clearing brush. A .410 shotshell is much more effective against rattlesnakes that a .38 or .45 revolver shooting a shotshell cartridge.
You would think that a pistol firing shotshells would be regulated under the National Firearms Act as a Short Barreled Shotgun, but since the pistol has rifling in the barrel (shallow enough to allow it to be used as a shotgun) it is legally considered not to be a shotgun (except in Commiefornia where it is banned). While this great legally, what it does is make a barrel that does not live up to its potential as an accurate centerfire handgun, nor as an accurate shotgun. The rifling gives less stability to single projectiles, yet still causes a more rapid dispersion of the shot pellets when used as a .410.
Don’t buy a gun that promises flexibility, but only shoots well with special ammunition.
Shooting the Gun
I was able to shoot one of these pistols when a student at an NRA Pistol Instructor Course brought one in. The fit and finish was nice, and it felt good in my hand. Admittedly I was not able to fire a lot of rounds as I had to stick with what I had on hand, but as you can see in the video below I feel that when shooting buckshot (which is the round of choice for almost everyone that wants one ) the rifling causes the shot to “fling” out in a wide pattern – at almost contact distance I had about a 6 inch pattern – at 7 yards only one pellet hit anything nearing a vital shot on a human sized target.
If you have a 2.5 inch chambered Judge shooting OO buck you only get 4 .32 led balls – times that by the 4 chambers and you only have 20 potential projectiles – and the vast majority of them won’t hit a vital area of an attacker, and those that do are underpowered and designed to function best when paired with several other their brother’s hitting nearby at the same time. Speed loaders are rare and I only know one company that sells them.
For a comparable cost and size I can get another Glock 19 that shoots 16 larger, more accurate and more effective bullets that are easier and cheaper to purchase.
It seems to me that if you are buying a gun that shoots multiple calibers to prepare for a time when ammunition is hard to get, it is counterproductive to get two of the more rare calibers – when is the last time you have seen .45LC or OO/OOO .410 buckshot at the Wal-Mart?
If You Want One Buy One
I have more in common with someone that chooses a gun different self defense gun than I do with someone that chooses not to have a self defense gun at all. Please don’t take this article personal. I am not mad at people that love the .410 Judge. My reason for writing this was not to bash, but to inform.
I just want to share my knowledge on the matter and try to influence someone that wants a self-defense gun to get a gun that is more effective.
This is a little gimmicky, but I had to try the what is called the easiest way to separate egg yolks from egg whites.
You know what: it is….
To do this “amazing” feat of using a bottle to separate egg yolks, you will need a bowl, some eggs, and an empty plastic soda bottle.
How to Separate Egg Yolks From Egg Whites
Crack the eggs into the bowl
Pick up the bottle, and squeeze the sides to displace the air inside the bottle
Move the neck of the bottle to the edge of a yolk
Open your hand to let at back into the bottle, and watch the yolk get sucked up inside the bottle.
You can then pour out the yolks into a separate bowl.
As you can see the exactly how this is the easiest way to separate egg yolks in the video below.
Works great, hope it is useful – at the very least is looks cool and gets you style points when cooking with the family on those big holiday dinners… I have used this in the kitchen on a recipe, and it works well, but it may not save effort of just using the egg shell to egg shell technique.
As I have mentioned several times, when it comes to food storage strategies I prefer simple, and use consumer size canned vegetables bought in bulk from stores like Aldi as a large component of my plan. It is cheap, easy, stores well, is sturdy – and is “normal” which makes incorporating it into daily recipes is easy.
Canned food also augments my bulk food storage of grains and beans to help stave off appetite fatigue.
Today’s post is a recipe for a dead simple 6 Can Chicken Soup which as you can imagine is made by dumping 6 cans of various foods together to make a surprisingly good soup.
One other tip, in a grid down SHTF situation, when draining your can vegetables, save the liquid – it is high in sodium, but it also contains many of the nutrients leached out of the vegetables in the can. I use it in making risotto or other dishes – think of it as “vegetable broth”
Ingredients
15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
2 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth
10 ounce can chunk chicken
15 ounce can black beans
10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained
Procedure
Open the cans of corn, chicken broth, chunk chicken, black beans and diced tomatoes and green chilies.
Pour everything into a large saucepan or stock pot.
Simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through.
Serve with tortilla chips and shredded cheese if desired.
I love garlic, both for cooking, and for medicine. But mostly I love dry garlic for cooking. I put garlic powder in almost everything.
Unfortunately, garlic powder is getting more expensive, which is silly seeing as how easy it is go about dehydrating garlic.
To make my own garlic powder I simply grind dehydrated garlic and then sift it.
The large chunks go in an old minced garlic container, while the finer bits go in the reused garlic powder container.
To dehydrate it simply:
Peel back the paper from the cloves of garlic.
Cut out any bad spots with a knife.
Cut the cloves in half lengthwise to significantly reduce the time it will take to dry.
Dry the garlic at 150 degrees Fahrenheit (in the oven or in a dehydrator)
Turn the slice often until dry.
Once you have it ground and put into your container, store in a cool, dry area.
I don’t know how long it lasts, as I continuously use it, so I don’t have information on powdered garlic for food storage.
What I do know is that I like the taste of the garlic I grew and processed myself. There is something to be said about the quality of food that is home processed versus being made in some factory out of materials that may be modified or adulterated.
Not only is dehydrating garlic easy, but garlic has medicinal value, so I hope that you try this at home.
Apparently the Taurus Judge is the most popular selling gun in the Taurus lineup, I didn’t know that when I started researching this article, but I believe it because I hear more students, coworkers and friends tell me how much they want a Judge for personal protection/prepping/zombie killing because it has the ability to shoot both centerfire ammunition as well as .410 shotshells.
