Can't wait...

This photo just might be of one of the most exciting things I've seen lately:

The new Indian restaurant putting their sign up in anticipation of opening next week!

It's called Monsoon.

And I just. Can't. Wait.

Postal puppy

You know that cliche about dogs and postal carriers not getting along?

That doesn't apply at our house.

Rigby always runs out to greet him, but this isn't done with any growling, barking, or the ripping out of the seat of the postman's pants.  

And the postman always gives Rigby a nice pat before he turns back down the stairs too.

There are some dogs in the neighborhood that bark at just about anything - including the poor postman.

Our front porch?   A safe haven...

Butcher shop

Todd got back from elk hunting last night and the first thing we had to do was start butchering.

I don't like the word butcher.  It sounds so gory.

Speaking of gory, the first thing Todd pulled out of the bed of the truck was the elk head.  Rigby does not like, or doesn't know what to make of animal parts or animals that have been stuffed.  It's super funny how leery he is of them.

I mean, check out his eyes in this photo!  They are so big they almost look like cartoon eyes!

No dad!!!  Don't make me come near it!!

Ok, if you are right there I will come by you...

I wasn't sure what to expect when Todd said butcher.  How far along, exactly, was the elk in this butchering process?  Were we going to lay a full elk out on the kitchen counter and hack it into steaks?

Turns out it was pretty well taken care of.  It was just like getting a hunk of meat from the store.  This is an elk shoulder.  Notice the new food saver Todd bought last night on the left.  It vacuum packs and seals whatever we want! We didn't quite get to that though...

This is an elk leg... (I think we should have just left this leg whole.  I imagine pulling it out at a dinner party, wearing crowns, of course, and glugging wine that is sloshing out of a goblet while we rip into the meat.  Could you imagine the look on our guests faces?)

And this is us grinding our own meat!  How cool, huh?  I like the idea of pulling our own fresh meat from the freezer...

Look at how much burger we got!  That's a huge savings at the grocery store!  I always aim for the super lean hamburger or turkey burger at the store, which runs roughly around $3.80 per pound.  We got a little over nine pounds out of those two cuts.  You do the math!

So, here is the elk before...

And here is the elk after...

Bagel boo hoo

My mouth right now? Watering.

Just looking at the photo of the bagel with cream cheese and lox - and onion, tomato and capers - makes me salivate.

It is one of my absolute favorite meals.  I don't eat it a lot because I'd be the shape of a bagel, but every now and then I simply have to have one of these sandwiches.

Today was that day.  It was the first time I've wanted this meal since moving to Casper and I didn't know where to go.  I decided First Street Bakery sounded like a good bet.

But I was wrong.

The gal behind the counter told me they've had other people request it as well, but they don't serve it because "salmon doesn't keep."  Well, none of the things you make there does!  I didn't say that, instead I asked her if she knew of another place that carried it.

She didn't.

I ordered a different breakfast sandwich and promptly called around to other places when I got home.  Nobody seems to offer my bagel!  

I'm starting to panic.  How can I live in a town with no lox sandwich??

Can I make my own?  Sure.  But like I said, I don't eat bagels all the time, so it would be a wasteful to buy them and the cream cheese. 

I've submitted my question to the Answer Girl at the local paper hoping she will know where I can find my sandwich.  I've also emailed First Street Bakery to suggest they add it to their menu and have encouraged others to do the same.  

What more can I do?  

Make my own for now.  Hopefully I won't have to do this for long!

Caution: Disaster area

My kitchen saw an explosion of activity yesterday.  

I was in the mood to bake and also wanted to make something for Todd to take with him hunting.  I chose chocolate chip cookies for the hunting trip, caramel corn just cuz, spaghetti with homemade meatballs for the company we had for dinner, and breakfast burritos for Todd's first day of hunting.

And this is the end result:

Remarkably, my kitchen looks in better shape in the photos!  Guess you can figure out one of my chores for the night.