Snow day!
We got the call last night about 10:30 that classes would be cancelled today. No snow had fallen but the predictions were pretty dire for today - oh and 2/3 of the state had already called school as well. However, when your school district covers about 900 square miles and a lot of those are dirt roads, road conditions are important. Kurt always laughs at how excited I get about snow days - probably because he still has to get out and work in it. What he doesn't get is what a gift snow days are - no expectations, no where to go, I can do with it whatever I'd like. Even if I work hard all day, it's because I chose too.
Kurt's work on a snow day is much less stressful than it used to be. Back when we were first married, a snow like this at this time of the year usually meant all kinds of added stress. He'd always have extra trouble starting machinery he needed to feed - tractor, silage loader, feed truck. . . . Then there was always concern about the cows and heifers that were calving. A calf born on a night like tonight where there are several inches of snow on the ground and the temperatures are expected to go as low as 0, doesn't have a very good shot at survival. Since Kurt has moved his calving date to May and feeds much less through the winter, snow days are so much better. By 10 this morning, he was in front of the fire with his feet up reading his kindle (yep, he's hip like that). Feeding this morning involved checking on cattle and moving a wire so cattle had access to a fresh bale.
As a result of the weather, our delivery run to Wichita, et al was cancelled/postponed. We'll be coming again in March.
Hogs
We still have a few hogs that are not spoken for that will be going to the processor next week. Figure a whole hog will cost you around $510 out-of-pocket and a half will be about half that. Check out our FAQ's page for the break down on hog pricing. With a whole hog, we estimate that you'll walk out with around 120 pounds of meat.
Smokin' Shoulder
For the Super Bowl, Kurt took one of our new shoulders and smoked it - it was about 9# to start with and we figure you could feed 10-15 easily. Kurt said he wasn't real proud of how he smoked it but we all agreed it was amazing. I have his permission to share his fool-proof technique. We thoroughly thawed the shoulder and then he rubbed olive oil, seasoned salt, salt and pepper all over it. He said you could do a rub but don't need one. Then he put the meat on the smoker around 11 o'clock at night and left it on for about 4 hours. Got up around 3 or 4 and took the meat off the smoker, wrapped it in foil and put it in our roaster for several hours. It fell apart and make the best pulled pork sandwiches. We have several of these and fresh hams (not cured) available.
Beeves
If you know you want your name on a quarter, half or whole beef in May/June, go ahead and let me know. We've already started a list and it's growing. If you want a break down on pricing, click here.
KDA
I'm learning to play nice with the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) although I often feel like I'm playing Calvinball with them (how many of you remember Calvin and Hobbes?). In order to use our new building to store food, we are going to need to apply for another license through them - keep in mind, we already have a sales tax permit, an egg license, and a license from the Meat and Poultry Division of KDA. We have an inspector coming out to look at our "blueprints" and make sure we have everything that we will need to be in compliance. Need a little night time reading? Go google the Kansas Food Code - 180-some pages of food establishment rules. . . .
Staying warm and dry, thanks to my healthy and hard working husband!
Andi
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