Shelby

LOVED this. Helped me get a little more into the Christmas spirit. Safe travels home!

Made a couple different cookie doughs earlier this week and baked them yesterday. They are all in the downstairs freezer so that I don't eat them. Ronnie's kids and grandkids are coming on Christmas Eve for brunch so I'll get them out the day before. Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies and Christmas Cookie Sparkles (I love these they have a hint of cream cheese) Just got home from the big city grocery store. It was brutal in there. Packed. Going to put away groceries and then figure out what I'm going to make for brunch lol. Glad I have a few days to figure it out.

GORGEOUS! I LOVE frosted sugar cookies.

Loving this. I can feel how Christmas-y it must be. I'm not much of a shopper but I think you'd have to drag me out of some of those markets.

Super nice of you. Yeah that antler was what sold the harvesting deal. They couldn't let that one go. It's ok....we will grind it up and next time I get my way with an old dry doe that will be much more tender.

Aw thanks you guys. I didn't post a whole lot of pics because you've seen them for years....all the processes. Also I was under the weather until late in the evening on Friday so I just wasn't up to my usual self. He'll be back and I promise I'll post more I'm glad you guys read along.

Bumping I made the delicious Moose Farts last year and I think that's about as far as I got cookie wise. I should try to do better this year but......we will see. Anyone else going to bake?

The guys are out removing the corn feeders and tidying up the shooting houses for the season. I think they're going to come home and split some firewood--we have tons to do using all of the downed trees that fell during the storm in the spring. They boned the buck out yesterday. I still have to work on the meat, make the burger and get it packaged up but that can wait until at least tomorrow. I'm taking today off lol. A couple of pictures--ya'll have seen this so many times before in this blog I'm sure you're sick of it lol. Above are the backstraps Here are the tenderloins. They weren't as tough as I thought they were going to be. I melted some butter in cast iron until screaming hot and sautéed the steaks Our friend brought us redfish which he seasoned with salt, pepper, butter and a bit of rosemary and then grilled. It was delicious. Shrimp, macaroni and cheese and Brussels sprouts to go with And that's a wrap for this year Thanks as always for hanging out with me

Happy Saturday! They got a huge old buck yesterday evening. He's tough--the tenderloins are tough so the rest of him will be really tough. But, no matter. We'll grind him up for burger. I was assured that next year or maybe even this doe season a more tender deer will be harvested. I will show pics of the loins etc. later. Mr. Buck is currently hanging from our tractor where he cooled off overnight. Pictures from the deer stand: Mr. Buck After all that excitement I made a batch of @Kim Shook's Pimento Cheese Sausage Balls. I made them years ago and our hunter friend really liked them. I was re-reading this blog and ran across the post about them. Thank you Kim, we love these! Celery stuffed to use up the rest of the cheese Wings are one of our hunters favorite foods so I fried up a ton last night. Made extra so they'd have some to snack on during the Georgia/Texas game today. Cabbage salad and baked beans to go with Our hunter's very fancy plate lol We are cleaning the deer today....not sure what else....as usual I need to figure out dinner. See you in a bit!

I'll take all of the above lol. It's in the next picture down. Just a small tree in the corner of the porch. I didn't put any ornaments on, just twinkle lights.

Nooooo, I'm exactly the same way which is probably why I have multiples of everything stuffed all around the kitchen and pantry. Scalloped Potatoes I use a mandolin and slice them thin. Butter a cast iron skillet all around the bottom and sides. Place one layer of potatoes, season with salt and pepper (I use Lawry's Salt). Repeat for 2-3 layers. On the next layer sprinkle sharp cheddar (or cheese of your choice). Do another 2 or 3 layers, sprinkle cheese on top. Slowly pour heavy cream until you can see a hint of it around the edges of the potatoes. Put a lid on the skillet. Cook over low to medium heat until potatoes get soft (I poke a knife or fork in occasionally). The cream will begin to bubble. Take care not to have the heat too high or it will scorch the bottom potatoes. After potatoes are soft, remove lid and continue cook until the cream cooks down. When done I put it in the oven and broil to get the brown top. No deer yesterday. I saw a lot of them around our house--and a lot of geese so I know they were out and about. It's windy again today so we will see. Made a small board for snacks These are excellent Easy dinner last night. A few weeks ago I made a big batch of my favorite venison meatballs and froze them. I thawed out a bag of my spaghetti sauce, fried up some Italian sausages, made pasta and salad and that was dinner. Apple galette with caramel sauce for dessert (I forgot until it was too late I was going to use some of my cranberry sauce in it like @Senior Sea Kayakersmartly suggested so I'll have to make another one soon) Topped off with a bit of @ninagluck's wonderful eggnog

Regarding snow, last year we had already had some but this year it's barely gotten below freezing for more than a few nights. That's pretty normal though the last few years.

Our hunter really liked the burritos--he might have just been extra hungry lol. No, the sausages are a brand I'm buying from Misfits and I hope they don't stop selling them. Not too spicy, no gristle, a little smokey. Really good. https://ksoutdoors.com/Hunting/Big-Game-Information/CWD. Here is the latest from Kansas. We don't worry about it yet where we hunt. I hope we never have to but I'm sure that's wishful thinking.

Good morning! Our hunter friend arrived yesterday morning. They went out to lunch and then headed out to the deer field. They saw some but nothing was gotten. I got the house all decorated for Christmas. Bought a new blanket to snuggle up in when it's nice enough to sit on the porch--I like looking at the lights on the tree. Loving this new porch furniture. As I've said a million times I'm always trying to think of something new and exciting to send along with them for breakfast but nothing ever materializes and I settle on the good ole breakfast burrito. Easy to eat on the go. I needed to make 8 burritos --sausage, cheese, egg, tater tots, onions and pickled jalapeños. I only got 7 out of what I cooked up SIGH. 🙄. Instead of cooking up more sausage I opted to just dice up some ham I had in the fridge. Also had to make more eggs. I am so bad at gauging how much food will make enough of what I need. So, one lucky winner will get ham lol. We picked up a huge brisket a few weeks ago, cut it in 4ths, cold smoked it, vac packed and froze. Took one out to thaw Tuesday morning. Tuesday evening at 7 I put it in the SV. 24 hours at 155F Deer season is always kind of tricky...they don't get home some nights until dinner is almost ready. Last night was one of those but I went ahead and made a quick dip so they would have something to munch on--just sour cream and this mix: Broth from the brisket Scalloped potatoes Green beans, bacon and onions Brisket and jalapeño cheese sausages It's a real feel of 19F and it's windy. Not sure if anything will be moving around but we'll see. I'm not moving around lol. Hope to take it a bit easier today. At least I don't have to make breakfast Scout really hates deer season.....she's not quiet and patient like Chum so she's stuck at home with me....staring at the door lol...... I'm off to ponder dinner

THAT is a WONDERFUL idea. I just made apple pie filling last night out of some apples that were going south. The cranberry salad will be fine for a few days so I'll make a galette soon. Thank you!