Processing

Processing-hmm!

I guess there are all kinds of processing, such as processing a thought or the steps something goes through to its end, such as the process of a seed to fruit, veggie, or nut.
There is the process or way something is prepared or heaven forbid, being processed or summoned by the court.

Our means, however, is to process the end result of a good harvest season, or namely, Bill's deer from this past weeks hunt.

Since early morning, I have been stoking the wood stove in the garage to first take the frost out of the room and the subject, thus making it easier for step 2- turning harvest into a meal. I'm fortunate to have a canning area, with stove, frig, counters and equipment in a clean area out of my house, a huge plus in the processing department.

At this point, you will be glad my photo processing is nil, as putting up any kind of meat is not necessarily a pretty site.....depending on how you look at it., I suppose.

We will be making steaks, hamburger, loins kept whole for the grill, and cutting the remainder of the meat into bite-sized chunks that will be canned. The canned meat is then used in stroganoff, soups, stews, mincemeat, (processed a bit differently, but delicious in a pie), venison with gravy, sub sandwiches, etc, etc.

I know there are folks that do not eat meat, but our family grew up on living off the land, and we carry on that tradition today. You could say that our family has been "living Green" for centuries, long before Al Gore brought it to our attention.

We are proud to be able to supply food for our family from God's Good Earth and Field. It was meant to be that way., so we carry on.

We laugh when the gate gets knocked down in the garden, thinking how we are happy to let the deer have a munch here and there. Come fall, they are harvested, and we already have veggie venison stew all in one. Imagine that.

What a blessing when Bill gets his deer. If any of you ever have a 'hankering' for the best Venison Stew in the world, just go to Mama's......mercy, so lip-smacking and how grateful all of us kids are that she has taught us her little secrets.

A note about the hunt this past week...not only did Bill get his deer but he got to spend time with another Dear...his 15 yr. old granddaughter sat in his blind with him a couple of times. I asked Hannah if she saw anything. She said " No, but it didn't matter because she got to spend time with Grandpa, all by herself, and they had some great talks. " That is about as special a hunt as any.

Andy also took his son Sy, with him the last afternoon. He said he loved it because even tho they only saw red squirrels, he got to be quiet with Dad without his noisy little brother...lol. Special times for special people.
All parts of our Thanksgiving week, and we Are Thankful.

Thanks for listening to my babbling on about nuthin'
BlessYourHearts