FOOD, FOOD, FOOD...SAVE 5/5

         John would have loved the dinner I made last night. Chicken-fried elk steak, baby potatoes and gravy. He wouldn’t have liked the veggies I made for myself, so he probably would have had green beans out of a can instead. I have to admit my dinner was very yummy.

          I bought the elk steak from Double DD Meats in Mountlake Terrace. They have various kinds of meat in the freezer section and elk is one of those. The first time I had elk was at my friend Dianne’s. She made it just like I made it last night and it was very good. I wasn’t sure I’d like it but found it very tasty. Dianne’s husband and the men in her family always went hunting, so I could pretty much count on having elk at least once a year. Not any more because I don’t think anyone hunts these days.

          I tried to buy some elk when John was alive, but Double DD doesn’t always carry it. You need to get there toward the end of hunting season if you want to purchase elk, venison or other types of game meat. I bought this elk a few months ago and it’s been in the freezer. There also used to be a place on Aurora Avenue that sold various kinds of game meat. I never shopped there, but understood they had some very exotic kinds.

          When we went to Kenya in 2001, one of the people in the tour group had to make a special trip out to the Carnivore Restaurant. She wanted to purchase a t-shirt. I just looked the restaurant up on the internet and there was one review that said they no longer serve wild game except for ostrich and crocodile.

          I’m willing to try almost anything at least once, provided I can spit it out into a napkin if the texture or taste is nasty. Just this morning, I made a type of monkey bread as a treat for AJ when he came over. He ate it with gusto, but I spit mine out…twice!!!...it was like eating uncooked dough. The recipe called for two tubes of biscuits. I didn’t have those, but I did have Rhodes frozen rolls and thought those would work even better. They’re what I use for the monkey bread I make at Christmas. The rolls were from December, so perhaps they go bad in the freezer, or perhaps they weren’t thawed enough. They certainly didn’t rise the way the ones at Christmas did. Ah well, momma tried.

          AJ was here to deal with the rat. He decided not to bring his gun because all the neighbors would undoubtedly get excited at hearing his 22 fire. Instead, he brought a couple of traps and dug out John’s have-a-hart trap. We set it up with some peanut butter crackers. Initially, it didn’t appear as though the rat was going to show. I chased Mabel away because she was sitting there guarding her food. The squirrel came immediately, but no rat. It took about half an hour or more before I looked out there and saw the rat running from the chicken food pile to wherever his burrow is located. Of course, AJ, after sitting and watching for over an hour, had just gone out in front. Lucky for him, it was still making its trips back and forth when he came back inside. So, we moved the trap; but so far, the rat's only come back to where I put the chicken food.

Then, I got out John’s pellet gun and gave it to AJ. Apparently, it doesn’t work the way it should so he ordered himself an air rifle. He’d planned on getting one before he got his daughter fired from the sports store that employed her. Now he has to pay full price. I also went into the garage and found the two Daisy Powerline 1200 guns. I didn’t know what they were, and AJ said he’d tried messing around with them before and couldn’t figure them out.

Mine is a gun

Well, AJ’s momma ain't no dummy…she went on line to look up the Daisy and found a tutorial on You-Tube. She now knows they are BB guns and learned how to replace the CO2 cartridge, cock it and fill it with BBs. Isn’t that great!! Wonder if I can order the BBs and CO2 cartridges on line. Such excitement at the Karlberg house…the fun just never ends.

AJ and Haley went home and I called John’s sister to see if I could drop off Haley’s Lion’s Club scholarship application. Since she and Gordy are in fragile health, I Prelled myself up one side and down the other before I took the paperwork into the house. I didn’t go beyond the front door so we maintained more of an 8-10 foot distance, but the safer the better.

On the way home, I stopped at Briley’s BBQ and got myself a pork sandwich, collard greens and veggies to go. Oh my, the veggies were terrific…sweet potatoes, onions, brussel sprouts all cooked together and topped with parmesan cheese. I already knew the sandwich and collard greens would be good because I’d had them before. I didn’t eat the collard greens and have enough pork left to have it for dinner.

I’ve been wondering how much money I‘d spend if I ordered to go dinners for a week. I know the various restaurants in my area would appreciate the business, but would my budget suffer? I believe I’m going to check it out. Tomorrow, I think I’ll order from MOD pizza…Caesar salad and a pizza with all the things on it I like. I also think I’d like to try Briley’s ribs. I’ve never had them and they’re a bit more spendy, but might be worth it just to get some more of those veggies.

What about you guys? Are y’all staying home and cooking for yourselves…and your spouse/partner if you have one? Are you spending more at the grocery store since you aren’t eating out? It seems to me that I am spending more when I shop. Do you have any secrets to share, restaurants you like, really good recipes to share? I do love my food, but even more, I love the company I used to have when I shoveled it into my mouth. I sure hope by May 1…make that May 5…we can all get together for some good Mexican food and Tequila (I’ll stick with gin since Tequila upsets my tummy.). For now, mark your calendars and keep your fingers crossed, rub Buddha’s belly, light some candles, and stay positive about that date!!!!