A Year of Deer, Episode 10: Burgers, Revisited

This past Wednesday we enjoyed venison burgers for the second time. Burgers are Travis' department, so he was in charge of the mixing, forming, cooking, etc. This time around he used the same seasoning mix (we bought a large shaker at Costco, so we'll be seasoning burgers with that stuff for a LONG time to come), but instead of the dried minced onions he added last time, I suggested he throw in some chopped green onions, since we happened to have some in the fridge (hence the green speck you see in the photo). We also topped them with provolone instead of cheddar...again, because it's what we had. The sound bite of the night came while Travis had both hands deep in a bowl of ground venison, mixing everything together. He looked at me with a grin and said, "This is like playdough for men." Classic.

While husband worked on the burgers, I peeled and chopped and seasoned some potatoes for oven fries. (This was after husband went into the pantry and discovered that over half the potatoes in the bag, which I'd recently purchased, had turned into nasty oblong pockets of potato pus, barely contained by their rotting skins. Sorry, I know that description is gross, but so were those potatoes! I've never had that happen before...perhaps I should google "potato pustulence" to research what went wrong. Do any of my readers have insight on this? Leave a comment!) Anyway, after cleaning up the mess and picking out the few unaffected potatoes, I finally got the potatoes prepped and in the oven.

Sometimes when cooking, I have the good fortune and foresight to time everything just right so that every dish is ready at the same time. Not so Wednesday night. We ate our burgers, and then about 20 minutes later, the potatoes were ready. Oh well. I spun it as a "two course meal" and in the meantime we watched some of the over 30 hours of Olympics coverage we have on the DVR.

Adios Paloma. Bienvenidos El Cuervo.

Although I am 29 years old, I rarely feel as "grown up" as my teenage self imagined I would when I got to this point in life. Back in my teens, I had this romantic notion that, simply as a bi-product of adding years to my life, I'd somehow absorb and possess all of the knowledge and know-how required for adulthood. Instead, I've discovered that life is something a person figures out as they go along. Sure, we can (and hopefully do) learn and benefit from the wisdom and experience of those who have gone ahead of us--sometimes decades ahead, sometimes just a few months--but life largely consists of rising to the occasion and figuring things out as the tasks of life come along. And every once in a while, we are called upon to undertake one of those tasks that feels unmistakably adult-like.

This past weekend, husband and I bought a car. Researching the various makes and models, analyzing reliability reports and fuel efficiency, considering usefulness for our current and future life situations (i.e. transporting potential offspring - egads!), and then signing papers that committed us to this one vehicle and paying off the thousands of dollars we borrowed, all made me feel very grown up. And admittedly, a little weary. A difference Travis and I have discovered between us...he feels energized and excited by challenges like this, while I tend to feel stressed and burdened. Needless to say, I was very glad to have him on my team when the time came to replace my dear Paloma ("dove" in Spanish), the white 2000 Chevy Malibu my parents helped me purchase mid-way through my senior year of college (which is why I'd never done this whole car-buying thing on my own). I think some of the weariness also comes from the sadness of saying goodbye to my first and only car to date...a car that carried me to many places beyond to work and back every day. What I need to do is separate the memories from the vehicle. I get to hold on to the memories and drive off with them in a shiny new car (a black 2008 Pontiac Vibe I've dubbed El Cuervo, or "the raven"), while I let someone else deal with my geriatric, noisy, increasingly broken and unsafe 140,000 mile road-weary vehicle, for which they actually gave me a pittance of money. It's a pretty good deal, really. :)

And so, Paloma, here's a look back on the many places we traveled together:

• to Taylor and back, before and especially after graduation, for visits to see Josh perform in plays, for Ollie's memorial service, for Homecoming where I ran (well, jogged) my first 5K; and last summer for the 3G reunion
• to and from and all over Columbus, OH, where I lived with Allison's family while working at the Easton B&N
• to and from weddings--so many weddings!--in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and all over greater Chicagoland
• to and from Menomonie and Madison and Baraboo, WI for visits and rendezvous with Allison
• to the north side of Chicago and back to the western suburbs (a 50+ mile loop) while Travis and I were dating
• to and from Michigan for holidays and visits with Travis' family
• and many more meaningful destinations that aren't coming to mind right now

Yes, Paloma, we had a good run. El Cuervo, we're excited and thankful to have you, and eager for the many miles of adventures that lie ahead...

A Year of Deer, Episode 9: Three Bean Venison Chili

Sunday evening we had Allison & Alex over after church for dinner and The Amazing Race. For this episode I fell back on one of my tried and true recipes (Three Bean Turkey Chili) and just substituted ground venison for the ground turkey. The venison tasted right at home among the tomatoes and spices. True to prior experiences with this recipe, the chili was incredibly tasty. (I think I mention this every time, but this chili recipe is also ridiculously quick and easy, which is why it's one of my favorite go-to meals.) I used medium instead of mild salsa this time, and upped the spices a little, so it had a bit more kick than usual. I also added some water to thin it out a bit, since I made it on the stove before church and then put it in the crock pot on warm for a couple hours before we ate. I forgot about snapping a few photos until after we'd started eating. I was done with my salad and on to my chili when I remembered. Here's my bowl (empty salad plate above!), and our friends:

A Year of Deer, Episode 8: Slow-Cooker Cider Venison Roast

This past weekend we dipped into our venison stash twice for the purposes of entertaining. Saturday evening our good friends Nate & Bethany came over for dinner. They're newlyweds like us.

For this episode, I prepared the last of the roasts by slow-cooking the meat with veggies and a host of flavorful accompaniments.

The Ingredients:

• 1 venison roast (3 - 3 1/2 lbs)*
• 2 Tb flour
• 2 Tb butter or margarine
• 1 cup coarsely chopped celery
• 1 coarsely chopped onion
• 5 medium carrots, cut into 1"slices
• 4-5 all-purpose potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1 cup beef gravy
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

*I used two smaller roasts that added up to just over 3 lbs


The Directions: 
Place the flour in a gallon-size plastic bag. Place the venison roast in the bag and shake to coat the roast with flour. Melt the margarine in a skillet. Saute the venison until lightly browned on all sides. Place the browned venison in a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the celery, onion, potatoes, and carrots. In a medium bowl, mix the apple cider, gravy, thyme, salt, and pepper together. Pour the mixture over the other ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

 

Here's the happy sight of dinner, ready to eat after slow cooking for 10 hours and permeating the air in our apartment with delicious aromas.

 

 Here's my plate.

 

And here's Travis with our friends, all of whom were too wrapped up in the deliciousness of dinner to pay attention to me and look at the camera.

The Verdict: This dish might just be my favorite out of all the episodes so far. The meat was so tender, the flavors so rich, the veggies perfectly cooked. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Since we've run out of venison roasts, I'll probably try it with beef next time, which I imagine would be similarly tasty.