The things we do for love

Yesterday, Mr. Wonderful did not have to be at work at a specific time so I suggested he make a stew! You know, one of those "throw all this stuff in the crockpot" kind of things. Well, he did (after modifying a recipe) and I was greeted at 5:50 with a wonderful, wonderful stew! I call it Impromptu Stew and it is full of hearty goodness that is too good to keep a secret. So here it is (I don't know the measurements for everything so I'm just going to put down ingredients with some guesstimates):

Mr. Wonderful's Impromptu Stew

2 tablespoons of oil

1 teaspoon of oregano

1 lb of bison stew meat (or use whatever meat you wish)

zucchini

squash

small red potatoes

onion

1 can of corn

flour for thickening

at least 1 cup of water

1 tablespoon of beef granules

I think that was it. It is soooo yummy! I dunked whole wheat sourdough bread and then whole wheat bread from Texas French Bread until it was so soaked, I had to use my spoon to get it out! You can put in whatever veggies you like, your own meat, just whatever you want!! I especially liked it because everything we used (with the exception of the canned corn) was local and it will be a good solution to "hurry!! we gotta eat this NOW!"

I'm surprised I had never thought of this before but then again, I'm a little gunshy in the kitchen.

Bison Bill sez: "Try bison meat!! You'll love it!"

New foods, same ol' faces

Hello Friends!

It's been a while since I posted so I thought I would update people on what I've been eating. Mostly it's been the same old, same old but I have tried two new things I wanted to talk about.

The first: bison.

From Thunderheart Bison, a local grower from the San Antonio region. They are profiled in the current version of Edible Austin and the company has been at every farmer's market I have been to. I think, when I first bought my bison, I actually talked to the guy in the article (the owner) so that was pretty cool. He was friendly, personable, and he seemed to like me (he was joking with me about buying stuff for my brother, not knowing he was my brother. Good times for all!).

Anyway, we bought a pound of ground bison and it was yum! I didn't notice a huge difference between it and beef. But the bison guy gave me a list of bison facts and, if they are all true, bison is 10 times healthier for you than just about any meat. Even chicken! Mr. Wonderful and I went back to the Farmer's Market after a hiatus and bought another pound of ground and some stew meat. Thunderheart is reasonably priced (although I'm not splurging on strip steaks) and the meat tastes great! The article in Edible Austin talks about the humane way of killing (basically shooting them with a gun from a reasonable distance) because bison guy said that you could taste the adrenaline when the bison went through a conventional slaughter. I heartily endorse bison!

The next interesting thing of an eating variety: prickly pear. HEB was selling a bag of prickly pear for $3.00 so I thought I would give it a whirl. The prickly pear is good but full and I mean FULL of seeds. Like you can't take a bite without eating ten seeds which are too hard to chew. So Mr. Wonderful and I spent the majority of the time eating a small bit of flesh and the rest of the time spitting out seeds. For the record: these prickly pear were skinned and looked to be green, not like this picture of prickly pear that I got when I googled "edible prickly pear."

This prickly pear actually looks really good and easy to eat. So maybe I can find something to do with my pears??

On an HEB downer note: HEB had one of their "buy this, get that free" and it was for organic apple slices and Central Market greens. Hm....that's healthy and I was going to buy apples anyway....why not??

Well, I haven't eaten the greens yet but the apple slices are disappointing. First: they are packaged in four individual bags. Ick! Just pack them together! And the four individual bags are packaged in a larger plastic bag. They taste like watery air and retain very little of the incredibly juicy flavor that I have tasted of other organic apples (store bought and farmer bought). Not doing this one again.

On a happier note: my CSA starts this weekend!!! Community supported agriculture that is. Edible Austin, again, provided a great article on the CSA I joined (I was happy about that because I got to know a little more about them before venturing onto their farm). The CSA is with Johnson's Backyard Garden and I am hoping that it will be a wonderful experience (I think it will be). I'm boning* up on all sorts of preservation methods...well, canning and freezing. Methinks I need to purchase canning equipment? Si.

And on a sad note: The Bull and Boar is closed. :( It was great while it lasted, I hope it comes back, and in the mean time, you can purchase yummmmy meat from Peach Creek Farm at the Austin farmer's market or online (I think). Check these guys out: they're great!

Today's Pic:

Doesn't "Local Lucy" sound like a strumpet name?

*Principal Skinner: "And bone I will!"