Rocky and the Moon

Trying really hard to concentrate on rounding up tax papers but my thoughts are elsewhere. lol

Every morning my new friend Rocky comes by the front window to distract me. I'm not sure how he made it to the farm... He had to cross unprotected pastures with coyotes, hawks, bobcats and owls.  This is the first squirrel I've seen in my area, I'm sure most just don't make it this far.

He's so danged cute and distracting!

I still haven't gotten over my love of the full moon.....

Haven't posted pics of the moon in a long time but I still wander out to the front of the house to watch it rise...

I'll never get tired of it! :)

So much for getting any work done. At least I have until April 15th to get my head out of the clouds. (and the stars) lol


Hope you all are having better luck than me! :)

Tax Time

Anybody else elbow deep in tax papers? 
I can't stop day dreaming about summer. :)

Tatonka Dusted Mule Deer Buck~n~Bourbon

This is where I usually hunt. Drive in as far as possible then take the deer trails...

 

 

my favorite rifle, a .30-30  :)

 

 



 

 

The mule buck from rifle season... (also got a white tail, not pictured)

I processed the meat into steaks, cubes, roasts and left the shoulders whole for smoking over the campfire.

I seasoned some of the cubed venison with Tatonka Dust... ( I love this stuff!)

rolled in flour and browned in bear lard...

sautéed onions, garlic and peppers in the drippings...
added 1 cup of bourbon and about 2 cups of beef stock to the pot.
seasoned with more Tatonka Dust, a pinch of marjoram, thyme, parsley and oregano.

Then into the drum at 275F..

Made bear lard biscuits and decided to sprinkle them with Tatonka Dust too...

simmered the venison until tender and let the biscuits hang out in the drum until they were cooked through.
added salt and pepper to taste to the venison.

The venison tasted a lot like beef tips, it was so tender. I liked the addition of the Tatonka Dust. Will make it again for sure!!

I've mentioned Tatonka Dust in the past. It's one of my favorites. I use it a lot with wild game, but it really goes well with many other things. I keep a shaker of the Dust by my stove and sprinkle it on many foods that I cook in the house. If you get the chance, contact Marty and Tanya at Owen's BBQ  .   They'll hook ya up with some, they're great people!!  :)

Thanks for looking!

Blue Swedish Duck Eggs and Potted Pork

Well it's not really potted pork. It reminds me of potted pork but technically it's not.  It's a canned pork that I like to make. I use a scrapple recipe with smoked sausage, pork and seasonings. After cooking the mixture I pressure can it for future use.

The pork is already seasoned so I just add minced onions, one egg, cracker crumbs and a kick of cayenne pepper..

 

 



I form patties and cover them with panko bread crumbs...

Then I brown them in butter... I like em crispy. :)

The ducks have been laying eggs like crazy.  I love duck eggs, they are a bit larger than my chicken eggs and they cook up so light and fluffy.
I sauté minced onions in butter then add a couple of duck eggs and scramble them right in the skillet with the butter and onions. They are pretty tasty. :)

The pork patty is crisp on the outside but tender in the center...

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I wonder.... do other folks eat like I do or am I just weird.  : p

One thing for sure, I feel lucky to have homegrown food.  :) 

 

 

 

 





Easy Eggs Benedict on the Grill

Friends know how much I love to make this breakfast when camping.  It's really not hard to make, it's all in the sequence.
For my latest post as an All star at the Char Broil Live site, I decided to make a post showing just how easy it is to whip up this breakfast. :)

Once you get the hollandaise sauce made, the rest is easy. Shoot, the eggs don't even have to be "pretty", you can cover them with sauce. :)

If you get the time, please check out my post ... 
Easy Eggs Benedict

Thanks for looking!  :)

Did it again!

Made the same ole New Years Day meal that I made last year...Jalapeno cornbread stuffed pork chops, Hoppin' John and greens.

Quick cured the chops with Tenderquick for 2 hours...

Baked some jalapeno cornbread while the chops cured...

Made a stuffing using jalapeno cornbread, melted butter and chicken stock... didn't measure, just made it pretty moist.

rinsed the chops and stuffed them...the cure adds salt so I just seasoned with pepper.

into the BPS drum...

made Hoppin' John... fried some bacon, cooked onions and peppers in the drippings. Added chicken stock, rice, black eyed peas, a few pinches of thyme, marjoram and oregano.

then let the pot hang out in the drum too..

when the rice absorbed the stock I gave it a stir.

Cooked the chops until the internal temperature of the stuffing reached 165F. The quick cure keeps the pork moist at this high of a temp.

Topped the Hoppin' John with crisp bacon and fresh parsley...

It was kinda tasty!

Now that I think about it, not sure if this meal brought me good luck in 2013.
Then on the other hand... maybe my first air ambulance ride would have been a lot worse without the meal. lol

I might try to think up something different next New Years Day. :)