Shelby

Such lovely looking sauces, everyone! Sorry my pictures are a tad blurry. I was multi-tasking lol. I started mine at 4:00 p.m. yesterday. It took a lot longer because I had to grind up the goose and the duck. I used the largest holed grinder attachment and I only ran the meat through once. I wanted to leave the meat big enough so that it didn't cook down to nothing. Beginning at the top left and going clock-wise: Mallard, Speckled Belly Goose, Blue Wing Teal I mixed about 1/2 a tube of plain pork sausage with the goose/duck grindage. Wild goose and duck are both very lean. I also threw in about 1/3 of a cup or scantly less of some sausage spices I had laying around. And, a good bit of black pepper. Starting top left and going clock-wise: Venison, bacon, duck/goose/pork mix, plain pork. I also have some chicken livers that I might add later today. I was afraid to put them in early because I didn't know how "liverish" the duck/goose was going to be. After tasting this morning, I am amazed at how good this is. You don't taste any "liver" taste except for a faint tinge of deep "meatiness" in the back of your throat (if that makes sense). So, what do you think? Should I chop up some of the chicken liver, sautee in butter and add to my bolo? Carrot/onion/celery--I like my veggies a bit chunky. Beginning at the top and going down: Veggies, Duck/goose mix, Venison I couldn't resist frying up a patty of the duck/goose. OMG is it good. In fact, I made breakfast sandwiches with English muffins, runny eggs and those patties for my husband to eat this morning while pheasant hunting.

Oops, sorry. I should have been more descriptive. I forget that you all don't live in my brain . Teal is my favorite kind of duck. It's very mild and tender.

Ok, after much discussion with my husband, I'm going to use the following meats: Ground venison (we shot last winter--we just ground some more up out of venison roasts that we weren't eating and we were out of venison burger. I bought some 75% beef burger to grind up with it.) Store bought pork sausage Ground teal and mallard duck that my husband shot over the weekend and is breasted out, ready to do something with in my fridge. Tomorrow or Friday I will grind up the duck and take pics. OH and edited to add, I have 1/2 lb. of bacon that I will use, also. Edited again to say that we think the duck addition might be interesting.....kind of similar to the liver.

We're twins! I have a Breville Smart Oven, too! I bet I comment at least once a week about how much I love it and how I can't believe I didn't buy one sooner. I have forgotten, on occasion, though, that it cooks waaaaay faster than my oven.

Interesting! I have never used milk or cream in my sauce. AND, I'm learning that mine is waaaaay too tomato-y to be considered here.

My favorite sauce! I'm in.

Ok, now I HAVE to get my palm read. I'm sure the reader would say something like "you are way too obsessed with food and cooking" lol.

Am really enjoying reading of your baking adventures, Jerry. Thanks! The experience always feels like less of a beatdown after a 24hr breather... I'm in awe of you. I tried to make them one time. It was exhausting. I can't bring myself to do it again lol. P.S. I like the glitter, but I agree, it's not your color lol.

You are inspiring! I love all of your diverse hobbies. I've never had my palm read....I might be scared to lol. Do you still craft your own brews?

Maybe we could get a good deal on tickets together because I must have one of those fig sandwiches before I die.

That was so nice of you to do that for him. That's an experience he'll never forget.

OHHHHHH everyone that knows me here, knows that I have an obsession with fresh figs. I'm PEA GREEN with envy.

Anything with a martini around it.

I don't believe I've ever seen cattle (?) with horns that stick straight up like that.

Looks like I'm going to have to make a trip to the big city to see if I can locate some of this! I know, right? I LOVE this flavor, too. Sadly, my winter clothes don't love it so much......

Actually there are several traditional "pastas" in India. My theory is that every culture has some noodle or pasta type dishes. Some examples from India are: *Sevai. This thin, vermicelli type noodle is used a lot in desserts. Also in South India it is made into upma. This is a sort of dry dish with spices and vegetables, one picture is here. Other savoury dishes include sevai in spiced yoghurt, with tamarind, etc. just like a number of rice dishes. These noodles are mostly made of wheat, but there is a rice sevai too. *Idiyappam. This is steamed fresh rice noodles, from South India. They are steamed in little nest shapes or flat discs, example here. Delicious when eaten with veg kurma, veg stew (not a western dish btw but veg in delicately spiced coconut milk) or sweetened coconut milk. *Kadhi sometimes contains noodle-like things. Strips of (non-fried) pappad, little noodles made of chickpea flour, etc. *Gujurat has a dish called dal dhokli which is bits of wheat "noodle" cooked in dal. These "noodles" are basically made from uncooked chapati dough, often cut into diamond shapes. Very delicious! *Khandvi (pictured previously in the blog) are somewhat pasta like, though very different in style of consumption and so on. Other vaguely noodle-y snacks are deepfried, such as sev. I am sure there are loads more, these are just some examples. Also "Chinese" food is really popular here, with all sorts of noodle dishes being eaten. Imagine something similar to the Westernised Chinese food found in America and UK, but spicy! Italian is taking off more here too and you can buy all sorts of Italian pasta in shops. Thank you, Jenni. This looks delicious! Right up my alley. I must make this. This looks good, too!

I'm strapped in and ready to go

Percyn, I know it's not a typical food, but is any sort of pasta ever eaten there?

Happy Diwali and Happy New Year to you! Here are some fireworks we lit last night. For those who may not be familiar, Diwali is a major festival in India (kind of a combination of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year) and is widely celebrated. Most schools and business are shut for a few days if not a week or more. While not technically a Parsi holiday, in true form we never turn down an opportunity to celebrate, often with much gusto. What? Today is Wed? There must be some reason to party I remember first hearing about Diwali from an episode of The Office The celebration that you had looks SO fun!!! I'm really enjoying being introduced to all of these new (to me) foods.

Jenni, Streets are filled with vendors decorating their stalls with bright shiny lights. Traffic in Mumbai is crazier than usual. I am now convinced that India is a country of faith - not just religious faith, but also faith that there is an invisible shield of protection that covers the vehicle you operate as it comes hurling onto incoming traffic and pedestrians play a real life version of the game Frogger. Yes, you are correct that meat consumption is limited by income, but I am surprised to see that only 30%-50% of Indians are vegetarians. Jenni, may I request you to be the resident Indian expert and keep me honest through the blog? ETA: I must have read your mind as I had excellent Vada Pau in Pune yesterday. Will post the pics shortly. You describe what you're living so perfectly. You must be a writer of novels. I laughed out loud with the Frogger comparison!

I really enjoyed your week I am now craving cheese and pork cheek.

Interesting. I have never heard of this. However, after learning what it was, my husband does a sort of gleaning while I'm canning tomatoes. After I'm done peeling, cutting out bad chunks etc. He goes back through my "leavings" and picks out even smaller bits that I don't take the time to carve out and he then runs them through the juicer to make tomato juice.

Can't wait for this week! I LOVE Braunschweiger.......seeing this reminds me that I don't buy it nearly as often as I should.

O M G I love this!

Shelby, I hate raw tomatoes, I never eat salsa( unless its mango salsa) so tell your hubby you dont have to have salsa with fish. Can you get corn tortillas where you live? A fish and chips shop opened on the corner in my former town in Ontario. I bought some of the fried halibut, brought it home and made fish tacos out of it( with corn tortillas that I brought back on a previous visit to Cali). I brought one up to the shop so the owner could try it, but he just didnt get it at all. LOL. I couldnt even buy corn tortillas in Exeter, I think most ppl who dont know about them or havent been exposed to them, prefer flour. We have quite a few Mexican markets here that make their own tortillas, I could eat them warm out of the package and be very happy. My catering days are long over. I only did it in Ontario out of necessity. I have psoriatic arthritis and its really hard on my joints to be cooking non-stop. The arthritis is the reason I went back to college and law school, because I couldnt cook anymore. I do still bake a few times a month. For instance, I baked my aunt and uncle an anniversary cake last month, I baked a few things for Rosh Hashana and I'm going to bake a cake this week for a "cakewalk". Anyone ever make a "boob" cake? Whenever we go to my aunts for dinner or to a potluck, I always bring a few things. I belong to a few foodie groups and I'm throwing a big retirement party for Julie next month. She's also in the airforce reserves and she is retiring from that after 27yrs. All those things satisfy my cooking needs. Oh, I also bake stuff for Julie's work a lot. Cops will eat anything, as long as they know where it came from. LOL. I can't get the "good" kind of corn tortillas, but I can get them. I'm definitely going to make these...I just won't tell hubby what he's actually eating LOL. I'm sorry about your "Arthur" as I call it. I have a tiny bit in my hands already, but nothing as severe as yours....I can imagine how hard it is to cook. I've never made a boob cake, but I've eaten pasta shaped like boobs before...