Why I look forward to the 4th of July

The 4th of July is day that brings forth patriotism and feelings of pride in many of us. To others, history is lost and it's just a day off and fireworks, but to me it's all of the above...plus more! My brown turkey figs will be ripe.  

 I only have one fig bush, but it must love Apalachicola's climate. Every year it keeps me,  and my friends and neighbors in sweet, succulent figs.

While I love figs straight from the tree, what comes foremost to mind is fig preserves. Not just fig preserves, but fig preserves and steamy hot cathead biscuits! Truly the breakfast of champions!

A couple of mornings of picking figs yielded enough figs for preserves.

After a good washing, I removed the stems and covered in sugar (5# bag)

Just let them sit on the counter overnight and the sugar will pull the moisture out. The next morning add a touch of cinnamon and some lemon slices. Cook slowly for about 3 hours and then can or  freeze your preserves.

Make you up some cathead biscuits and cook some of your home cured Canadian bacon. What a way to start the morning!

Good breakfast = (Home cured Canadian Bacon)

I'm a morning person...it doesn't make any difference if I'm meeting a client at 0530 to catch tarpon or have an appointment to show real estate at 0930. I'm still up before daylight enjoying coffee and a hearty breakfast.

Last year I ran across a recipe for Canadian bacon on Cowgirl's Country Life , an eclectic site full of excellent recipes & ideas and I decided that was something I wanted to try.

This is my second attempt at home made bacon and is by far the best! The recipe is very simple and takes very little time to prepare.

Ingredients

Pork loin  (all fat and silver skin removed)
Morton's Tender Quick                   1 Tbs. per pound of meat
Brown sugar                                  1  tsp. per pound of meat
Mix sugar and salt together, and rub the loin, covering completely. Shake off any excess and place in a plastic container to cure in your refrigerator for 7 days, then remove and rinse off salt and soak in cold water for 1 hr., changing the water after 30 minutes. At this point you can coat it with fresh ground pepper, crushed red pepper, fresh rosemary or just  leave it plain. Place in frig for half a day (overnight) to let the meat dry out. Into a 225 deg. smoker until the loin hits an internal temperature of about 140 (this is not completely done and allows for warming up for breakfast). Cool and refrigerate. I slice the loin and package in small freezer bags and freeze until needed.

This is an excellent and very economical breakfast meat...give it a try!