The Petty Knife Goes Camping

One of the best parts about living in Jackson Hole is that we are surrounded by amazing camping options. You can go into the back country, the national park campgrounds, national forest or BLM land. You can go along a river, a creek, in the snow or in the mountains. I've even had a few campers in my backyard. This past weekend we went to a campground in the Red Hills. I really love this area because of the striking red hills that look like they belong in Moab, it is a complete contrast to the lodgepole pines and forest just a 15 minute drive away.

Here are some highlights from the trip:

Nature's cooler

We sipped the chilled beverages while enjoying this creekside view.

What camping trip would be complete without a delicious meal of local goods? We sauteed bell peppers, onions, local shitakke mushrooms from Mountain Valley Mushrooms and locally made Italian sausages from Cosmic Apple.

The key players.

The Petty Knife gets the job done.

Great for cutting mushrooms and limes too!

Sautee those goodies on a trusty Coleman stove.

Not too long until this is ready.

Then sit back and enjoy! This is a former New West KnifeWorks employee from back in the day when the knives were all made in Corey's backyard.

So the moral of this story is that the Petty Knife is a great companion for camping. Grab your favorite New West KnifeWorks knife and start making your Labor Day camping plans now. Get going!

Happy Chopping,

Lindsey

New West KnifeWorks Knife Sighting!

Last weekend our friends got married in Teton Village, Wyom. and I spotted two New West KnifeWorks knives!

Sighting #1

There was a whole roasted pig. Unfortunately, I failed to bring the camera up to where the pig was being roasted, but here is a photo from another pig roast I found on the internet:

This looks exactly like the set-up that I saw.

Want to roast your own pig in this style? Check out this website. Let me tell you, this pig was a big hit as entertainment being roasted and as a meal. While I was browsing the cooking area I spotted a Phoenix Petty in the popular Cocobolo color. It turns out the knife was a gift that day to the chef from the groom as thank you for roasting this feast. What a great idea!

Sighting #1

In my opinion no wedding is complete with out some sort of cheese platter. I am yet to meet a cheese that I did not like. This party not only had a great appetizer spread of locally made snacks, but a tasty and abundant cheese platter. And what did I spot doing all the hard work of cutting those delicious dairy morsels? A Fusionwood Chopper. This knife cut through brie, manchego and gouda like they were all butter. Side note, the Fusionwood Mini Chopper would also perform well in this situation.

The Fusionwood Chopper gets the job done on the cheese platter.

Finally, I have to tell you that there were some delicious locally made cupcakes! They were so tasty and easy for people to just grab one and go back to celebrating.

The cupcake "cake."

To summarize, if you are looking for a great thank-you gift for a friend this summer no need to look farther than the Petty. Also, if you want your party to be a huge hit don't forget the cheese platter and Fusionwood Chopper (or Mini Chopper). Finally, cupcakes are not just for kids, and should be included in gatherings when ever possible.

Hurray for Pickles

All my life I have not like pickles. I find them to be too tart, too soggy, too floppy, too weird, too just plain un-tasty. Then one day while slaving away as an intern someone brought in a giant jar of home canned pickles and garlic. With great hesitation I tried yet another pickle, but much to my surprise they were delicious! I couldn't stop eating them, they might as well have been Ruffles Sour Cream and Cheddar potato chips. Fast forward to summer 2009 when I learned how to make refridgerater pickles. Ever since that summer I wait eagerly for the local farmer's market to have pickling cucumbers and last Saturday was my lucky day! So let me tell you how to make a great refrigerator pickle, trust me it is super easy and leaves lots of space for creative license.

To start, head out to your local Farmer's Market. On Saturday I went to this one.

Browse the goods and select your favorites potential pickles.

I try to find ones that are similar in size so that each one is consistent in textures and flavor, but hey variety is the spice of life so try different sizes too!

Get home and find your favorite pickling recipe.

Rinse off the cucumbers thoroughly, no one likes dirt with their pickles.

Collect your ingredients.

Remember, be creative, try new spices and veggies. For this recipe I did not include the onions because I don't like them (are you starting to see a pattern here?). I did throw in some celery seed and dill. I also didn't have a full cup of apple cider vinegar so I topped it off with white vinegar.

Put all the ingredients (minus the cukes) in a pot and boil for five minutes.

While the liquid boils, get out your New West KnifeWorks knife of choice.

As always I choose the Petty. However a Fusionwood Chopper would work great in this situation, as would a Chef knife for the fancy chefs out there.

Put the pickles in the jar, loosely packed and not all the way to the top. Then just pour the liquid over the pickles.

Now the hard part, put the jars in the refrigerator and wait 24 hours...then, yum!

To summarize, I still don't care for pickles unless they are homemade. So head out to your local farmer's market and make some delicious refrigerator pickles, you won't be disappointed. Hurray for pickles!