Thanksgiving Poop on a Shingle

The joys of Holiday Left Overs - I spent today running errands and stacking the last 3 cord of wood Alex and I split. After cleaning up my amazing wife made my favorite left overs meal, Poop on a Shingle. Of course with Thanksgiving having just past instead of beef we used shredded turkey meat and left over gravy. She seasoned it with red pepper flakes and an extra large helping of fresh ground black pepper, once it was heated through she thickened it with a little flour and served it over country style toast. Yummy for my Tummy!

We enjoyed our dinner with a glass of Sparkling Apple Raspberry cider and one thing was guaranteed there are no leftovers from this meal!

Simple Sandwich - Makes Mouths Happy

There is nothing fancy about this post but it is a meal that stirs my memories as the flavors dance on my taste buds. As a kid I was usually the runner when we were butchering deer - I would take different cuts of meat and run them into the kitchen where I would fry them up in a hot cast iron skillet with nothing more than a little butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Each year that I am blessed with harvesting a deer we enjoy the tenderloins either that night or the next but my favorite meal is the meat we cook while cutting and packaging the meat. Yesterday Rebecca was out shopping and the kids and I had venison sandwiches. Country style white bread with thin sliced venison cooked perfectly, pink in the middle and still dripping with juice! All I can say is...Amazing!

Thanksgiving Feast and Black Friday Traditions

Thanksgiving is always a day of food indulgence and family traditions and I have the honor of making the turkey every year. This year I made 2 turkeys so there would be lots of left overs and we skipped making a ham. Each and every person added something special and delicious to our family feast and for that I am truly Thankful!

 The smaller of the 2 Turkeys

 My favorite side - Olives!

 The Big Turkey!

 Of course there was Pumpkin Pie

 Uncle Fred's Homemade whipped cream

 Oh ya - Cherry Pie

It wouldn't be the holidays without Chocolate cream pie - Don't fret - the cream was added after the picture!

Friday

While many people find their savings by getting up early and going shopping with the masses I have my own traditions for saving money on Black Friday and of course it's food related! Next to the leftovers the next best thing that comes from cooking turkeys is the homemade broth I make from the bones. Every time we cook a turkey or a chicken I take the carcass and break it up cover it with cold water and bring it to a boil. I  strain the liquid into a separate pot and do it all over again. I usually make a full day of this and will refill the pot of bones several times. Each time you boil them you will end up with a little different stock. The first time will be more clear with a high fat content, the 2nd and 3rd time you will end up with more of the creamy collagen from the bones which will give your stock a silky feeling in your mouth with a great creamy flavor. I usually mix all the batches together prior to packing them for the freezer.

 Waiting for it to boil...

 The finished stock - Beautiful and Tasty!

The next tradition I have around Thanksgiving week is the processing of Ariel's and my deer. After skinning the deer I debone it so that the meat doesn't get the strong flavor from the bone marrow. I put the meat into my large cooler and finish processing it into steaks, stew meat, ground burger and of course a roast or two.  

 Boneless Deer

 The most amazing meat a boy could ask for.

 Making sandwich steaks for Alex

 Thankful for my kids - because I still use a crank grinder

 They take turns - get it turns, because they turn the crank!

 Yes - they are mine, they are real and all natural :)

Packaged and ready for the freezer

Not only do we save money by filling the freezer with fresh homemade broth and organic venison we get to enjoy the savings throughout the entire year while eating some of the best food anyone could ask for!

Shanty Cellars

I am not a huge consumer of alcoholic beverages but I do like a glass of wine with dinner every now and then, a sip of good quality whiskey every now and then, and especially a flavorful craft style beer with friends and always in moderation. You can imagine my excitement when my cousin Kim and her friend Debbie decided to delve into the world of home brewing and wine making. They realized that for the most part beer making seemed to be dominated by men and Kim wanted to give it a shot and prove that beer can be good, if not better with a woman's touch. Debbie not being the biggest fan of beer decided that she would start making homemade wine and with that it didn't take long until Shanty Cellars was formed!

While I like to share my life in words and pictures here on my blogs my cousin decided that she would share her journey via step by step videos which can be seen on the Shanty Cellars channel of YouTube . (Just click on their name and you will be magically taken to view their videos)

In early October the first of their brewing equipment arrived and it didn't take long for the fun to begin and now here we are mid November and the first batch of beer is ready to be sampled and I being the first subscriber to their channel informed them that my opinion mattered and I would be more than willing to donate my time and taste buds to give an honest critique of each and every product they complete. I know I am a kind person - what can I say my parents raised me well! 

Being the amazing person that she is Kim decided to color outside the lines with her first brewing and ended up substituting the dextrose with brown sugar resulting in a brown sugar lager. I will admit we were all a bit nervous about her decision to stray from the proven recipe but I can now say with no hesitation, "Well played Kim, well played!"

After much anticipation I finally got the call inviting me and my lovely wife to the inaugural taste testing! My only regret of the evening is that in all the excitement I never took a picture of either of our hosts which I discovered while reviewing the photos this morning. Kim and Debbie - be prepared because next time I see you I'm going to be like the paparazzi, your destined to be famous now ya know!

My lovely wife smiling despite my constant intrusion with the new camera!

The quiet corner of Shanty Cellars

Upon our arrival there was a nice spread of finger foods which included several different cheeses and crackers, a bread bowl with dill dip and 2 different styles of cubed bread for dipping, hot pepper jelly and cream cheese, pretzels and horseradish marmalade spread, veggies with hummus, mixed nuts and a great cookie platter with after dinner mints on the side. 

Once we were settled in our host brought us out frosty pub glasses and the wait was finally over - it was beer thirty! 

And let me assure you it was well worth the wait - There was great color, aroma and flavor. Just enough carbonation which resulted in a well balanced, flavorful, aromatic brew which would be enjoyable with a meal, at a hot summer cookout, or just as it is after a long day at work. But for us it was much more because we were enjoying it with family and friends.

So here is to a great beginning of Shanty Cellars, I wish you well with your endeavour and may all your brews be a success, Cheers! Oh and don't forget to call when the next batch is ready, I'll make the food!

Insalata di pollo alla griglia

That's right, Grilled Chicken salad in the winter time! If there is one thing I have impressed upon my family is that there are no seasonal boundaries to a delicious meal. I love to use my grill in the winter time and eat a hearty stew in the middle of summer. While we are often restricted to purchasing inferior produce during the winter months the options available at the local grocery stores has come a long way from when I was a kid.

Tonight I pounded out a couple of fresh chicken breasts and seasoned them with garlic, pepper, oregano, parsley, rosemary and thyme and cooked them on a hot griddle. I realize that this isn't really Grilled Chicken but I love using a griddle or frying pan for salad chicken. It cooks evenly, you don't burn the herbs and the chicken comes out juicy with a crisp, golden exterior.

My salad consisted of a head of romaine lettuce, some torn spinach leaves, carrots, grape tomatoes, celery, capers, assorted olives, thin shavings of provolone cheese and topped off with slices of the chicken breasts and roasted peanuts. Not only is this dinner delicious it is one of my sons favorite meals, much like Kix cereal this dinner was kid tested and Mother approved!

Dinner A La Ariel

As those who read my other blog know my daughter Ariel enjoys hunting as much as I do. Yesterday was one of the state Youth hunter days and I am PROUD to say that for the 3rd year Ariel has helped fill our freezer with fresh venison. As is our tradition the first meal we eat after harvesting a deer is a tenderloin dinner. Because we had dinner planned last night we put off cooking these tender, tasty treats until tonight. 

 After  searing the tenderloins in a hot pan I transferred them to a 450*F oven for 5 minutes. I removed them from the oven, placed them on a plate and loosely covered them to let the meat rest for 5 more minutes. I sliced them and served them with sweet grape tomatoes, slices of fresh mozzarella cheese, coffee spice bread and pomegranate arils. Alex isn't a big fan of fresh mozzarella (I still love him despite this) so he opted for sliced pepper jack cheese. 

As always the meat was tender and delicious - Thank you daughter for helping provide our family with a freezer full of healthy meat that we get to enjoy throughout the year!