Happy New Year!

Hope everyone has a safe New Year's Eve and a healthy, happy 2011!

That's one load of bull....

Time for this handsome fellow to move on to greener pastures.....





He enjoyed the long ride in the old stock trailer.... acted like he was ready to get away from the pastured cows for awhile. :)









Gave me a nice wet goodbye kiss....










He made a few circles in the new pen.....




gave me a quick goodbye glance....




and headed off to his new pasture...



Looking forward to seeing what kind of babies he throws. :)

:) This made me laugh..

I must have been a good girl this year.... these are some of my Christmas presents. :)

A Nook.... I love to read when I have the time. This will be easy for me to carry around.




A neck massager... with little fingers that rub the back of my neck. It feels wonderful! :)



and a reciprocal saw.... now I can quit borrowing one every time I need one for a project around here. lol

This ranks right up there with some of my other favorite gifts... the little wire welder, the hand gun with a diamond necklace..

I'm a happy girl! :)

Hickory Smoked Brisket on the Drum

I haven't had the time to smoke much lately but really wanted to try this dry rub sent by smoking friend Al Grady. So......I did something that I normally wouldn't do.....
Smoked the brisket in my drum overnight.

I'm not comfortable leaving an unattended smoker going through the night. Living in the middle of nowhere means if one spark happened to escape and take life.... acres and acres of land could burn before anyone would even see it to call for help.

I took as many precautions as I could...set the smoker on the cement patio, blocked it from any breeze that might arise.

I trimmed the brisket, sprinkled with Al's dry rub....

then placed the trimmed fat back on top of the brisket.

I smoked the brisket fat cap down in the drum to protect the underside of the meat from overcooking..

The next morning



The brisket turned out perfect. :)









The meat was so juicy and tender...
I loved Al's dry rub too!





I didn't sleep well that night from worrying about the cooker... but all turned out well. :)
Al, if you see this...Thanks again for the rub...it was great!


forgot to mention... I'm having fun adding my name to my photos. lol

Heads up about a site called "lxixixl"...and another one called "Connect.in.com"

Just a heads up for fellow photographers and bloggers. This site lxixixl uses your photos without asking permission...whether they are copyrighted or not. Then they require you to contact them to have your copyrighted material removed.

You might want to check them out if you keep a blog or website. See if they have taken your "stuff".

Just found this second one... connect.in.com
Looks like the same kind of deal. Using copyrighted photos without permission.

Best Wishes For Your Christmas

Best wishes for your Christmas
Is all you get from me.
Cause I ain't no Santa Claus..
Don't own no Christmas tree.

But if wishes was health and money
I'd fill your buckskin poke.
Your doctor would go hungry
An' you never would be broke.

CM Russell


Merry Christmas friends! :)

I'm not one to ask for much......but a few good thoughts and prayers are needed

A sweet kind friend lost her battle with cancer tonight. Please keep her husband and family in your thoughts and prayers.
Thank you.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas

Thought I should post this now in case I didn't have the chance later.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!
Remember... it's not about gifts and Hallmark cards. :)
Give your loved ones extra hugs and be thankful that you have each other.

Calf Fries, Shrimp & Chickenfried Venison Backstrap

More deer camp food from this season.

I cut the larger fries (mountain oysters) into smaller pieces, drop into an egg milk wash and then roll in cracker crumbs. I like plain old saltine crackers for this....


Fry til golden....




Cut the backstrap into thick steaks, pound with a meat tenderizer, roll in seasoned flour and fry.....



the calf fries...



chickenfried venison steaks....




and spicy shrimp....





The venison steak served over smooshed potatoes and topped with creamy pan gravy...



I like to dip the venison steak into a bowl of gravy, dip the shrimp and calf fries into cocktail sauce and wash the whole meal down with a cold beer.
My kind of finger food! :)

One of those pretty evenings...

After feeding and watering animals the other evening, I sat back and watched the sun set across the pasture. It was so pretty...
It's been a mild fall here, only a few snowflakes, but the temperature sure drops as soon as the sun disappears below the horizon.
Not good shorts weather! :)

Changing the Leathers on the Windmill

It doesn't seem that long ago that I posted about changing the leathers on the windmill... they last around one to two years depending on use.
It's not a difficult job to do...just takes a bit if muscle and a bit of good luck. :)

Secure a chain high on the windmill tower, then attach a comealong to the chain..

Attach another chain to the comealong and make a couple half hitches around the windmill wooden rod. Use the comealong to pull the well rod out of the ground.

Unscrew each rod as you go and set them to the side out of the way...




the old, worn leathers...



the new leathers....















The new leathers attached to the bottom of the wooden well rod...



ready to drop back into the well...





the wooden rods ready to be attached and lowered back into the well...



use a wire brush to remove any dirt on the threads, brush with a bit of anti-seize, then screw the two rods together.... repeat with the remaining rods.





as you lower the rod back into the well.. make darned sure you have a good grip on it or you'll be fishing it out of the bottom of the well. lol :(


















when all wooden rods are in the well, attach the windmill rod with bolts...




the windmill rod goes up to the windmill head...




if the windmill turns and water comes out, you're good to go... If not, call the windmill repair man and hope for the best. lol :)

Walleye n Tater Cakes

A talented smoking friend named Phesant (who happens to be an excellent angler too) sent a nice batch of walleye filets he had caught in the cool waters of his home state, Wisconsin!
Also included in the package was a home made pepper blend!
Woohoo!!
What a nice surprise! :)

I've not tasted walleye in years so I was anxious to cook a few filets..

not wanting to over power the fish with heavy seasonings, I brushed with butter and sprinkled with a small amount of lemon pepper.... then placed into the Pro with a bit of mild apple wood.

While the filets smoked I made a few potato patties..

I beat one egg...

added two baked potatoes (peeled). Mashed potatoes work fine, I just had the baked ones on hand. Also added minced onion, crumbled crisp bacon, salt, pepper and garlic powder...





rolled golf ball sized pieces, flattened them a bit, dipped in an egg/milk wash and coated with panko bread crumbs...




ready to fry...



I fried in butter until golden and crisp...



Smoked the walleye until it easily flaked...




I made a butter, onion, lemon, sherry, caper sauce to top the filets...

The sour cream topped potato cakes, steamed asparagus and lemon caper topped walleye...



the potato cakes were nice and crispy on the outside and tender in the center...



the walleye was heavenly. :) I think this was the best meal I've had in years!




I've not had the chance to try the pepper blend but am looking forward to it!

Thank you again HWSW. I appreciate your generosity!