The Geraci Family Homestead Chickens

Our Hatchery

2009-04-27T11:21:00.001-07:00

Here is our hatchery. This little dwelling sits has been sitting on our property since we bought our home in 2005. I always thought we'd fix it up later (get the electricity running again, plumbing, fix the interior), and still do but for now it serves as a wonderful hatchery. I think some cute window panes on the outside, some hanging flowers and a sign just above that says "Our Little Hatchery" would be so cute.

Our New White Broadbreasted Turkeys

2009-04-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Matthew has his hands pretty full with the turkeys, chickens, incubation, customers, 3 kids and a pregnant wife. So, I will continue doing most of the posts here too unless he has some instructions or something he wants to share.

So, here are our turkeys just a day or two after Matthew picked them up at the Country Feed store in Montesano. They will get just as big as our regular broad breasted turkeys we had last year but will not have the dark pinfeathers that are noticeable in the meat or skin. These are the kind you buy in the store for Thanksgiving. We bought 15 of them but one was lame so now we have 14. You won't believe how quick they grow. They are over twice their size now and Matthew just picked them up on April 16th. They will grow to over 30 lbs for a tom and over 20 for a hen. Now I have to get to taking pictures again. Matthew just planted me a garden yesterday in front of our hatchery.

Butterball Anyone???

I think he looks more like a duck. They are so cute! I can't believe he won't be able to hold them for long.

Our New Incubator (30-40 years old)

2009-04-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

We just received this incubator for free from a person we had never meet. We were getting an insurance quote for our new business and the agent came out to the house. She knew that we were opening a business for chickens and asked if we needed an incubator. We had no idea what was in store for us. She shared with us about how one of her relatives was in the profession of hatching parrots and that when he had pasted away that she was asked if she wanted anything, she took the incubator thinking it was a food processor. She later discovered that it was an incubator. She never used and asked if we would pick it up, she refused any money and simply just gave it to us, she won't even take any eggs. Likes the ones from the store.

These are two pictures of the front, it is made of redwood, tin, and brass. It amazed me that when I saw the craftsmanship that went into making this piece of art. The nails, glass, and metal. You could tell that the nails were put in by hand and something you just won't see any more. Everything had made in the U.S.A on it and the thermometer was even made in America and didn't come with a warning that it needed to be tested for accuracy.

There are four vents on the top for humidity and do they work perfectly.

Here is a picture of the thermometer that works and the wet-bulb thermometer that also works.

Here is a picture of the trays and water pan at the bottom. The water pan has three different compartments and none of them leak.

Here is the fan, a little wipe down two drops of three in one oil and it purrs like new.

We have set our first batch of eggs in our new incubator and we are so happy to have been blessed with such a gift from the Lord.

Our Delicious Exchange

2009-03-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

What do you get....

When you exchange this....

For this....

Delicious fried oysters EVERY Monday evening at the Geraci household!

That's right, every Monday my husband Matthew drives down to Rays Oysters and gives the owner 2 dozen of our farm fresh eggs for a pint of fresh oysters. Now that's a livin'!

Turkey dinner again - by Matthew

2009-02-28T14:34:00.000-08:00

This is one of our Blue Slate turkeys. We wanted to keep them because they can naturally reproduce but they kept flying away and coming back at night. We don't mean flying over a fence, we expected that but when they started to fly and land on the neighbors barn roof who lives about half a mile it was just to much and when the neighbor told us that they go down to the creek by old nelsons place we knew it was time. We gave away the three smaller turkeys to some nice people but this one saw the pot.

This is me down in front of the barn with the turkey, a new technique I use is to just walk up behind the turkey when he reaches for food, I grab him from behind and flip him upside down. I tie him up and off we go up the hill.

I always us a five pound double edge ax for the killing of the turkey. A lot harder to miss. This bird is now ready for the cone.

In the cone and ready for the plucking bucket.

We use a twenty gallon horse bucket to dunk the birds in - one hundred and forty five degree water and the feathers just come right off. We keep the water hot in the bucket. I am a little slow with plucking still about ten minutes. Have to duck him around three times slosh him around like milk in churner. We love raising our animals gathering from them and eating them.

The box is for the innards, head, feet, tips of wings and feathers. just throw in burn barrel and all is done time to eat in a couple of days.

A Turkey Dinner - by Matthew

2009-02-15T09:33:00.000-08:00

A TURKEY DINNER

First a trip down to the barn. This was a Blue Slate turkey and his weight was about twelve pounds. We slaughtered him because we slaughtered our two Broad Breasted hens and didn't want to leave him alone.

In front of the barn and ready to go up the drive way. Take note of the chain saw helmet, turkeys can really beat you with their wings and I mean beat you.

To spare the details of the picture, one turkey, one man, one axe, and one axe.

Plucking a turkey only takes about ten to fifteen minutes for a beginner like me, the important thing is to have the water at about 145 degrees. The cone in the back ground is for bleeding and we let our turkeys bleed for about two to three minutes. The bucket is for dunking the turkey in and it is filled with the hot water, I dunked him about three times during the plucking. The box is for the; head, feathers, guts and anything else. I then throw the burn barrel and and all is taken care of but the cooking and eating.

Goose Dinner

2009-02-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right. Goose dinner! This is actually the leftovers from the night before. During hunting season, a couple of men hunt geese across the highway from us. Acres and acres of beautiful land... I wish I had a picture. I usually hear the first shots at about 7:00 in the morning. Anyways, on the second to the last day of the season one of the men came over to ask if we would mind if he shoots some geese in our backyard. We have 12 acres so they are usually filled with geese during this time of year. We said we'd be obliged to if we could get a goose for ourselves. He came back with a goose a couple of hours later. My husband cleaned it and we had it for dinner the next evening. I was a little nervous about trying a new meat and had my husband try it first. I asked him how it tasted and he said it was delicious. I knew him to have good taste so I figured it would be good. It WAS delicious! Wow, why don't more people eat goose dinner? I'm surprised they don't. It's like a rich, delicious and delicate beef. It even looks like beef. I cooked it in the crockpot and will probably do it again next year. They will be coming back to hunt in our backyard again next year. I'm excited for my husband as he will be able to do a little hunting and right here in our backyard.

A Day on the Farm

2009-02-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a day we walked down to our barn for some fresh air.

Here I am with little Matthew.

Here's one of our blue slate turkeys. We had him for dinner last month!
The best turkey we ever did have.

Precious little Matthew. Isn't this such a precious picture?

Our darling Elisabeth. She's looking bigger every day!

Matthew and Hannah. She loves being in the carrier.

Which Came First The Baby or the Bird???

2008-10-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

Our first baby chick was just hatched a few minutes ago. He is so cute!!! But, I was hoping to be wrong and that it would have been little Matthew to hatch first. But, I do have hope! He could be born on the same day as the baby birds. The night is not over yet. I only have 4 days left until my due date. We are both so excited. We can't wait to see his little face and I can't wait to hold him to me. I'm hoping to have him before my appointment on Friday. Otherwise, I will update on Friday to share if there's any progress.

Which Will Hatch First - The Chicks or the Baby?

2008-10-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

I am due in 10 days so I could actually have our baby any day now. Our next batch of incubating chicks are due in 7 days. Which will come first - the chick or the baby???

Matthew thinks we will have our baby first. I on the other hand think it will be after my due date in November. I don't have anything really going on yet. My weekly appointments are on Friday so if there is a change, I will have to post it.

A Gift from God

2008-10-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

I first need to thank my God for the breath of life that He gives that all creatures may have the breath of life. I also thank my patient wife who continued to support me even when I had a real bad time trying to raise some beef cattle. She continued to support me and is one-hundred percent with me in this great adventure. Here are our first eggs before going into the incubator, there is also another dozen that was included. They are so pretty and good tasting but we saved these ones for the incubator.

Here are the eggs in the incubator day eighteen. They are in the kitchen pantry (My wife is so special). We are so nervous if one will even hatch, we can't get over the idea that there are little chickens in those eggs.

We were in the kitchen on day twenty and we both heard a little chirp and neither one of us said anything because we just did not think that it was a chick. Tanya (my wife) then asked me if I heard a chirp and I said yes. We both waited and we heard it again. We were so excited. That night the first chick hatched and the next day (day 21) they just started to hatch. I went to check on the chicks and saw one ready to hatch so I took this picture and was just amazed by how the chicks peck their way around the shell and out of it.

This is the same little chick a little later, little guy is really at work. He just keeps pushing away. No free lunch here just hard work for such a little guy.

One more successful hatch. They are chirping the whole time and we are just amazed at the work of God. A chick does come out of the egg. It's one thing to know, it's another to experience.

Wait a minute where did that little guy go? He just hatched thirty seconds ago. Already walking and falling all over the place. Well time for him to dry off. It's hatching day and moving day.

Our first chick. We will forget most of the chicks that are hatched but we won't forget this one. The first one. What a cutie! Black with white tip wings. The drying bucket is right below the incubator in the pantry closet. A nice warm ninety-six Fahrenheit. A little food and water with a sprinkle of sugar in the water. Home sweet home, lots of room I can hear him now, "Where is everyone".

What a crowd, things are getting a little packed in the new home but everyone is cozy and quiet. It's still mid-day and we are thinking room should not be a problem.

Well time to rethink things over, (day 2) the house is getting a little crowed. It's time to move again!

Much better into the mini coop we go. I constructed this out of pallets that the cranberry factory throws away. Just for safety we have two lights; a two-fifty (I.R) and a one-hundred.

An above picture of the chicks (all twenty-three) the two waters, feeder and one of the lights. Will be adding a trough feeder next week.

We're so happy in our new home, look at us how vibrant we are. We're so fortunate to be here for the rest of our days instead of some factory.

We're into Eggs!

2008-08-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of our first egg. We got it on July 21st and we are already up to 28 a week! We gave some away already but now have a customer as well. Usually by 2:30 or so there are 3 eggs down there already. Add another 1 or 2 by 8:00 that evening.

The hens are not broody.... meaning, you won't find them laying on their eggs. We've seen them laying in their nest box many times but that is to lay an egg. So, it makes it easy on us to just go down, throw some bread out to them so they all come outside and go check for eggs. It's fun, I wish I had grown up like this. I can't wait for our children to gather eggs one day.

Now how do they look? How do they taste? The yolk is actually orange... how it's supposed to look. Yellow is aged. Being able to peel an egg easily after hard boiling it means it's a few weeks old because there is an air pocket in there from the membrane separating from the wall of the inner shell. So, it's really hard to peel our eggs. We will start storing some so we can have some hard boiled eggs though. We've had 2 eggs so far that were double yolkers. The eggs are HUGE when they have 2 yolks in them. They would make a great rich bread like a challah.

How do they taste? Wonderful! They actually have a flavor to them. They are delicious! The white is actually pretty firm so a fried egg sandwich isn't really flat as I am used to. They look so healthy too.

Some of Our Eggs

2008-08-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some of our lovely eggs. I think they look pretty. We would like to buy some Maran chickens this spring. They produce a beautiful, dark chocolate brown egg.

Colorful Eggs

2008-08-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

Here's some of the variety of colors of eggs we have. Matthew just picked these up out of the barn a week ago.

New Baby Chicks!

2008-08-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

They aren't so new anymore as they are about a month old now. But, here they are! We're going to add them to our other bunch in about a month. We'll put them behind some chicken wire fencing for a few days to get used to one another. We just love getting the eggs and already have a customer. We have the land, barn and everything else so why not?

The following 3 posts were written by my husband Matthew.

The Finished Product

2008-08-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

What we have here is one good tasty bird, cooked then carved. If you think you could never kill and clean and turkey don't worry this was my first time also. Everything will turn out just fine and you won't believe how good it tastes.

Killing, Bleeding, and Plucking

2008-08-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

The first thing you want to do before you kill a turkey is to feed it only water for a day. The next is to go in to where you have the turkey, put a pair of thick leather gloves on and put some food in front of him. When he reaches for the food grab him by the legs from behind and pull him to the upside down position put him back to the ground put one knee on one of his wings (or it will smack the day lights out of you). Take the twine that you have at the ready and begin to wrap it around his legs tightly. Secure the turkey and hold him upside down as you carry him to the chopping block. He will be flapping his wings JUST HOLD ON!!! Get him to the chopping block and whack his head off with one good swing of the ax that you have leaned against the chopping block. Take notice I used a five pound double edged ax. By doing so you will eliminate the chances of a miss. I chop five cords of wood a year and can place an ax well into anything and when I chopped at the neck of the turkey he moved a bit, yet I still chopped the neck off ninety-five percent. If I was using a small ax, I may have missed or had to take one or two more swings.

The next thing that will happen is that the turkey will go nuts for about one minute. Just hold on to the legs and keep the neck about two inches away from the ground. This will help to keep the blood from getting all over you. When the turkey stops wiggling somewhat place it in the killing cone, go ahead and feel free to help him in there. He will bleed out for about three more minutes. Then dunk him in the bucket of water that you have prepared for him. (one-hundred and forty degrees works well) Turn on your your hot water and fill the tub two thirds the way up, put in about one two two gallons of boiling water to obtain the extra heat needed. Keep him in the tub for about one minute shushing him around so that the water gets to the skin in all the places it needs to get. Pull the turkey out of the bucket within one minute you don't want to cook it you just want to get the feathers lose. Begin plucking, it is so easy the feathers just came out in about thirty minutes I was done. I dumped out the hot water from the tub and placed cold water in it with some ice packs. I removed the guts and wind-pipe by enlarging the rear off the bird with a vertical cut about four inches long. I stuck my hand in and removed the whole mess with one swipe of the hand. You will feel the guts and lungs which are close to the rib cage just place your hand between them and the rib cage and use your hand as a knife. I then placed a cardboard box next to the turkey and threw the head, guts and feet in it with the feathers and just threw the whole thing in the burn barrel and was done with it.

How to dress a turkey

2008-08-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

The first thing you need to dress a turkey is not a turkey. You need the proper tools; axe, dunking bucket, killing cone, twine, pliers, table and a source of running water. You may also want to use a torch to singe the back of the turkey to remove the quills or you may want to just go skinless.

Turkey Dinner Coming Up!!!

2008-07-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

I'm so proud of my husband! Our beautiful rooster attacked our turkey and injured it. We waited 2 days for him to heal and he just wasn't able to move though still very healthy. We knew today the best thing to do for him and for us would be to butcher him. My husband did a fantastic job being his first time. And such a clean job at that. He now sits in our refrigerator we have in our garage for 2 days and then we'll cook him up! My husband will share the story and pictures shortly. Be warned though... some of the pictures might be a little graphic (not bad), so don't say we didn't warn you. Stay tuned for our story shortly.

By the way... the sad thing about the whole situation is that we really came to like our turkey. We came to find out about a month ago that he was a male. His waddler thing came down past his nose and he would arch his neck back and fluff all out. He was really becoming pretty! And he was so very sweet. Matthew would shake the food by our fence and he would come running all funny looking and excited leading the rest of the gang. He had a soft noise he would make and we really enjoyed watching his eagerness about life. He became our favorite. So, we will miss him. I'm glad to see that we can be attached to our animals and yet do what's necessary too. Makes for a good balance and enjoyment in life.

Daddy's Fire Pit

2008-07-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago around the 4th of July, Matthew decided to build a fire pit. Now this isn't any ordinary fire pit in which you just dig a hole in the ground. My husband laid brick within on the bottom and sides so tight that you could step on it and it will not move. Then he laid the pretty rock around it - nice, flat rock perfect for the project. Unfortunately, it's been so windy and cold here in the evenings (and most days) that we have yet to go sit out and enjoy ourselves. We'd love to have a type of rotisserie across it one day for real barbeque! Notice the progress of his work.

Our Ugly Turkeys!!!

2008-06-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of our ugly, little turkeys. They are actually growing on us though. When Matthew goes down each evening (as he is right now) to secure them in the stall, they come running really, super fast towards him. They look so funny! They follow him around everywhere. I think he might have a tougher time butchering them when the time comes. We'll see.....

Chickens!

2008-05-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Our chickens are already 10+ weeks old. They have been out in the hen house for a couple of weeks now. They are so sweet! They come running up to us for food anytime we go down to the barn. One little black chicken is our favorite. She is the sweetest as she is not afraid of us. She always comes very near us and lets us pick her up very easily. I named her Henrietta. One of the Plymouth Rocks (the black and white) we think is a rooster. He's the one with the red neck and crown. So, if that is the case we will have not only eggs but more chickens later. We both thought that they would stick pretty bad but surprisingly, there is very little odor from them. Matthew takes good care of the animals though and keeps everything so clean. By the way... we bought 3 turkeys last week, one Matthew will take care of for Thanksgiving dinner! They should get up to 35 pounds or so. We'll post pictures later. They're kind of ugly birds unless they are on your table.

Fresh Eggs!!!

2008-05-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

They aren't from our chickens yet but we received these from our neighbor who raises chickens. Aren't they pretty? They are long gone as they were delicious.

Razor Clams

2008-05-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Matthew went down to get some razor clams. He was home in less than an hour and I thought that he must have forgotten something. Nope, he had already limited out at 15! So, we made chowder that night, of course it was delicious - with bacon and white wine, potatoes, celery, parsley and a few other spices. Delicious! Then Matthew went back the next couple of days, limited out again and we had fried razor clam steaks breaded in panko the next night. The only thing missing was the malt vinegar. We still have 2 bags of razors in the freezer as well as leftover chowder.

As For Our Calf...

2008-05-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

When our calf was just 17 days old, our neighbor Carol called us up. Remember, she is the one who helped birth this calf from her old cow Mary whom she had for 19 years until we bought her last year. Anyways, she wanted to know if Matthew would be willing to sell the calf to her. She wanted to buy her for her grandchildren who live next door to her (I personally think she wanted to have her because her favorite cow Mary died and this calf came from her - just some sentimental feelings there). So, after some consideration we thought it best to bless our neighbor with this beautiful calf. Matthew was sad for the first 24 hours as he had grown very, very attached to this calf whom he had bottle fed for nearly 3 weeks. But, at the first sound of laughter of the children on the hill with the calf and later him seeing them with her, his woes went away. Here she is in this picture just a week or two old.

Our Baby Calf

2008-04-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of our new baby calf at 2 days old. It's too bad the momma died, not only for the calf but we had to pay $60 for milk replacer and Carol our neighbor who used to own Mary was going to show my husband how to milk her.

Birth and Death All in One Day

2008-04-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well today was my birthday and I think I will remember it for a while. I took the early morning to myself and went looking at some maternity clothes all by myself. It was relaxing, but it wasn't too long before I was wanting to be home with my kids. Especially on my birthday. I ended up buying the girls a few cute things at a thrift store... a Laura Ashley top for Elisabeth as well as a warm, outdoor vest in a beautiful blue. Don't worry, I'll get pictures! Hannah a comfy nightie.

At around 3:00 I started making my birthday cake. I love cooking and have been wanting to make a cake for some time. I chose the Perfect Birthday Cake out of Dorie Greenspans "Baking From My Home To Yours". I was just getting ready to start the delicious buttercream frosting when Matthew came up from the barn a huffin and a puffin. Our cow Mary was starting labor. He called our neighbor Carol who had Mary for 19 years and she shared that it would probably be in the next half hour before the calf would be born. So, I proceeded to make the frosting and Matthew went back down to the barn. A few minutes later he called on the cell phone and asked for a sharp knife. I didn't ask questions and grabbed the knife he filets fish with and put on my jacket and shoes and quickly went down to the barn. Carol was already coming down our driveway as something was wrong. Mary was laying on the ground in her stall and kind of panting. Our other neighbors came and they with my husband put a chain around the calfs presenting hooves/legs. They waited for a contraction so Mary would push and they would pull. Well, the contraction came and Mary just didn't have it in her to push. I think she was just to old and tired for this anymore. They pulled on the calf during the contraction and my husband started praying out loud. She started coming out and a few seconds later here she was. A beautiful, black, skinny, cute calf. We'll post pictures tomorrow or Saturday when things slow down here.

We all thought all was well. A couple of minutes later they were all trying to stimulate the calf. She was coming around. In the meantime, Mary, her mother started to expel what I thought was the placenta. In just a few seconds it was all out. I asked, "Is that the placenta"? Carol said, "I hope she didn't prolapse". I didn't know what she meant. They came over after tending to the calf and came to the conclusion that Mary did indeed have a prolapsed uterus. Carol said that it was not good (she is probably 65-70 and born and raised in the victorian house next to us. Her dad raised dairy cows, she's been working cows her entire life). They talked for a minute they her daughter who's about 41 asked how long they would have to get the colostrom out of Mary before she died. I was taken back. They were talking about our cow who we loved to feed, visit and scratch on her head, dying. They had Matthew call the butcher in Raymond to come out and went to get the gun. Carol was sad as this had been her cow that gave life to many. Mary would take any calves that would be rejected by their mothers or the mother died, onto her to nurse. She was very docile and just a mother hen (or cow). She could nurse up to 5 calves at one time.

I decided at that point to go on up to the house. I didn't want to be there when she was shot or anything. I came in the house and washed up and finished my frosting. I did some light praying and just kept busy. I was surprised at how I was handling this and knew then that I was just in my calling that God had made me to be (a farmers wife and mother) so I was able to handle it okay. I still haven't cried about it. I then started dinner. Matthew was going to make his spinach lasagna for me. I knew he was going through a hard time so I decided to get dinner together and in the oven for when it would be over. After about an hour Matthew came up and shared that it was over. The butchers came and pretty much shot her in the head immediately and they took her out to the back to bleed her. The girls were still down for their nap so I walked down after some time and they had her up in the air already. It didn't really bother me like I thought it would. It's just part of farm life I guess.

I went in to see Matthew and he was keeping the little calf warm. He was just loving it and handling the situation with Mary very well also. They had expressed enough colostrom for the calf from Mary before she died, so Matthew fed her this by the calf bottle a few times today. He's down situating the stall for the calf right now, making it really small as Carol suggested to keep her warm. We named the new calf Carol Anne since Carol lost her favorite cow, though she sold her to us last year, she's still Carols' in a sense.

My poor husband though. What a day for him. We have a chicken with a mite and it needs to be killed so he has to do away with it tonight. He's never had to kill an animal before. I feel sorry for him. But, we both know this is the way they used to do it. We love the farm life and know that there are going to be some tough times. Our children will learn a lot with life and death on the farm. It will be good for them. As Carol's daughter shared earlier, you can't help but feel close to God during situations like this. I totally agree. So, it was really a good day. A hard day for us, but a good day. We have a beautiful calf now and Matthew is already mommy to her. She's drinking like a little champ.

So, we had some of the best lasagna I've ever made and cake as well. Beautiful cake and lasagna. It was a good birthday. A memorable birthday. A hard birthday. But all good. Thank You Lord.

Chickens Getting Bigger

2008-03-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well, here's our chickens 2 weeks later. They have more than doubled in size... I'd almost say they have tripled in size! It'll still be a while til they actually go out to their hen house in our barn, but I sure can't wait to see them in there. I'm really looking forward to our first eggs. We've already thought of a couple of people to give some fresh eggs away for free to when they start coming in abundance. We've been told they start backing up quicker than you think. I think I will use a lot in my baking.

Baby Chicks!!!

2008-03-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we bought some baby chicks. Since we already have a hen house established in our barn, we thought, "Why not"? We bought two each of the following:

Rhode Island Red

Black Austalorp

Ancona

Barred Plymouth Rock

I've heard that once you eat your own eggs you cannot go back to the store bought. Apparently the yolks stand straight up and are a rich orange color. I'm excited to go get my eggs from my chickens every day. In another 4-6 months they should be producing.

The chicks are already a bit bigger as we've moved them into a big crate (they were flying out of their home here) and now my husband is building them a much larger temporary home out of some pallets and wood til we move them to the barn in a few weeks.

Brisket Anyone???

2007-09-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here's our cow Brisket. He was born in February, his mother died when he was only 6 weeks old. My husband had to be the new mommy and baby him back to full health with calf starter. He was just slaughtered a few days ago and the hanging weight was 318 lbs. So, he must have been at least 550 lbs! Big Boy! We're waiting the arrival of our beef sometime in the next week.

Update: Brisket's back home! We had New York steak the first night and just had homemade tacos with homemade tortillas the other night. The meat, even the ground beef cannot be compared to the junk you buy in the store. The ground beef is about 6% fat and really healthy looking red with very little marbling as you see in the store bought meat.

Canning and Cooking!

2007-09-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

We've been busy this week with some fun things. I made a delicious homemade calzone and my husband canned up 30+ jars of fresh albacore tuna. Goodbye Sunkist! He canned some of the tuna with fresh garlic and herbs and canned a few jars with a little jalapeno which was suggested by Captain Steve of Westport where my husband fillets tuna each Summer.