Second Season Tomorrow!

Wish me luck! Second season starts tomorrow.
We plan on doing some spot lighting tonight then heading out around 6:00 tomorrow morning.


P.S. I'm bringing my orange head band for you Erica!

ELK Taco Soup

Today we had a Soup Swap at work and thus I was challenged with makeing my first ever batch of Elk Taco Soup on Sunday afternoon.
It was so easy and so tasty, I know this is going to become a quick staple every year. Give it a whirl (feel free to sub beef, turkey, venison or buffalo).

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground elk
• 1/2 of an onion
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 (15 ounce) can mild chili beans (or a can of Kidney beans)
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes 
• 1 (4 ounce) can Ortega fire roasted chopped green chilies
• 1 (1 ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven or large kettle, cook onions and then beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain fat. Add taco seasoning and mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
2. Top with sour cream, cheddar cheese and sliced avocado
3. Serve with homemade white corn bread

For the past month I've been dabbling around with pear jam recipes and this is the best one I've found by far. Thought I'd share it with those adventurous enough to give it a try.  However, being the impatient person that I am, I did make one change to it... I used pectin. :) Good Luck!

CHUNKY VANILLA PEAR JAM
Adapted from “Perfect Preserves” by Nora Carey (Stewart Tabori and Chang, 1990)
Posted in the NY TIMES

5 pounds pears, preferably Bartlett
Grated zest of a lemon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
16 ounces frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups water

• To sterilize your jars and lids, fill a very large pot half full with boiling water. Add the empty jars and lids and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Keep the jars in the hot water.

• Peel, quarter and core the pears. Chop them in small cubes and toss them in a bowl with the lemon zest and lemon juice. Set aside.

• In a large heavy saucepan combine the apple juice concentrate with the vanilla bean and the water. Boil it over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and add the pears and their liquid.

• Bring the mixture to a boil over moderate heat and cook, stirring frequently, about 45 minutes, or until the mixture thickens enough to hold its shape on a spoon and has reached nearly 220 degrees on a candy thermometer.

• Using tongs, carefully remove the jars and lids from the hot water and drain them. Fill the jars with the hot jam, leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top of the jar. Wipe the rims of the jar clean with a dampened cloth and fit the lids on the tops of the jars. Screw on the bands very firmly. Lower the jars into the water and add more hot water so that the water is one to two inches above the jars. Bring to a boil. Cover and boil gently for 10 minutes. Remove the jars to a rack and cool completely. Do not invert.

This recipe contains no added sugar or pectin, something you’ll find in traditional jam recipes. It uses the natural fruit sugars to give a more natural sweetness. The end result is not as gelled or sweet as regular jam, but this leaves you with something that resembles a thick pear sauce. You won’t believe how flavourful this recipe is, especially with the vanilla bean. I had some of the jam over french toast the other day and it was incredible!

Back to Foraging

Now that hunting season is over I'm back to foraging again. The past weekend, Woodsman and I joined in on the infamous Hood River Fruit Loop featuring heirloom apples. It was quite rainy but the beautiful countryside made it worth it, along with the gorgeous apples and pears we came home with. I'm already looking forward to the next fruit loop featuring strawberries next June!

Some Hunting Pics

Second to Last weekend of Archery Season

I regret that it has taken me a month to post this but, I still find myself laughing over it at my desk so I feel it is necessary to share the last few moments of hunting season with all of you. Enjoy!

As I grumble and tug at my camo and well, almost poke my eyeballs out trying to get my contacts in, my darling Caveman finally gets me out the door and into the truck.

By the time we get to our normal spot it has warmed up a bit and we start our normal hike to where we drop in. Now the previous week I had been mentally preparing myself for this... the early morning, the cold weather, the big climb up that bastard of a mountain so as we hike in, I'm thrilled by the fact that it's actually warm this morning, when all of a sudden my darling wild woodsman veers right. Wait a minute, we always go left! I begin to panic... this isn't good. I thrive on predictability and he just threw me a curve ball, but I continue quietly so as not to disturb the animal that lives within him (and comes out when I unthinkably step on a stick).

Now by this time of year, a majority of the leaves cover the ground and as we start to cut the side of Goliath it starts to drizzle. Between the rain from the night before, the drizzle now and the wet leaves, I find my self slipping and sliding along the deer trail Caveman has (for some reason) chosen to go this morning.

By the time my right calf is cramping up from trying to hold my body perpendicular to the hill (so as not to tumble into the abyss) I finally hiss, "Where are you going?" Of course I get the normal "shhh." I begin to worry... we are getting very far from the truck and I fear this might turn into a whole day affair of hiking up and down the side of Goliath with no Elk in sight (I am not a billy goat for crying out loud.)

It's beginning to rain slightly heavier now and I’m majorly regretting not putting on my rain gear. Eventually though, Caveman decides to head down hill (thank heavens) where we spot fresh tracks. We get our stalk mode on and of course I step on a stick. He then graces me with the usual comment that I need to step quietly and that I sound like an elephant in the woods but, by this point in the season I'm immune and choose instead to ignore him or give him, the "I'll poke your eyes out look if you turn around one more time and tell me to be quiet darling."

Finally, an hour into the hunt, it starts to poor and lets just say it’s not that warm anymore. The rain wouldn't bother me if I had prepared but, since it was warm and not raining when I left the house I didn't grab my ultra plush SHE rain gear. Bad idea. I smother Caveman as I try to stay warm by sucking all his body heat and we wait out the rain.

We eventually start trudging along again. By the way... we haven't seen a thing and my hopes of sluicing a big one are quickly disintegrating.

Finally after a couple hours, no sight of elk and some lunch, we begin the trek up goliath. UGG! I grin and bare it and thankfully I can keep up with Caveman and his 70 pound pack this time (Side Note: He was a sherpa in his other life and possess a 3rd lung). But this is mainly because all I have to carry is my 4 pound bow. J

Now since I know we are headed for the truck, I’m like a horse headed back to the barn but for some reason Chris keeps stopping. Of course when he starts to slow down I push him on from behind, urging him to keep going. Finally he turns around out of breath and suggests I carry the pack for a while. Sure I say, and with a shocked look on his face, I throw it on, synch it up and take off. His smirk doesn’t detour me and a little bit up the hill I turn around and wait for him.

Now to give you a little insight as to how Cavemen hunts, he’s outfitted from head to toe in his camo gear, carry’s a huge heavy pack filled with everything you might ever need for packing out an elk, (including my 4 cliff bars & sandwich I will devour in less then 4 hrs (I have a really good metabolism) my water, his water and his one cliff bar), and of course his bow. He usually always takes the lead and has a wheat strand hanging from his mouth which he chews the whole time. Then he usually turns around every 5 seconds and says one of the following 3 things to me… shhh, walk quietly, or Kelly, you need to be really quiet because they (the elk) are probably right over this hill. In which case they never are. So.. what do I do. As he’s climbing the hill towards me, I stick a strand of wheat in my mouth, turn around as he approaches me and say real serious like, “Now Chris your going to need to be real quite because they are probably right over this hill.” He is laughing so hard that I’m afraid he’s going to fall over dead and scare off all the living creatures in the woods but I can’t help laughing either. He comments on how good my impression is and I turn around to continue up the hill when he grabs the pack on my back and pulls me towards him.

“oh no you don’t give that back.”

“oh no sweetie really its ok, I understand that your tired and that you need a break, so don’t worry I can carry it”

“I’m not tired, hand it over”

“No really I understand you can’t do it, its to strenues, really I’m fine”

Meanwhile an intense tickling match ensues over who will carry the pack and I fall to the ground swearing that I’ll never give it up and that I am more then capable of carrying it for him since he’s sooooo tired. While he swears that I’ll use this against him for the rest of his life and that there is no way I am carrying the pack.

By this time I’m pretty sure the elk are probably laughing at us as we role around in the wet dirty and leaves arguing and laughing over who is going to carry the pack.

So for those of you brave women who choose to go hunting with your oh so serious bowhunter boyfriends, don’t fret. If I can survive hunting with the wild woodsman you can survive too. J

Hunting Education 101

Here is a little run down on the differences between Elk and Deer

ELK - AKA The Elusive Ungulate (hoofed animal)

Elk can weigh between 400 and 600 pounds.

There are 3 different types in N. America:

Tulle Elk (why bother)

Rocky Mountain Elk (Everyone's got one)

Roosevelt Elk (Largest of its kind and the rarest - This is of course what we hunt)

Bull- male elk

Cow- female elk

Deer - Venison, Summer Sausage, Jerky... Yum Yum

Deer weigh between 150 and 250 pounds

There are 3 popular types in N. America:

Whitetail Deer - Yes they do have a white tail, very common in the Midwest and Eastern states

Blacktail Deer - What we have in the Great Pacific Northwest

Mule Deer- Can be found all over the Western states but the majority live in the Southwestern region of the US. (Caveman will actually be rifle hunting for one of these next week!)

Buck - Male deer

Doe - Female deer

Both species loose their antler's in January/February only to re-grow them larger and thicker the next time.