Tapping our silver maple tree 2021

 Time to tap our silver maple tree 2021. Click on the link to view the video I created for this simple process

https://www.tiktok.com/@chefpshort/video/6934809350041095430?lang=en&is_copy_url=0&is_from_webapp=v1&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6925466957128025606

Coming soon Wisconsin Venison Shepherd's pie

Venison chili after spending a few hours outside hunting

Winter in Wisconsin can be incredibly cold and yet one of the most exhilarating experiences.  Today I hunted in our holiday hunt and tomorrow we are hoping to go skijoring (click on the link if you want to see skijoring on the farm)!  Making sure we have a good pot of venison chili on the stove for our winter activities is always a plus! 

Venison Chili1 
Yield: 3 1/2 quarts
Ingredients

5 lbs venison stew meat (shank, and other tough cuts)

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1 large onion diced

2 stalks of celery diced

2 teaspoons of cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons dried chipotle powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika 

1 teaspoon ground pepper

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

4 bay leaves

2 28 ounces cans of diced tomatoes

2 quarts of beef stock

1/4 pound dried cranberry beans soaked and cooked

3 tablespoons adobe sauce

Finish 

Queso fresco crumbled 

Fresh cilantro ripped up

Corn tortillas warmed

Fresh limes

Method:

1. Place all of the meat into a large bowl. Combine all of the spices and salt and mix with the meat thoroughly. Refrigerate over night covered. 
2. Heat a large pot, I like to use my cast iron dutch oven, and add the vegetable oil. Brown the seasoned stew meat in the pot.  When you are finished browning the meat add all of the remaining ingredients to the pot, except for the finish ingredients.  Simmer for approximately 3 hours or more.  Check on it throughout the process, stirring and checking to make sure it is not sticking or burning on the bottom. 
3. Serve with limes, to squeeze on the chili, and crumbled queso fresco. I like warm corn tortillas to dip into the chili. 

Chocolate pot creme

 If you grew up eating chocolate pudding; you want this recipe, it is ten times better than any pudding recipe, lol!  Your family will thank afterwards for making this delicious classic dessert! 

 

Chocolate Pot Crème

Yield: 6 to 8

Ingredients                                                                                                                        Amounts

High-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped                                                                      9 ounces

Whole milk                                                                                                                         1 1/2 cups

Heavy cream                                                                                                                       1 1/2 cups

Egg yolks                                                                                                                             6 large

Granulated sugar (add an extra tablespoon if using bitter chocolate)                                 5 tablespoons

Salt                                                                                                                                      1/4 teaspoon

Confectioners' sugar                                                                                                           1 tablespoon

Method:

1.       Place the chocolate in a blender. Whisk the milk, 1 cup cream, egg yolks, granulated sugar and salt in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula and almost boiling, 5 to 6 minutes.

2.       Immediately pour the milk mixture over the chocolate in the blender. Cover and hold the lid with a thick kitchen towel; blend until combined and smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender as needed. Divide the chocolate mixture among ramekins or small cups and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

3.       Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream and the confectioners' sugar with a mixer or in the blender until soft peaks form. Top the chilled pots de crème with whipped cream.

Granola

 Granola is one of those foods that are incredibly easy to prepare and allows for some interesting flavor profiles. This recipe is definitely easy to prepare and can work well as a dessert topping, breakfast cereal and energy bars! 

 Granola

3 cups rolled oats (not instant)

3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup small-dice dried fruit

1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw or toasted nuts or seeds

Method:

1.       Combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, honey, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Mix the ingredients together by rubbing together with your hands. Spread onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 250 Fahrenheit. When finished the oats should be dry and a mix of clumps and loose pieces.  Add dried fruit, nuts and or seeds. Cool and store in a dry air tight container. 

If you want to view an interview I did with NBC news 15 here in Wisconsin on making this granola click on the link below.

News Interview Making Granola

Ciabatta Bread

 Ciabatta bread is one of my favorites to make, it fun and tasty to eat!  Bread has so many wonderful qualities when fresh baked, the first and most obvious is the aroma, simply intoxicating!  I found this recipe a number of years ago and it has served me well.  

Ciabatta                                                                                                                                                 Makes 4 Loaves

Biga – Preferment made the day before (8 to 24 hour fermentation)

10 oz. Bread flour                                                                                                                                   
¼-teaspoon Instant OR Active dry yeast                                                                                                     
8 oz water, at room temperature

To make the biga:

Combine the flour, yeast, and water in a medium bowl. If using active dry yeast combine the yeast and water together and let stand for 5 minutes before adding the flour. Stir together until a uniform mass form, about 1 minute. Place biga in a 8 qt cambro with lid or tightly wrapped with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature ( 70 degrees F)  overnight (at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours).

Final Dough -

20 oz Bread flour                                                                                                                                          1 teaspoon instant OR active dry yeast                                                                                            

1 Tablespoon salt                                                                                                                                          12 oz Water, at room temperature                                                                                                                  4 oz Milk, at room temperature

To make the final dough:

Place the biga (made the day before) and ingredients for the final dough in a 12 qt Hobart mixing bowl. If using active dry yeast, first combine the yeast with the room temperature water and let sit for 5-10 minutes before adding to the rest of the ingredients.

Mix on lowest speed with paddle attachment until roughly combined and shaggy dough forms, about 1 minute; scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Continue mixing on first speed until the dough becomes a uniform mass that collects on the dough hook and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 4-6 minutes. Change to a dough hook and mix on second speed until the dough is smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes (dough will still be very sticky). Transfer to a oiled proof box or metal bowl covered and let rise at room temperature until double in volume, about 1 hour.

Spray bowl scrapper with nonstick cooking spray; partially fold risen dough over itself by gently lifting and fold edge of dough towards middle. Turn bowl or proof box 90 degrees and fold again, edge of the dough to the middle of the dough. Turn dough again and fold dough 6 more times (total of 8 turns). Cover again and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat folds (8 turns total) and let rise till double in volume, about 30 minutes longer.

Preheat convection steam oven to 450 F at least 30 minutes before baking. Line 2 half sheet pans with parchment paper.

Turn dough out onto well-floured table. Gently shape dough into a rectangle and cut into quarters. Gently press each rectangle out to 12 X 6 inch rectangle. Fold into thirds and place seam side down onto a parchment lined half sheet pan. Shape the rest of the dough the same and place two loaves on each parchment lined sheet pan. Dust tops with flour and cover with plastic wrap. Proof for 20-30 minutes at 80 degrees F. Evenly dimple each loaf after proofing pressing out to a 10 X 6 rectangle. Place in convection steam oven and give 5-10 seconds of steam. Bake, steaming loaves 2 more times during the first 10 minutes, until crust is a deep golden brown and internal temperature reaches 210 F, about 25-30 minutes.

Making Macarons at home

 I also recently did a video of preparing the macarons at home.  The interesting part of doing videos at home, you never know what is going to happen, when you are the camera operator, chef and host! 

This is the link for this video:

https://youtu.be/d20_MfzRJnE

Macaron interview with NBC News 12-20-2020 and the recipe

 Macarons

This is a video of an interview I did with our local television station.  

https://www.nbc15.com/2020/12/19/madison-college-chef-gives-tips-for-making-macarons/

Here's the recipe for preparing macarons.

Macarons

Yield: 14 macarons

Ingredients

212 grams almond flour

212 grams powder sugar

Egg whites 82 grams

Egg whites 90 grams

Granulated sugar 236 grams

Water 158 grams

French buttercream

4 large egg yolks

2 large whole eggs

255 grams granulated sugar

56.25 grams of water

340 grams of butter cut into small chips and softened to room temperature

Method:

1.       Using a piece of parchment paper draw circles of the same size on the parchment paper.  Turn the parchment paper upside down with the drawing circles on the bottom; spray a sheet pan with some pan spray and place the parchment paper with the drawing circles down onto the sheet pan.  Do this again with another sheet pan and parchment paper.  You should have 7 circles on each parchment paper.

2.       Pre-heat standard oven to 400 degrees f.  If you are using a convection oven, pre-heat it to 350 degrees f.

3.       Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together in a bowl.  Whisk together.  Mound the almond flour mixture and form a 4 inch well in the center.  Pour in the 82 grams of egg whites to the center of the mound. Combine the mixture and set aside.

4.       Place 90 grams of egg whites into a mixer with a whip.  Take approximately 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar and set aside.  Combine the remaining granulated sugar with the water in a small saucepot.  Heat the sugar mixture to 203 f over medium heat.  When the sugar water has reached 203 degrees f, start whipping the egg whites and add the 2 tablespoons of sugar to the whipping egg whites.  Whip the egg whites on medium speed.  Continue cooking the granulated sugar and water to 248 degrees f.  Whip the egg whites to soft peaks, if the egg whites reach soft peaks before the sugar reaches 248 degrees, slow the whipping down to the lowest setting on the mixer.

5.       When the sugar water is 248 degrees, turn the mixer speed to medium low. Slowly drizzle the sugar water down the side of the mixing bowl; trying to not allow the sugar water to hit the whisk.  This needs to be done slowly, otherwise the meringue will deflate.  Once all of the mixture has been added, turn the speed up on the mixer to medium high.  Whisk the meringue until the bottom of the mixing bowl is not hot to the touch.

6.       Fold one third of the meringue mixture into the almond mixture; continue adding meringue a little at a time until when you fold a portion of the batter over itself, the ribbon slowly moves.  The mixture should not be stiff, that it holds its shape without moving at all, but it should not be so loose that it does not maintain a ribbon for a short period.

7.       Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag with a ½-inch straight tip.  Pipe the meringue on to each circle, just enough to fill in the circles, leaving a small amount out, it should fill in as it sits.  When all of the circles have been filled, lift the pan and lightly tap it on the counter to remove any air bubbles.  Pipe the mixture on the other sheet pan with the circles and do the same tapping as the first pan.

8.       Let the piped macarons sit at room for 10 to 30 minutes, long enough to form a slight skin on the outside.  This will prevent cracks while baking the macaron. 

9.       Turn the pre-heated standard oven down to 325 f and the pre-heated convection oven down to 300 f.  Bake the macarons until the tops are shiny and crisp.  Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

French Buttercream

1.       Combine the egg yolks, eggs, sugar, and water into a mixing bowl.  Whisk over a hot water bath to a temperature of 145 degrees f. 

2.       Pour the heated mixture into a mixing bowl, of a mixer, with a whisk. Whisk on high, until stiff peaks have been reached. Turn the mixer down to a low speed.

3.       Slowly add the butter a little at a time until it has been completely added.  Whip on high speed to ensure the butter has been fully incorporated.

Finish

Pipe a small amount of butter cream in the center of one side of the macrons, not all the way to the edge. Place another finished macaron on top of the buttercream and serve or store.

Note: You can add scraped vanilla bean to the macaron batter for vanilla macarons or you can also color the macarons with food coloring added to the batter.  You can also add some jam in the center and pipe the buttercream around the jam before sticking the two-macaron shells together.

Red wine

 Coming soon! We started our first actual batch of red wine on the farm! 

Rabbit Roulade

 Rabbit Roulade

Yield: 1 Whole Rabbit

Ingredients                                                                                                  

1 Rabbit whole deboned     

Forcemeat

 5 parts Pork and rabbit meat (equal parts) chilled to 33 degrees                

 4 parts Pork back fat chilled to 33 degrees                                                          

3 parts Ice crushed                                                                                                         

 to taste Salt                                                                                                                        

1 part Garnish Pistachio, dried fruit etc.                                                              

to taste Brandy                                                                                                                  

Roulade finish

Caul fat or bacon, enough to cover a 12 X 12 square 

How to use this recipe using ratios.

Your 100 % is the rabbit meat and pork meat (because you do not know the exact amount of rabbit meat you are going to have each time).   Next if you have 5 parts of something, in this case, will be 100%,  4 parts will be 90%, 3 parts will be 80% and 1 part will be 10%.                                                                            

Method:

1. 1.       Chill deboned rabbit. Remove the legs and thighs, leaving only the loin intact on both sides. Lay the deboned loins on a sheet pan and continue to chill.
2. 2.       Prepare the forcemeat by grinding the pork and rabbit meat through a medium grind.  Grind the fat back with the meat. Place meat and fat mixture into a large enough food processor and emulsify the mix with crushed ice, (add the ice a little bit at a time; you may not need all of it).  When the mixture has a sheen look and is tacky it is ready.  Fold in the salt and garnish, and do a test of the forcemeat for flavor.  If using brandy soak the pistachio and dried fruit in the brandy before folding into the forcemeat.
3. 3.       Place the deboned rabbit loin on to either layered bacon or caul fat, see note on using caul fat. The loin meat should be facing upward. When forcemeat is correctly seasoned, spread it on the inside of the rabbit loin and roll the rabbit up with the caul fat or bacon on the outside of the roulade.  Cut away any excess bacon or caul fat and roll the roulade tightly, you can place the roll on to a sheet of parchment paper and use the jelly roll method to tighten the roll. Wrap the roulade in plastic to further tighten the roll. Tie off the ends and poach the roulade to 155 degrees in the center. Cool the roulade and prior to service brown the outside of the roulade over medium high heat in a cast iron pan. If you used caul fat make sure it is completely rendered before serving.  Make sure the serving temperature of the roulade is 155 degrees in the center before slicing.  
4.  
5. Note: If using caul fat, soak the caul fat in buttermilk for about 30 minutes before using. When the caul fat is finished soaking, wash off the excess buttermilk under cold water, pat it dry and now it is ready for use. 

Raising meat rabbits and the process of dispatch to finish

 Rabbit fabrication on our farm.  We started raising rabbits this year, it is something I have wanted to do for quite a while.  Rabbits are one of the most sustainable proteins we can produce and consume; they use very little resources to produce, are quick producers themselves and can provide cheap substance for many.  Warning the videos for this are graphic and if you are squeamish about watching please move on. 

                                               Dispatching the rabbits part 1

                                            

                                            Dispatching the rabbits part 2 

    

                                           Dispatching the rabbits part 3

       

Recent interview with Vollrath Feed Podcast "Organized Chaos"

organized Chaos

Recently I was interviewed by the Vollrath Feed Podcast, great conversation discussing our culinary program, our new meat cutting program and other farm to table topics. Click on the link above to listen. 

Winter fun on the farm when you can't forage or grow food

Food Pictures from my Advance Skills 1 lab

Pear and endive salad 

koji rubbed steaks

Chocolate ganache tart and swiss meringue. 

Roast beef, artichoke, roast tomatoes and savory bread pudding. 

Apple galette, dulche de leche and vanilla bean ice cream.

my class plating lunch.

Rabbit fabrication1b

Rabbit is one of the most sustainable sources of protein we can consume.  I have been sharing this with our students for a number of years and finally we are starting to hear this around the globe.  This fall while in Copenhagen, Denmark I toured a urban farm and in the barn they were raising rabbits for consumption! Not only that but the tour was told, "rabbits are the most sustainable source of meat we can consume!" Validation at last! The video was produced by me over 6 years ago!

Tapping trees for maple syrup

Maple syrup is a great resource found in many parts of North America, it is natures way of supplying the new buds, on the trees, with water.  You are not going to take a lot of that water away from the trees if you are tapping them, the tree produces a lot of sap in the spring months.  The best part of learning how to tap into that magical tree is the pure syrup you have your house! Truly nature's gift! 

This year we tapped our silver maple and our box elder and I have been cooking sap for most of March! Tonight I cooked down another 4 quarts from the silver maple; thus far we have about 3.5 pints of syrup. I also just started cooking down our box elder sap, the sap from the box elder took a little longer to collect but I ended up with another 4 quarts from the box elder. Keep in mind we are talking about two different species of trees, but both fall into the maple family.  The two trees are still tapped and I will be checking on them today, 3-30-2019. I have been surprised to see the buckets full when I walk out to them but the weather has held causing the syrup to run. Basically, having a daytime temperature of 40 degrees f and below freezing at night will cause the sap to run. What I am finding in collecting the sap and cooking it down is the sugar content has varied each time I have cooked down the sap; the first taps I found it to be a darker syrup while the second tap collected is a more lighter color.  The flavor has also varied, the first tap definitely had a maple flavor (this is all from the silver maple), but the second round had a rich honey like flavor with a hint of butterscotch!  

This is the syrup from our first collection this year.

Our winter in Wisconsin (just like the rest of the US) was an interesting winter; the months November and December looked like drought years and January didn't look great.  Basically the snow fall was fair at best! February came and suddenly we were besieged with all kinds of weather, rain, snow, rain and ice! It was at that moment I had a feeling we were going to have a lot of sap! The moisture was definitely going to make a difference!

Our collection of sap and cooking it down for syrup is really just a hobby that we get to enjoy later.  We are not collecting vast amounts to sell or use but if we were, we would need to source other trees on the property! One of the factors for tapping a tree is the age of the tree; they should be around 40 years plus before you start tapping them for the prized syrup.  The bark should be well developed, keep in mind you don't want to harm the tree and causing disease to the tree from drilling tap holes.  The developed bark keeps the tree safe and you can fill in the holes fairly easily; younger trees with undeveloped bark creates an easy area for the tree to become diseased. This is why a lot of cities prohibit trees from being tapped, the cost of removing diseased trees and the spread of disease to the trees could be a costly. You should look for trees that are old enough, and trees that you can legally tap if they are not on your property.  Box elders are definitely a weed tree, thus I am not too concerned with tapping one that may be a bit young! Generally tapping trees in the maple family will work best and you can scout the trees during the summer months, looking at the leaves of the trees and the bark formation. Interestingly there are other trees that are tapped or the sap is taken from the tree through the branches; I have not tried these but apparently you can tap butternut, birch, sycamore and Douglas fir trees! The Douglas fir has the sap run from the tips of the branches.  I came across this information from James Beard award winning Sean Sherman's book, The Sioux Chef.

This year I did some research on tapping  methods and what I found changed everything in the way I tapped our trees.  The picture of the horse drawn carriage carrying syrup pots through the woods as the farmer collected syrup, may have been the way years ago, it's not today.  I believe the industry realized there were better ways to collect sap and the modern collection methods adopted were more efficient. Instead we now have a network of tubing running from one tree to the next and the taps are minimal at best causing less invasive issues with the trees and at the same time maximizing the collection efforts.  Instead of having a bucket hanging from the tree with a tap dripping into the bucket; you now see taps that are very small with tubing attached to the tap.  This method does not allow waste and at the same time keeps the sap fairly clean.  The industry also has syrup bags instead of buckets for collection. The bags are attached to a clip that has an area for the tubing to connect. I am not really a fan of this; what do you do with the plastic bags at the end of the season and are they even reusable? Instead I have buckets with lids that I drilled a 5/8 hole into and push the tubing through the holes. Prior to using the buckets I cleaned and sanitized them thoroughly, thus preventing any kind of contamination.  I have to admit transporting the sap from the trees to the house has been a pain but for now it is working out pretty good.  Keep in mind a 5 gallon bucket of sap weighs approximately 40 pounds! Lugging the sap as it is swishing around can be exhausting for an old guy!

Drill with 5/8 drill bit, rubber mallet for tapping the tree, food grade tubing, tap for the tree and a connector used to have two taps into the tree.

Cooking down the sap has also been a learning curve.  We have a 3 gallon pot that I cook the syrup in over a butane burner.  What I really need is a wider cooking vessel that will reduce the sap faster. What I have been doing is cooking it down in the pot and when it has reduced down to about half, I transfer it to a smaller pot and finish cooking it down in the house.  The key I have learned is that if you cook it too fast you can have sugar burn on the side of the pot, causing it to change the flavor and look of the syrup.  If you reduce it slowly you get less caramelizing from the sugar on the side of the pot and the flavor is truly from the sap. I am now taking the temperature of the syrup as it reduces and when it reaches a temperature of 219 degrees f it is ready to strain into the vessel you are going to store the syrup.  I have looked at the Brix level of the syrup and it has been around 66 on the brix scale. You can look up the scale for a better understanding but basically it is, "The Brix scale indicates the percentage of sugar in the maple syrup. The Baume scale is a measure of how dense the maple syrup is related to the density of water. The correct density for maple syrup is a minimum of 66% sugar (66°Brix/35.6°Baume)." https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjg0OnypqrhAhUSI6wKHa3pAVwQFjAFegQIDBAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leaderevaporator.com%2Fpdf_files%2Fsyrup-hydrometer.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3V9Amh5nm3B0YRLp8bX07T

If you don't want to go to all that trouble you can taste the syrup as it cooks, definitely a bonus in cooking your own sap down! I would recommend not only tasting but to cool some down and look at the viscosity of the syrup, is it the right consistency?

Box elder sap cooking down in our shed.

The history of maple syrup is filled with all of kinds of legends! Most of the stories go back to the Native Americans.  I found this one and find it kind of interesting; A different legend, retold in The Atlantic Monthly’s April of 1896 issue, tells of a woman named Moqua. It states that she was cooking moose for her husband Woksis. When her boiling pot ran out of water, she refilled it with maple sap. The boiled down sap formed syrup in the pot. “History” Michigan Maple Syrup Association. Retrieved 5 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20110525093903/http://www.mi-maplesyrup.com/about/history.htm

Whether it is true or not? I bet that moose tasted pretty darn good!

At the end of the day I find that the goal to forage, and find foods that are right in our backyard to be interesting and fun to cook.  It is always an adventure and an opportunity to learn something new! Gaining new insight on not only finding foraged foods but gaining new insight on the best way to garner the foods and process them is fun! Cheers!

Food Pictures from my phone, after all I am a chef!

Mushroom-stuffed Rabbit Roulade, Confit, Celeriac-Potato Puree, Wilted Arugula and Shaved Fennel, Natural Sauce

Rabbit and trout

Duck Breast and Brussel sprouts

Raspberry mousse, pistachio Bavarian, Chantilly cream and berries

Chocolate ganache tart, vanilla bean ice cream, dulce de luche and berries

Roast rack of lamb, seared veal loin, croquette, artichoke and root veg medley

Arugula, endive and basic vinaigrette

Veal loin, capers, roast tomatoes

Chocolate ganache tort, meringue, caramel and raspberries

Panna cotta, apple gelee and cranberry

Bavarian, vanilla mirror glaze, chocolate and blackberry

Macarons, ice cream and berries

Losing our 29 year old Arab horse

“A horse is poetry in motion.”

Rhythm

Yesterday was a tough day. At around 9:40 AM, while in lab I received a call from Sara, my wife, to hear our 29 year old Arab was not doing well.  At that time he had been lying down and not wanting to get up. Sara was all packed up to head to a horse show and prior to heading out she was checking in on the horses in the pasture.  It was at that time she discovered the Arab.  It is with a very heavy heart we have to announce we have lost Rhythm to severe colic. Our decision was not easy; it was time, and yet we both struggled to find the courage to tell the vet it was time.

How do you put into perspective the idea of spending a good portion of your life with another animal? Rhythm was an Arab and he was 3 years old when Sara picked him up, our son was 2 years old and our daughter was 3 years old! Today our kids are 28 and 29 years old! The horse gave us many incredible experiences and he had his quirks; hoses were great big scary snakes or least we thought so, anything that ruffled or crunched was scary! The thing is, he did not have a mean bone in his body, and he was a gentle horse who just happened to have a loaded spring when frightened! Yes, that spring threw me a couple of times.  The list of riding adventures for this incredible family member is pretty long! Sara and Rhythm started doing endurance rides, they would trot rather briskly for about 25 miles a stretch in an actual endurance competition.  Sara and Rhythm camped together by themselves before riding in endurance competitions.  As a family one of my most interesting memories was when we were camping with our kids in the southern part of the state; we woke up to huge tornado warning, lightening was striking all around us, the wind was kicking up and we were racing to pack camp.  That horse was just as calm as could be, it was as if he was thinking to himself, “those crazy humans!” Turns out he had zero issues with the weather and we had no difficulty loading him into the trailer to leave that night.

Some of our recent adventures involved taking him and one of our thoroughbreds to the river for a swim! The Wisconsin River is no joke when it comes to the currents underneath, and yet, we took them out for a quick adventure! This particular part of the river has claimed the lives of a few over the last few years! One of my favorite adventures was our full moon rides through the neighborhood from the farm. We had a group of horse friends who, like us, enjoyed trail riding and so every so often we would all get together and ride on a full moon summer night.  It was always a thrill!  In recent years I started to, on a couple occasions, tack him up on my own and ride him by myself! I know, you probably thought, oh I thought you did this already, hey I am a novice in the equestrian world! Sara is the expert in our house!

In the end you realize or wish you could have taken him on one more trail ride or find just one last adventure but you realize it was too late.  He will be missed and I know we will look out into the pasture only to momentarily feel a pain in the heart as we cannot see him standing there. 

"To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go." -  Mary Oliver, Blackwater Woods

Hunting 2017

The yearly hunt on the farm

This year was a strange year for hunting; we had zero snow, warmer than usual days and I shot the largest buck I have ever hunted on the farm.

Hunting spot 2017

Same hunting spot 2016

Fall and hunting season are without a doubt my favorite time of the year. Spending hours outside in the quiet can be extremely effectuating; it is the equivalent of stepping into another state of being, one that offers a different perspective on life.  The stress of life is silently being lifted from you as you peer into the trees or landscape. “There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.” – Aldo Leopold.  The color of the trees, grasses and your surroundings are constantly changing as the light from the fading sun moves across the horizon.   It’s as if nature is choreographing action to see if you are really paying attention.  The sounds you hear, can be a distant gun shot, or a squirrel scrunching through the dry leaves to see if you are paying attention.  You may look up into the sky to witness geese flying towards a pond or leaving the pond for another adventure; the geese fly in formation as they ascend into the horizon leaving you with wonder as they find their path in line with the other geese.

It is often wistful thinking on the last day of the gun season as you walk back to the house. Despite having a successful harvest you still fill like you could spend more time hunting; but the reality is, it is not the hunting but instead it is the time outdoors sitting for hours. At least with hunting you had a good excuse!

This year was indeed a successful harvest; I managed to take a 10 point buck! That was the largest buck I have ever harvested on the farm.

Our dog, Buck, meeting the 10 point buck!

The temperatures varied each day we entered into the fields, on one day we reached a high of 63 degrees and yet on another day we were in the mid 20’s! It is crazy to prepare for the cold when you are not sure of what the temperature is going to be for the day! Opening day we experienced, sleet, snow, rain, wind and finally sunny skies! It didn’t matter, the weather could have been heavy snow and we still would have been out hunting. To counter the constant change in the weather I now hunt with a full back pack; inside the pack I keep extra layers of items to keep moisture away, or to store some of the layers I may need to shed as the day warms up.  Along with extra layers I carry ammo, first aid kit, a thermos of hot coffee (it has never impacted my ability to have deer around) and extra gloves.  I have a set of binoculars in the pack and a solar panel to charge my phone battery.  I know the later seems to be a bit crazy to bring into the woods but when you are hunting with others, communication is a safe way to hunt.  We text our locations or if we are moving, and we cannot always see each other.   

 This year I decided to forgo turkey for our thanksgiving and instead serve the back straps from the buck. First I marinated the straps overnight in a Dijon vinaigrette. Next I sous vide the straps for 3 hours at 125 degrees, seared them in a very hot cast iron pan, rubbed them with fresh horseradish and Dijon mustard and finally rolled them in a pesto rubbed panko crumb.  The sauce for the venison was a mulberry demi, the mulberries came from one of the many mulberry trees on the farm.  

Now comes winter and hopefully some snow!