Winter is Here
Since my last post, winter has returned to the hill country. A good dose of snow and temps in the single digits at night. The wind last week was 50 miles an hour, brutal on top of the hill where I write this blog. I wasn’t expecting winter to come quite so soon and it kind of caught me off guard. Temps are sopposed to get back in the 30s the next few days and I’m hoping to get caught back up. Today we have to put the chains on JD 4030. We are getting stuck spreading manure and moving hay. The winter birds have returned to the feeders up here, spending all day eating. Its always nice to see our old friends return, and some new ones too. The boys have such a love for the wild critters and love to look them up in their books. I’ve still got to cut up the deer. I like to hang mine for a few weeks, old fashioned ways are hard to break. I was waiting for a new saw blade to come in the mail when the temps dropped and the winds started. Needless to say, both deer froze solid! So as soon as its warm enough for me to spend time skining them out, I’ll be cutting them up and refreezing them. Some folks might wonder why I hang deer for so long. It makes them tender, here in the north country we can safely hang meat during this time of the year. If you find someone who dose not like venision they most likely ate some that was cut up the day after it was shot. Deer meat needs to hang, plain and simple. In fact, beef needs to hang as well. Don’t be afraid to let your meat hang if the temps are cold enough. Well, I’ve got to get back out the door, got work to be done. Till next time, keep your fires lit and water thawed.
December 9th, 2007 at 6:31 am
It sounds cold up there, but I would be willing to trade it for the ice down here. We butchered both our deer within twenty four hours and they are quite delicious. I believe hanging the meat helps tenderize the meat as the natural enzymes do their thing. We cut up our meat based on its tenderness – real tender, medium tender, and not so tender. The not so tender meat we pound the far (fire) out of, as our Ozarkian friend Richard Pulliam puts it. Once this ice storm lets up, which is to finish somewhere near Wednesday now, I’ll be returning the ride wagon we borrowed from him a few weeks ago, at which time I’ll get the venison sausage recipe. Stay warm!
December 9th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Hi Missouri Rev
We’re now getting the ice here, Praise God we made it home from church just ahead of it. Everything is coated with the stuff now, I’m not sure when its supposed to let up. I should have know if it was going to warm up we’d get rain instead of sunshine
Looking forward to getting the sausage recipe!