If you are squeamish about normal homesteading activities, like butchering, you might want to close your browser now and avoid today's post. I understand it can be a difficult topic to read about, especially when you aren't expecting it, hence my disclaimer.
People are so disconnected from their food in today's society. If we couldn't buy our meat in neat little packages from the store, I dare say a huge majority of us would become vegetarians. Not to mention many people wouldn't know the first thing about growing their own vegetables!
A long time ago, I decided if I am going to eat meat, then it's hypocritical of me to not learn to process our own homegrown meat. I'm not fond of butchering, but I am glad that we learned this important self-sufficiency task. It's not fun, but once the kill is done, it's not much different from cutting up a fresh chicken from the store.
There are no pictures in this post, and the content is not really very graphic, I just know that most folks don't want to read or know about butchering, so here's your warning.
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You've been warned. Proceed at your own risk.
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You lost your chance. Continue on, you brave soul.
We decided to butcher one of our goats to barbecue on Labor Day. We decided to get the processing done on Saturday as it's kind of stressful.
I was amazed at how much fat this young goat contained. We have never processed one this young. He was three months old, and was still living with his dam (and trying to breed her as they become sexually active as young as 8 weeks of age)! We have heard that milk fed animals taste different (think veal). Except I've heard that veal is produced under inhumane conditions (small cages where they can barely move around and kept in the dark).
The amount of fat contained in this buckling intrigued me, and I decided to try rendering fat.
Kev did the kill this time. I don't like that part. We learned that the goats "choke out" easily, just by accident. The first time scared me really badly. I was doing hoof trims, this was before we got our nice metal milking stand. I had the doe tied up to the fence and was working on her back feet and she started leaning against me very heavily. I looked over at her, annoyed, and saw that she was leaning against me, because she had fainted. The reason why is because she'd been leaning really hard against her collar and she cut off the flow of blood to her brain which caused her to pass out. I was so scared that she was dead and freaked out pretty good. But once I unhooked her collar from the fence and she fell to the ground and blood began flowing into her brain, she was okay, just a little disoriented.
A few times I've had the goats pulling on their collars so hard when I'm trying to put them back into the pen after milking that they have almost choked themselves out. They almost fall down but then they shudder like they are having a seizure. It's scary, because I'm afraid to hang onto them, and then they figure that out, and won't go where I want them to go.
Anyway, Kev got the idea to try putting a goat down in this way, as it seems to be humane since the animal faints due the loss of blood to the brain. He says it was much easier than trying to use the gun.
I'm usually present at the kill, but this time I told dh and Kev that I wanted them to call me when they had the kid hung. They got the young goat bled and hung; and I skinned, gutted and quartered it. Once the kill is done, I'm okay.
I harvested the liver, the heart, the kidneys, and by special request from one of our church brethren, the Rocky Mountain Oysters. Usually we castrate our young males, but we had a special request, so I was asked to not band this youngster.
I attempted to render the fat. I will link to the before photo so it won't be right there IN YOUR FACE. It's not really that bad, think liposuction. Oooooohhhh, no better? Sorry, sorry.
Here's the after photo:
Until next time.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
For Labor Day - Fresh Meat
Labels: goats
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Baked Spinach with Eggs
Labels: recipes
Our hens are beginning to lay with fervor! Back in March we ordered some pullets and they are now mature enough to begin laying. Along with our older hens, we are getting ten to sixteen eggs again. Time to start using more eggs in our meals.
Last night I tried this recipe, Baked Spinach and Eggs. I love spinach and this recipe turned out to be a winner.
The original recipe is linked above, but I altered it slightly.
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound frozen spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided use
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish, I used a 9" x 9" square glass dish.
2. In a cast iron skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes to soften. Add spinach and salt. Reduce heat to low. Cover and steam for 10 minutes; remove from heat.
3. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese in the bottom of prepared baking dish. Spoon in spinach mixture and sprinkle with paprika, pepper and nutmeg.
4. In a medium bowl, beat together egg and milk; pour over spinach mixture. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake until the cheese bubbles, about 20-30 minutes. Let stand at least 5 minutes before cutting.
I heated up the leftover pieces this morning in the toaster oven.
Until next time.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Down Syndrome
Labels: Deep Thoughts
As most of you know, my eldest son has Down Syndrome.
I find it ironic that both the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have a child with Down Syndrome in the mix.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced earlier today that Alaska governor Sarah Palin will be his running mate. Mrs. Palin recently gave birth to a baby boy with Down Syndrome, and she knew the child she was carrying had an extra chromosome in every cell of his body.
She knew in December. But she chose to carry her baby to term, birth him and love him like the awesome human being he already is.
Contrast that with Barak Obama, who doesn't know when life begins, who embraces abortion of his own grandchildren, and who listened to the testimony of a hospital nurse who cradled a dying baby boy aborted because he had Down Syndrome and had been thrown away to die alone, and still chose to block the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.
The older I get, the less tolerant I find myself becoming. How can any human being think it's okay to kill an innocent baby? There shouldn't be a right to choose, to play God. I want to know when we draw the line? People with Down Syndrome are innocent humans. Yet it's considered acceptable to protect yourself from hardship to kill your baby. I guess we actually don't draw the line. Any woman can abort her child at any point in the pregnancy, even at full term. What's wrong with people?
I guess it's because they've been educated to believe that a baby isn't a baby, until he or she is actually out of his or her mother's body, breathing air through his or her lungs. Prior to that, he or she is simply a fetus. A blob of nothing. Well, newborn babies are pretty blobby if you ask me. Why do we prosecute women who let their babies die after they are born? What's the difference?
Today, as I watched John McCain announced his running mate, tears were streaming down my face. I don't quite know why, but I know much of my emotion had to do with the fact that Mrs. Palin chose to keep and love her baby when many other men and women are taking the cowardly way out and choosing to kill their baby for equally cowardly reasons. Because they don't want a child, or don't want another child, or some other superficial reason. I guess about the worst one I ever heard was the child won't be able to live up to his or her full potential. Wow. Talk about expectations. I sure hope people with that outlook are able to withstand it when their "perfect" children make some mistakes, or don't become a doctor or lawyer, or whatever that full potential would be.
Years ago I had a friend whose parents forced her to have an abortion that she didn't want. Let me share with you a poem that she wrote - watch out, it's pretty heart wrenching:
She was just sixteen when she learned why
She had that little twinkle in her eye
The man did not want any part of it
and ended contact ... every last bit
She was frightened and felt all alone
So she sought help from within her own home
Alcohol played havoc on the addicted ones mind
Her parents made decisions that were shrewd and unkind
Without regard to her plight
Her feelings or her own right
Decisions were made based on her well being
Never stopping to ask her what she was feeling
They found a loophole in an old law
That allowed killing, the solution, they saw
So statutory rape they sought out to prove
To eliminate the shame, so she would not have to move
She was put through rigorous testing
Interminable questions, never resting
The child within her still safe and sound
Physical changes began, a heartbeat was found
She planned for this child to be loved like no other
She prepared for its future and the love of its mother
Then the court made the decision within the right time frame
To allow the procedure with the least danger or fame
To the hospital she was transported
To have the child within her aborted
To be with child in one moment
Suddenly without child and no comment
The next day she was told
By her parents so bold
How much they had helped her out
And would not allow her to cry or shout
But all along from her own perspective
She always had willed for her child to live
So silently she grieved, for her child she did mourn
Desperately longing for her child to have been born
New laws came into effect including Roe vs Wade
Then the right to lifers spoke out with comments they made
They detailed the procedures ... how the child would be shred
And opened the wounds of her loss and the child that was dead
She finally cried out to her God, her Lord
With all the emotion her heart could afford
Asking forgiveness for her part in the destruction
That detestable deed long ago, the abortion
God in His loving kindness and His ever gentle way
Reached down and comforted her and He proceeded to say
You didn't destroy the life, all involved have been forgiven
Your first beloved baby was born straight into heaven
Of your child, your first born
Take comfort young mother, don't mourn
Let precious visions of him be all you see
'Till you see him again ... with Me
Until next time.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
93 Things Grandma Loved - #7 Black Olives
Labels: 93 Things Grandma Loved, Memory Lane
It is coming up on the one year anniversary of my Grandma passing from this world into her heavenly home above. My mom is still having a very hard time dealing with the loss of her mother.
Grandma always had cans of Early Californian Black Olives on the shelf. She would break open a can and all of us children would mill around waiting for her to put olives on each of our fingers. It was a giant treat; I don't remember my mother ever having black olives on hand just for eating! I mean, she bought them for cheese enchiladas, but never as a snack or treat.
Whenever I eat black olives, I always remember Grandma.
I love you, Grandma.
Until next time.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
93 Things Grandma Loved - #6 Cantaloupe
Labels: 93 Things Grandma Loved, Memory Lane
I don't know how she did it, but Grandma ALWAYS had a ripe cantaloupe on hand whenever we came over to visit. It must be my imagination, because 30-40 years ago if cantaloupe wasn't in season, it wasn't available for eating. Nowadays of course we can get just about anything we want anytime of the year just by going to the local grocery store. Sadly, cantaloupe doesn't taste as delicious as it did when I was a youngster. Is it my aging tastebuds? It used to be so succulent, juicy and sweet. Now they don't seem to have that same sweet taste. I do know how to pick them - press the end and it should have just a bit of give. That indicates if the melon is ripe.
On the day we had my Grandma's memorial, my sister Dee Elle brought several ripe cantaloupes. After the memorial, several family members stuck around and we had a little picnic together right in the parking lot. That was a nice remembrance of Grandma.
Love ya, Grandma.
Until next time.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
93 Things Grandma Loved - #5 Red Rope Licorice
Labels: 93 Things Grandma Loved, Memory Lane
Grandma always had Red Rope licorice on hand when we visited. I hated black licorice, and I don't remember her having that. The popular red licorice now seems to be Twizzlers. It's okay, but doesn't bring back the memories of the Red Rope licorice. Kev and I were in town the other night and I spotted it. He persuaded me to buy three ropes in memory of my Grandma.
Grandma, I look forward to seeing you when we all get to heaven. I love you.
Until next time.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Look at this Goofy Cat
Labels: cats
The other night Tiger jumped onto my chest and wanted to be petted. Normally he doesn't fancy my affections, preferring the men of the house over me. Hmph. Sometimes he'll allow me to pet him, but he won't purr. Tonight he was purring and he stretched out his paws to touch each side of my face as he fell to sleep. Goofy cat.
Kev also got an awesome sky photo. The sun was setting and you could see the rain pouring from the storm clouds not too far away.
Until next time.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Carrot Spice Muffins
Labels: Memory Lane, recipes
I cannot believe I haven't blogged about this long time favorite: Carrot Spice Muffins. I had a better photo, taken when they were fresh out of the oven, but between my camera cards and Kev's, we can't seem to locate the photo, so this is the one I took while we were at camp.
When we went to camp a couple of weeks ago, I got up early so I could make a batch of these goodies to share.
I've been making them since my sister Dee Elle discovered them many years ago when our children were very young. She went on a muffin making spree and I think she tried every muffin recipe in the cookbook. The recipe comes from the La Leche League International Cookbook Whole Foods for the Whole Family. My version was published in 1981 with ISBN 0-912500-09-3.
Carrot Spice Muffins
- 1-1/2 c. whole wheat flour (I ground the summer wheat berries that morning, which dh recently acquired, so the flour would be full of nutrition)
- 1 t. baking soda
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. sea salt
- 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 t. ground nutmeg (freshly ground with microplane)
- 1/8 t. ground ginger (I actually couldn't find ground ginger, so I omitted this item)
- 1/8 t. allspice
- 1/3 c. honey
- 1/2 c. yogurt (luckily I had fresh-made yogurt from our goat's milk on hand)
- 1/3 c. butter
- 1/2 t. vanilla (I make my own vanilla)
- 1-1/2 c. grated carrots
- 1/2 c. raisins (I bought golden raisins because I like those in these muffins over the dark raisins)
- 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Until next time.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Doing a Workout
Labels: Just Stuff
Just a quick update today.
I don't want to jinx myself, but I think I am beginning to feel better. I have been faithful to my new vitamin protocol since the 4th. Last night I actually felt enough ambition to dig out our Total Gym (it was piled up with stuff, courtesy of my dear husband) and did a few minutes worth of a workout for the first time in months.
I also ordered some thyroid herbs and supplements today, that should be on the way soon.
Ds1 needs to have blood drawn so we're planning an overnight stay in town, going out to dinner and to the movies. He wants to see The Dark Knight.
I hurt my heel doing a Taebo kickboxing workout with ds1 and finally broke down and ordered a night splint to wear, well, at night. That should be arriving soon.
I think I'll take my hank of yarn and try to cocoon it while at the hotel.
Until next time.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Chicken Salad
Labels: recipes
I was on for kitchen duty last Saturday. Ever since Ree over at The Pioneer Woman posted her Chicken Salad recipe I've been wanting to make some type of chicken salad for dinner.
She puts grapes in her chicken salad. I've never done that before, but since my tastebuds seem to be changing, it actually sounded good.
I didn't use Ree's chicken salad recipe though. Here's what I did...
First I prepared some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They were on sale at Safeway for $1.69 a pound, so $5.07 for the bag.
I trimmed the fat and other weird stuff from the chicken breast. I sprinkled salt and pepper on each piece as I laid them into a bowl and then let them set for a while.
I grilled the chicken breasts. I love grilling. Especially when it means I don't have to heat up the house cooking. It rained for a few minutes on Saturday, the sun was shining and it was pouring rain. So it was not too terribly hot out when I grilled. Kev received it as a gift for Christmas in 2006 from his granny and grandpa (dh's parents).
Next I made a salad.
5 leaves of red leaf lettuce, washed and torn into bits
1/2 a head of iceberg lettuce, washed and torn into bits
1 cucumber, halved and sliced
2 avocados, diced
We had red grapes on hand, so I cut a bunch of those in half.
Then I made homemade Ranch dressing.
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup homemade plain yogurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon granulated onion powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
salt and pepper to taste
I tossed the lettuce, avocado and cucumber.
I put some salad in individuals bowls, then cut some chicken breast into strips and added that into the bowl, then tossed in some red grapes.
Lastly I spooned some Ranch dressing over the salad.
Very delicious. Everyone was impressed and there was even a bowl leftover for my lunch Sunday after church.
Until next time.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Gorgeous Yarn Find
Kev and I had a great time at church camp last week. Exhausting, but definitely worth it.
Before we left, I stopped at Savers to pick up some suitcases. I found three nice ones for $7.99, $6.99 and $4.99. They nest into each other, this will be great for storage purposes.
I am also so excited about this delectable yarn that I found:
The original tag shows that the two hanks of Country Silk retailed for $24.99. I can't believe someone didn't snatch this up before me - Savers had it marked for only $2.99!! The Savers tag says it came into their store on the 17th, and I found it on the 29th.
While at camp, I tried twice to wind it into a Jacqueline Fee Japanese Yarn Cocoon as demonstrated at Elka Knits. The first attempt Kev was helping me by holding the yarn around his forearms as we sat in our room with the door open. Kev defended his manliness at least twice, explaining that he doesn't knit to fellow brethren who dropped by to see what we were doing. Kev, dear, just in case you don't know, manly men do knit.
I decided against making a ordinary ball since they roll around and I like trying something brand new. Besides, it just sounded so neat. Making a cocoon. Neat!
I only got about a third cocooned before it was time for the evening worship, so I left it for later. Which I then realized I had been wrapping the yarn the wrong way, so I started all over. I wasn't able to make much headway, but I did figure out the correct way to wrap it.
I'd really hoped to have it cocooned in time for the trip home, but never found any more time to work on it.
In addition to the Elka Knits tutorial, I found mention of Jacqueline Fee's Japanese Yarn Cocoon method over at Knit the Knits and she actually found a site - Yarnerinas - which had a video of the procedure! After watching the video I know I now have the process down correctly. Now to find the time to cocoon the lovely yarn.
I am thinking about making a coverlet to wear in the fall, using this pattern Gothic Leaf Lace. I did actually experiment with the pattern on the drive to camp, but I used a two-colored yarn and it is difficult to see the pattern.
I love this Gothic Leaf Stole by Sivia Harding, but I think my yarn is too thick. Here is another link to the Gothic Leaf Stole by Sivia Harding, this is an absolutely stunning stole. Wow. I need to buy some thinner yarn, lol.
Here is another Gothic Leaf Pattern which looks nothing like my attempt with the lace pattern mentioned above. This is another pattern I love, Lace Wrap but again, my yarn is too thick.
Until next time.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Mmmmm, Liverwurst
Labels: Memory Lane, recipes, Word of the Day
A post à la The Pioneer Woman Cooks.
Growing up I hated liver. Despised it. I think a good deal of the problem is the way my momma prepared and served it. I won't go into details as I'm sure if you are a liver hater you have more than enough memories without my adding any. I will say that it was my stepfather's favorite meal, served alongside mustard greens, cornbread and black-eyed peas. All with no butter, mind you. It was the driest combination of foods you could put together on a plate.
Anyway, in my teen years, I lived with a foster family and the mother prepared liver very occasionally, but it was much more tolerable prepared by her recipe. First off, she bought baby beef liver (my mother didn't) and she'd boil it in oil with onions. It was actually edible. This woman also loved liverwurst and braunschweiger, which I think are the same thing. Basically it's pork liver, similar to pâté. Now when people hear pâté, they think that's something special. But it's just a meat paste; pâté de foie gras is made from goose liver.
As a child, I vowed I would never buy liver, nor have it in my home. I'm sure I lumped liverwurst in there, too. But when I came to the theory of Nourishing Traditions and Weston A. Price Foundation, and found that liver is considered a superfood, I began to rethink my childhood vow. I still have a hard time eating liver, but I think more often about having it. I also look forward to the times we butcher as liver tastes better fresh.
A couple of months ago, my boss brought in some braunschweiger to share since she can't eat the whole roll by herself and her hubby doesn't care for it. Several of us were lucky enough to partake in the feast of liverwurst sandwiches and I had forgotten how much I really enjoy it. I decided to buy a roll yesterday and I can take it in to share with my boss.
But enough of the tittle-tattle*, on with my post!
First, the cast of characters:
Rye bread, yellow mustard, mayonnaise, Braunschweiger, Muenster cheese and onion.
Slice right through the packaging, oops, I forgot I'm not supposed to use my favorite, recently sharpened knife for cutting meat. Apparently this is the VEGETABLE knife, according to Kev.
I continued slicing after switching to the MEAT knife.
Arrange the slices onto your rye bread.
Slather mayonnaise on top of the liverwurst, then layer some thinly sliced onions. Sweet onions grow very well in Arizona, did you know that? But I digress. On the other slice of bread, squirt out some mustard, then one slice of Muenster. Why Muenster? I don't know, I just thought it would taste good. Then some more onions. Mmmm.
And there you have it: Liverwurst Sandwich on Rye with Muenster and onions.
A slice of pickle goes exceptionally well with this sandwich. This sandwich is amazingly delicious.
I'm going to be a hero at work next Tuesday morning. :-)
Until next time.
*The Word of the Day on August 9th, 2008: tittle-tattle.
