She's crafty

I love Halloween. I'm not really into dressing up these days, or gore, or spooky stuff, but I am into October and Halloween is in October so in turn, I like Halloween. There is one thing I absolutely HATE and that is carving pumpkins. It's messy, and frustrating, and stupid...because of the frustration. So, I'm I selling my case of loving Halloween or what?

For the past couple of years I have been invited to my sister-in-law Kelsey’s house for and annual pumpkin decorating party. It's pretty much awesome! I guess her aunt started this tradition YEARS before you would see it in a Martha Stewart magazine and it has just stuck around. Aunt Suzie (Kelsey's aunt) is a talented florist and lives on a large piece of land in Oregon. This time of year everything she has tended to in the yard starts to die which makes for perfect pumpkin decorating. We use staples from a staple gun...both short and long to keep the vegetation in place by pushing the staple directly into the pumpkin. How easy is that? The hard part is trying to be creative....this year I did pretty good.
 

I always make two.  One for Steve and one for me.

Old meat, new meat, one meat, two meat

Mid October has snuck up on me like a court date (kidding..never been to court). I couldn't think of anything else that sneaks up on me that is fit to print so a "court date" will have to do. Steve (he's my husband) has already been deer hunting in our area of the world and finished up a successful hunt for Antelope in Montana and will be well on his way to Washington to hunt deer. This usually is the time of year to start making room in our chest freezer in the garage. We still have some meat from last year that will need to move over to one side to allow the meat from this year start the freezing process. Thanks to my website http://www.recipesfromthewild.com/ and my testing of recipes I have used up so much meat this year that the whole "making room" process won't be a headache.

A few weeks ago when hunting season actually sunk in and Steve's rifle began greating me at the front door I started thinking about what sort of meat will show up to fill our chest freezer this year. That thought stimulated a few other brain cells to come alive and I found myself reminiscing about my culinary school days. I had remembered a few important things I learned about thawing and storing meat while attending Western Culinary Institute in Portland Oregon. I thought I might share those things with you and maybe make sure I write it down in case those brains cells that stimulated me to remember what I learned don't disappear after age...... or too many beers.

1

Properly package your meat to prevent freezer burn. Freezer burn can compromise the quality of the meat. If you wrap with butcher paper I suggest to over wrap it. Let's use an elk roast as an example....wrap your roast once in paper, then wrap what you just wrapped, and maybe do it one more time, tape it firmly closed and then label it properly. If you have time and a scale I also suggest weighing your roast, ground meat, or cube steaks, before rapping them. I suggest 1 pound each. It makes it so easy when cooking with a recipe that calls for 1 pound of ground venison to have it ready to cook.

2

Always clearly date and identify each item you are going to lay to rest in the freezer. Example: Steve's Elk 10/8/2009 Backstrap 1lb.

3

The FIFO method. This acronym means "First In, First Out". It's suggested to use older (dated, like last year) items first then start using the new stuff however, I don't always follow that rule. I get pretty excited when a new animal is brought home and I just might cook up some of the backstrap. It's just "suggested" so no harm, right???

4

Defrosting: There are a couple ways to do this. If you plan a meal for the weekend remove your meat from the freezer, place in a bowl or dish to catch any blood, and put it in the fridge for 1-2 days, depending on size. Sometimes when I take a 1 pound package of steaks out the night before I'm going to cook it, it's not thawed entirely and I get really frustrated cause I'M HUNGRY, and that is why I suggest 2 days. If you are cooking in a hurry (another one of my classic moves) defrost in the microwave and ALWAYS use it right away. Bacteria will be inactive when frozen at 0 degrees but once you expose that meat to a warmer temperature you are asking for a nice case of the runs....or even worse.

5

Make sure your freezers temperature is at 0 degrees at all times.

6

When in doubt, throw it out. If something doesn't look or smell right seriously, just throw it out.

Now that you took a little time machine back with me to culinary school let's talk about some recipe ideas.

If anyone out there is like my husband and myself you have probably already devoured the good stuff and all that is left at the bottom of that freezer is ground venison or cube steaks. We have to eat it, it can't go to waste but man, I really don't like chewing through cube steak and ground venison can be so boring. Thanks to http://www.recipesfromthewild.com/ I can go online and check out some recipes that inspire me to cook those boring, chewy, cube steaks. When it comes to cooking I am inspired by others and their innovative ideas. It's not like we can grab a fancy cooking magazine and follow a recipe for steak and use venison instead. It just doesn't come out the same, let's face it, we have to be a little more ingenious then the everyday carnivore.

Here are a few of my personal recipes and fan favorites, by fan I mean my husband (number 1 fan) and a few other recipes members from http://www.recipesfromthewild.com/ submitted. These may inspire you to cook what's on the bottom of your chest freezer.


Ground Venison Recipes:


Lasagna with ground elk or deer
Submitted by: BHonan (yours truly)
click on this link for the recipe: http://www.recipesfromthewild.com/single_recipe.php?id=86&cur_cat_id=2

Venison Chili-New Mexican Style
Submitted by: BHonan (yours truly)click on this link for the recipe: http://www.recipesfromthewild.com/single_recipe.php?id=37&cur_cat_id=2

Game Meatballs
Submitted by: BHonan (yours truly)
click on this link for the recipe:http://www.recipesfromthewild.com/single_recipe.php?id=85&cur_cat_id=2

Venison Sausage
Submitted by: msimila
click on this link for the recipe:http://www.recipesfromthewild.com/single_recipe.php?id=57&cur_cat_id=2
Venison Breakfast Bowl
Submitted by: eequinn
click on this link for the recipe:http://www.recipesfromthewild.com/single_recipe.php?id=143&cur_cat_id=2


Cube Steak Recipes:

Humble Pie: No, not really. I'm sorry but I don't have any great cube steak recipes because I try to avoid it at all costs. Is there any recipes out there that someone can submit and share on http://www.recipesfromthewild.com/ that might change my mind? I think you all should take that as a challenge, submit your best cube steak recipe in order to persuade my taste buds.....GAME ON!

Ego wrapped salmon fillet

For those of you who fish, have husbands that fish, or live and work in an area that revolves around fishing you may have known, or read somewhere that we here in the Pacific Northwest have had a kick butt season. My husband had gone out almost every weekend salmon fishing in the Pacific Ocean since the day the season opened. This year had been pretty bountiful and if you do the math his limit is two a day, twice a week, four fish a week, for weeks and weeks (give or take), that's a lot of freakin' fish (I don't do math)! I feel a little guilty complaining about "all the amazing fresh salmon". I should remember to feel blessed that I have all this fresh fish but really, when two large salmon arrive at our house ready to be cut and vacuum sealed each day of the weekend, I get this tired feeling all over my body. We don't have a fancy fish cleaning station, and my hands will smell for hours afterwards and I even might find a scale or two located in a strange place on my body. Does anyone feel this way, or is it just me?

One night a few months ago I was eating a salmon steak Steve grilled and I found myself carefully chewing my mouthful afraid my tongue might get stabbed by a bone. I thought, why don't I just fillet the next salmon before vacuum sealing them up so cooking and eating can be a little more enjoyable? What a great idea, I'm a genius!

So, the week after my brilliant revelation Steve brings home a few salmon and sticks them in the fridge. I set aside some time to diligently fillet and vacuum seal our bounty. I sharpen the knives, set the cutting board out, got a small bag ready for bones and other scraps, turned on some good fish filleting music (Gloria Estefan) place the salmon on the sacrificing block, and then I just stood there, looking at this headless, tailless fish...................I just realized that I didn't know how to fillet a salmon. You have to understand that I'm a culinary school graduate and that very moment made me question why I'm still paying off my loan. I remember seeing a salmon being filleted but I don't think I ever did it myself being that my ghetto culinary school had 40 students to one teacher. Plus, I went into pastries and worked mainly in the bakery. After a few minutes telling my ego it was going to be okay I called Steve's mother on the phone to ask if she could help me. That woman knows how to do everything....seriously, she does.

So she arrives with her own knife and cutting board ands walks me through the steps. The whole time dismissing her own amazing capabilities. She does a great job and I give it a shot after her demonstration. I struggled a little and hacked that fillet of fish into a sad crumbly mess, it was like pouring lemon juice on a cut, "Chef Bethel didn't know how to fillet a salmon" and when she tries it looked like a blind person with one arm did it (I have nothing against blind people, FYI. Some of my best friends are blind! or amputees). I knew very well that this fillet method was not "professional" by all means but guess what, half the boats out in the ocean don't go home to gourmet kitchens. They go home to dogs running around, pushing stuff off the counter to make room, chopping and freezer bagging, and then they lay the fish to rest in a big chest freezer in the garage, am I right?

Here is my own mini picture demonstration with written directions so I will never forget. When you view this demo the directions are located below the pictures.

1. First you need to have your husband clean it, then very carefully remove all the fins.

2. Make a shallow slice with your (very sharp) knife down the back of the Salmon, following the backbones. This cut will act as a guide so you don't need to make it very deep.

3. Once the initial "guide" cut has been created go back to where you started and slice a little deeper pulling back the fish fillet as you slice away the meat from that middle bone (not sure what it is, maybe a backbone, or a spine bone thing...whatever).

4. See that round bone thing in the middle of the fish? That is what you are to follow with your knife. Just keep cutting, following the bones and pulling the fish away as you do so.

6. Take the knife and slice under the bones you just sliced over and along with the first fillet.

7. As you slice under the bones pull up on the bone flap. Eventually the whole bone flap (technical word) will be completely removed.

Here are the finished fillets. The directions may not be very clear or helpful but the pictures will at least give you a visual.

The blackberries are coming!

When I was born and up to the age of 8 years old I grew up in Olympia Washington. Back then it was much different then now. Yard Birds and Kmart were the only super stores I remember and now it's jammed with Targets and Walmarts on every corner. We lived on 5 acres with lots of room to play, a large garden tended by my mother and her friend who shared the bounty it produced, a few chickens, hazelnuts, strawberries, raspberries, and lots and lots of blackberries. Unlike the raspberries and strawberries the blackberries grew wild and I remember picking and filling 5 gallon buckets. My dad said I was the best blackberry picker in the world and silly me, I bought it and man did I pick a lot of berries. My mom canned almost everything out of our backyard and we had a cool dark pantry in the garage filled with everything you could imagine in large mason jars. Canning was just a part of my life growing up so it was only natural that it rubbed off on me a little.

The past few years I have been picking blackberries and canning jam. The first year I made a batch I was surprisingly successful, thank God or I would have been to discourage to attempt another batch the following year. I now get the jam jitters towards the end of July.
Steve and I will sometimes climb a logging road just outside of Cannon Beach Oregon around August. He of course is bear hunting and I'm busy picking blackberries. Steve basically hikes with a gun and honestly we have never seen a bear. We do however see a few signs of bear, especially around the blackberry bushes.

I was just gazing at our backyard this evening and to my surprise I noticed our blackberry bushes are starting to lose their blossoms and that tiny form of a green berry is popping through. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Saturday July 4, 2009

I have so many childhood memories linked to the July 4th. It was yet another excuse to get together as a family cook, eat, and celebrate. Our small little town would celebrate with a walking parade, a pancake feed at the Legion, and lots of lots of bonfires on the beach.

Due to some changing in the family dynamics, a few economic setbacks, and my brother and I both starting our own family we have slowly started to change up the 4th of July traditions.

The traditions are changing but the food and family is still there. Yesterday morning my husband woke up way early to go fishing for salmon in the ocean and I woke up much later to have an open house on one of my listing (selling real estate is just one of my many jobs). The conditions were perfect. Blue sky, lots of hustle and bustle, and almost no wind. Steve rolled home with a truck full of happy fisherman and each got their limit.

I managed to work a little and then finished icing some cupcakes I made for the 4th of July.

The recipe I used was a red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting and fresh blueberries.

Now, I had never made a red velvet cake before and honestly never looked at a recipe. All I remember was the movie Steel Magnolias with that red armadillo grooms cake. To my surprise it was so flavorful and rich. I made a simple cream cheese frosting and finished with a cluster of big plump blueberries.

Around dinner time I headed to my brothers where we made alder smoked, cedar planked salmon he caught earlier that morning. All in all it was a great day filled with family and food, just a little different but I guess it's part of life, creating new traditions.

Another summer night at the Honan's

Summer has arrived and man is it amazing this year. The coast in Oregon always has unpredictable weather and each summer that goes by is different then the last. Some summers are sunny and warm, some are sunny and chilly, or some are cloudy and rainy. This summer just happens to be nice and warm and sunny with a slight breeze to cool off the heat of the day. Keep in mind warm by Oregon coast standards are much cooler then what people might expect.

With all the sun and warmth and looooong nights Steve and I have been mountain bike riding on some of the logging roads close to our home. I enjoy climbing a hill and admiring the foxgloves and Steve is busy scouting for animals. We have gone twice in about a week and have had spotted two bucks and one bull with a bunch of cows. I love that Steve and I can share time doing something we love (mountain biking) and each gaining our own personal experience.

Our rides are so beautiful and at the top of the hills we climb Steve and I get to enjoy a panoramic view of the ocean and town below.

Aaahhhhhh Oregon.

Fathers day and a minus tide

Living on the Oregon Coast sure does lend itself to give me a bounty of foods to cook with. Just this morning there was a clam tide and my husband jumped out of bed at 5am to pick up his mom and dig a limit of razor clams. I of course slept very nicely in the middle of the bed while Steve was on the beach digging his heart out. I wake up to him cleaning razors in the sink and my mind starts to race on what recipe I want to try to create with this limit. The usual breaded and deep fried is our favorite but we are both trying to eat just a little better this summer and as we get older have to really watch how much fried food goes in our diet and exercise just a little more.

Steve has a great idea to bread them with ritz crackers and then bake them instead of frying em'. I think I may try egg whites, maybe rice flour, and panko, then baking.

Ooooh, I can't wait to see which one comes out the tastiest (probably mine).

That.....is just another look into a normal day at the Honans. Next weekend it might be sturgeon (I hope!).