Today's the day we separated our
natural beef pairs. We have 45 pairs (Mama and Calf) to bring down off the hills, to the corral to separate Mama from calf. I drove out with the kids and Chloe and along the way we spotted quite a few turkeys.
Adjacent to the turkeys were two does and two fawns who were not at all startled by our drive by.
It's 8:15 a.m., you can see the fog sitting at the top of the hills. We hadn't even made it over to the first gate, where the pairs come through when we spotted the herd already being driven in our direction. We don't use horses, only an ATV and trucks.
We're missing two pairs. They're still somewhere up the hill which will require another ride back up to search for them. The kids and I just followed behind the herd along with Dominic who was riding the ATV to make sure no one strayed off from the herd.
It was a bumpy ride. I'm normally in the passenger seat of my father in law's vehicle for ease of photo taking, but I was on my own today.......well, with two kids and very excited Chloe who becomes VERY vocal upon seeing cows. She really thinks she's a cow dog.....Anyway, difficult for me to snap photos, drive and keep Chloe from jumping out the window. As you can see, many of my photos are a wee bit off.
Chloe barked her head off out the window, until Dominic had me quite her down. Mama cows were starting to become very protective of their calves with a dog barking at their rear. Chloe's barking caused a few of them to turn around and come towards us. Chloe just thought she was helping {and actually, so did I. Shows how much I know!}
Okay, they're moving along nicely now.
We're almost over to the third gate they'll be walking through.
And here is the fourth and final gate before entering the corral. A dusty trail and what you see at the top of the photo is the fog cover still hovering at 9:30 a.m.
By now, most of you know my fear of bulls. Holstein bulls. But for some reason these beef bulls don't scare me {as much}. I walked up to this guy {same side of the fence, this is not a zoomed photo} and took a photo. Beef bulls are just more docile than those crazy Holstein bulls.
He was all about playing in the loose dirt pile and sniffing out his new surroundings.
Here are the babies. Most of them are around 10 months old with some being a bit younger. They are taken over to the dairy by trailer, where they will be picked up Monday by a driver and driven to the valley to auction.
After the separation process, the mamas and bulls are walked back over through a couple of gates to their pasture land, where they will stay through the winter.
The entire process begins again.
Happy Tuesday!
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We started out with what I think is going to be my 'new favorite cocktail'....the 'Woo Hoo'
I think it's actually called a Woo Woo but after a couple of these, it quickly became renamed to the Woo Hoo! The cocktail is a blend of vodka, grapefruit juice, peach schnapps and cranberry juice......absolutely delicious! Woo Hoo!!
I have always had a great dining experience at Wild Fox and I just love the atmosphere. There's a nice long bar, an outdoor patio with fireplace, and it's all dark wood and cozy on the inside.
There are a bunch of meat eaters in this group. Three of us had the Flat Iron Steak special, all with different sides.
Devi's with a side of swiss chard and asparagus.....
And Jody's with a side of green beans and butternut squash.......
Debbie ordered a Pesto Pizza with tomatoes and pine nuts.......Yum!
I ordered Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry which was so good. They served a huge portion so I was able to eat the remaining half for lunch today......
Dinner paired so wonderfully with this fabulous bottle of Ledson Zinfandel that Jody brought to share......thanks Jody!
Kellie's gooey smore-like birthday dessert (yes, those are toasted marshmallows you see emerging from the glass).....
Apricot, chocolate chip bread pudding with a scoop of mocha ice cream on top we ordered to share.....
We all had a fantastic time and an even better visit. Nothing like a Girls Night Out...
Flat iron steak makes me think of this recipe.....
Tomato-Herb Marinated Flank Steak
In this recipe, a dual-purpose sauce is made from garden-fresh tomatoes, shallot, marjoram and rosemary. Using half the sauce to marinate the steak and the other half as a basting sauce. Pasture-raised, grass-fed beef is gentler on the environment, free from growth-promoting hormones and typically lower in fat and calories than grain-fed beef. Marinating grass-fed beef for a full day helps make it tender. Look for it at natural-foods markets or find it online - Grossi Natural Beef. 
