Camping....

I'm going to head out for a few days of quiet.... (yes, the farm can be noisey :) ).

It's that time of the year when the spring born coyote pups are learning how to hunt, and they think my hens are easy prey.
The skunks seem to have plans to winter-over in my outbuildings. The dogs are leary of them and the skunks don't seem to scare off very easily.
With the pastures bare from the drought, cattle (not mine) have been showing up in my yard for a bite to eat at night. I don't blame them.
Ranchers have permission to bale the grass in road side ditches now. It's hard to find a ditch that hasn't already been mowed by the county or that has any grass to begin with.

I think I have taken care of the skunk problem...
I'll keep the hens penned while I'm gone. (Neighbors will be feeding animals for me)
and if the cattle show up to eat grass in my yard.. I won't have to mow. :)

Not really sure where I'm going yet, there is still a burn ban going on here so no outdoor campfires.
Just being out there with a loaf of bread and a package of bologna sounds good to me right now. :)

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

2011 Best Food Blogger Award.. 2nd Place :)

I can't believe it! My love of outdoor cooking has been noticed. :)
All of the grilling, BBQing, smokes, underground cooks, cinderblock pit cooks, openfire cooks, etc. have been noticed.
A big "Thank You" to the folks at Friends Eat for the award and for allowing my blog to be added to the list of contestants on such short notice.

I also want to thank everyone who voted, that was very kind of you!



Good friend Marty nominated my blog for the contest..Thanks again Marty!

He has plans on trying this again next year...only getting in at the beginning of the contest. To quote Marty.."#2 sure ain't bad with only about 4 days of voting time ".

I'm sure I will still be cooking a year from now, not sure if I will be blogging. If so, I might be game to try it again. :)

Thanks again friends....

Shrimp, Blue Crabs and Rum on the Beach

I went to the beach last week....





I needed to feel the salt water on my skin...the cool breeze on my face...

I closed my eyes and listened to the water lap around me...the scent of salt water was almost intoxicating... I love it.





I made a toast to my departed loved one....



felt the sand shift beneath my feet....it was a reminder of how quickly things change.
It was good for my soul.





Before coming home, I picked up some fresh shrimp and a few blue crabs...
I've never tasted a blue crab before.



I cut the large shrimp with kitchen shears, removed the vein...



made a marinade of
1/3 c olive oil
2 TBS sherry
2 cloves of garlic minced
salt, pepper and cayenne to taste
I let these chill for 2 hours





Grilled the shrimp for about 3 1/2 minutes per side... basting with a mixture of melted butter, lemon juice and Old Bay seasoning.

I used the same basting sauce on the blue crabs...







They were pretty tasty. I had planned on making a dipping sauce but didn't... they had plenty of flavor by themselves..



The blue crabs were tasty too.... A lot of work but tasty.





I think I could handle living on a beach.. or at least closer to an ocean. :)

I've been nominated for a Best Food Blogger thingy

I received a message from good friend Marty about a Best Food Blogger contest going on and he nominated my blog. I got a kick out of his message.....(hope you don't mind Marty)

"Jeanie,
Could you do me a favor and put one of these badges at the top of your blog till the end of the weekend - http://blog.friendseat.com/food-blogger

You are very deserving of the votes you have received to this point, but I feel your blog will help add to the total. If I know you at all, you don't care... but then do it for your supporters.

and if I'm in deep dodoo with you, I understand... "

lol Marty is right... I don't care about contests, but I am posting this link for him.

Friends Eat Best Food Blogger Vote

If you don't vote it's fine... there are a kazillion food blogs listed. If I get the time, I'm going to check some of them out. :)

Almost forgot... you're not in deep dodoo with me Marty. lol (((HUGs))) and thanks for your friendship.

A Fried Potato and Smoked Ham Breakfast Fattie on the Char Broil

This was my second cook on the Char Broil infrared....from about a week or I guess it was two weeks ago. I wanted to see if it would pass the breakfast fattie test.

The same ole stuffing that I always use, I guess it's just my favorite. Fried potatoes with scallions, smoked ham, provolone and american cheese.



Filled my fattie piston....



chilled the stuffing while I rolled out the spicy sausage inside of a one gallon baggie.



cut the baggie open and topped the sausage with my fried potato filling....



rolled...



the bacon weave....





sprinkled the fattie with cracked black pepper and placed in the center of the Char Broil. I lit the outer two burners and left the center cool for indirect cooking...



brought the breakfast fattie to an internal temperature of 165F...





The sliced breakfast fattie with fried potato, minced scallion, smoked ham and cheese filling..



toasted an english muffin, topped with a slice of the fattie...



added an easy over egg and drizzled with hollandaise....



It was kinda tasty!



I was happy with the way the grill handled the fattie test. The bacon was nice and crisp...just how I like it!

Thank you

Sometime life has a way of sticking it's foot out and tripping you up so you land flat on your face. When that happens I usually pick myself up, brush myself off and keep on going.

This last fall sort of knocked the wind out of me... I need to stay down and catch my breath.
It might take me a little bit longer to get back up.

So.....while laying here thinking about life.... I am overwhelmed by the amount of kindness and support I've received from all of you via my blog, email and in person. I'm not sure how I got to be so lucky as to have friends like you.
Thank you so much for your thoughtfullness, support, well wishes and hugs. You have no idea how much I appreciate you. I am truly a blessed woman.

Thank you! Wish I could give (((HUGS))) to all of you.

I don't know what to post for a title to this blog

I feel kind of numb right now...

Due to the sudden death of a family member, I will be gone for a few days.
Please take the time to give your loved ones hugs and kisses while you have the chance.
Life is so short...

Mesquite Smoked Dove Breasts with Morel Wild Rice

A few "firsts" for me. :)
My first cook on the new Char Broil Quantum infrared grill.
My first post as a guest blogger at the Char Broil Live site....

and my first dove of the season. :)

Dove season arrived September 1st and I have been able to harvest a few this week. It seemed like a good idea to grill up a few as my first cook on the Char Broil.

If you get the time, please take a peek at my post. Char Broil Live
I'm definately not a writer... (you already knew that. lol)







I was very happy with the outcome. The Char Broil did all of the work, I just sat back and waited for supper. :)
Thanks for looking!

The Char Broil Quantum Infrared Grill

The kind folks at Char Broil have invited me to participate at their Char Broil Live site as a guest blogger. I'm pretty excited about the new adventure. :)

I enjoy cooking with any form of outdoor heat source but have not cooked on an infrared grill so this is something new to me.



I did not assemble the grill... some of you are aware that I hurt my arm not long ago and it's still not 100%. I recruited help, then stood back and snapped a few pics. :)













It's a beautiful grill! I was able to try it out last weekend and hope to post pics of the cook soon.



Thank you to the kind folks at Char Broil for the invitation to participate in your site! I am looking forward to working with all of you. :)

It was a beautiful evening :)

I headed to the fishing lake last night to relax. The pastures in this area are still brown and crisp as far as the eye can see...



The little lake's water level is low.



I'm already distracted by a pretty butterfly sitting between the rocks. :)



As the sun went down, the air temperature cooled. It felt wonderful...



I enjoyed watching the sun set.



The evening was beautiful.....



It was so calm and peaceful out there. I didn't catch many fish... but this trip to the lake was meant to fill my soul, not my tummy. :)

Another crawdad boil..... country style

This time it was someone else's turn to do most of the cookin'. :) Here's My Last Crawdad Boil

They did request a pot of shrimp gumbo and bread... I was happy to contribute to the feed.



straining my shrimp stock and cooking the veggies....



Had to taste the gumbo before leaving home... :)



Baked the bread on the Memphis Pro..



Cut and slathered with compound butter....



Wrapped and ready to go.



It's still so dry and brown here...



The closer I got to the cookout spot the greener everything looked.



This was another one of those country cookouts where you have to know the back roads and the exact location or you won't find it.



Take a turn at the trees and follow the left fork in the road.



sheesh the windshield is dirty..



The cookout was held under the car port.





A port-a-potty was provided behind the blue tarp. :)



The crawdad pot, seasoned, boiling and ready....



I got a kick out of the truck rim captain's chairs.



This little fellow almost stole my heart! He was soooo cute. :)



He was very interested in the tractor...



and keeping an ice chest of beer shook up. :)





The simmering pot..



it smelled so good...



They forgot to place a strainer in the bottom of the pot so two men lifted the huge pot and poured it into a smaller pot to strain the crawdads...






They made several trips with the basket but it worked great.






someone's gumbo...



and someone else's hot crawdad....



It was a nice evening. I had not met a lot of the people there, and some I had not seen in a year or two. I enjoyed the good food and catching up on what everyone has been up to.

Looking forward to the next cookout! :)