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!!!!
