Two years and some change later . . .

I feel horrendously neglectful of the old blog. but what can you do? Sometimes life requires a little less introspection than a blog allows. We ended up buying a double-wide, which, I know, trashy as hell, but what can I say, I love it. We have home! On PineTop! With carpet and drywall and a no-shit furnace! While the plan is still to eventually wind up with something a little more permanent, I am pretty damn pleased with our little stubby double-wide so far.

Building (or lack thereof) Update

So, not much building happened out at PineTop in 2008, between several untimely passings and just general upheaval in the PineTop family.

But! 2009 is officially going to be awesome. No, really, I am willing it to be so. In a few weeks, we'll put in an order for lumber for the joists and siding girts, as well as sheet goods for flooring. It's happening! We may have even found a buyer for the poor old coal camp house!

Building our own house is terrifying, but also quite confidence-building. I would recommend pole building to anyone new to construction. It's all fairly simple and intuitive.

But don't worry, cob isn't totally out of the picture. There is a distinct possibility of a cob addition in our future! And yes, I will be calling on you (yes, you!) to lend your dirty little feet to the cob stomping!

And yeah, that's an old picture, sorry if I posted it before.

Trashy Foods I Have Loved, Part II

Yeah, I know, it's been over a month, blah blah blah, yada yada yada.

Lets talk trash. Specifically, the chicken-fried variety. Because this has officially Rocked my World.

Chicken-Fried Deer Steak

-2 Tbsp. oil
-2 Tbsp. butter
-4 small deer steaks
-1 egg
-1 c. milk
-1 c flour
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/4 tsp. pepper
- a few shake of garlic powder
- a few shakes of seasoning salt

Heat butter an oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
In a small bowl, beat egg and milk together with a fork will combined.
In a pie plate, combine dry ingredients.
Place steaks between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet till 1/4 of an inch thick. Dip steaks in milk and egg, then dredge in flour mixture. Place in hot skillet (I fried them in two batches) and fry till golden brown, flipping once. This took about 4 minutes per side for me. Place steaks on a plate lined with paper towels (to absorb some of that sweet, sweet grease). I then put the plate in a 250 degree oven to keep the steaks warm.

Once the steaks are done, it's gravy time! Add about 1/4 c. flour to the drippings in the skillet (still over med-high heat), whisking constantly. After about 3 minutes, when the roux is golden brown, add about 2 cups of room-temperature milk (if you add cold milk to the hot skillet, you could possibly crack your skillet, which would be lame), still whisking. Add about 1/2 tsp. salt and a ton of pepper. Keep whisking till the gravy thickens, then taste for seasonings.

Now smother that fried steak in gravy goodness!

What makes this trashy? Certainly not the meat itself. I mean no disrespect to the little buck we are consuming.

I think "fried" and "smother with gravy" are the keys to trashdom here.

Enjoy!

Deer: Accomplished!

Fuzzy got a deer on Saturday morning! A little button buck, bedded down in the snow. We hung it from the clothesline pole in the backyard and got to processing on Sunday morning (it was too warm to let it hang longer).

Processing was so interesting! I really love seeing how everything works, the different muscle groups and ligaments. I got totally into it, dividing the meat into chops and roasts and big piles for grinding and stews. Fuzzy ground meat with our fabulous KitchenAid meat grinder, a very cool little machine, then I weighed and packaged the meat into meal-sized portions swaddled in cling wrap and freezer paper. Now it's all labeled and packed into the basement freezer.

We set aside the tenderloin and marinated it overnight in a little Italian dressing. This evening, Fuzzy grilled the little slabs, and it was delicious! Tender and tasty!
I am so proud of us! And also grateful to the little buck. Thank you for the nourishment, little buck.

Cranktastic

Just a little update to let everyone know I'm cranky as hell. No particular reason, just generally dissatisfied with anything and everything I'm in contact with at the moment. I know, I'm a sweetheart. Fuzzy is a lucky man.
Bitchy? Check. Ungrateful? Check. Generally snarly? Double check.
I don't know if it's some seasonal shit or what, but I am deep in the funk.
Any suggestions to help me pull my head out of my ass before Fuzzy moves into the camper?

The photo is a darter (Rainbow? Not sure) we caught at a workshop last Spring. It is also how I feel right now. Put me back in the goddamn water!

Woodland Ungulates:1, Bipedals:0

So, it's the end of buck season, and no buck. That's ok. We still have till the 31st to get a doe, and you know what they say, "You can't eat antlers." Or maybe that's just what us buckless folk say.
Regardless, Fuzzy had a good time in the woods. He got to spend time with his brother and his friends and everyone came back unscathed (deer included, hehe).
In other news, well, there isn't any news. Things are ticking along at a fairly even keel here: work, home, eat, sleep, rinse, repeat. After such a gut-wrenching year, it's nice to have the routine back. I'm sure I'll be pulling my hair out by Spring, though. Time to start planning a road trip!

Deer Flesh!

So in a twist of events, my vegetarian husband has decided to take up hunting. He hunted regularly as a kid, but stopped in his 20's. He's out at the camp right now, preparing to wake up at 4 am and sit in the tree stand with his dad's .270 for the opening of rifle season.

And that's what I think it comes down to. Fuzzy's dad passed away a few months ago. It wasn't sudden or unexpected, but it was hard. And gearing up for hunting season has brought Fuzzy and his brother together and made them feel closer to their father, who loved anything even remotely related to the outdoors.

Fuzzy has decided that he will now eat venison, or any other meat we hunt or raise ourselves. A wonderful friend from Fayetteville has come into town, also for rifle season, and has promised to teach me how to "process" the deer. Is it weird that I'm actually excited to learn? Tomorrow I'm buying a vacuum sealer the meat grinder attachment for the KitchenAid mixer.

This should be interesting!

(Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions for cooking venison, now would be a good time to share them!)