Venison Stew

Never having cooked venison before, this meal was an experiment! We were given some frozen stew chunks of venison from some hunter-friends, and I was just told to "soak it in apple juice before cooking it- maybe with a little vinegar". Right.

Anyway, I marinated it overnight in some apple juice with a splash of vinegar for good measure,  and searched for a slow cooker venison stew. I found one here and it was a winner! (I used extra apple juice instead of beef stock, and did not save my flour, but otherwise followed the recipe)

delicious stew

I forgot to take a picture of it the first time we had it, but the recipe made lots and I did remember a picture tonight at supper. Tonight I also tried some "Cheese and Potato Scones" which used leftover mashed potatoes, and were delicious!

Cheese and Potato Scones
(from Company's Coming "Recipes for Leftovers")

1+1/2c flour (I used 1c whole wheat, and 1/2c white)

3/4t salt

2+1/4t baking powder

Combine the above, then cut in 1/4c butter. Add 1/3c grated sharp cheddar. (I also added some fresh rosemary and garlic that I had around)

Mix 2/3c leftover mashed potatoes with 1/4c milk. Stir into flour mixture, and continue stirring until a soft dough forms. (I needed to use my hands to help it a bit)

Knead 6 times, then pat into a circle 8" across, and about 1" thick. Place on baking sheet, and score into 6 or 8. (depending on how large you want your scones)

Bake at 425F for 20min. Break or cut apart and serve.

Beige Food

Beige... usually a colour describing food that is blah and bad for you. However, looking at our dinner tonight- it was very beige, but definitely not bland, and pretty healthy. (Really wish I'd taken a picture!) All of the veggies came from our RHG basket.

We had:
- roasted chicken (from the grocery store)
- roasted potatoes (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh rosemary and garlic, s&p)
- skillet cabbage (I googled for a cooked cabbage recipe, and found a winner here)
- baked squash (the only colour on our plates- and the rind was white)

And yet, the meal was delicious! Just goes to show that beige does not have to be bad. :)

Christmas!

Ok, so it's not quite Christmas yet, but it sure felt like it, opening our boxes of fresh produce on Saturday. After our weekly CSA ended last month, we were really feeling the loss of our fresh local organic veggies. Grocery stores just don't have the same variety of organic produce that we can find locally. (what irony!) We decided to join the Ottawa Valley Food Co-op to continue our consumption of local food, and our investment in our local economy.

beautiful veggie haul

 When placing our first OVFC order, I was very excited to see that RHG, our CSA farm, was offering "baskets" through the co-op (as well as individual items). Since OVFC only comes once a month, we ordered the large basket! We received 2 cardboard boxes and one plastic grocery bag FULL of produce. Opening the boxes was so much fun- finding the bunches of kale and green onions, heads of cabbage, bags of potatoes, red, yellow, and tropea onions, and garlic, fresh spinach, several varieties of squash, and gigantic carrots! I'm very excited to see what we create with this bounty.

Apples! Susannah loves apples, so I also ordered some of those from RHG. Here is Susannah enjoying her apple.