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!