Shelby

Let's see...I think I was last out around the middle of November? There very well could be additions.... I've actually been waiting for someone to ask me about the pipe on the right hand side of this picture......

Ronnie usually eats his breakfast here at the house. Our hunter does both. Sometimes he's not hungry that early in the morning. No microwave, but they do have a battery powered tv and an antennae for watching football tomorrow. Oh and they have a little heater that sits on a propane bottle. It's quite cozy in there really.

Continued: To go along with the cheeses, I made the ever famous and ever easy sausage rolls And another dish of @HungryChris's mushrooms were requested For dinner I thawed out a mess of frog legs and catfish (catfish came from a near by lake) Please excuse the Good Doctor's nose....he was extremely interested in the frog. I made a light beer batter And fried 'em up Mac and cheese, brussel sprouts and homemade cocktail and tarter sauce to go with And finally the breakfasts for this morning. Thought they might enjoy a link of boudin to go with it.

Happy Friday ya'll! I think I've lost my mind. I tried to talk our hunter into staying until Tuesday--supposed to snow on Sunday and I think the hunting will be just fabulous. We will see if he takes me up on it. And if Ronnie lets him. 🤣 Just kidding. They have a ball together. Anyway, I was way more on the ball last night. Will it be the same today? Prolly not. Around 3 I laid out two different cheeses so they could come to room temperature. We've never had these. They Are Amazing Both from Zingerman's. Here they are in their packaging: The Harbison is incredible. Very brie-like. It's a runny cheese. As it says on the label, they wrap it in spruce. When you taste it you get a hint of the spruce--not enough to be overbearing or anything...just a note. Our hunter and Ronnie both thought it reminded them of broccoli cheese casserole--in a good way. I didn't get that but...ok lol. The Pleasant Ridge Reserve is indeed buttery. Kind of like a parmesan only not near as hard. I am no cheese expert, but I will be buying more of both.

I got a nap 😁 My Hatch chiles are still supposed to be here, but it's getting late in the day so I've decided not to depend on them. Fish and frog legs it is for tonight. @HungryChris I need to buy more mushrooms! Nothing has been gotten yet. They've seen like 15 bucks and 30 some does but I guess the mood hasn't struck yet to get one.

Good morning!!!!! I got everything done last night finally. I think we ate around 8:15. I'll try to be earlier tonight, but I wouldn't bet money on myself 🤣 Salad @HungryChris Your marinated mushrooms were the hit of the evening. I'm surprised there are any left in the jar this morning! Sauce and venison meatballs I need to go downstairs and look at the name of the parmesan cheese that I grated up. It is from Zingerman's and it was excellent. Breakfasts for this morning A nap needs to be in order for later today. Think it will happen? LOL probably not....but a girl can dream. Despite me leaving a very nice note reminding the guys to take their phones, wallets, licenses and keys they managed to lock themselves out of the house. So, I got a text asking me to get up and let them back in. Couldn't go back to sleep properly after that. I think my Hatch Chiles will be here today. Kicking around the idea of making that chiles rellenos casserole along with maybe some tacos.....or I have some nice ducks in the freezer that I could thaw out and roast.....or I could do fish and frog legs.....I dunno...... One thing I do know is that Chum is having a great time. Got a text from Ronnie saying that she was seeing a lot of deer this morning.

Wow, that would be a huge pain in the butt. I hope they can get water out there soon!

OMG I haven't sat down once this afternoon. I truly wanted a nap but then remembered that UPS was coming with some important stuff that I had to sign for...so no nap for moi. You'd think I'd be ahead of the game....but I don't feel like I am. For DAYS I've been meaning to make @ninagluck's eggnog. I still haven't done it. I'll shoot for tomorrow morning. I had wanted to share some with our hunter, but I'm afraid it might be too strong..... Anyway, this afternoon I made my usual bread in the CSO. You guys have seen this a million times: Before the bake After Then I dove into making some fresh pasta that is now hanging Forgot to get a picture of the dough. It was a bit dry--hence the shorter pieces, but it will do for tonight. And, finally, for an appetizer tonight, I have been craving this since I made it last year. Muffuletta Cheesecake so I had to make it again Still have tomorrow breakfast to make, garlic bread to heat up, spaghetti sauce from the freezer to heat, venison meatballs to put in and a salad to throw together. Wish me luck

Oh Anna, how fun! You got some good stuff!

Yes, they strictly deer hunt out of there. That's where Chum has her own chair she can sit in and look out the window . So, my hunter brought me a gift! He asked me if I'd ever had boiled peanuts before, and I have a couple of times. I love them, but I've never made them. I have a whole bag of these: A quick google tells me these are probably dried peanuts and are very suitable for boiling. Anyone have a recipe/method? I saw some for the slow cooker......

Good afternoon and happy Wednesday! Our hunter got here a couple hours ago. Remember last time when I made chili and they had already stopped and eaten in town? It went much more smoothly this time lol. Back behind there is a bowl of my pickled okra and jalapeños. Served with frosty mugs of beer. They are now getting loaded up to go out for a deer hunt. Chum is excited that she gets to go along. Meanwhile, I'll be here doing dishes and prepping for dinner.....dunno what I'm making yet though. Be back in a bit

A few years ago I fell backwards over the damn dishwasher door. Dishwasher has never been the same.

Well, the best laid plans and all that .....I didn't get everything done today that I had planned on. Ronnie left this morning--without me knowing --that he had a tire that had a slow leak. We JUST bought brand new tires a couple months ago. Anyway. He got home from hunting and told me about the tire. BTW--he got a nice haul, but he gave everything to the two guys that he took hunting with him. Mallards and a goose. Sooooo.... I don't have a lot of talents, but I am the tire leak whisperer. I can always find the leak and mark it. It's a gift lol. Long story short, I found the leak, but the cause of it was deep piece of metal that we couldn't extract and fix so--- THANK goodness we could get the truck into the tire fixer at the nearest town and it's all good now. But that took a lot of my afternoon up. I'll finish cleaning early in the morning.....maybe lol. So on to dinner tonight I was craving something that wasn't all meat....I'm sure some can understand....so pizza it was: Pepperoni And...the yearly Christmas chalkboard. It's not near as good as last year, but I always show the good and the bad here. I had like 30 minutes to get it done and it will do for now.....

No you don't! They look perfect to me!!! I'm so glad you like them . I just love the crunchy lightness of the wrapper.

No! But I will download it to my kindle asap. Sounds like a book I would like--even if it's a kids book.

Me too! There are many around here that aren't used any more, either. Watching it spin and the water pumping out is quite mesmerizing. I have some of these somewhere. I never knew there was a fried version! I've only had the softened ones stuffed with rice noodles, shrimp etc. I really need to get my air fryer back out. I got frustrated with it and put it in the dungeon (basement).

Exactly. Thank you ps--no ticks on my deer

Hmmmm....maybe that's for longer cooks? To be fair, we like salt, but I don't think it tasted cured at all. I'm still very much experimenting with sous vide venison--I've had some major fails lol. This one was good for sandwiches but still not exactly what I was looking for. I'm not sure what I'm looking for.....more of a "roast" texture/flavor only still tender. Maybe the slow cooker or long braise in the oven is better for venison roasts in the long run..........

They take a little bit of time to make, but once you do, they freeze so well (I put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment and freeze overnight and then transfer to ziplocks) and are so handy to have. I use this recipe from Steamy Kitchen and I use those same spring roll wrappers that she does. I've used both brands and both are good. IMO the TJY brand seems to be a bit "stretchier" and more forgiving and less easy to tear than the wui-chuan. I'm a straight soy sauce kind of girl for dipping. I'd love to hear what others use.

When one gets up at 4:15 in the morning, one finds herself starving at 8. I really wanted @Anna N's onigirazu, but I was too hungry and lazy to make rice. So, I went to an old stand-by: Scrambled egg sandwich with homemade mayo and mustard. It doesn't look pretty, but it hit the spot.

Happy Deer Season Eve! Our hunter arrives tomorrow morning. The weather is supposed to be markedly colder this week than in the last few years--which is an excellent thing. AND possibly more snow this weekend. You know that makes me happy . Duck and goose season this year has been phenomenal. We have eaten a LOT of duck. And I suspect we'll be eating more this week lol (but I don't want to jinx them). Ronnie has been hunting at least 5 days a week, if not more. We got up at 4:15 this morning and he's just left for another round. I thought I'd show you guys one of the places that we own and hunt on. A few weeks ago Ronnie needed me to help him get a water pump going in order to fill a low spot in the pasture up for ducks and geese. We've had a ton of rain, but this spot needed a little help filling up. Once you get it filled, it stays all season with very little evaporation. Anyway, I went out several times and took some pictures. One of the things I love about this property is that we own a working windmill. Maybe not exciting to some of you, but I could sit and watch it for hours. As the wind blows it pumps water into the tub. We have someone who rents this pasture and keeps his cattle on it over the spring, summer and fall and this gives them nice, fresh, cold water. So, what we did to fill up our spot is run a pump from this water --connected by plastic hose-- to a well and pump that sits near the tree on the left of the picture. That was in order to get the second pump primed. Once that was primed we ran about a million feet of plastic hose out into the middle of the low spot and let 'er run. This pump puts out about 360 gallons of water per minute and it took about 6 hours to fill the spot up enough for hunting. On this same property, a little ways away is the shooting house that you've seen the inside of. I took some pictures of the outside this time: Those steps were built specifically for Chum--it used to be just a rickety old ladder that was scary as heck to climb up. This is the door--notice the custom handle🙄😁. Anyway, that gives you a little peek into where some of the venison, duck and goose comes from. On the food front, I've done a few things ahead. Eggrolls are always a big hit and they freeze so well. When I make them, I make a ton. These are pork and shiitake mushroom. I save time by using bagged coleslaw mix. We'll eat these some time over the coming week. And, I made a huge pot of venison chili yesterday --I used up a few half bags of Rancho Gordo beans so there is quite a variety of beans in there lol. And, in the continuing quest to empty the freezer so we can fill it up again lol, I threw a venison roast in the SV yesterday. I did 130F for about 6 hours. Before the bath --seasoned with salt and pepper Bagged up with a bit of onion and smashed garlic Finished Was very tender and perfect for french dip sandwiches And, now, it's 5:25 a.m. Debating on whether to ingest coffee and get busy or.....go back to bed for a bit???? Nah, I'd be smart to get busy ....

Sooooooooo............................. Ronnie wasn't home to intercept this from the UPS man today. Do I have to wait 'till Christmas?????

Yes, they are wonderful--just picked. They smell amazing just fresh from the box. The upside is that they are so very good fresh, the downside is all the work to roast and peel...... The ones that they roast and freeze are very good, too.

Looks delicious to me! I'm craving that now. I've always used this recipe that comes from the place that I buy my Hatch peppers. However, I've had this recipe for chiles relleno casserole--- suggested by @Darienne --on my list to try . I'm regretting that I didn't order fresh Hatch chiles in August....I thought I had a ton in the freezer...turns out, I didn't have as many as I thought, and I've used a bunch, so I placed an order for frozen ones that should be here sometime this week.

CSO roasted chicken quarters. Trying to use up the leftover creamed corn from Thanksgiving.