Well, It's About Time I Got One.....

Lookie at what I got for a late Christmas present which just arrived this week. I have been pining over a Le Creuset dutch oven for almost a decade and now I finally own one.

My dear husband got tired of me calling any cooking show host that had one a female dog (got to keep it clean here!). He knows I like doing the homework and finding the best price around so he gave me the cash in my Christmas card and said that I had to use the money to buy one.

So, here it is! It's over 7 quarts and beautiful. I just need to get cookin'...probably a beef stew will break it in. Figuratively speaking.

North Idaho Fair 2011

The North Idaho Fair comes to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in late August. We have missed very few of them in the 15 years that we have lived here. Now that I think about, the only year we missed was the summer I had our daughter in 2002.

Before Emma came into our lives, I was very big on entering canned items every year. I even won the Ball Canning Pickling Award twice. When Emma joined 4-H four years ago, she started entering her insect collections as a Cloverbud which is a non-competitive 4-H group for kids 5 to 7 years old.

This year was Emma's first year has a full fledged 4-H kid. Her projects were Entomology and Poultry. Once we found out that we had to come twice a day for the five days of the Fair to feed her chicken and its cage, we decided to have some fun and enter some things other than her two 4-H entries. Heck, maybe even win a little cash to help cover the gas on two twenty mile plus trips we had to make daily.

Emma entered a frame of honey comb from her beehive and a dozen large eggs from our Marans flock. Both went second place which made her very happy to say the least. The judge said the comb would have placed better if it did not contain two colors of honey: light on the edges and dark in the center.

I entered 9 canned items and did really well in Salsa divisions, both green and red by getting a second place ribbon for my salsa verde and tomato salsa. My sweet pickle relish also got a second and 3 of my jam entries placed in third. I was happy :)

Now Emma's 4-H Entomology Project did really well by going Grand Champion. She was so proud and cannot wait to participate in the project again next year.
Here's Emma showing her little Belgian bearded d'uccle pullet named "Pengu". In quality judging the little bird was awarded a blue ribbon and Emma took a fourth in Junior Fitting and Handling.

We are all looking forward to attending and participating in the Fair next year. We'll probably even enter more things, too and stay in the 4-H Camper Village so we don't have to drive back and forth so much.

Nature Never Ceases to Amaze

I was topping off the cattle troth Saturday evening and I just happened to look down and see this beautiful little nest that must have blown out of one of the big grand firs in our yard. What a thing of beauty it was! I had to run in and grab my camera so I could take a picture of it before the sun slipped behind the hills.

Look at all the materials this little bird collected to build this nest: moss, horse hair, sticks, grass and even a few chicken feathers, too. Nature is simply one continuous ongoing miracle that never ceases to amaze and inspire me.

Diggin' in the Dirt

Here in North Idaho we have two fun attractions that do not always get the attention they deserve both are near the small town of Clarkia. One is the Fossil Bowl and the other is Emerald Creek Garnet Area. If you have kids or like to dig in the dirt to find buried treasure then these activities are for you.

Here's a few of our fossil finds. You can take home as much as you want, there is no limit.Dawn redwoods are often found.Here's two halves to a leaf impression.Another dawn redwood.

Off to the garnet area. Yes, we actually paid to dig in the dirt! LOL!Cleaning our dirt in the sluice box with water to washing it away.

Picking through the remaining rock to find our garnet prize.

Here's some of the garnets we gleaned from our buckets of dirt. There are a couple in there over half an ounce in weight. What fun, this was a blast and I want to do it again before summer ends.

First Honey of the Summer

We had family visiting this week from out of town and thought it might be fun to pull a frame of honey from one of the hives to let the kids try some comb honey.

I brought in a nice heavy frame and used a sharp-edged metal spatula to cut off some small chunks for every one. After everyone had their fill of honeycomb I scraped the remaining comb into jars to make chunk honey. Which is jarred honey with chunks of comb in it. It was just beautiful! And the honey was wonderful tasting, too.

If you are new to beekeeping and/or do not have access to a honey exacter, making chunk honey is a great way to harvest your honey and start using it in you home. I plan on extracting my honey but I plan always pulling a frame or two to enjoy the first honey of the season.

Spirit Lake Campout

Last weekend we had the opportunity to camp at our friends' cabin on Spirit Lake here in North Idaho. I can call it a "campout" because we slept outside in our tent. ;)

This is the second year that we have met here to camp, cook, fish and have fun. Also, we collect insects for our children's 4-H Entomology Project collections. It's a hoot because the girls get to chasing butterflies and dragonflies with their nets. More often than not the parents get caught up into the hunt and start running after bugs, too.

I have to admit, I probably got more caught up in the fishing more than anything. I caught a lot of little bass but finally hooked into one work frying.

The sunrise was just gorgeous! There was a mist coming off the lake. We were lucky enough to see a moose swimming along the edge of the lake. Unfortunately I had a fishing rod in my hand instead of a camera.

The girls got out in the boat and paddled after a few bugs.

The geese had to be "evicted" from the area when we arrived but I'm sure they moved right back in after we vacated the grounds.

Cheddar Brats for Cheaters

This weekend we have a camp out planned at our friend's cabin on Spirit Lake so I am making cheddar brats for all of us to cook over the campfire. When I want to make brats quick and easy I use Penzey's Bratwurst Sausage Seasoning which is a wonderful blend made in Wisconsin.

I also used a cheese product know as Hi Temp Cheddar Cheese. It's a cheese that has an extremely high melting point of around 500F. So it stays intact and does not melt when sausage is cooked or smoked. Cabelas now carries it and it is also available a LEM and Butcher Packer. Here's what I used for my seven pound batch of bratwurst:

• 4 1/2 pounds of ground venison
• 2 1/2 pounds of ground pork
• 7 TBS of Penzey's Bratwurst Seasoning

• 2 cups of Hi-Temp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup of cold water
• 16 ft of hog casings (soaked for 30 minutes and rinsed)

The water and the seasoning are mixed together first, then the meat is added and also mixed together. The Hi-Temp Cheddar Cheese is added and mixed after every thing else is well blended.
I used my large Kitchen Aid Pro stand mixer but I have to say that I would not recommend mixing such a large amount in this size mixer, I believe I'll keep it a six pounds or less next time around.
Into my 5 pound stuffer the prepared meat went and was cranked out into hog casings. I twisted the stuffed cases to make links. I'm still working on that skill, it's a balance of not over-loading the casings to the point that there is not room to twist them and form links.

If you have never made any sausage before and want to get your feet wet, this is a great sausage to make especially with the seasoning already measured and mixed for you. Even if you do not have a sausage stuffer you can make patties, too. Enjoy!