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posted by James on 12/10/06

“Temperatures are staying low. Light enough to shoot by 6:45. Snow flurries between 8:30 and 9:00. Breezy. Lots of rustling in the leaves from critters out and about… now that sounds different!” In the next few seconds I experienced the thrill of what hunting is all about. A nice sized four point buck was trotting straight toward the blind I was hunting in. It stopped momentarily within a few dozen feet, dipped to the tier below me, stopped again, turned broadside, and then… No, I was not fast enough. I had the bullet loaded, the gun up, safety off, and the sights on; but this being my first time hunting with the rifle, I did not fire and the opportunity slipped away. I came home empty handed that day but carried with me the thought that next year, the same buck will be a 6 point at least. The incident that morning was enough to get my heart pumping and stimulate the zeal to try again.

Thanksgiving morning found Dad and I up in the woods again. The morning was as normal as ever except the chipmunks, squirrels, and nuthatches seemed abnormally noisy. Then, at around 10:30, I heard some rustling in the leaves again only this time behind the blind. It seemed much too noisy for a small critter. Well, I turned around and what do you know? Two small does stood there staring at me. I forgot about size and slowly got into position. Still they just stood there. I made sure it was a safe shot on the lead doe and still, she just stood there. So I aimed and shot. Well, she stood there no more, but ran to the top of the hill where she dropped for good.

This seems like a good ending to the story, but that was not the case. Seconds after I shot, I realized that there was blood dripping off my nose! Having been in a rather awkward shooting position, the scope was too close to my face and when the gun kicked, it jammed the scope into my forehead. It was interesting having an injury that I did not know what looked like! At any rate, I view my wound as a mark of ownership of the first deer I have ever successfully harvested.

This is only one of three deer we have shot this year. Dad has shot one, Donald one, and myself one. The hunting process continues from the woods to the freezer as everyone helps out in skinning, quartering, grinding, and packaging the meat. We hope to shoot enough deer this fall to supply us with enough red meat to last until next hunting season.

2 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Esther on 12/5/06

There is a secret to getting everything you need from your daily bread. The greatest possible health benefits will be gained from your bread if you have a way to use freshly ground whole wheat. Flour loses almost all it’s vitamins 72 hours from the time it is ground. The nutrition in bread made from flour that is older than that comes from added artificial nutrients. The only way to healthily delay this loss is to freeze the bread, which we do quite often after slicing and double bagging it. We would by all means recommend purchasing a grinder and finding a source for buying wheat kernels so that you can enjoy every bite and experience the ultimate health benefits of fresh homemade bread. 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup oil 
• ½ cup honey  
• 5 cups warm water (110 degrees) 
• About 15 cups whole wheat flour divided. Grinding 5 pounds (12 cups) of grain yields 17 cups of flour. 
• 2 ½ Tb. yeast 
• 1 ½ Tb. salt  
• 2 vitamin C tablets 500mg. 

In a small container crush vitamin C tablets, add yeast and salt and set aside. In Bosch mixer equipped with kneading hooks, put oil, honey and warm water. Add 6 cups of flour. Jog on medium until lumps are gone. Mix in the yeast mixture thoroughly. Add flour until it looks spongy (probably 3 cups). Cover bowel and let rise 30 min. 

Mix in flour until dough cleans the sides of the bowl (6 cups). Let Bosch run on lowest speed 6-7 min to knead dough. 

Lightly oil a clean counter, turn out your dough onto it and divide into 5 loaves (1 ½ pounds each). Place in 5 none-stick-sprayed loaf pans. Cover with a towel and let rise in warm place at least 30 min or until loaves look as big as you want them.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 min. Enjoy! 

You can also use this dough to make cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, buns and pizza crust.

4 Comments » | posted in Recipes