Duck Season

I love my dogs. . . . .I love my dogs. That is a refrain that Laurie and I had to repeat to ourselves over and over again. A couple of weeks ago I went up to Jill's an picked up some Ducks.  As in I went up and slaughtered 40 of them.  Sounds gruesome . . . .nope . . .  PRAGMATIC !! Anyway, it was suggested by some that unused and unwanted Ducks should be used for dog food.

  TERRIBLE TERRIBLE IDEA !!!!

For what you get out of a Duck, the ridiculous amount of effort to achieve that net goal is just not worth it.  However, I had good company and I got to use my TBT.  Not the first time I have used it but the first time I have photographic evidence.

This is the skinning portion of the day Laurie and I Skinned 33 ducks in about 5 1/2 hours not exactly record time.

And they thought they would never swim again. 

When all was said and done I would guess that we have 60 pounds of duck meat and good memories of a day spent with friends and a lesson of what to do when someone offers ducks to me.  12 bucks for a completely cooked Peking Duck and you local Chinese Market seems like a fantastic, fantastic deal.

Step up and Bring Yo ' Damn Game !!

So  . . . .haven't actually answered the call.  A couple of months ago I threw down the gauntlet, for the first annual Stock Dog Handler's Cook-off.  Trouble is, I didn't actually make anything for the contest.  I was prepared to declare a winner; however, there was a "flag on the field" over that idea.  So in the interest of fairness and to not further denigrate my lack of action any further I have decided to extend the contest until August 6th.  This will allow me time to prep an entry, additionally, it will afford other competitors an opportunity to prep an additional dish, if they wish.

Some of the competitors have complained that the rules were, perhaps, not clear.  I have included a link to the official score sheet for this contest, the rules are pretty self explanatory.  This is not a food photo contest -- however judging will be based on presentation and photos are part of the presentation.  Originally, contestants could submit 2 recipes I haven't submitted anything and it is unlikely I will get two done in time. the entries so far are as follows:

Lisa click here

Kristi click here

These are both admirable entries and I will add my submission to these fine entries soon, as a plus it will also likely be the meal I will cook for the EID Stock dog handlers dinner.

Score sheet

The winner will receive a bottle of wine and the scores sheets emailed to me will be tallied and announced on the 8th with whatever Kudos the rest of the contestants think appropriate.

Score sheets to be emailed to jkurbatoff@gmail.com

You Just Can't Make This Sh#t UP !!

Things are pretty quite around the NCR, and as such adventures are few and far between.  Billie and I in a rare, but heartwarming moment decided to work together and get some stuff done around the house.  So, we decided to bring one of the flower gardens back from the dead. . . . .

This . . .not better homes and gardens worthy

We toiled away pulling grass and tilling the soil to plant the flowers so graciously donated to me by Jill Brodie (no I cannot remember what she gave me).

Billie hard at work. . . that is until I unearthed this. . .

What started out as a simple wooden box quickly became a source of concern for Billie.  Clearly this a pet of some kind probably a dog and yes it was kinda sad to unearth it.  I was made instantly weird when i cleaned the box up a bit.

Yep !! that is Billie, the beloved pet of some poor family.  Billie (my Billie) was understandably creeped out but not deterred.