Where the Beef Cows Live~Sneak Peek

Spring is the time of year where we move our small herd of natural beef from the flat acreage they've been grazing upon since September, back up to the hill tops behind Stafford Lake.  

The date this year didn't coincide with school spring break so my kids missed out but I make sure not to miss this two hour event.

Before moving the cattle, they are brought in to a corral to be vaccinated and wormed and given a visual health check.  {all beef cattle; organic, natural and conventional are vaccinated}

Once they're finished, they walk through the shoot into another corral where they wait until the entire herd is ready to be moved up the hill together.

We move them with four-wheelers and trucks by following close behind and to their side to make sure they all stay together and moving in the right direction through gates.

They are now in what I call 'Cow Paradise', 800 acres of beautiful hillside where grazing will ensue until early July.  Once July arrives, they're all moved back down the hill and they usually calve in September.

Happy Trails.

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Beefers

It's that time of year again....time to move our natural beef cows to the 800 acres up the hill, behind Stafford Lake, where they will graze until September.  They've been down on the flat pasture land since September, which  is where they calve and now that all of the mamas have calved, they're moved to lush green grass that has been untouched {except by maybe some deer} and growing for them all winter long and part of spring. 

The walk takes all of about 10 minutes. 

They know right where to go with just a little coaxing.

Here they have reached the base of the hill......happy eating!

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The Grass is Always Greener

Every now and again, we receive a phone call from either the Park Rangers working at Stafford Lake or the good folks at Indian Valley Golf Course telling us there's a cow out near hole 9.  Imagine a golfer's surprise when he encounters a bovine, face to face, in the middle of his/her game.  We know it's most likely not one of our well behaved dairy cows or heifers, but one of these buggers that have once again found some way to gain access to the lovely, trimmed green grass at the park or at the golf course. 

Now, it's not that they don't have acres and acres of green grass of their own to graze upon, as you can see in the photos below.  These mama beef cows just never seem satisfied with what they have.

They are also fed a nice hearty breakfast of hay every day, but nooo, they want more, better, greener, lusher {is that a word?} grass.

So how do these beef cows get through the fence?  Sometimes a fence goes down due to winter weather.  Sometimes the other side of the fence is too much of a temptation and mama beef cow jumps it. Or sometimes the fence is cut  by an unknown party.  What ever the case, we always find the mama beef cow.

So if you're ever golfing at Indian Valley and come across a cow patty, you'll know why.



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Roast Turkey-Boob Side Down

With the plethora of sugary treats I've ingested in the past two weeks, my body is seriously craving some protein. All I want for food is meat and brussels sprouts....weird, huh?

I had bought a turkey after Thanksgiving and stuck it in the freezer with the thought of practicing my turkey roasting skills sometime in the near future.  I have a confession.....

I'm not the best turkey roaster. 

I'm intimidated by the turkey. 

I have turkey issues.

But I do love to eat turkey. 

Freezer space is limited in our house and considering we just picked up our natural beef that was recently harvested, I had to make room for the beef in the freezer so out came the turkey.  

I've only roasted a few turkeys in my life and have had issues with retaining as much juice {or any juice} when roasting a bird, especially the breast area.  I scanned online for some tips on roasting turkey and came across a method of roasting the bird, boob-side down.   Hey, it's worth a shot, right?

I didn't have much time to prepare this 13 pound bird, I had been for a visit at my parent's house and arrived home at around 2:30.  I quickly washed the turkey, inside and out, olive oiled it, salted inside and out and peppered the outside as well.  I also stuffed the cavity with onion and quartered lemon.  Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then turn down the temp to 350 for the remainder of the time. 

I didn't tie the legs together, which probably helped it cook faster.....I'm not sure.  This bird roasted for about 2 hours and 45 minutes.  I let it rest, covered with foil for another 20 - 30 minutes.

As you can see, roasting boob side down leaves the breasts lighter in color.  If you're worried about achieving that toasted brown color on the breasts, you can flip the bird over for the last 5 minutes and broil for color.

Everything was completely cooked and remained juicy.  I was extremely happy with the results and will definitely use this method again.  Yay!

Have you ever tried this method?  What's your favorite method of preparing a turkey?  Deep fried, roasted, smoked?

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Beef Branding

I'm sure most of you are familiar with livestock branding and know it has been around for a very long time.  It's used for marking livestock to identify the owner.  Each brand is registered and there are no duplicates. 

While Bryce was in school, Paige and I decided to tag along with Dominic, my father-in-law, George and some hired hands, to gather our natural beef calves from property that we rent for them to graze upon, as it was their day to become branded.  This is my own personal opinion, but I think beef cows are notorious for escaping from what seems to be a very secure fence line.....even if they have hundreds of acres to roam, like ours do.  You know the saying 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence'?  Well in the mind of beef cow, this is definitely thought to be true!   

human brand photos google images

While we were waiting for the truck and trailer to arrive, Paige and I took a little nature walk and found some fun things to photograph.

Trailer arrived, beef calves waiting.  And in they go, to be driven down the road, to the same place where we separate the mama and calf pairs in the early summer.

Someone found the window.......

The branding itself, only takes about 10 seconds or so per calf.  These two were in and out of the shoot and hung out to wait for their friends.

Paige oversees the entire operation.  All went well.

I honestly have no idea why there is a desire to brand one's own body. Yikes! 

human brand photos by google images

Happy Wednesday!
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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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A Special Present & Play Time

I received an amazing gift yesterday.  My mother-in-law, Annette, brought me this 'old time' family cookbook that I've wanted for a long time!  You can't purchase this cookbook in stores though.  The family that created this cookbook is another, huge, long time ranching family in the area who originally immigrated to this country in 1884. In 1998 they printed a family cookbook.  {I can't divulge the family name because I didn't ask permission to do so, but if you're reading this and are part of said family and want to divulge, please do so!}

The family just had copies reprinted so Annette was able to secure one for me:)   Included in the book are recipes that have been in their family for generations.  I LOVE cookbooks like this because contributors submit their very favorite recipes of all times and you end up with a fantastic compilation of recipes for the book. 

There's even some diet tips included.  Here they are:

*If you drink {diet soda} with a candy bar, they cancel each other out.

*If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look slimmer.

*If no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.

Tips to live by!

Bryce requested some sort of meat for dinner, so I looked through the cookbook for something easy.  I decided on Joyce's recipe titled "Mark's Favorite Meatloaf".  I took some of our natural ground beef out of the freezer, let it thaw and got busy.  Here's what you need:  {complete recipe below}

I used two pounds of ground beef.  {we eat a lot and it makes for good left overs}

I love onion.

I did alter the recipe a bit.  The original calls for 1/4 cup of chopped green pepper, which I didn't have so I used zucchini instead.  But that's one of the things I like about meatloaf, you can throw anything into the mix.

If my zucchini looks a little frozen, it's because it is.  One of the drawers in my fridge is set too cold.

Mix everything together with your hands.....my favorite part.

Almost forgot the olives.

And the catsup.

Now mix.

I don't use a loaf pan, I just form the mixture into loaves and place on a baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

Enjoy.  I eat mine with catsup.

1 1/2 lb. ground beef

1 egg

1 Tsp. catsup

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper {I used zucchini}

6 chopped olives

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

salt, pepper and paprika

1 cup milk

Mix all together, put into glass pan {or form and place on baking sheet}.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/4 hours.

Stay tuned, other recipes I plan on trying from the cookbook are: 

Six Pack Duck

Cheese Cake from Switzerland

Polenta Concia

but one that I know I will not be able to stomach is Tripe {sorry I couldn't resist}

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After I was given the cookbook, the kids wanted to stop at the commodity barn to play and slide on the way back up to our house. I was planning on doing laundry so I let them play and get dusty and covered in grain.

Ground squirrel was hanging out before we arrived.

He didn't want to stay and play though.

This is such great exercise.  And it wears out the kids.....always a bonus:)

Yipee!

What's your favorite family recipe?  Care to share?

Happy Friday!  Cheers! Pin It