Beef and Spring Chores

Yesterday I made the drive to pick up another quarter cow, a split half - meaning we get cuts of meat from the front and back half.  We defrosted and cleaned the freezer maybe a month ago and ordered the beef 2-3 weeks ago.  The place is outside of Mauston about 73 miles away, or about an hour and a quarter drive one way, depending on traffic.  I was hesitant to do that driving on a weekday with weekday traffic but it's light out now until 8:00 pm (and will be until sometime in August!) and I'm glad to have it done and not have to spend the time on the weekend.

This year's haul was more expensive overall but much more meat compared to last year, 108 pounds then and 143 pounds this time, so I think we got a bit of a smaller cow then as the last two before that were about 131 pounds each.  We received all the promised cuts of meat and roasts and a whopping 63 pounds of ground beef compared to 39 last year, so that accounts for 24 pounds of that difference.  And best of all, it actually cost less than last year per pound, ~$5.98 last year and down to ~$5.60 this year.  For everything; steaks, roasts, ribs, soup bones and ground.  You can't get plain ground beef for that price at the grocery store, at least not near this quality.

I know the picture is at a weird angle, I was trying to get it all in  You can't really see how much is in the bottom layer, but another layer of taller baskets and you can see the top of a shopping bag filled with tubes of 1 pound ground.  Everything here is the new beef but for one roast and a few soup bones in the hanging basket from last year.  (After the pic we replaced the other hanging basket with other foods and a few frozen pizzas.)

As usual, I stocked up on the prepared meats from their brand new store, they had a devastating fire last year shortly before we got our last one, so good to see them rebuilt bigger and better.  Anyway, some snack sticks and jerky, some bratwurst and 4 packages of the natural casing wieners that are so good.  I wish I would have grabbed more dried beef, I haven't tried it yet but it sure looks yummy.

This has been a yearly ritual for us since 2016 except for 2020, and we didn't miss that year because of the pandemic but because we got the 2019 cow in October, the last one we got through a friend of a friend.  And probably one year too long for dealing with that as we're so glad we just do it on our own now.  

*          *          *

The weather finally turned warmer today and we should be above normal in the 70's ºF (about 24 or so ºC) for highs in the foreseeable forecast.  It wasn't nice of Mother Nature to tease us like that last month with almost a week of 80ºF as it made the 40 and 50 degree days since feel much colder.  And while it should be nice it also looks like it may be a little too windy the next couple nights for a fire this weekend, but we'll wait and see.

With the good turn of the weather my to-do list lengthens.  I believe I'm going to plant sunflower seeds this weekend, we got a new TV and I'm going to attempt to hide the wires in the wall, the kitchen faucet needs repairs, windows need cleaning and I'll have to strim the edges of the lawn.  And I forgot about No Mow May, but I believe that's for normal people who have weeds.  I don't think the pollinators will be affected if I mow my grass lawn or not.  Around our yard they'll have the flower beds and gardens.

Okay now, let's fire up that grill!

Beef, Vacation and Weather

This morning I took a road trip north to pick up our next quarter cow, three days short of when we picked up the last one last year and our sixth quarter cow overall.  I mentioned recently that we were about to call them when they had a devastating fire, so I wound up waiting and just called them on Monday.  We expected 4-6 weeks until it would be ready, and that's what they said on Monday, but I got the call that it was ready to pick up on Wednesday as I was recovering from anesthesia while still in the hospital.  Turns out, our order for a split half just worked out well with other orders they currently had so was available much sooner.  We weren't about to complain, and I had the time for a road trip this morning.  It was a little over an hour's drive each way so I was home by noon easily.  A pretty uneventful drive, though I did pass through spots of sun, clouds, and three separate spells of snow flurries along the way.

When I got there this morning I saw firsthand what was left of the building that had burned.  Most had been already removed, but there was an adjacent building that had been boarded off on that end and you could see the blackened remnants on it.  They had a makeshift office and store in one of their production buildings and were selling sausage and other products from a nearby meat plant that had been helping them recover with use of their facilities to continue business for their workers and customers.  The employees were in good spirits and looking forward to getting back to full capacity and the new building they would be getting built.  We were glad to give them our business.

We expected it to cost more this year, not due to their circumstance but everything else that has been going on in the world, and while it does go up a bit each time it's still better than grocery store prices.  This time it was smaller, 108 pounds compared to 131 last year, and $5.98 per pound, up from $5.21 last year.  Still a good deal and we're glad to have it.  But we do have a few steaks and a couple pounds of hamburger to eat yet from last year's cow.

Otherwise, we've been teased with Spring weather now and again though it has definitely not fully arrived yet.  We still have some leftover snow from several inches that fell earlier in the week and temperatures have still been mostly below freezing.  Pictured here is how the back yard looks currently, still a smattering of snow and no thoughts of any fires or outdoor chores quite yet.  Milder temperatures are expected this coming week and I hope this will be a definite turn of the corner towards Spring.

So that's about it for this vacation week, it was nice but for the medical stuff and I will have another week off in 2 months to look forward to.  And I still have the weekend here before I must turn my attention to work matters again.  Stay well, everyone.

Beef! Quarter Cow #5

We got the call last night that our split half of beef was ready to pick up, so today we made the trip north to go get it.  It was a little over an hour's drive each way this beautiful day, passing several water park/resorts, ski hills and crossing the Wisconsin River.  In fact, much of the drive followed the Wisconsin River Valley, but while we saw lots of wetlands we really only saw the actual river when we crossed it.  We also saw several signs and flags supporting Trump, so we felt like we were in a different land a bit.  I was doing the driving so my lovely wife took some pictures along the way back, I'll add some after the break for those interested.

We'd done our research on various places to get a quarter cow, and this one seemed very reasonable and reputable so when the time came we had no reservations.  Wisconsin River Meats is the place, in the middle of nowhere outside of Mauston, WI.  And while we were there we stocked up on various sausages, jerky and bacon as well.  And while less than half the people we saw wore a mask, both customers and employees, everyone was very nice and helpful.  We, of course, wore ours.

The first four times we got a quarter cow we went in on a whole cow with a friend and his family, so basically we and him split half the cow.  This place offered a split half, cuts from the front and back halves, so we have all the usual steaks and roasts, plus 50 one-pound packages of ground beef.  Overall, it turned out to be 131 pounds of meat and cost about $5.21 per pound across the board.  That's about $0.22 a pound more than the last one we got in October of 2019, which seems pretty reasonable considering all that's happened since then.

So, we're feeling pretty good about ourselves now with a freezer full of meat that will last us at least a year.  In fact, while I have a ticket for another livestream concert later tonight, I just might have a fire this evening!

Pictures from the trip are after the break.

Second Snow... and Meat!

Two days after the first snow we get the second - and this was a pretty big one.  Traffic was terrible all day until this afternoon when it stopped and cleared up a bit.  Here's a view of the freshly covered back yard from the warmth of inside.

Also this afternoon, thankfully after it was more clear, I went and picked up our fourth quarter cow.  It was a bigger cow than last year, we got about 132 pounds of meat at less than 5 bucks a pound, and that's for everything - steaks, roasts, ground and more.  Not too bad, and the meat is so much better than the local grocery store.  This will probably set us until early 2021!

That's all I can write for now, it's Halloween and the trick-or-treaters are starting to come around.  Boo!

Holy Cow!

This is what one-quarter of a cow looks like in our freezer.

Some time ago a friend asked if we would be interested in going in on a cow.  We had talked about it previously but now it was time so we jumped at the chance.  Grass fed, corn finished, and from Door County, Wisconsin.  The cow had been picked a while ago but it took some time waiting for the cow to fatten up for slaughter, so we've been waiting for several weeks.  Then I got word earlier this week, it's time!  Our friend went up to get it from his dad (who lives up there and also had a share of the cow) after work yesterday and showed up here late last night to drop off our quarter of the cow.  It is a shared quarter, meaning we have front and back cuts of meat.  I was told over 200 pounds, though it appears lighter.  Still, we paid a good rate across the board for good beef that includes several kinds of roasts and steaks, stew meat and soup bones, and over 40 tubes of ground beef between one and one and a half pounds each (in a box at right under tenderized round steaks, among other cuts).  Kate took inventory this morning, but we still need to get it sorted better in the freezer.

Well, that's one less thing to think about now for quite a while.  And it makes grocery shopping easier, too.  We had this in mind when we bought the freezer and I'm glad it is now full of meat.  Should be a lot of fun grilling this summer.  Yum!