A Lil' Bit of Chicken Fried ~ Steak

I think I have FINALLY got it right with this Chicken Fried Steak attempt {number 4}.  As many of you know, we raise our own beef here on the ranch and after the first 'harvest' of our first animal, years ago we had a freezer full of home grown beef cuts.....a few of them I was not too familiar with.

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National Burger Month

The weather's getting warmer, the days longer, and the outdoor grill is getting fired up.  May is National Burger Month and what better way to celebrate but to make your own sliders.  Super easy, the kids love them because they're tasty and oh so cute.

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TT w/Linky: Beef Short Ribs

Beef short ribs are sometimes used as a bribery tool in my house.  Bryce swims three days a week and after swim practice, he soaks in the hot tub to warm up before we head home.  The problem is, is that the kid never wants to climb out of the hot tub once he's there.  But one thing I can count on is, I know he'll ask me what we're having for dinner that night, so when I answered "Short Ribs", he was out, toweled off and half way over to the changing room before I had a chance to finish my conversation with one of the Dads at the pool. 

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Barbecuing for the Better ~ tips

It's summer time, Father's Day is just around the corner and I'm sure many of us will be spending time outdoors around the BBQ.  Here's some quick and simple tips to make your BBQing experience the best it can be.

Thaw your frozen meat out in the fridge.  Try not to defrost meat or poultry and fish on the counter top....bacteria can easily multiply at room temperature.  If you need to speed things up, use the microwave on its defrost setting and then grill immediately.

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Cruisin' the Beef

Now that Paige doesn't have soccer on Thurday mornings, we have some free time.  Dominic was heading over to check on the progress at the 'Hidden Pond' so we went along for the drive. 

Along the way we came across a few of the beef cows; the two bulls and a couple of older mamas that don't make the trek up to the top of the hill {that you can see in the background} for the summer.

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Shhh! Don't tell the others & Whole Foods helps to protect farm land via MALT

On this overcast northern California morning as I was driving to town from the farm, I look to my left only to notice one Happy Boy. 

In this particular pasture that sits alongside the road, my father-in-law spends hours upon hours tilling the soil, planting oat hay seed and then in the early summer, cuts the hay, turns it and bales it.....to feed the beef cows during the summer.  No one is allowed out in this pasture right now.  The few that get away with spending time here are a group of pesky Canadian Geese who can't wait for that seed to hit the ground, only so they can try eating it up as quickly as they can......but today, it's this guy. 

His lucky day, I'd say.

He knows he hit pay dirt as he stands in knee high oat grass, standing quietly as he eats, his friends close by {where they're supposed to be} not even noticing.

Beef.  They're notorious for getting through fence {in my opinion}.  Ours are normally found on the golf course nearby if they've gone through some fence, but today,  the golfers are not to be disturbed.

Something for the Locals:

Are you local to Marin?  If so, here's something you may be interested in supporting and if you go, I'll see you there!:

Are you a Whole Foods Market in Novato Shopper that wants to help protect Marin County farmland? If so, Whole Foods Market in Novato will be donating 5% of all their sales to Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT). It all happens on Tuesday, March 22, from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm at Whole Foods Market, 790 De Long Avenue in Novato. Come do your shopping and help save Marin's farmland while you're at it! http://www.malt.org/

Photo by Michael Woolsey of MALT

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There's A New Bull In Town

Meet our newest addition:  Red Bull.  I know, I know, not a very creative name but it fits!  He was bought on Saturday at a bull sale in Middletown, CA.  Our friend, Loren Poncia of Stemple Creek Ranch offered to pick out a Red Angus beef bull for us since he was going up there to purchase a beef bull for his own beef ranch and Dominic couldn't make the trip. 

Red Bull was delivered to us yesterday and last night we loaded him in the trailer and hauled him across the street, behind Stafford Lake, to where our natural beef live.  We found a few of the 45 mama beef cows we raise and decided to unload him there.  The other beef bull was nowhere in sight, which was a good thing......we wanted Red Bull to become accustomed to his new surroundings before he encountered the other resident bull, because when they do meet, they will have to go through the natural process of establishing who will be the dominent {or alpha} bull.

The few mama and calf pairs we encountered last night were very curious of the new, soon to be 'boyfriend' we had just unloaded.

They were all checking him out.  Even this black mama cow that hasn't calved yet.

I think Red Bull will enjoy his new surroundings, view {that's Stafford Lake you see in the background} and all of those mama cows to keep him company for the next few years.

It'll be a good, happy life.

Time to drive back home.

Oh, and Dominic told me when he went out to feed the beef this morning, both bulls were together and seemed fine with one another......no apparent signs of any struggle that had ensued between the two.

Happy Monday!
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Where's the Beef? It's time to move them back down.

It's that time of year again, where we move our pairs (mamas and calves) of beef from the top of the hill behind Stafford Lake, back down to the bottom to wean the 10 month old calves from their mamas.  My father in law, George found 30 pairs a couple of days ago and moved them to a lower lying area but couldn't find the rest of them.  There's approximately 1200 acres they have to roam and graze upon during the summer.  They do a great job for fire protection.....good grass mowers!  When they're moved back down to our own 250 acres, they'll be ready to calve again sometime in September.

Chloe wanted to help, much to Dominic's chagrin.  Chloe likes to sit in the driver's lap and Dominic was driving.  But she also loves to hang out an open window so I kept mine down and she stayed in my lap.

She's a happy girl.

Great view of Stafford Lake from up here.

Up and down through the hills and valleys we looked.

Bryce also enjoyed helping.

Oooh!  We found one......but only one. See the black spot in the center of the photo near the trees?  That's her.

I love the scenery from up at the top.  For the non-locals, you can see how dry our grass becomes in the summer time.

Here we are at the very top, looking towards the south.  If you look really close, on the left, in the valley between the first two hills, you can see a fog covered San Francisco.

Since we couldn't find the cows on our drive to the top, Dominic started an alfalfa trail on the way back down in hopes that the cows will follow it down the hill to a spot where we can find them in the next day or so.

Look how lazy I am!  I snapped almost every photo from the seat in the truck!

Here's a shot of the ranch.  You can see our house up and to the left of the barns....it looks like a little brown clump in a clearing.

Only one casualty.  Before we headed up the hill, one of the beef cows at the lower level spotted the alfalfa bale in the back of the truck and tried to jump in.  Anything for food!  Poor truck :(

Hopefully all the pairs will be down the hill in the next day.

Happy Saturday!

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Grilling Guidelines - a Must Have Chart

Phew!  Didn't know if I was going to get this post out today....our electricity has been out ALL DAY LONG!  From 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.  But I made it in time for Eat Meat Monday. 

So, with Memorial Day right around the corner and all the fabulous sunny weather we've been having, Grilling Season has arrived.

Last week I posted some tips on grilling with charcoal and gas. If you missed it, check it out.

Today, for Eat Meat Monday I've posted a grilling guidelines chart from the Beef it's whats for dinner website.  You can also download a printable version (found below the chart) for your convenience.

What are you having for dinner tonight?  We're having hamburgers from our natural beef.  YUM!

Here they are.........
                          

Some flipping action..........

And a cold one in a can to go along with............

Here's the chart..........

Guidelines courtesy of Beef its What's for Dinner website

Download Grilling Guidelines here

Happy Monday!

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Where's the Beef?

I feel like I'm always sharing photos and stories about our dairy and I tend to forget about the Natural Beef we raise here on the ranch. Maybe because the beef cattle graze on the hills behind Stafford Lake......which is the other half of our ranch across the street from us. Our Natural Beef is raised on many acres of pasture. They have never been given antibiotics or growth hormones.......they are raised naturally. The only thing we do give them is a wormer. We feel this keeps them healthier and comfortable and thus will be able to retain much of the protein they are eating. You're probably wondering, 'what if an animal does become sick with an illness?' This does not happen very often but if it does, we would never allow an animal to suffer in any way. We feel the humane way to handle this is to give the animal antibiotics to treat the illness and then sell it at auction. They are not kept here on the ranch and they are not sold as Natural Beef in the food chain. We love and care for all of our animals and treat them with the utmost respect. I went out yesterday morning to snap a few photos of the beef to share with you. This mama cow came right up to my car window....very curious. You can see the west end of Stafford Lake in the background.

Three of the bulls on the hillside.........

The beef cattle have the best view!

Here's Miss Nosey again.........

Cute calf...........

They didn't want to move out of my way as I was driving along...........

A horned mama and her calf.............

The same horned mama. Most of our beef cattle are Polled Herefords (born without horns) except for this one. She's the oldest mama at 15 and we acquired her before we began breeding Polled Herefords. She hasn't gored any of the other cattle thus far......

You know, I can never get away from those bulls! Although, for some reason, beef bulls aren't nearly as frightening to me as are the Holstein bulls........

Chloe had to put in her two cents......barking the entire time out the window.........

Another hillside shot..........

I actually ventured out of the car to take this photo............

We'll be doing our annual cattle drive within the next two weeks. I'll keep you posted.

Elegant Filet Mignon - Paula Dean We use Kraft Zesty Italian sometimes when we marinate, especially when grilling venison.

Happy Thursday!

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Help Me To Decide~CoolPix or not?

I absolutely LOVE my Canon Rebel digital camera, it takes the Best photos for me, but at times, I wish for a more compact camera that I can easily keep in my purse or pocket. Well, I finally broke down yesterday while at CostCo and bought a Nikon CoolPix itsy, bitsy, teeny weeny digital camera. I'm still not sure weather I'll keep it or not, bare with me while I share with you some test photos to help me decide. After taking a number of photos, a couple of them came out blurry. Apparently I must master staying VERY still while pressing the shutter-release button. The jury is still out on the camera....we'll see. Here are a few I took this morning using the Macro setting. Here's my Big Daddy.... Action photos at T-Ball practice this morning using the sports setting.... Playing 3rd Base.... Spectator Paige... I think the little camera did pretty well. I'll try it out for a few more days before I make my final decision. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Last night I had a craving for some juicy, flavorful beef for dinner. After reviewing our freezer full of natural beef, I decided on London Broil. I like to marinate London Broil and this is what I use most of the time..... I marinate the beef in the refrigerator for at least two hours, yesterday it was marinated all day. You can choose to broil or barbecue London Broil. I broiled mine, six minutes on one side and eight minutes on the other. Then let the beef 'rest', covered with foil for 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy.... I also steamed some vegis to go with it... And beef always goes well with some red wine. Last night it was a Corda blend Reserve...

Happy Saturday!

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