Halloween fun

Youngest daughter Jessamyn all dressed up for Halloween trick or treating. She is twelve and this is probably one of the last years she will do this. I can't believe my kids are getting so old.

Cooked 1st turkey

Made the tiniest turkey last night to eat during the Ranger World Series game. It wasn't a great night for Cliff Lee, but the bird was very good. The only disconcerting thing about cooking it was when I removed the packet of giblets and neck from the cavity, and the neck had a lot of blue in the skin. It looked just like my turkeys, but nothing like what you buy in the store!

When my sister and I cut up some of the chickens we had processed, I decided to keep the necks, backs and wing tips for stock. So last night when we cooked the turkey, I thought we should not waste the bones from that bird either. It was already roasted from cooking it for our meal, so it wasn't that hard to make turkey stock. In fact, now I feel guilty from all those Thanksgivings when we carefully packaged up all the bits and bones and froze them until trash pick up. What a waste!

Instructions for Homegrown Turkey Stock.

Step 1: Order chicks in December for May delivery. Brood them, keep them from overheating and dying from not drinking water, from drowning in horse troughs, and as they get older, from the males killing each other in fights for at least 5 months. Longer is better for heritage birds. Lastly, either butcher them yourself, or find a local FDA approved processor. I can recommend one near Greenville, but it costs $10.50 per turkey.

Okay, once you get past step 1, the rest is EASY!

Take what is left after you carve the turkey, and put it to a large stockpot and cover with water.

Sautee a big onion, 8-12 garlic cloves, 3-4 big thick carrot chunks and a chopped bunch of celery all together until brown. Add to pot with turkey.

Also add bay leaves and any other seasonings you like such as dried sage, thyme, marjoram, etc. If using fresh herbs, you will not add them until the last 30-45 minutes of cooking. Salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer everything for four to six hours.

Remove vegetables, puree and add back to pot.

Remove bay leaves and all turkey bones and solids.

Cool liquid to room temp before refrigerating overnight.

The next day skim off the fat and strain through cheesecloth before ladeling into freezer containers. Freeze until used.

What you are left with is a dark brown, aromatic liquid that smells like roast turkey that is SO much better than the chemically tasting stocks that you buy off the shelves. Now you are ready for soups, gravies and other recipes requiring stock.

Shall we try to make our own noodles for the soup?

Bon Appetit!

VA XC District Meet

You're never too old that your daddy can't help you tie your shoes! Watching VA XC run district in Celina. GO PANTHERS!!! Savannah was coming off the flu in this run, but still did great. We are very proud of her.

Beef order

I was very excited to get this order. I got a new 19.7 chest freezer with nifty dividers and baskets and I thought I could put the meat in it and have enough room to get a clear eye where everything was at, but no. I couldn't even fit everything in here, and so one type of cut ended up getting buried under another type of cut, and we had to add some to the smaller poultry freezer and even the stand up freezer to make it all fit.

What I noticed from my rush unpacking job was that things weren't double wrapped. Guess I neglected to request that, but it might be good thing. I can actually see what I am picking out for dinner the next day without unwrapping it. That's good because when you think you have a big piece of meat and it actually has a large bone in it, you end up shorted.

There weren't as many roasts, pikes peak, rump roast, etc. with the exception of lots of chuck roasts. I think this was because we asked for some of the roasts to be added to the hamburger patties which are great, and thicker at 3/4 of an inch a piece. There are also 210 lbs of them, which makes for 280 patties! There were also a lot of club steaks, or delmonico steaks which are supposedly good and I can't wait to try them. We also requested briskets, hangar steak, flank steak of pinwheels and skirt steak for fajitas. I've been putting together a binder of recipes I plan to test over the winter and I'm even thinking of writing a cookbook about it....what do you think of that?

To sum up the Dexter statistics: the short legged one was 780 lbs on the hoof and 495 lbs processed, that is 63.46% dress out. The long legged one was 820 lbs on the hoof and 500 lbs processed, which is 60.97% dress out. Both are VERY good, and my best to date. It looks like the short legged ones have a more efficient dress out rate, and that could be just the difference in leg bone.

The receipt break down is as follows:

Dexter 1 (short) 780 lbs live weight/495 lbs processed

Processing .55 per lb 272.25

Slaughter charge 40.00

Patties 90 lbs at .50 lb 45.00

Tenderizing cutlets 9.00

Boneless sirloin 4.00

Misc. disposal 5.00

Total 375.25

Dexter #2 (long) 820 lbs live weight.500 lbs processed

Processing .55 per lb 275.00

Slaughtering charge 40.00

Patties 130 lbs at .50 per lb 65.00

Tenderizing cutlets 9.00

Bonelss sirloin 4.00

Misc. disposal 5.00

Total 398.00

Hornworm Taco

Leetle rain

Best rain we have had in a while. Forecast is for a mild and dry winter. El Nina weather. Just enough to get the wheat and rye up though.

Sweet girls

Sugar and spice and everything nice. Cousins playing in the creek.