Bear here.... Last weekend I had a good idea, and bad timing. I am a grill guy, I usually don't have the time or patience for BBQ. I have done some briskets and I was in the mood to try barbecuing venison. I thawed a venison shoulder for smoking/ BBQ. The shoulder was about 10 lbs. so would take around 8 to 10 hours, and I started around noon. (First mistake.) I decided to use bonfire wood to cook in my grill for better smoke and heat control. Did you know it takes around 1 1/2 hrs. to get coals? I relearned that fact. I also started with lump charcoal so I wouldn't be cooking in the dark.

The forecast on Thursday was for warm, muggy  weather on Saturday, no problem. (Second mistake, I should have looked Saturday morning and realized STORMS were coming to an area near me!) Everything was set up and rolling, I put the venison on the grill and before I could close the lid I heard thunder.  

... I can do this. Here are some pictures and commentary for that day.

Overall... it was an interesting day and the meat turned out OK. It made great sandwiches. Soon I will be doing this again.

Type at ya later..

From Theresa: We built our tiny wildlife pond in 2012, and it immediately started to attract wildlife, including dragonflies, snails, water beetles, birds, squirrels, and chipmunks. We built it hoping for frogs, because I love falling asleep listening to their calls. In its second summer we had one resident frog, but there weren't many mating calls. This Summer, we were serenaded for many nights by calls from the American Toad, tree frogs, and a third frog we couldn't identify. And this time it resulted in a pond full of hundreds of tadpoles, which have now become incredibly tiny frogs!!

"We're sunbathing and she's taking pictures of us- How rude!"

Frog with a Duckweed Hat
(Theresa was trying to clean some of the duckweed out of the pond,
and was surprised to scoop up a frog along with the duckweed.):

King of the Mountain:

King looking for a smaller mountain:

We first noticed tiny tadpoles in our pond on 6-6-2015:

Then the gang got bigger (6-12-15):

By 7-11-15 the tadpoles started to get legs (Bear says we should call them frogpoles):

Then they lost their tails and became frogs!
(Walking on water with the help of duckweed):

This American Toad could be one of the parents (dad or mom, we have no clue):

This is the wildlife pond we built, 
although Bear says it looks like a swamp since it's covered with duckweed. 
It's been amazing to sit next to the pond every day 
and discover first hand how tadpoles turn into frogs, 
knowing that we played a tiny role in supporting new life.

For instructions on making your own tiny frog habitat, 
see our page on how we built this wildlife pond:

Bear here...

Theresa has been busy today updating the Resources page on our website. These are some of the books we like that help us with homesteading, gardening, cooking, and other stuff. We are hoping the books will help you too. They are linked to Amazon and if you use our link we get a little cash with no extra cost to you.  You can also buy them from your local bookstore or check them out of the library.

We (Mostly Theresa will be doing the work.) will be updating the resources page when we can. Happy reading.

Type at ya later...

Above is the popcorn that I popped on the stove tonight, in a cast iron pot. I used garlic flavored oil. In my Indian cooking class I was told how to temper oil with spices. I was told once the spices stopped spitting put the oil over something else or into something else. IF YOU KEEP THEM ON THE FIRE TOO LONG THEY WILL BURN. I forgot that part, I remembered after seeing the black spots throughout the popcorn and tasting a bit of the burnt flavor.  I also have to remember how much oil VS popcorn.


Experiments to do, lessons to learn,
Type at ya later.

I steamed the asparagus and beet stems until soft (around 10 min.).

In a recent cooking class I learned about tempering as the key process in Indian cooking. Tempering involves heating oil to a high temp and then adding spices.  When the spices stop spitting, it's done, which usually takes less than 10 seconds. For this dish, I tempered the bacon fat and some olive oil with dried cumin and mustard powder. I used roughly 2 tblsp of oil and 1 tsp each of the spices.

Then I added the chopped up chicken and 1 1/2 cup of the rice. I mixed in the cooked asparagus and beet stems and kept stirring until it was all hot. Then I stirred in 2 tablespoons of coriander. I added the beet greens last and when they wilted it was done.

I felt the dish needed crunch so I put roasted sunflower seeds over the mix.  As a bonus Theresa and I recently canned red currant jelly. It is supposed to be good with savory dishes so we tried it on the side and the sweet-tartness really worked with the other flavors.

Time to go back to watching TV.     Type at ya later...