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Cultivate Simple 56: Stew 5.0

December 9th, 2013

Cultivate Simple, a podcast where we discuss trying to live a more simple, mindful life! This week we talk about our vacation and the things we did. It’s a stew episode so there is a bit of everything mixed in.
cookies with the kids
Heidis hat
Turkey

Books of the Week

6 Comments to “Cultivate Simple 56: Stew 5.0”
  1. DebbieB on December 9, 2013 at 1:25 pm

    Missed the podcast last week when you took your well-earned break. :) I know what you mean about needing to rest after taking vacation. We always fly to the mountains, do a lot of hiking and driving from place to place, then fly home, and I’m usually exhausted by the time we get home. (Well, part of that exhaustion is the constant sensory bombardment in the airport and the plane…)

    Love the earflap hat with the braids, Susy! So cute! I enjoy crocheting, but I only like to make big rectangles with crochet (aghans/blankets). I prefer to knit my hats/socks/sweaters (3D objects), and I prefer to weave scarves (so quick!) Anytime I’m sitting, you’ll find me with yarn in my hands and some sort of implement to manipulate it. :)

    I’ve had bear stew – my dad the bowhunter brought home a bear once, and kept a little of the meat and shared the rest with friends. Mom stewed it like she would beef. I found the meat to be gristly, not easy to chew. Perhaps it was prepared badly. I agree about squirrel, it’s like darkmeat chicken – again, I’ve only had it stewed. I think my mom could deal with the odder (to her) game meats better by stewing them so the meat was more anonymous in the pot. HA!

    Now, venison, we had all different ways, as it was a staple red meat in our house. Steaks, roasts, backstrap, cutlets, sausage, jerky – we had it all and greatly enjoyed it. My dad preserved the skins, too, and we had them as floor rugs (and he sold many to other people as well). He also made gun and bow racks with the hooves. He believed that as much of the animal as possible should be used, and always did as you do, Brian – he made sure to only take kill shots. If he had to track blood, it was because a hunting buddy had wounded one, not him – he always dropped them where they stood.

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  2. angie h on December 9, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    It sounds like you had a great trip! In regards to deer processing, I did not like deer until my husband started processing his own with his dad, cousins, and brothers. It makes a heck of a difference in flavor. His cousin and brother are in the woods every spare moment and they taught themselves via books and a few videos. They have been doing their own for probably 6 or so years. They often do it “bee” style, all of them help cut whenever anyone gets a deer. The last 2 years they do all the prep, skinning and such and cut it into portions and we’ve finished up everything here (steaks, stew meat, and such). I still do not like deer burger…it is gritty or something. However, we did a coarser sausage grind with seasonings and pork fat, and I did like that (we halved a maple breakfast sausage recipe and it just wasn’t seasoned enough, but made for great bbq bacon deer burgers).

    Brian and the men of his family used to go to a big spring game dinner every year at a local sportsman club. He is much more adventurous when it comes to meat than I.

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  3. Wendy on December 9, 2013 at 6:28 pm

    Great to have the podcast back this week!

    I crochet and knit and like both for different reasons. In general I like the end result of knitting much better, but I think crocheting is faster, and I, too, like the wide variety of stitches that crocheting provides. I’ve been enjoying following your crochet pattern picks on Pinterest, Susy–you’ve made a lot of great finds!

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    • Lemongrass on December 10, 2013 at 7:27 pm

      Wendy. love your bean write-up. I am growing bodi beans and pigeon peas. when growing up we put the pods in a bag, hang it on a nail and beat it with a bamboo rod every time we passed it. I say it is worth he effort.
      Great harvest.

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  4. misti on December 11, 2013 at 12:22 pm

    Was just now able to listen to the podcast. I’m also a crocheter, though sometimes I wish I could knit, I find crocheting much more interesting. I just finished a Hello Kitty amiurgami for my niece. Much more difficult as I used a pattern an ESL person translated from someone else’s Spanish, so there was some translation issues, but it worked out in the end. I’d like to learn to read charts eventually, but I do better with written patterns.

    Ah, Bill Bryson…the man everyone on the AT loves to hate. I think most AT hikers have read AWITW but they quickly decide his hike was very scammy and there’s hints that Katz may or may not be real, or at least his supposed experiences. Lots of good gossip on hiking forums! If you ever want to read a more truthful story about the AT, check out the Barefoot Sister’s set of books.

    Lost on a Mountain in Maine is a book I have heard about and am interested in reading. Just haven’t made it there yet.

    Are you on Ravelry?

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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