Shelby

What kind of apples did you use (my question mark has stopped working so forgive me)

Not much cooking going on for me. I've been pretty sick --not Covid. On the mend now, so I scraped myself together and made some Caesar salad dressing and heated up some sauce. The pasta was good, but it was so wide that it was hard to eat......

LOL it's crazy how much people will pay for antlers. I guess we should look into that ha ha ha.

Yes, there are shoulders. But you would not want to do a brisket type anything. We make a few roasts--meaning pressure cooked or in the slow cooker--with the shoulders. Again, there is no fat at all running through the meat so it's dry dry dry. Now, I will say that @andiesenjitold me years ago about threading fat through venison using a needle type utensil. I've always wanted to do it, but haven't yet.

You cannot beat a grilled ham and cheese.

I should try that...what's the harm...none at all. I still have a whole backstrap.

Oh I'm no Nonna, but I appreciate the praise lol! Honestly, the best thing that I know to do with tough meat like that is pressure cook the heck out of it in a stew. Even cut smaller--such as a kebob, it's still tough. Life is too short to eat tough meat! 😁--unless of course an apocalypse comes ...then any kind of meat would probably do.

LOL!!!! I told them that next time they needed to poke the buck on the rear and see how he felt (just kidding). Venison meat doesn't have any marbling (wild venison at least, I don't know about pen raised)....there will be some fat under the hide but that tastes awful and you want to trim that off. You can just tell by looking at and pressing down on the meat. Visually the meat is coarse. Touch-wise, it's hard. Tender meat just feels tender by touch. And, in general, a buck---especially during rut--is too busy running after the ladies so he gets in really good shape which means his muscles\meat are tougher.

No deer again today. Sigh. It's cold...but I guess it just wasn't in the cards. I was really hoping to get our two and be done with it....but there is still one more week of deer season, so I'm sure Ronnie will get another one. Ronnie is on the way to the airport to drop our friend off. Our friend probably has a very sore arm from playing so much ball with Scout lol. I took pictures of all of the antlers I could find: These are mounts in the man room And these are all in the garage Some of the ones that are hanging were found just walking on our land. So, the last bit of food. We talked about me making spaghetti and meatballs for lunch, but it was so cold...I thought a nice big pot of chicken noodle soup would be better Cheesy bread and the ever famous pickle roll ups to go with. And that's it for this time. There was talk about coming back in the Spring. Who knows what life will be like then with Covid and all, but hopefully that will happen, and if so, I'll be back here then Thanks ever so much for following. As I've said before, you guys keep me sane during these weeks It's too late for a nap, so I'm pouring wine.

LOL! I sometimes do rise it in the CSO 100F on the steam setting for about 15 mins. But, it rises really fast on it's own....I do it both ways depending on if I'm in a hurry or not. Oh, cooked is ok for them. I was talking raw.

I'll run out and take a picture of the antlers in the garage plus the mounted ones we have--I think Ronnie saves all antlers no matter how small. The cats and kittens got lots of snacks. They LOVE venison. The dogs.....they love it, but I don't love cleaning up the throw-up that happens later so they don't get any lol.

Last day already. Time surely flies. Cold front finally came in. It's 28 degrees right now. Maybe that will make the deer move around a little more. They saw a few deer yesterday, but nothing came close enough to get. After their morning stint of hunting they came home to work on the buck. He's going to become mostly hamburger--we just throw the chunks of meat in bags and freeze them until we are all done deer hunting so we can clean and grind it all at once. Anyway, that means that I only had to deal with the tenderloins and the back strap. I know you've seen all of this before in years past.... but here are a few pictures tenderloins Cleaned up and butterflied Ya'll, this deer is TOUGH. I made a few steaks out of the backstrap, but most will just be burger. We will get a doe so we have some more tender steaks. Backstrap Cleaned up Steaks A mess of deviled eggs to snack on before dinner--they didn't last long And, here is where I failed @Smithy. My game plan was to go out to the grill and document exactly each step and how long the steaks took . It didn't happen. I got bogged down in the rest of dinner and by the time I looked up, they were done and in the house! I'm sorry--I'll do better next time! I know the grill was searing hot and it didn't take long at all before the steaks were done. Oh, I should mention, I threw in a couple of beef steaks, too. Leftovers will become quesadillas I think. Mushrooms and Brussels sprouts and baker to go with So, that catches us up to right now. I've fed the kittens in the barn. Going to make something hot to drink and then hit the shower. I promised to make pickle roll ups so that's the next thing on the list. Our hunter doesn't leave until this evening, so I guess I should make lunch........hmmmm.....I'll ponder that in the shower.

Oooooh I'm so happy you tried it! Really good idea about the parmesan --I'll be doing that with my next loaves. I should also add, I freeze one loaf every time because two is too much for us to eat before it molds. It freezes really well.

Ugh, that's a hard question. As you said, no one wants to be responsible for a night next to the toilet or worse, but, dang I'd want to try that...they were in the fridge the whole time. What about opening and smelling and perhaps a tiny sample...... But this makes me responsible if you get sick lol. I'd probably risk it with myself and if I was fine, I'd share with Ronnie, but that's just me.

They think I'm drinking coffee 😁

Good morning!!!! Sorry about the radio silence. I got way behind yesterday. Every time I was going to sit down and write, something popped up that I needed to do. @Smithy How fun that you have some venison with you! Venison backstrap or tenderloin are both so good just on their own that I don't get fancy with it. A searing hot skillet, butter, salt and pepper or on the grill. Venison has so little fat that you want to be careful and not over cook it. You can always cook it more if it's too rare--rare is what you want. Overdone, it tastes livery and tough. We are going to do the tenderloins tonight on the grill, so I'll document it. Here is more from Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook--it's an excellent site for learning about all different kinds of game cooking. The bread is a recipe I ran across years ago. It's nothing like real French bread-- like the kind @Ann_Tand others make so beautifully, so maybe the name "French bread" is a bit misleading lol. I was intrigued because it looked so easy. I swear, everyone that eats it raves about it. I don't tell them how easy it is lol. I think one of the reasons it's such a hit is because I brush it with egg white and sprinkle Everything Bagel Topping on it--a discovery that happened by accident because I didn't have any sesame seeds and I thought maybe the bagel topping would be good. I bake it in the CSO on the bread setting at 375F for 25 minutes. We ran out of breakfast burritos, so I made ham, egg and cheese sandwiches for this morning. But, before that, I had laid out more of the same cheeses and meats, plus some pimento stuffed celery. I was hurried because I knew the guys would be home soon so I got that out on the table and then went to the outside garage to get some eggs. Here is the spread before I left I was literally gone maybe a minute and this is what I came back to Miss Scout had helped herself.🙄 Sigh. On to making dinner. I was terrible about pictures --it turned into a seafood soup. I thawed out chicken broth, the oysters from earlier in the blog, some crappie and some shrimp. Dumped a half a stick of butter in the pot and softened diced potato, carrots, onions and celery. Then added the broth, salt, pepper, garlic and let it simmer a bit. Right before eating I dumped in all the seafood and let it warm a bit. Super easy and very good. Crusty bread toasted with butter to go with. Annnnnnd dessert The guys are now out working on the buck. I'll post pictures in a bit. They are going to hunt close to home so I think some venison tenderloins are going to hit the grill tonight. I'm pondering side dishes. The hunting gear really makes my Christmas decor pop don't you think......

OMG those pies are beautiful! I think mini pies are perfect for two people. I need to get some of those tins. It takes us forever to finish a normal size pie.

LOL! I didn't even notice I did that. I've corrected it. I wonder if my spell check changed it. I don't think I've ever actually typed the word wench on purpose in a sentence.

Yeah....everything is better with cheese 😁

Saturday! A nice buck is hanging in the garage They went to a closer place yesterday afternoon than the shooting house. I was surprised to look out and see the truck backing in (always a sign that a deer was gotten) when it was still daylight out! This is their little enclosure that they sit in View from the inside out I don't know if I've commented on this or not in the past. We have an electric winch that comes in handy big time when hanging the deer. Place slits in the legs Poke the hanger through Removal of the innards and the ever coveted tenderloins The knife in the pan was a gift to Ronnie from our friend. It's a sharp one! I think these tenderloins are going to be the opposite of tender--he is a tough buck, but we will see. I made another board similar to the day before except I added a new cheese and more meats Not spicy at all. Kind of a disappointment. If you'd have told me we would be having BLT's on December 3rd, I'd have patted you on your silly head and sent you on your way lol. But here we are. I still have a few precious tomatoes left. Broccoli salad and fries to go with. Our hunter wanted me to specifically show his plate and point out how gourmet it is. That's hot sauce on top of each sandwich 🙄 🤣 I gotta clean my stove. I made a hell of a mess making the fries.

No ducks or geese, but a NICE 11 point buck I'm told . Perfect timing for the cold front. They said they took tons of pictures so, tomorrow, more to come I'm knee deep in dinner.

Chum is just not up to it any more. She has several fatty tumors. Getting in and out of the truck is a mighty task. She goes sometimes if it's just Ronnie and it's going to be a short easy hunt. But even those easy hunts take her days to recover from. She's snoring on the couch as we speak.

Happy Friday! Not much happening on the hunting front, but hopefully that is changing as we speak. They decided to duck hunt this morning--or maybe goose or both. Hopefully some kind of bird for dinner tonight. Scout got to go so she's over the moon. Cold front comes in tonight and that's a good thing. I'm really glad they haven't gotten a deer in this heat. It would have been a pain and involved a gigantic cooler and lots of ice. Here is one of the many ponds that they hunt on-- this is the one that I showed pictures of a couple years ago that is by the windmill that we fill ourselves. They came home around two yesterday afternoon and got out the leftover guacamole, salsa and cheese dip. After they grazed there was still some left and our friend suggested breakfast burritos to use it up. Good thinking! Ham, eggs, salsa that I drained, guacamole and cheese. I made four so there are two left for tomorrow morning. I needed to replenish the bread so since the mixer was going to get dirty from that, I decided pizza night was the way to go. I made the pizza dough first and then the bread. The guys went to a spot that is close to home, and they ate before the went out for the evening, but I figured they would still eat some light nibbles. Everyone really liked the truffle cheese from Imperfect Foods. Sometimes I don't care for truffle in certain things but this was really good. Big salad and sausage\pepperoni\mushroom pizza I'm waiting to hear if we have ducks and or geese for tonight.....I need to start thinking of a back up meal in case there are none....but I hope there are. I already told the kittens they were getting a treat later.

100% correct. It was awful. I still have bottles downstairs in case of a renewing of Prohibition, but even then, I'm not sure I could choke it down.

SAME. I started early yesterday and made the salsa first--otherwise, when I'm feeling pressured it's like I just throw halves of everything in and you need like a 20 lb. chip to eat it off of. I do it all by hand...I like it chunky and I always over process it in the Cuisinart. It's easy peasy. Peeled, chopped tomatoes Peeled, chopped onion Chopped jalapeno Chopped cilantro Lawry's Salt Granulated garlic Lots of cumin Squeezes of fresh lime juice