Salami

I made some venison salami over the weekend.  It turned out well.  It looks amazing and tastes great.  The texture is not quite perfect, but I can’t quite think of what might make it better.  Maybe it’s simply the use of venison instead of beef that makes it not quite like good deli salami.  I use about ½ venison and ½ fatty pork butt.  I adapt a recipe from Rytek Kutas’s book Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing.  It is sort of the sausage maker’s bible. 

I’m going goose hunting in the pasture in a little bit.  It’s 4:00 am now and I’ll probably go out there at about dawn.  It’s just so peaceful to sit in my blind and watch the sun rise.  The goose don’t really begin flying until an hour or more after the sun rises, but I just enjoy sitting out there.  There’s a little snow on the ground and the temperature has warmed up to about 30 degrees.  The last time I went out goose hunting the beef cow decided to get all friendly and cuddly with me.  Not actually such a good thing.  Cuddling with a 900 pound beef cow is kind of scary.  I eventually had to fire the shotgun into the air to get her to give me some space.  She was definitely invading my space.  I’ll make sure to feed the cows before I walk to the back of the pasture.

My wife read Psalm 139 to me last night before bed.  “O Lord, you have searched me and known me.”  The context of our conversation was that God knows us and loves us anyway.  I liked the verse, “I praise you , for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”  We are indeed wonderfully made.  I need to remember that.  I was feeling a little down on myself because I didn’t spend my time alone, while Jenny and the kids were gone, as productively as I would have liked.  I had imagined that I might spend my time in work and contemplation.  It didn’t really turn out that way.

Maybe I’ll take my camera out with me this morning.  I’ve been meaning to take some pictures of the farm in winter.  I’ve been a little remiss in the photograph department.

Sausage Making

The first of many rounds of sausage making. With the venison from this years deer and some pork fat I had in the freezer I made a simple breakfast sausage. I'm on a mission to finish processing the harvest and cleaning the house. Oh, and cleaning the barnyard too. I've vowed to stay home all weekend. No hunting or fishing. The second picture is one of Luna playing after the ducks had finished flying. She is such an amazing dog. Unfortunately there were no ducks for Luna to retrieve that day.

I have just been amazed at how blessed I am to have such a wonderful job. I had a great meeting with the parents of one of the children I work with. To watch a student go from a non-reader to a reader in such a short amount of time. He begs me to read with him when we are supposed to be doing math. It is hard to resist such a request.

I'm also going to spend some time with friends this weekend. Probably go to Mass with a friend too. I've been thinking a lot about my spirituality this week. Bouncing ideas off a friend of mine. Trying to find my way on that spiritual journey I am on. It has been a long and winding road, that's for sure. Until next time, stay mindful. Mindful of the beauty of every moment and every thought and every action.

venison bratwurst

Making venison bratwurst at the homestead today. Using last years venison and last years pork trimmings. I hope I am blessed with a deer soon because we are almost out of venison. We used to use the hand crank grinder, but when you are making 10 pounds or more of sausage at a sitting it really makes sense to use the electric version.

Recipe:
6 pounds venison
4 pounds fatty pork trimmings
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1.5 cups soy protein (as a binder)
4 Tbs. pickling salt
1+ Tbs Mace
1+ Tbs White Pepper
1+ Tbs Nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
hog casings

The most comprehensive book for beginning sausage making is the one written by Rytek Kutas, "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing."

Went out stump sitting and watching for deer last night. Didn't see any deer, but saw a beautiful great horned owl. Saw a flock of about 20 geese too. They start to fly over the Palouse at about this time of year. They can be called into decoys as they pass overhead between the river valley and the wheat fields.