My First IPO purchse

I've been using Loyal3 for about three months now and one of their biggest features is something I shied away from.  Loyal3 is not only a simple, no fee, dollar based trading firm for big brands, they also want to bring IPOs to a broader group of people, namely you and me.  I'm not one to jump on IPOs because of the potential for quick money, that's not my trading style, but I decided to try an IPO this past week to learn from the experience.


One of the reasons I went for it this time was it was for a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust).  I own a few of these and have posted before about how I like them in a diverse, never sell, portfolio.  While I shy away from mortgage trading REITs, the ones that buy property and lease them to tenants is a very good, reasonably stable, slow grow area that appeals to my long view.  This week STORE Capital (STOR) had an IPO.  Here's how the process worked.


Last week I received an e-mail from Loyal3 (I opted into this) and was told there would be an IPO for this company and I had a window I could log in, take a look at the prospectus, and reserve a spot for a minimum of $100 potential investment. (More on the "potential" part of that later.) there was a link to the SEC filing, and an estimated cost between $17 and $19 per share.  I looked over the documents, found the company, saw that they would probably be paying about $1/year in dividends, which worked out to about 5%. They own just shy of 500 properties, have 200 customers, and a very experienced management team.  As there was no fee to the investment, I figured I'd go for it, if it tanked, I'd pull out having learned a lesson and at least I wasn't making Loyal3 rich by doing it.


I put in a $200 reserve spot.  I was then prompted to transfer the $200 to my account, which I did and was painless.  You're then told that you will be contacted when the price is set.  But there are a few caveats.  If the price is below the estimate, or more than 20% above, you will need to confirm your reservation again.  If the company changes any filings, you will need to confirm your reservation again.  Otherwise you need do nothing.  When the price is set you will have a two hour window to bail out.


The price was set at 5pm on Monday at $18.50 and an email told me I had two hours to withdraw, otherwise my reservation would be set.


Here was where things got a bit odd. not good, or bad I guess, but odd.  If more people sign up more money than there are shares available, then Loyal3 does some math voodoo in the background to make sure everyone gets something, equal reservations get equal or similar shares, and some sort of first come, first serve thing. 


Tuesday morning I received an email stating that I would be getting $112.44 of STOR stock, at the price of $18.50.  This came to 6.0778 shares.  My cash account was reduced and the stocks were purchased, at that price at 3 pm on Tuesday.  I took the remaining cash from the $200 and drop it into UniLever (UL) which I had been eying.


So, things I learned:

1. Loyal3 IPO was rather easy
2. You may not (and history shows will not) get your full reserve.  If you strongly believe in a company, you may wish to put in a higher reserve, risking that you will get more than you thought, but at least you won't get less.
3. You don't seem to be able to sell your shares the day of the IPO.  Probably not a problem unless you're looking to have a VERY fast turn around, but then Loyal3 isn't the best platform for short term trading.
4. I will probably do an IPO again if the company looks to interesting.  If I know it will pay a dividend  I'll be more likely, but at $100 (and probably less if there is a lot of interest), it's a low risk venture.

I hope this helps you as you move forward with some minor investing.  If you have any questions, ask below and I'll do my best to answer, at least form my experiences.

Koolicks (Koolaid Pickles)

So I tried something this summer and a friend just asked for the recipe.  Sadly, I can't find any pictures but I'm sure you can google it and see hundreds of them.  This is my recipe for making these, which used less sugar than most of the recipes I've seen.

Koolicks

• 2 Quart sized jars of Dill Pickles (I used my refrigerator half sours with added dill.)
• 1 pkg of Koolaid (I used Black Cherry for the color)
• 2/3 Cup Sugar

1.  Drain the Brine from the pickle jars into a large bowl.
2. Add Koolaid packet and sugar to the bowl and stir until sugar and mix is dissolved
3. Pour back into jars, filling to the brim
4. reseal jars and place in the refrigerator for at least one week, two is better.

Results:

 Both jars were consumed within a day of opening, One at a party, and one as a gift to a Monsignor friend (hence the color choice). I thought it was a nice balance of sweet and salty.  I have NOT tried this will commercial pickles, so your mileage may vary.  Let me know in the comments how your koolicks turn out.
 

Pumpkin Spice White Chili

Wow, did this turn out much better than expected.  For this months Cast Iron Cook competition, the secret ingredient was "Pumpkin Spice."  I was not thrilled with the choice and I out right refused to make a dessert.  When in doubt, I usually turn to the crock pot to fix most of my cooking problems.  I was not let down.  Joining a few recipes I found on-line and tweaking to my tastes, I made this chili and it was extremely well received by the judges.  It came in second after the scoring was done, but it was requested at next months neighborhood block party.  So I'll take that has a win of a different sort.

Pumpkin Spice White Chili

• 1.3 lbs Ground Turkey
• 1 Chicken Breast, diced raw
• 1 yellow onion (diced)
• 1 green bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 16 oz can light red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1 16 oz can cannelini beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1 14.5 oz can of pumpkin puree
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 cups water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• The Spices
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp whole cloves
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

In a skillet, brown the ground turkey and onions until the meat is cooked and the onions clear and starting to brown.  Transfer this to the crock pot and add all of the other ingredients except the spices.  Be sure to rinse the drain the beans both to remove gas inducing toxins and to make sure your chili consistency is right.

I put all of my spices in an old coffee grinder and set it spinning and pulverizing my cloves, cinnamon, and other spices to make a fine fully mixed powder.  When that was done I then pour that over the contents of the crock pot and stir well to fulling incorporate.

Cook this on high for at least 3 hours.  (Be careful because there is raw chicken in this mix, so no tasting for an least  90 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked).  I propped the lid off to the side for the last hour to thicken the chili up.  This is to your preference.

The Result:

This was awesome.  I see no reason to change anything at the moment.  I would recommend this recipe to anyone looking for something with a little taste of fall harvest.

Spicy Cranberry Salsa

This is the dish that won me the September Cast Iron Cook competition in the neighborhood.  The secret ingredient was cranberry, and I wanted to make something with some spicy kick to it.  The recipe is dead simple, but it will take a little planning.  If you start around lunch, it will be ready to serve as an appetizer before dinner.

Spicy Cranberry Salsa

• 12 oz dried cranberries
• Cranberry Juice (100% juice, not cocktail)
• 3 green onions
• 1/2 Cup cilantro (chopped fine)
• 4 jalapeno, minced
• Juice of one lime
• 1/2 tsp cumin

In a medium pot, soak cranberries in enough cranberry juice to cover for thirty minutes.  After that time, kick up the heat on the stove to medium and bring to cranberries to a simmer Cook for 15 minutes.  Kill the heat and add all of the other ingredients. 

Transfer this mixture to a medium bowl and place bowl in an ice bath to bring down the temperature.  When cooled to room temperature or below move to the refrigerator.  Salsa is best is allowed to mellow for a few hours and let the flavors continue to blend. 

I served this over two logs of goat cheese with some small crescent rolls, but honestly the salsa would be good over anything from pork loin to just served with chips.

The Results:

Apple Slaw

One of the downsides of picking fresh apples is that you always over pick.  You can't help it.  Once you start a bag you want to stuff it.  So even after making 8 Qts of apple pie filling, 8 Qts. of apple sauce, 9 Qts of apple butter, we still had apples left.  What to do?

Luckily a neighbor of mine backs great BBQ pork and invited us to dinner.  So we decided to whip up some cole slaw, but with a twist.  This recipe was SUPER easy and very tasty.  I may not make regular cole slaw again.

Apple Slaw

• 1 bag of shredded cabbage
• 1 tart apple (Jonagold, Granny Smith, etc)
• 1 sweet apple (Gala, Red delicious, etc)
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 bell pepper
• 1/3 Cup mayonaise
• 1/3 Cup greek yogurt
• 1/4 Cup brown sugar (loose pack)
• 3 Tbsp cider vinegar

Using your grater, shred the apples and carrots.  Dice up the bell pepper.  Combine all cabbage, apples, carrot, and bell pepper ina  large bowl and toss together. In a seperate bowl mix all of the wet ingrediants to make the dressing.  Pour dressing over dry slaw, and mix well.

Best if you let sit in the fridge for a few hours.

The Results
 
I thought this was way better than regular cole slaw.  And it complimented the dry rub pulled pork very well. 

Dill Pickles #1

By request, I'm putting up my current dill pickle recipe. I'll be upfront and say this recipe probably still needs some tweeks. Last time I made them they got a "pretty good" rating. To be fair, they were matched against my spicy B &B pickles, which are my favorite. Generally if I'm making dill pickles I like the fresh variety and use my Half-Sours with some dill added in, but those aren't the dill pickles people think of when they buy a jar at the mega mart. Further the higher vinegar ratio of this recipe allows it to stay preserved longer.
So here's what we have so far.

Dill Pickles #1

• ~10 pickling cucumbers, sliced into spears or chips
• 4 Cups white vinegar
• 4 Cups water
• 3/4 Cups sugar
• 1/2 Cup pickling salt
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 tsp pickling spices
• bay leaves
• garlic cloves
• dills
• mustard seed
• Pickle Crisp

The Process

1. Bring boiling water canner to a boil and sterilize 5-6 pint jars.
2. In a separate pot, bring vinegar, water, sugar, salt, pepper flakes, and pickling spice to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes to dissolve sugar and salt and pull flavor from the pepper and spices
3. One at a time, remove the jars, dump water and carefully cold pack the cucumbers in the jar along with 1 garlic clove, one bay leaf, 1/2 tsp mustard seed, 1/4 tsp of Pickle Crisp, and two sprigs of dill.
4. Pour in Brine leaving one inch of head room. Wipe, seal, and return to boiling water.
5. Process these jars for 15 minutes following standard water bath canning methods.

Pickles are ready to eat after two weeks, but achieve full flavor after a month. Home canned goods like this are good for about two years.

The Results

Like I said above, these were good. I don't know how I'm going to change them yet. The red pepper was too weak to really taste over the vinegar and salt, so I may increase that in the future, or else drop it entirely. I also think for ease you can switch the garlic cloves for 1/2 tsp of minced, I bet it would do just as well.

Refridgerator Half-Sour Pickles

One of the easiest ways to preserve food is to Pickle it.  Through this process we push off bacteria by making the food unattractive to the food beasties. Conveniently, because we are omnivores, sometimes what the little bugs don't like, we find delicious.  This is where my Fridge Pickles come in.

Ingrediants

• 3-4 Pickling Cucumbers, sliced lengthwise and trimmed to be no taller than than jar openning (usually about 5 inches)
• Quarter of a large onion, cut into onion slivers
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 4 tsp salt
• 1/2 Cup white vinegar
• 1 1/2 Cups water

The Process

1. Clean and sterilize (you can use the dish washer for that) a quart sized, swing top jar. [You can also use a regular canning jar, but I like the swing top for this, as we aren't really canning this and I don't want to give the impression of shelf stable food.]
2. Pack the cucumbers and onion slices into the jar.  A tight pack will help keep the cucumbers from floating to the top. Add the minced garlic on top.
3. In a small sauce pan, heat the water, vinegar and salt until salt is disolved and the liquid just comes to a simmer.
4. Pour hot brine into jar, filling to the top as much as possible.
5. Close jar, and seal.  let this cool on the counter until room temperature and then move to the refridgerator. 
6. Enjoy pickles anytime from one week to four weeks.

Result:

This is the recipe I use now.  You can alo add dill if you so chose, or use a flavored vinegar.  I like it simple and straight forward.  I've also added Koolaid to this later on, but that a different post.

Spicy Bread and Butter Pickles #3

I've tried several Bread and Butter pickle recipes over the last few years since I started growing cucumbers. After the first few rounds, I decided that spicy red pepper flakes added a nice bite to these and complimented the sweetness. So this is my final Spicy Bread and Butter recipe. There's no reason to make a non-spicy version.

Spicy Bread and Butter Pickles #3

• 10 Cups of sliced cucumbers (i used about 8 cucumbers, but this will vary with type)
• 1 large sweet onion - diced or sliced, depending on if you like to eat the onions)
• 1/2 Cup pickling salt
• 3 Cups white vinegar
• 2 Cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp whole Mustard Seeds
• 1 tsp celery seeds
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• An additional 2 - 3 tsp of red pepper flakes
• Pickle Crisp

Combine the sliced cucumber and onion in a large bowl. Separately dissolve salt in two cups of warm water. Pour salt water over cucumber and onion mixture. Add additional water (cold is fine) until mixture is covered. Set aside for 2.5 hours. [This wait time is important. We are using the brine to move salt into the vegetables. This is the only salt in these pickles, and if you cut this time short you'll notice the the lack of taste.]
After the soak in the brine, pour out liquid, rinse and drain cucumber onion mixture. Set aside.
In a large pot (i used an 8 Qt) pot combine the vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, and the teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Bring this to a simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved into the vinegar. Once this is mixed together, add cucumbers and onions. Simmer for ten minutes.
The pickles are now done. This recipe makes 5 pint jars that can be canned in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Any pickles that don't fit, I usually put in a Tupperware container in the fridge and eat.

The Outcome:

1. Great, a real crowd pleaser.
2. I recommend you let them sit three days in the fridge or two weeks in the jars before consuming to maximize taste.

Flank Steak with Quick Pickles

Tried a new recipe today. Found it in Southern Living. Had to make a few modifications, but overall it turned out great. The best part was actually the Quick Pickles. Only take 30 minutes (but I'd give them an hour) and add awesome flavor.

Quick Pickles:

Here's how I made them.

• 4 Cups fresh thin slices cucumbers (I used pickling cukes from the garden)
• 1/2 cup slice yellow sweet onion
• 1/2 Cup white vinegar
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp minced garlic (I used jarred)
• 1 tsp salt

Place the cukes and onions in large bowl. Bring vinegar, sugar, garlic, and salt to a boil in a small pot until everything is dissolved. Pour over cukes and onions and let sit for at least 30 minutes. I tossed them once every ten minutes or so.
Flank Steak

• 2 lb Flank Steak
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

This is simple. My grill was out of commission as I'm resurfacing the deck. So let flank steak come to room temperature. Brush both sides with a thin layer of olive oil and salt and pepper (I go more liberal with this). Let sit for at least 15 minutes for the salt and pepper to penetrate.
In the broiler, with the rack set 7-8 inches below the heat, I cook the flank steak 5 minutes a side, and then one more minute on the original side. Remove and cover with aluminum foil. Let sit for 10 minutes before carving (very important, or you'll lose juices and get a tougher bite).

Remember: always cut with the grain into chunks, then across the grain for slices. Again this will help avoid tough pieces of meat. If done right it will present well and be very savory.
Steak Sauce #1

• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp minces garlic (I used jarred)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (i use low sodium, but choice is yours)
• 1/4 water
• 1/4 Cup brown sugar
• Juice from half a lemon
• 1 tsp cornstarch + 2 Tsbp water

Saute the garlic in the sesame oil for about a minute. Avoid burning the garlic or over heating the oil by watching your heat. I used just below medium on my stove. Add the Soy sauce, water, brown sugar and lemon juice and simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Finally make a rue with the corn starch and water (mix them together until they form a cloudy liquid with no hard particles, and add it to the pot. Stir and simmer and an additional minute. This should thicken it up a bit.

The Outcome:

1. Steak tasted great, cooked perfectly and not chewy, which was a concern of mine
2. Pickles were okay. I think they need some more seasoning. If you've got some ideas, please post a comment.
3. I didn't drain pickles before plating, and that was a big mistake. The steak sauce was downed by the brine, except the stuff that sat on top of the steak.

Pectin-Free Balsamic Strawberry Jam

As the summer kicks off, strawberries are abundant. So abundant that it seems a crime not to buy them in bulk. But as with all berries, they have a short shelf life. you can certainly wash and freeze them for use in ice cream, smoothies, pies, etc. Or you can eat as many as you can before they start to mold (which can be in days if you're not careful. This year I decided to try and make some jam.
I love strawberry jam. It goes good on everything. But I didn't have any pectin, nor do I like the gel consistancy of most jams. So I opted to try and go pectin free. I also didn't just want something plain. I can buy plain jane strawberry preserves at Costco for very reasonable price and its organic. So I found a recipe for jam and saw a modification to add balsamic vinegar to punch up the taste a bit. I made a few tweaks. Here's what I did.
Pectin-Free Balsamic Strawberry Jam

• 2 "dry quarts" fresh strawberries
• 5 Cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp butter
• 5 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

First I put the strawberries in a medium size pot and over medium heat. I used a potato smasher to roughly crush the berries. This will release some liquid and make it easier to avoid burning anything. Bring this to a low simmer.
Add the butter (to help with foaming) and half the sugar. Stir in until disolved. Then add the remaining sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for ~45 minutes. Stir often and avoid boil over.
Kill the heat and at the vinegar. Stir to combine well. Done
Now you have some options. I put mine in clean and steriled half-pint jars and boil water bath canned them for 15 minutes (Strongly recommend). You can also just put this in a clean jar, seal and put in the fridge for several weeks. If you go the second route be aware you have a lot of jam to use.

The Outcome:

1. Jam tastes great!
2. A bit runny, but not much, I'll increase my cook time to 50 or 55 minutes next time.
3. I didn't even taste the vinegar, so if you don't like a strong taste, you're good to go. I think it just punched up the strawberry flavor some. Next time I'l personally double the vinegar and see what happens.
4. That being said, this recipe can be used with confidence.