ouch!

i just burnt my hand on a pan of cookies.  it was worth it, they are delicious cookies, and all i want to do on my four days off of work is bake and drink beers and listen to xmas music.  for real.  i'm living the dream!

currently in the oven are my chocolate cookies with cinnamon, white chips and dried cherries.  awaiting oven time, gingerbread cupcakes.  they smell so good already, unbaked, that i can hardly wait to put them in the damn oven. 

weekend highlights

 here in the skagit valley there is a place called the breadfarm.  they make crazy delicious breads, which admittedly are kind of pricey.  this is not a complaint, honestly, just a fact. they make the kinds of loaves that never last very long, either.  this loaf of sour cherry and lemon bread lasted four hours in our house.  here it is, toasted with butter.  oh my.

 my sister and i took a trip to the lavender wind farm on whidbey island.  you know we grew up there, and yet we still managed to get lost once.  my sister has a friend who had some lotion she bought here and she smelled it and promptly told me we needed to take a trip there.  i'm so glad we did. it was so serene and beautiful, there were all sorts of lovely little paths to follow through the fields, they had cute chickens and we both bought some lavender.  i bought some to make into sachets, and some to cook with.  just this afternoon i made a lavender simple syrup for iced tea, which is quite delicious.

 at the anacortes farmer's market, cascadia mushrooms had a stall, and they were selling my favorite thing, mushroom growing kits!  this one is soaking as we speak, and i'm getting ready to make it a "humidity tent" and set it up downstairs.  the oyster mushrooms we grew were great, but it's agreed that we all like shitake mushrooms better. 

all around anacortes you'll see these wonderful paintings of locals past and present, done by artist bill mitchell as part of the anacortes mural project.  this was the first time i'd seen these lovely ladies, and i had to take their photo.  they seem to be having a pretty good time.

it's also super hot here; well, super hot for us! too hot for making real dinner.  i grilled some eggplant slices (they turned out great, dressed with a bit of vinegar and basil leaves), and cut up a ton of veggies.  we made ad hoc salads, or just nibbled on veggies.  the pink things in the little white bowl are homegrown, fridge-pickled radishes.  we've been eating a lot of them.  we also got those gorgeous carrots and the small dish of favas in our CSA box this week.  neither disappointed!  in fact, it was a great dinner.  for such a busy weekend, it was a nice way to wind things down. 

i was kind of a culinary genius today

i made tiny quiches for my sister's baby shower; ones with sauteed garlic ramps and herbed goat cheese, and ones with bacon and cheddar.  i also made vanilla rhubarb ice cream, that is delicious.  for dinner, seafood tacos; spicy shrimp, grilled jalapenos, and lime spiked cod.  i have plans for the fruit we brought back from east of the mountains for tomorrow, but i think as far as one day goes, i did a good job with the cooking.

maths

i love hearing D go over math concepts with the girlchild while they make dinner.  cooking is such a good way to teach all sorts of skills; math, reading, science, and all while making delicious things.  i love it when he makes dinner, but not because i'm a beleaguered housewife.  i know sometimes when i say, "man, i love it when my husband makes dinner," people are likely to hear, "OMG sister i'm so tired of cooking meals, blah blah blah," but honestly, what i like about it is that he loves to do it.  it's nice to be on the receiving end of what he's cooking.*  even when it doesn't come out the way he wanted, even if it's an experiment with an oddly spiced ending, it's usually great.  the house smells good, everyone wanders in and out, the kids help, and it feels nice to sit back and watch it all happen.  we have super different styles in the kitchen too; he likes to work collaboratively, while sometimes i want to be alone, listening to my music loud, spacing out.  i'm always surprised when the kids want to help, although they normally do.  they like being in the kitchen as much as D and i do. 

so yeah, i love it when D makes dinner.  don't get me started on the dishes, though. 

*that's what she said!

this bed is too soft

man, it's only a little after ten at night and my whole family is asleep.  which is lame because i'm finally adjusted to my new schedule, just had two glasses of wine and want to rock out while baking cookies.  i have to be quiet so they can all sleep, though.  shoot. 

the new job means i don't have to get up crazy early, and this winter i've actually seen some honest-to-goodness real sunlight in the morning and afternoons as a result.  none of the going-to-bed in the dark and waking-up in the dark for me this season; and to be perfectly honest, i have noticed a difference.  i'm clenching my jaw less, moping around less, going out and doing stuff more.  oh sunlight and vitamin D, i suppose this proves i am your slave.  i'm okay with that, as long as you both stick around.  in any case, i like not getting up at zero-dark-thirty, and don't mind working five days a week because a) i don't have to get up crazy early and b) big girl paychecks.  also, we are busy at work; the day flies by and when i leave it, i do honestly leave it behind.  i might take a few moments to be quiet, because i talk to people all day, but that's all. 

a friend at work bought me this adorable zen garden for my desk, along with a mug full of treats.  some sour patch kids, chopsticks, a nail file and this crazy orange polish.  it sounds crazy, but i think i'm too old for neon nail polish (because 34 is like old, man) so i only put it on one nail.  i think that will probably end up looking stranger than just using the polish on all my nails, but it makes me happy.  i like the contrast too, even if it is a bit silly.  one orange, nine grey.  seems reasonable to me.

sunday night awesome

have you seen party down?  i just discovered it on netflix, and am IN LOVE.  i used to work as a caterer for my mother's small company back in college, and while our crew was a lot smaller, it does make me a little nostalgic for the old job.  oh, and it's funny as all shit.  i just got to the jennifer coolidge episodes, and the one where she is on shrooms and joking about her green merkin being too small made me full on guffaw out loud.  MERKIN.  always funny.  i also watched a patton oswalt special the other day that made me laugh so hard the kids came down to check in on me.  i think they think i'm mildly retarded. ha!

we also made ice cream yesterday with one of our THREE ice cream makers. my mom bought D one for xmas, which he has used once.  we got two for our wedding, when we had zero on our registry.  one of them makes a lot of ice cream and uses ice, the other one is an awesome cuisinart stand-alone.  normally i could give two shits about ice cream, but we bought ingredients the other day because it was hot and i thought the girlchild and her friends would dig making it.  we used pineapple, toasted coconut and mini chocolate chips.  it was epic!  so tonight we made coffee ice cream.  also amazing.  we ate it right out of the maker before freezing some for tomorrow.  i went from not really caring about ice cream, to being totally sold on making it at home and glad we have so many options for making it.  

the neighbors are all doing fireworks, so the cat is hiding out in our room under the dresser.  she doesn't seem too irritated, she keeps rolling over for belly pets and meowing for attention.  she just isn't coming out from under there any time soon.

i succumbed to the cowl fad

i suppose things could be worse, i could be into sexting or frotage, or whatever the kids are doing these days.  although to be honest, i probably don't need the five hundred or so scarves i've made, bought or inherited over the years.  i bet three would suffice.  if you get some sort of neck-warming-device any time soon from me, i'd like to apologize in advance.  some of them might have to go... 

i had to work at a "women's fair" today, manning a booth that let ladies know our hospital provides MRIs and PET/CT imaging.  it was thrilling.  by thrilling, i mean i started and finished another cowl, read a magazine, and heard way too many women talk about their various diets for hours on end.  lunch was good, though.  they had goat cheese sandwiches and lentil soup.  no one liked the soup but me, and i loved it.  i don't know why lentils get such a bad rap, they are delicious.

i think after that yoni-fest (which D and i decided was the flip side of a sausage-fest) i need a nap, and then i will frost some delicious vanilla cupcakes i made and start cooking dinner.  tonight we are having roasted chicken and squash with mashed potatoes. i love that the cooler weather lends itself to roasting stuff in the oven.     

rainy day bbq

yesterday we had our first barbeque of the season. we've had a terribly rainy week up in here northwest washington, but sunday was supposed to be nice. when we woke up, there was a whole lot of sun and my little family and i set to work in the backyard. our back patio was covered with the remains of a plum tree that inexplicably split itself in half at the end of last summer, and our yard qualifies at a nature preserve at this point. the grass is so tall you can lose a toddler out there. we have a path cut out to the compost heap, but that's about it. we got the patio all cleared off, the outside table scrubbed free of mold and gunk (that was my fun job), and the smoker/grill all set up. then the rain started! lucky for us, we have a pop-up canopy, so we just hung out under that all day. it was a small barbeque anyway; just us, my mom and niece, and a friend of the boy's. we still made way too much food, and sent some home with mom. i have to say, it's fun being able to send her home with leftovers instead of the other way around.

we've been playing around with our smoker, and probably will have a lot more in the way of family get togethers so we can feed people our experiments. so far we've made pizza, pork and beef ribs, and turkey legs. beef ribs weren't our favorite; the taste was good, but the ratio of meat to bone is sad. i love the turkey legs; they look all prehistoric and ridiculous, but a long cooking breaks down much of the connective tissue, and they don't need much in the way of seasoning. an simple overnight brine and they are good to go. my outdoor pizza technique needs some work, but the pizzas themselves were tasty. one time we made pork ribs with a random rub, and even though they were way too salty, they still got eaten, which is a testament to how awesome pork is. D found a website with a lot of modifications you can make to a simple grill like ours to maximize its efficiency, and we've used some of the tips. we still have some mods to make, but so far we've got a good thing going. maybe you'll come over this summer and help us try out a new recipe or two...

trust me, it was delicious

even though i have no photo to show you! this recipe makes enough soup to feed four people, if they have a sandwich to go with and one of them isn't a 15 year boy. anyone who has one of those knows that there is never enough soup!

Curried Sweet Potato, Carrot and Coconut Milk soup

• one medium size sweet potato, peeled and cut into small-ish chunks
• two small or one medium carrot, peeled and cut into chunks about the same size as the sweet potato
• half a small onion, diced
• one can coconut milk
• two cups broth of your choice (chicken, veggie or water)
• splash of olive oil
• 1 1/2 to 2 tbs curry powder (depends on how you like it)
• 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper (or more if you like)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cardamom (at least, that's what i'm pretty sure was in that bag! it wasn't labeled.)
• salt and pepper

heat oil in bottom of heavy pan (or your soup pan). when it's hot, add the onions and cook until translucent. add liquid (broth or water), chopped veggie and spices. cover and simmer until veggies are soft, about 25 to 35 minutes. remove from heat, add can of coconut milk and use your immersion blender to blend it all down until it's as smooth or chunky as you like. taste and adjust seasoning (the coconut milk will sweeten and thicken the soup a bit, so if it seems kind of salty now, that's okay! remember, you can always add more curry, but you can't add less.). serve with a nice salad, or my new favorite thing, grilled pita wedges.

so ridiculously good! i made this recipe when i came home from work today, because there was some sort of curried coconut soup at work today that smelled amazing. it was a little pricey though, and i thought, "ooh, i can try to make that." so i did, although i didn't make too much because the kids and D don't really dig on indian curry. that being said, they all ate it up, and we have absolutely no leftovers. whoo! that always makes me feel like a rockstar.

homebody

lately i am all about hanging out at the house. i have pretty much no stories to amuse you with, as all i do is cook and read and hang out. boring! to further my hermitude, i bought these portable mp3 speakers. it's a clever design; the speakers are set on the outside of a little hard-case, you unzip the case, plug your mp3 player in and turn it on, and you can listen to your music wherever. i use mine mainly for podcasts; i've been hooked on pseudopod for quite some time, but i've also fallen victim to the sister podcasts, escape pod and podCastle. wiretap is also a podcast on iTunes now, and we all know how much i love jonathan goldstein. in honor of fall, i'm also re-reading a whole lot of the little house books, and baking too many cookies. i try to pretend that the cookies are trial runs of things i might make for the holidays, but in reality it's just a reaction to the darkening days and rain. a house that's warm and smells of vanilla and cookie is infinitely more cheerful in the dark than one that smells like green salad. true story.

PTA, represent

hey! i get to go to my first elementary school open house tonight. well, the first open house i've been to since becoming an adult. i know the girlchild isn't too stoked about her teacher this year, he has a reputation of being a bit stern and strict, but i'm trying to convince her that sometimes teachers that are tough are actually worthwhile. in any case, it will be good to put a name to a face, and maybe they'll have punch and cookies to make it all worthwhile.

speaking of cookies, i made an amazing batch last night. my oven cooperated, and i baked off a batch of browned butter sugar cookies. they were thin and crisp on the outside, slightly chewy in the center, coated in crunchy "raw" sugar and tasted like toffee. everyone liked them but the boychild, who for some crazy reason doesn't dig on caramel flavors. we're going to have to work with him on that. i'll post photos and a recipe soon!

vacation all i ever wanted

the past couple of weeks have been a hell of a lot of fun. we all went down to prineville to go camping, and that was awesome. the reservoir was nice and warm, perfect for swimming or going on sea-doos or boating. there were a million kids there, and despite a few reservations on the parts of M and C, a good time was had by all. all the kids got along great, we ate some great dinners, got a ridiculous amount of sun (our new skins are coming in quite nicely, bytheway), and came home tired, dirty and happy. can you ask for more out of a camping trip? i think not. i worked a few days after we got back, spent one day majorly cleaning the house, and now we're back on vacation week part two. tomorrow we got on a small overnight camping trip with D's brother and family, which should be fun.

we've been doing crazy amounts of cooking as well on our little vacation. the weather's cooled down a bit, making grilling and baking a lot less painful and stifling. the other night i made pizza dough for the first time; a process that was a lot easier than i thought it would be. the results were good too, although the next time i make it i'll add a bit more salt to the dough and let it rest a bit more before baking. it made great zucchini pizzas, which is good because as those of you with friends or family who garden know, it's totally zucchini time. we've eaten it in salads, grilled, baked, in pizzas and added to just about anything that might need a touch of green. tonight i may make some muffins or something to use up some more of it! it's a green squash invasion, to be sure. on today's agenda as well is the making of some pork sausage. while out shopping yesterday we found pork shoulder roasts for only .99 cents a pound, which my dear sweet boyfriend couldn't say no to. the look on his face was like a boy on christmas morning! we're in the middle of grinding and cooling, waiting for everything to come down again in temp so we can grind some more and add some spicy goodness. we're going to try a couple new recipes, you can be sure i'm taking pictures and notes as we go along. the waiting is the hardest part for me, i just want to get in there and make it now, but if you go too fast the meat gets too warm and the results are lame. patience is a virtue and all that jazz.

this is one reason i want to marry D; i love days where all we do is cook and goof off and make stuff. i have fun with him, i get excited about trying new recipes and trolling websites to find new ones. it's exciting to be with someone who is so passionate about food and cooking and gets swoony about cuts of meat and fresh veggies. i can't think of a better way to spend a "staycation" than in the kitchen, radio going, good smells coming from the oven and a mess being made.

today's menu

here is my revised plan,

• shrimp pasta salad. this is my mom's recipe, and it involves tiny canned shrimps, cucumbers, onions, and elbow pasta. it's great.
• cherry jello poke cake with cool-whip frosting. i know, i know, it's totally white trash, but it's soooo good. plus, i always make it on the fourth because it looks so damn cool when you cut into it.
  
• nibbles including but not limited to; cheese and crackers, spicy pickled veggies, various crudite and tiny sausages.
• onion dip and chips.

nothing too huge or fancy, in fact, it's really all just glorified nibbles. it's the kind of food that you can wander in and out of the house eating, and no one has to sit down or take it too seriously. which is exactly how i like a holiday to be!

ding dong

the witch is dead! i got my last batch of belongings out of my bitch-ass roommate's house and i feel fan-fucking-tastic. i did not want to do it today, no--i lay in bed all morning telling D i was tired and didn't want to go, but once i put my bike on the back of my car, left my key, and drove on out of there i felt like a brand-new woman. a relieved one! if i never talk to her again, it might be too soon. my roommate's house was a good fit for me at first, but once i moved out of the bad place i was (mopey and freaked out by the end of my relationship with the fisherman) it was like a too-tight pair of pants. serviceable, but not comfortable.

we've been working on integrating my stuff into the family's, and so far it's going well. D has been seriously conscious of giving me enough space and making sure i feel welcome. it's true we've been de-facto shacking up for a while now, but moving in for real feels different. i'm looking forward to getting the rest of my stuff out of storage and finishing my nomad days once and for all.

this weekend the kids and i went to the drive-in again. we saw land of the lost and the newest terminator movie. land of the lost was absurdly retarded; kind of like watching a surrealist painting with sex jokes, but don't let that make you think we didn't enjoy it. we did. i will say this, however, not a kid's movie. i fell asleep and missed the beginning of the terminator movie, but what i saw was totally enjoyable. the boychik loved it, so i have a feeling we'll be renting it so he can watch it with his pop too. on the way into town we stopped at Saars Marketplace in Oak Harbor to pick up groceries. specifically: ramen. we love the spicy ramen, as well as the other awesome asian flavors, and there really isn't anyplace in the skagit valley that has a good selection.* we loaded up on noodles, kimchi, mochi, hello pandas and ramune sodas (the kid's first). speaking of kimchi; D has been convinced he doesn't like it for a long time now. whenever i mention a craving for it, he balks. this morning we got up late and had ramen for brunch and i opened up the kimchi to add a little to mine. he tried a bite, and that's all it took. we spent all morning looking up kimchi recipes, eating it, and making plans to make our own batch this weekend. the little jar i bought is over 3/4 of the way gone, and we've spent most of this afternoon trying to convince the kids that it's amazing and they need to try it. dear kimchi, i love you. thanks for being so crunchy and spicy and awesome!

*unless there is and i don't know about it! if you know something i don't, please feel free to let me know.

this is post 1,100! crazy.

(i am composing this post while half-heartedly listening to a work conference call. just so you know.)

you've known me long enough to know that i hate moving. moving makes me depressed in a strange way, even when i'm moving out of one awful place into an awesome one. this time, i'm leaving behind a drunken drama queen who's morbidly obese daughter steals my shit to move in with my handsome husband-to-be and his rad kids. yet i still find myself kind of melancholy. i haven't actually lived there in over two months, but for some reason packing my shit up and getting it out makes me sad and pokey. i was trying to explain that to D and i ended up just saying, "it's just one of my little nuerosis." because really, that's it. there's no good reason to feel sad about leaving a house i didn't enjoy to move in with people i love, but it's there anyhow. i haven't been over there in over a week, even, to get the last of my things because the thought of that house makes my tummy hurt. god, i am such a baby. i just need to get some big plastic garbage bag together, grab my boxes and get over there and get my shit. i'll take the boychik over later this week; having him there is a nice buffer. no one messes with me when the kids are around because they know that's something i absolutely will not tolerate. my roommate can be a bitch to me, but if she starts with my boy, she's likely to get a moutful of my fist. wow. that last sentence made me sound like a badass!

we barbequed giant, ridiculously massive turkey legs last night for dinner. (see above!) i highly recommend doing this if you run into them at the store. it takes some time to cook them, but it is totally worth it. we rubbed them down with a blend of smoked salt, garlic, olive oil and smoked paprika. we made three of them to feed the four of us, and had enough left over to make turkey burritos with the leftovers today. they were also cheap, which is nice in these tough economic times (cue sad NPR music here). in short, if i were to suggest an unusual cut of meat for cookig on fire, i'd like to nominate turkey legs. i'd also like to encourage everyone to bbq more, out back, with your friends and family, drinking beer and playing frisbee while meat and veggies cook. it's just a nice way to end your day.

domestic stuff

yesterday i brought lulu over to D's. it was a bit of a mad rush to get in and out of there without running into my roommate, and in the process i forgot to grab a few other things (like my checkbook! damn), but i am so happy she's here. she seems pretty pleased as well. D's room has a million little nook's and cranny's for her to hide in, there's lot of space for her to jump and run around, and this is just one room. for now i'm keeping her in here so she can get settled and get used to the smell of the other animals. there's another cat, puddin, and a dog, daisy. no one is sure how long daisy will be with us, but we know puddin is here to stay. so far, lulu seems totally curious about puddin, and puddin seems nonplussed. i guess we'll see how they really do when they are actually up close to each other, and not just eyeing each other across a room.

today is all about doing stuff around the house. D and M went to borrow the lawn mower from his folks, C and i are going to fold clothes and watch firefly. we need to do all sorts of stuff in and around the house, and it's a gorgeous day to get stuff done. this morning was lovely and leisurely and included the making of german pancakes (thanks kristy!) and drinking of coffee. i have some hankies i need to finish embroidering for a friend's wedding, and a mountain of clothes that need to find a home. i should have brought over my dresser yesterday too, but i wasn't really thinking.

the housing situation is a pretty crappy one right one. my roommate is being a bitch about me not being there, and ever other second she's either pissed that the cat lives there, or doesn't want me to take it because her kids love it. there's no winning in this situation. she's a whole lot of drama i don't really want to deal with, hence the sneaking in and out of my own house. ugh. this is why i hate living there so much, and why i can't wait to get out. i want to be with my man and my cat and the kids, not avoiding my roommate and getting mad that her kid is now pretty much just stealing stuff right out in the open. what a sucky situation. hey, if anyone is ever looking for a good roommate, don't pick her, okay? great!

go enjoy your mother's day!

it was as good as it looked

hot damn. this was an excellent savory onion pie! like i mentioned in my last post, this came from nigella lawson's "how to be a domestic goddess," and it was rich and filling and sweet and savory all at the time time. we ate it last night for dinner with roasted hubbard squash and a big salad, and it was a great big hit. the boyfriend's daughter's favorite meal is quiche and last night she said, "i think i like this better than quiche." i seriously thought we'd eat it all in one sitting, but it was much richer than anticipated. we had some leftover today for lunch, and if it's at all possible, i liked it much better the next day, at room temp. i was afraid that this would be one of those recipes that looks amazing and tastes mediocre, and was so pleased that the opposite was true. i spent all night saying "damn! that pie was good!" and having everyone agree with me was awesome.

i did make a few changes to the original recipe; namely using yellow sweet onions instead of red, and using more gruyere than called for. first things first! sweet yellow onions were on sale at costco, and to be frank, i don't care for red onions. i don't know why, i just don't dig them. using sweets made this pie sweeter, for sure, but the pastry was rich and cheesy (thanks to upping the swiss factor!) and i think it was the perfect balance. the next time i make it i want to do it in individual ramekins, so we all get a little sweet pie of our own.

on tomorrow's menu, a roasted potato, prosciutto and gruyere pizza pie, along with an asparagus one and a great big salad. for the asparagus i might use goat cheese, although i think the boyfriend and his daughter don't care for goat, but i'm pretty sure the boychik and i do, so it should work out. we bought a giant box of salad at costco as well, so more big salad with dinner! i love cooking over at the boyfriend's house for a few reasons, one of them being they're easy to please, they'll try pretty much anything once, and they seem stoked to have someone else in the kitchen with them. some nights we listen to alice cooper on the radio, play games* while the food cooks, and generally goof off, which is super fun. i feel spoiled and pretty pleased with myself those nights. it's honestly just nice to have a relaxed night where we get to eat delicious things and hang out. i like that they like doing dinner, and i like that i get to be a part of it. dinner is awesome, end of story!

*i introduced them to farkel! the only math game i like!

monday monday

monday's are actually super fun for me; it's my last day off and the day that everyone else goes back to work or school. this isn't me bragging! it's just that on monday i can run my errands in relative peace and quiet and i like that.

today the plan is to do some cooking from a cookbook i got for christmas, nigella lawson's how to be a domestic goddess. there's a recipe for a savory onion pie in there that i've been looking at for months now, and last night at dinner i was pawing through the book again when my boyfriend asked, "are you ever going to cook anything out of that?" i told him that i was, and that tonight for dinner we are going to have that onion pie, and maybe her sour cream chocolate cake for dessert. i haven't decided just how much baking i want to do today, but i feel like i want to do a lot of it.

that's the other nice thing about today, i usually have the house all to myself so i can do things like take over the kitchen and make a mess and cook up something new. becasue it's monday, the boyfriend and the kids are usually just happy someone's making dinner and will indulge me and eat what i cook.

i also need to do some laundry, finish the boyfriend's second sock, and nuzzle my kitten for a while. i should dye my hair as it looks ridiculous, but it also needs a trim, and i kind of look like a hobo anyhow so i'm not sure i'll get to that today. a friend will be in town this afternoon possibly, so i'm waiting to see when that will be so i can work around that and meet them for a cup of coffee. go watch some sexy nigella and think about what to make for dinner, i'll see you soon!

finished product

finished product, originally uploaded by pinprick.

sausages were made! they are delicious. chicken, bacon and spinach with a touch of caramelized onion. yum yum. the process was a pain in the ass, i think because it was our first time. we're all pretty stoked to try it again, though, and i think (personally) that we have a natural affinity for sausage making.

we made meat product! whoo!

small and smokey

this weekend was spent listening to a lot of the talking heads and hunting down sausage making stuff. the boyfriend is making a chicken, bacon and spinach sausage for his class project next week, and he didn't have a grinder so we got to spend part of sunday goofing around town looking for one. i didn't realize this, but you can find a fairly large selection of meat grinders at sportsmen's type places. evidently, a lot of deer and elk and other game is turned into sausage-y goodness, which totally makes sense. while hunting down natural hog casing (which was way harder than finding the grinder) we stumbled upon silvana meats; a butcher shop in the little town of silvana. yesterday we ventured on down there to check it out, and the moment i saw the small shop i was smitten. we walked in, and the smokey smell of hams and bacon and other cured meat delights was the first thing to greet us, and i knew it was true love. for a small shop, out in the middle of seemingly nowhere on a monday afternoon, they were hopping. there were never less than three people waiting in line the whole time we were there, and it was only 3:30 p.m. while waiting to buy our casing i found these gorgeous smoked cornish game hens. initially i was only going to buy one to check it out, but the smell! i'm telling you, it's positively narcotic how happy the scent of smoked meat makes me. i was fairly certain that they would be good, so i bought two, just in case. we cracked one open when we got home, and the kids and i devoured it cold in about five minutes. the joy of a small drumstick wasn't lost on anyone, trust me. the skin was too smokey and lovely to waste, so we put it in a hot pan and made cracklings with it (since everyone knows cold skin is gross!) which were also promptly gobbled up.

if you eat meat, and are anywhere in the vincinity of silvana, i highly recommend a trip to this meat emporium. the meats they offer are all natural, butchered on site, and the staff is friendly and crazy-knowledgeable about meat. they also offer about five hundred different varieties of sauces, salsas and marinades, which we're anxious to try out. you can buy a single, solitary steak, or half a cow. a tiny ham the size of a baby's head, or a whole pig for barbecuing. i won't even start talking about the selection of bacon, because we don't have enough time. it was a great field trip, and afterward we had a celebratory beer at the silvana road house, where someone won big on pull tabs and we got a free round! later this week one of my tiny hens is bound to become smokey little sandwiches, if it lasts long enough. if it doesn't, it's still going to be delicious.