Archive for December, 2017

Barbecued Bear

{ December 31, 2017 @ 2:58 pm } · { Pat's Kitchen }
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A friend gave us a bear roast several weeks ago. I decided to freeze it until Christmas and make it a part of our Christmas festivities when the family was here. It would be something different and create conversation. You never know how people, especially young folks, will react to sometime like bear meat so I decided to keep it a secret and announce “after” they had eaten what it was. My plan worked great except the two boys did not take a serving. Ryan announced he doesn’t eat anything he doesn’t know what it is. Poor fellow. He missed out on a real treat.  Emily and Lauren responded with “they love bear meat”. Karla was the funniest. She rolled her eyes and responded with, “Grandma, I think I’m going to be sick”!!!  The food stayed down and she lived to see the light of the next day.  She did admit it was good when she didn’t know what it was.

The barbecue was very tasty.

If you are interested, here is how I fixed it.

I soaked the roast in salt water a few hours to help remove some of the game flavor and then put it in a roasting pan, covered with my brisket sauce, 1 cup chopped onions and baked at 325 for approximately 4 hours until it was fall apart tender. The leg roast weighed approximately 3 lbs.  It can also be done in a crockpot.

Brisket Sauce

Mix all ingredients together and pour over uncooked meat. This is enough to do a 3 lb. roast or brisket.

1 c. Water

3/4 c. Catsup

2 T. Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp. Chili Powder

1 tsp. Minced Garlic

1/2 tsp. Celery Salt

1/8 tsp. Black Pepper

1/4 c. Worcestershire Sauce

1 T. Vinegar

1/2 tsp. Dry Mustard

1/4 tsp. Red Pepper

1 T. Liquid Smoke (This is a very important ingredient and is found in the grocery store aisle by the Worcestershire Sauce)

1 tsp. Paprika

1 tsp. Salt

Note: the prepared meat with the sauce freezes excellent.

Two Good Samaritans

{ December 30, 2017 @ 6:26 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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Gene hauled a load of feeder calves to the livestock sale in Harrisonburg today which is 130 miles away.  It’s his least favorite market to go to as it is the furthest from us and the further you go, the more opportunity there is for something to go wrong and he also has to cross the mountain which is a hard pull for the truck. Now, if anything is going to go wrong, it is when you haul a load of cattle.  He wanted to sell one more load of calves this year and it was the only market open this week, in between Christmas and New Year.

In preparation to hauling the calves, yesterday he checked his pickup and trailer and plugged a small leak on a tire on the trailer. This morning the tire was seemed fine and had held pressure overnight. On the road (interstate) about 45 minutes from home he felt an ominous vibration and thump, thump, thump. He started pulling off the road and a truck zoomed by pointing at his trailer. The tire had shredded.

After surveying the situation, he decided to limp to the exit just ahead at Hadensville.  He pulled into a small country store and asked the clerk if there was anyone around who could fix a tire. Yes, Walter. He lives just behind the station. She would call him.

It is 10 AM and Walter is just getting out of bed but yes, he could help and would be right there. While waiting for Walter to come, a SUV pulled in and Gene thought it was Walter. But this guy’s name was Roger. Roger lived about a mile up the road and he had a full shop on his place to work on his bulldozers, complete with everything a mechanic needed except for a tire changer. Walter soon appears and he thinks he has a tire that will fit.  After conversation between Walter and Roger, Walter goes to get the tire and Roger leads Gene to his shop. Roger had an impact wrench and air hydraulic jack and they soon had the shredded tire off.  Walter’s tire was on a rim and had to be manually removed with tire irons and hammers and put on our trailer rim. That was a job! At one point they had a chuckle about three “older” men (62,65,68) struggling to mount the tire but they got the job done.  They charged him $40 for the tire and handed him a business card that said “two retired men”!  It turns out that Walter has worked for Roger for years. As Gene got back on the road they said,  “If you have anymore trouble on the road, give us a call.”

Gene was very grateful for Walter and Roger, two super nice strangers, who were “good Samaritans” and took time to come his aid.

 

 

 

Pocket Treasures

{ December 28, 2017 @ 9:12 pm } · { Everyday Life }
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A couple of weeks ago we were dressing to go to a funeral and Gene had to dust off his suit coat from the depths of the closet as he was one of the pallbearers. He doesn’t wear his coat much anymore as Sunday attire has gotten more informal. I started emptying his pockets and discovered numerous treasures which truly showed how seldom he wears the suit and how seldom he empties his pockets.

There were the funeral bulletins for Uncle Milford Hertzler in February of 1988,  Aunt Edna Hertzler in March of 1989, Uncle Arthur Hertzler in November of 1990 and Uncle Dewitt Heatwole in December 1993.  There was the high school graduation program and napkin for our son Keith in 1994 and a map to the wedding reception on the Annabel Lee River Boat for my first cousin Cathy Reed and Brian Yoder.  The directions were not dated. Cathy, when were you married? And finally there were two name cards, his and mine,  for a banquet table in Kauai (one of the Hawaii Islands) when we had earned a trip with Purina in 1992.

I don’t normally keep any of the above papers but now suddenly they seem like treasures because they feel like antiques! Funeral bulletins were definitely the most popular item he saved, probably because that was when he wore his suit.

Pocket trash or pocket treasure?