Canuck in California

Thanks guys.  Been using the search bar quite a bit the last couple of weeks. My wife and I moved into a rented house here in Redondo Beach and now that we have a little yard, we were finally able to get a BBQ .  It didn't take long before I convinced her we needed a smoker. I have done a tiny bit of smoking when I was younger, but was spoiled since my best friend Al is a butcher and owns his own shop. He would smoke all the stuff I ever needed and more. On Christmas eve he would be smoking turkeys so all his buddies could take hot turkeys fresh out of the smoker for turkey dinner. His shop is in Winnipeg called EastEnd Meats & Sausage.

I hope you guys don't mind me plugging his store. https://www.facebook.com/eastendmeatsandsausage

He's too busy for social media, but I set up a FB page and did a little video for him when I visited about a month ago. Poor guy and his wife work 7 days a week for the last several years.

Of course as a Canadian, we BBQ are year long. There could be four feet of snow on my deck but always a path shoveled to the BBQ from the back garden doors. If it was too unbearable, the BBQ would get hauled into the attached garage.  It was torture moving to California in an apartment where BBQs are not allowed. No one seems to let you do any Q in apartments here, even with a balcony. I'm in finally in my glory again.

I learned a lot from all the good people who shared their knowledge here. I also called my buddy Al several times for advice.

I have never cold smoked in my life but I love to cook and Q. I have been talking to him about doing a video series together, showing people how to make a variety of sausages, smoked meats, jerkies, make their own smokers, etc. Al has recipes he developed over 40 years of being in the business too. We'll see how it works out. He is a little overwhelmed with his new store right now (moved from Anola, Manitoba a few years ago and built the new store). It's small but he reckons he has sold over 270,000 rings of garlic sausage in three years.

My dad's old brand for anyone who's interested, is CATSAS-S[emoji]174[/emoji] Fishing Lures. In the 60's he patented a line of lure that allowed you to put your bait inside. He was forced off the market by the big guys and I want to bring them back. There was no internet or social media back then, so it was much harder to get the word out and much easier for big corps with cash to keep you off the market or sabotage your efforts. I'm in the design phase, but hope to have the vintage line out in early spring and then some new designs of my own out shortly after. Just trying to figure out the money thing. Did the trademarks and the CAD drawings and working on the cash to produce the first order. Plan to make them here in California.  I was always passionate about the lures, and planned to bring them out in 2006, but right when I was ready to launch, he passed away and I was floored. I want to people to remember my dad and his contributions to the fishing industry.  He's a legend back home. Many of his designs from the 50's and 60's are the mainstay of fishing today.

https://www.facebook.com/catsassfishinglures

http://catsassfishinglures.com/


Me and my cousin in about 1973 with my dad's old CATSAS-S[emoji]174[/emoji] station wagon.

We used to travel with him on the road every summer. Here's the CATSAS-S[emoji]174[/emoji] bus that came after, with my younger brother and my step mom. My brother won the fishing contest. Grrr...


Me an my Pa. I'm wearing one of the CATSAS-S[emoji]174[/emoji] hats that were very popular back in the day. Having something with the word ASS on it was controversial back then. But it was actually an acronym my dad thought up in church one day. It stands for Color, Action, Taste, Sound, and Smell Systems. :)


Cleaning fish on the back of the bus somewhere in Ontario.


Anyway, dreams, dreams. :)

Tomorrow I'll be cold smoking nova lox, and Wednesday I'll be doing a 8 pork tenderloins. They have become my favorite.