As a kid in rural Indiana, the only person that I knew that ate liver was my aunt Linda. Every year, she came to visit from New York and insisted that we take her to our local gas station for chicken livers and gizzards. Yes, the only place that I knew of that served liver was at the gas station.

I did not know that liver was considered a delicacy and I certainly had never heard of pâté. (Pâté is a spread of finely chopped or pureed seasoned meat.)  Liver is interesting because it is a food eaten by the elite and the working class. As a delicacy, it can be made into pâté and served on tostadas. However, it can just as easily be sautéed with onions or served fried.  ​

​Liver is the most nutrient dense of the organ meats and is full of vitamin A, folic acid, iron, and other important nutrients. Despite the health benefits, many hunters leave the liver in the field when they harvest an animal.

​We always bring the organ meat out of the mountains, if it is feasible. I have eaten elk, venison, and beef liver and each one is delicious. An elk liver is absolutely enormous and will easily provide at least 5 meals.

I know it might feel like a stretch to start making your own pâté, but it is incredibly easy. Any dinner guest will be impressed when you serve elk pâté as an appetizer – especially if you shot the animal and brought the liver back from the field.

And, if I ever find myself back in the small town where I grew up, I think that I will try the gas station liver! I think aunt Linda was on to something . . .

​Liver ​Pâté

2-3 cups of coarsely cut liver
½ cup of diced red onion
3-5 chopped garlic cloves
¼ cup of half and half
1 teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon powdered red chile
½ teaspoon Herbs de Provence (or basil/oregano)
Pepper to taste
Olive oil
Diced green onion to garnish
Crackers

1. In a medium sized sauce pan, heat olive oil. Add liver, red onion, and garlic.

2. Brown the liver and cook the onions until translucent. 

3. In a food processor, add the cooked ingredients. Add the half and half, coarse salt, red chile, herbs, and pepper. Blend contents until desired consistency is achieved (some people like their pâté smooth where others prefer a more rustic consistency).

4. Serve warm on crackers. Garnish with diced green onion.

Hint: pairs well with homemade jalapeno jelly

As we are social distancing and still enjoying the outdoors, make sure you know where you are in the wilderness.

​I have a terrible sense of direction. Absolutely terrible.

By way of example, as a teenager in the mid-west, I spent a lot of time in shopping malls. My friend and I would make a lap around the mall and visit as many stores as we could. My sense of direction was so bad that I would leave Abercrombie & Fitch with an Orange Julius in my hand, and have no idea which way I had come from.

As an adult, I moved to the Rocky Mountains. I started hiking, mountain biking, and hunting in a National Forest with over 1 million acres. Lacking a sense of direction was a very dangerous situation. For years, I was afraid to hike or mountain bike alone. The possibility of being stranded in the wilderness (without enough food) was paralyzing.
That is, until I discovered the app called On X. What a game changer. This app can be downloaded easily. On X touts its product as “[t]he best tool for every hunter, our maps show clearly marked property boundaries, public and private landowner names and more - giving you everything you need to stay legal and ethical.” But it is so much more than that.

The app provides a map with information about who owns the land, whether it is private or public, and existing and historic trails. This is critical for hunters, but also for hikers, mountain bikers, back country skiers, and campers. Where I live, it is a dangerous proposition to be on someone’s land without their permission, and not know it.

The app also allows you to explore the area you’re in, without hiking in vein. If you find yourself hiking an especially grueling path, but happen to know the person that owns the next property over, you may be able to get permission to cut through and save yourself hours of hiking. That is exactly what happened during my husband’s elk hunt in November. We were hiking for hours over huge boulders. The thought of returning to the truck via the route we came almost pushed me over the edge, so we checked On X to see where we were and what options we might have.  We realized that our friend had leased the land that would directly lead us back to our truck. The direct route saved us hours of hiking, and likely my willingness to continue hunting.

This app allows you to download the map before leaving for your trip, so you are not dependent on data to load the map. It also allows you to drop “pins,” which are GPS markers. This is very helpful if you are trying to meet someone because you can text them the pin. You can also drop a pin if you shoot an animal and need to come back the next day to get it off the mountain.

On X also lets you mark important spots on the trail. In my case, we could have marked a hard area that we wanted to avoid on our way back to the truck. It is also great when you are stalking animals during a hunt because you can drop a pin where there is water, signs of animals, or a potential good spot to see the animals. This is helpful to remember certain locations if you plan to return the next day (or year).

On X offers a free trial period, and then you can purchase regular access to the app. For a single state, the cost is $29, and to obtain all 50 states it is only $99 a year; which, when you consider the alternatives of being shot for being on the wrong land, being lost without a map, or hiking for hours when you could have cut through your friend’s land, it is absolutely worth it.
​
I have come a long way since my laps around the shopping mall, and On X is one tool I use to keep me on track (both figuratively and literally).  guiding me. 

Regardless of whether we are in the midst of a health crisis, we must be resourceful and use all of the food that we have available – whether that is using all parts of an animal or using left over vegetables to make shepard’s pie.

When processing wild game, it is inevitable to end up with small pieces of meat. Some people throw those small pieces away, while many other people will turn the smaller pieces into ground meat. I only recently purchased a Kitchen-Aid stand up mixer with the ground meat attachment, so before my new purchase I always used the small pieces as stew meat.

After processing any large game, we always end up with a lot of stew meat. There are numerous uses for stew meat: tacos, stews, or adding it to beans in a crock pot for an easy dinner. One of my  personal favorite uses is making shepard’s pie.

I am not an expert on shepard’s pie; but as I understand it, shepard’s pie began as a way to use left-over food scraps in Ireland. All of the left-over vegetables, pieces of meat, etc. were dropped into a crock and mashed potatoes were cooked on top. The shepards would then take the crock with them for lunch the next day in the fields.

Growing up in the mid-west, a family friend had a recipe for a “German shepard’s pie.” Only as an adult did I realize that a recipe probably should not include the term “German Shepard.”  But, by “German,” it meant that she added sauerkraut to the Shepard’s pie. The version I had as a kid was ground beef, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and shredded cheese on the top. As far as nutritional value goes, it would probably not even meet the standards for public-school lunches these days. 
​
Below is a recipe for the shepard's pie I made this week.  I have altered the recipe to use what I had on hand, and to include some additional vegetables. I use venison stew meat instead of ground beef. I sauté onions, carrots, poblano peppers, and garlic. (You will remember that the mid-west version had absolutely no vegetables). The last time I made it, I used Bubbie’s sauerkraut, which is naturally fermented. When I prepared the mashed potatoes, I also added a cup of ricotta cheese because I had it left over. ​The ricotta cheese made the mashed potatoes extra creamy, and may be a new favorite.

Shepard’s pie is a great way to reduce waste in the kitchen and make a delicious dish out of what you have left over. Every time I make shepard’s pie, it is a little different depending upon what I have at the time. As we face travel restrictions and shelter-in-place orders, our ability to go to the store will become increasingly limited. Shepard’s pie is a great solution because you can use what you have on hand. If you do not have carrots, but have too many peas, use peas.
​
And, remember to save the small pieces of meat when you are processing an animal. Small pieces of venison saved in the fall make delicious shepard’s pie in the winter (or any time there is a chill in the air). Happy cooking, friends. 

​Shepard’s Pie
 
4 cups diced potatoes
1 cup ricotta (optional)
1 cup stock
1 lb. stew meat (venison, beef, lamb, etc)
1 cup red onion
½ cup diced carrots
½ cup diced poblano pepper
3-4 crushed garlic cloves, chopped
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil water with olive oil and salt for the potatoes. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook until soft.

​Using an immersion blender, add stock and blend potatoes. Add ricotta. Blend until creamy. 

​In a stock pot, add olive oil, garlic, carrots, and meat. Brown for a few minutes and add additional vegetables. Once all meat and vegetables are cooked, pour contents into an oven-safe casserole dish. 

Add sauerkraut layer over meat/vegetable layer. Add mashed potatoes on top. Place dish in oven for 30 minutes. You can broil the top for 3-4 minutes at the end for added color. 

Writing about how to become more self-sufficient seems especially relevant this week. Here is my experience rendering lard:

Growing up in the mid-west, I thought lard was Crisco. It was not until many years and miles later that I realized that lard was rendered animal fat. Long before vegetable oil and Crisco, lard was a staple in the kitchen. During World War II, lard replaced butter in many homes.

Initially, the thought of rendering lard was not the most appetizing to me. A few years ago, my husband shot an elk and was able to take some of the elk fat. He came home with big chunks of fat. At first, I was pretty disgusted and not sure what to do with it. But, I decided to take the bull by the horns, so to say, and taught myself how to  render it into lard.

For me, there were a lot of advantages to rendering lard. First, the elk was from the beautiful high country in the Rocky Mountains. While not certified organic, it was certainly an amazingly healthy animal. I had not purchased lard/Crisco in a solid decade (or more), but I devised a plan to use the lard in pie crusts. I also liked the idea of using the entire animal and not wasting any parts. 

I took the large chunks of elk fat and dropped them into the crock pot. I melted down the fat for a few days and it smelled pretty delicious. The liquid was very clean and clear.

After creating a large pot of melted fat, I was not sure how to store rendered lard. I decided to pour the hot liquid into a muffin tin. I pre-measured 1/3 of a cup into each one.

In the pie crust I planned to make, I needed 2/3 cups of butter. I decided to substitute 2/3 cups of lard and had pre-measured the lard into 1/3 cups. Then, I put the muffin tray into the freezer so that the lard could solidify.

The lard firmed up perfectly and was very easy to store in the frozen format. I plopped the frozen lard out of the muffin tin and stored the lard in the freezer in ziplock bags. The frozen lard maintained its shape nicely. 

When I was ready to bake a pie, I put 2/3 cups of lard into a microwave safe bowl and melted it a bit. The pie crust was really delicious. I was able to taste the elk a little, so I decided to use the lard for meat pies (shepard’s pie, etc.). It worked perfectly.

We try to use all parts of an animal, including the fat. This was a really interesting way to incorporate the elk fat into recipes that we were already making. I have never tried rendering pork or beef fat, but it might be worth a try. 

In my last post, I described my rifle and how much I like it because it has a muzzle brake (which makes it kick less). Last weekend, my husband and I went hunting – in the dark – and his muzzle brake proved to be a bit of a problem.

We were hunting hogs in Texas. I understood that we would be hunting “at night,” but I did not understand that “at night” meant hunting in the pitch-black with no lights. Given what I know about hunting, I thought it would be more of a dusk / low-light situation. It wasn’t; it was a hunt-all-night-into-the-wee-hours-of-the-morning situation.

We were there for three days, and on the last night we were hunting in a small, home-made blind in a wheat field. The blind was about 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep, with two folding metal chairs inside. The structure was made of plywood and metal, so if I accidentally touched the walls, it would echo and make a ton of noise. I am told it is very bad to make noise while hunting for hogs in Texas. Hogs don’t see well, but they can smell and hear everything.

On each side of the blind, there were holes cut in the walls for you to shoot out of.  The hole facing the field was about 3 feet wide and 6 inches tall.
​
5-feet by 3-feet might sound spacious. It was not. Both of our rifles have 26-inch barrels plus a muzzle brake, so our guns would hit the ceiling of the blind if we were not careful. And, mind you, it is very dark and we were supposed to be quiet. 

To get into the blind, we had to walk in the dark through a field. On our first morning, it was 27 degrees and we sat in the dark until the sun rose (two hours later).  So, on the last night, I brought a down blanket. Yes, I carried a down blanket with me into the blind.

I was also carrying a bag with flashlights, bullets, and snacks. To be frank, I am very afraid of being hungry in nature. I brought three jackets and two pillows for us to sit on. …and I had my .257 Weatherby Magnum slung over my shoulder, in the event we actually saw a wild pig. As you can imagine, my entrance into the blind was not especially quiet.

We finally made it to the blind with all of our gear, jammed our bodies onto the two metal chairs, slid our guns through the hole in the wall, and waited.

For the hunt, we bought green-light flashlights to attach to the top of our guns to see the hogs. Apparently, hogs do not mind green lights. But the hole was too small for my gun to fit through with the flashlight mounted on top. I was flying in the dark without a flashlight.

For the next three hours, we stared into a dark field with no lights. We were told that if a hog came near the feeder, a motion sensor light would turn on. That never happened. After a few hours, our eyes adjusted to the darkness, and we were able to see basic shapes in the moon light.

Just before 10:00 pm, my husband saw a hog about 120 yards away. I, on the other hand, could not see anything. But, it was go time. He slid his gun into position, turned on his mounted flashlight, and fired. I have never been in a war, but the experience of my husband firing his .300 Remington Ultra Magnum in a 5’ by 3’ metal box felt like a war zone. The gun powder created a cloud in the green light that was completely blinding. I was extremely disoriented and could not see anything. The sound was deafening, even with ear protection. We were excited, confused, and jammed into a small metal box in a Texas wheat field.

The gun was absolute overkill for the situation; my husband had a .30-06 back at camp, but wanted to use his new toy. The muzzle brake is great for decreasing kick, but it amplifies the sound and concussion of the shot. In hindsight, shooting a .300 Remington Ultra Mag with a muzzle brake in a tiny metal building is not a good idea -- especially in the dark.

After the shot, we tried our best to collect ourselves. We had researched that wild hogs will play dead and then attack you when you get close. This tidbit of information was running through my head as we got out of the blind to go check on the hog. To get out of the blind, we were maneuvering our two metal chairs between my three jackets, two butt pillows, one down blanket, and my stash of snacks. It took a few minutes to squeeze ourselves out.

I also had to reattach my flashlight to my gun. I was walking through the field, in the dark, using my gun as a flashlight. Again, it seemed reminiscent of what an active-duty solider might experience. As we were walking across the field, toward the hog that might be playing dead in order to gore us, I was terrified. In that moment, the idea of a Texas boar hunt seemed especially ill-advised.

We searched the wooded area across the field where my husband had aimed.  There I was - using my gun as a flashlight to look for an animal in a thick wooded area that might attack me. What could go wrong?

We did not find the boar and we think it ran off when we were trying to extricate ourselves from the tiny box. It was exhilarating to experience the shot from the blind, but I am not sure that the muzzle brake was the best idea. My ears were ringing the entire time we searched for the hog.
​
My take-away from this experience is that firing a high caliber rifle with a muzzle brake in a small, metal blind will leave a distinct impression: mostly ringing ears. Also, I am not sure that I am cut out for night hunting.

Until about three months ago, I was really afraid of guns. My husband has owned guns for years, but even holding one would lead me to break out into a sweat. My hands would get clammy, I would develop dry mouth, and there might have been a bit of light headedness. Needless to say, the situation did not lend confidence when considering beginning a hunting hobby.
 
After our elk hunt in November (where I was the assistant – tasked with “glassing” for animals, packing snacks, insisting upon breaks, etc.), I decided that I no longer wanted to be afraid of guns. It is limiting to be afraid and was preventing me from doing something that I wanted to do. A few weeks later, my husband purchased a .22 rifle for rabbit hunting. It was substantially smaller than his hunting rifle and I decided to start overcoming my fear.
 
Step one: touch the gun.  After my husband convinced me that it was unloaded (which, let’s be honest, took at least three reassurances), I would hold the gun in my hands. After I held it a few times, I looked through the scope and held it in a shooting position. Mind you, I did this after dark, upstairs, in our home with the lights on. The possibility of a neighbor seeing me with a rifle pointing out the window and calling the cops did cross my mind. In time, I no longer felt fear while holding the gun.
 
As my fear was subsiding, my husband and I started hashing out what type of hunting rifle might be a good fit for me. I was very concerned about the kick and did not want to hobble away with a bruised shoulder after shooting. My husband did extensive research (thanks for that!) as we considered whether a youth sized gun might be most appropriate. We read articles and blogs on the pros and cons of a youth gun and learned that often times the barrel is shorter on a youth gun than on an adult gun. A shorter barrel can lead to more kick, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid.
​
We checked out a used gun store after Christmas and found the perfect fit: a .257 Weatherby Magnum with a muzzle brake. Honestly, I was not excited about the camo pattern, but it was really an ideal gun. 

I have shot the gun on numerous occasions and can say – without a doubt – it is a smooth and clean shot. There is no kick and it is incredibly powerful. As I pull the trigger, the bullet passing through the muzzle brake will take your breath away as an observer. The smell of gunpowder is strong and intoxicating. I am going on my first hunt next week and honestly cannot wait! Stay tuned for updates on hog hunting in Texas.
​

​My last post (Canning 101) was pretty technical. I wanted to lighten it up today.

A couple year's ago, my friend invited my husband and I to a dinner party. It was at a friend of a friend's house. We had met the people having the party, but didn't really know them. The hosts were incredibly interesting -- the husband was the dentist for a royal family in the Middle East before he retired (I'll call him the "Dentist"). We were invited to this party, in part, because the Dentist knew we were foodies. 

The Dentist, also a foodie, hired a local 4-H kid to raise ducks for him. Where we live, you can't readily buy duck in a grocery store, especially not fresh, wild duck.  So, the dentist found a local kid that wanted to earn some money raising ducks.

We knew the 4-H ducks were on the menu, so we were pretty excited about this dinner. We pulled up to the Dentist’s house, which was in a very nice, upscale neighborhood in a nearby town and I was feeling intimidated. We didn't know the hosts, they were older than us, and I was not very familiar with duck. Right out the gate, the appetizers start flowing. We had shrimp, bacon wrapped dates, and an assortment of cheese. I am not sure I had ever eaten a date until that night.  I was pretty stuffed by the time the appetizers were over.

When it was time for dinner, we all went to the table, which was very formal. The fine china was out and every place setting had a charger. We sat down and the Dentist's wife came out of the kitchen with dinner already plated. She put an entire duck down in front of each one of us. On the drive to the party, my husband and I were talking about whether we would each get our own duck. My husband pointed out that would be completely insane, but I thought there was a chance. Even though I thought it might happen, I was super shocked to see an entire duck on my plate. We were given scissors to cut the duck into pieces, to make it easier to eat. The duck was served rare, which is really important when cooking game.

As we all sat staring at our own ducks, the Dentist explained that the 4-H kid only fed the ducks insects. The ducks never had grains. He also told us that he grew up in the mid-west and his dad was a duck hunter. He explained that every Sunday evening, his family had duck that his dad had shot that day. Duck was important to the Dentist and getting duck where we live was a labor of love. He graciously shared his most prized food with us and it was delicious.

As we were finishing the night, my husband had the guts to ask the Dentist if he could take his duck carcass home to make stock. I almost kicked him under the table. Luckily, the Dentist was flattered and offered to allow us to take all of the ducks with us. This posed an interesting question: how does one transport six duck carcasses without preparing ahead of time? We did not have special Tupperware, a cooler, not even a box. Although, I am not sure how you are supposed to take duck carcasses home from a dinner party.

So, we left the dinner party in the mansion with a trash bag filled with six discarded duck carcasses. I was absolutely mortified. It looked like a scene straight out of the Beverly Hillbillies.  

In hindsight, my husband was right to snatch up the duck – the stock was unbelievable. And, because we took every duck at the table, we had stock for a year. 

It was also a really important lesson in how I have had to re-frame what is acceptable when I am thinking about food that doesn't come from a grocery store. I thought the duck carcasses were trash and the Dentist planned to throw them away. Once my husband asked to take the carcasses, the trash became usable food. 

We live in a rural, rugged area where the nearest Whole Foods is four hours away, over mountain passes and through numerous reservations. There is no Trader Joe’s. We don't have one-hour Amazon Prime delivery. In reality, “two day” delivery sometimes takes six days.

Having access to high quality food is a huge reason that I have embraced this lifestyle. Because my husband took the duck carcasses, we were able to make stock, use a part of the animal that would have otherwise been thrown away, and had access to food that we could not buy in the grocery store.
​
We wanted great food, so we have learned how to source it ourselves. We used the duck stock in dishes for an entire year. One of the best uses was paella. Here is our recipe:

​Paella
This is an old-world recipe in the sense that you can be very flexible with ingredients -- it is to taste and availability. This recipe is for a 14" paella pan.
 
Ingredients:
2 c. Long grain white rice
1 tablespoon garlic
Olive oil
1 red bell pepper julienned 
1 quart of stock (may need 2 quarts depending on altitude, cooking time, etc.)
1 bottle of dry white wine
1 minced red onion
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon red chile
Salt and pepper to taste
4-6 oz. of each: cubed de-boned chicken, cut sausage links, scallops, raw shrimp, clams/mussels/squid (depending on what is available)
 
1. Pre-heat grill. Prep all ingredients before you begin cooking. 

2. Place the paella pan on the grill, add rice and 1 tablespoon of garlic with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. You want to toast the rice until there is a little char. Constantly stir to ensure the rice does not stick to the pan throughout the cook time.

3. Add red bell pepper and sauté. 

4. Begin adding stock to the rice. Constantly keep the rice wet throughout the rest of the cook time. If the rice is dry at the top, add liquid. Alternate stock and white wine.

5. Add minced red onion.

6. Season with smoked paprika, red chile powder, and salt and pepper. Traditionally, paella requires saffron. But, saffron is very expensive and not available where I live. We substitute paprika and chile powder.

7. Once the rice is about 60% cooked, add meat. Push the meat into the rice in a circular pattern. (Ring of chicken, ring of sausage, etc) All meat goes into the paella pan at the same time. Once the meat is added, stop stirring. Close the lid to the grill.

8. Check on the paella to ensure it is not burning. Add stock and wine to ensure the top of the paella is wet. 
​
9. Paella is done when you see that all ingredients are fully cooked. Make sure the chicken is cooked fully by visually inspecting it. There will be a crust at the bottom of the paella once it is done. That is a good thing.
 
When you serve the paella, scoop it from the outside in as if you are serving a piece of pie. Add tabasco (tabasco is best because it is a vinegar based hot sauce).
 
Total cook time: about 1 hour 15 minutes

I started canning because I wanted to reduce my use of aluminum cans and make some of my own food. Let's be honest, I am also really terrible at remembering to buy stock at the grocery store. Before I started canning, I would often have to run to the grocery store mid- recipe. And, when you live in the rural Rocky Mountains, "running to the store" is an 80 mile round trip excursion. So, I started making my own. 

The thought of using a pressure canner was absolutely terrifying to me in the beginning. However, due to my elevation (7,000 feet), it was by far the safest option. A pressure canner can be used to preserve/can food and can also serve as a pressure cooker. This is not, however, an Instapot. 

For some of you, the idea of a pressure canner may conjure images of explosions in your great-grandmother's kitchen. That is a fair position. And, the reason it is very important to follow updated processes and recipes. I strongly discourage using old recipes as food safety standards have evolved.

Equipment:
You will need to make an investment up front to be able to can your own food. However, you will see the outcome is absolutely worth it. 

I bought the Presto 23-quart canner years ago and it works like a charm. You can get it on Amazon for less than $80:

www.amazon.com/Presto-01781-23-Quart-Pressure-Canner/dp/B0000BYCFU/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=pressure+canner&qid=1579025461&sr=8-1

In addition to a pressure canner, you will need:​

• Jars (I prefer wide-mouth)
• Lids and rings (will be included with first jar purchase)
• Vinegar
• Jar lifter (to remove hot jars from pressure canner)​
• Funnel (trust me on this one)
• Ladle 
• Clean dish cloth

Prep:
​Before you start canning, you need to sterilize your jars. Most people do that by running the glass jars through the dishwasher. Ideally, you will take the warm jars right out of the dishwasher and fill with your food to be canned. 

You also need a clean surface to prep. 

Canning:
Now you have your supplies, you have spent a week adding water to a crock pot, let's fill the jars with delicious goodness. 
​
As a tip, I will often turn on the stove and start boiling water in the pressure canner before I fill the jars. I am impatient and do not want to wait for the water to boil in the canner after the jars are filled.

I fill the pressure canner with about a liter of water and add a splash of vinegar. The vinegar is to prevent your jars from looking cloudy. Let the water boil in the pressure canner with the lid off as you prep the jars. Once the canner is filled with the jars, you want to be sure there is at least 3 inches of water in the bottom of the canner. You can add more water once the jars are in the canner.

Using your ladle, fill the jars with hot stock out of the crock pot. Do not over-fill your jars.Once the jars are filled, you will want to wipe the rim of each jar with a cloth dipped in vinegar. This ensures you will have a clean seal. 

Next, place the lids inside the rings and screw on the lid. You do not want to over-tighten the jars. ​

Now we are ready to put the jars into the pressure canner. You want to leave a little space between each jar. Your pressure canner will explain how many jars it can accommodate. My pressure canner can handle 7 quarts at a time.

It is very important to check the lid of your pressure canner before every single use.  Look through the steam valve to be sure you can see through it and it is not clogged. (The valve is the spout coming out of the lid that the weighted gauge will eventually cover.) The steam valve can become blocked, which is very dangerous. Once you have checked that the valve is clear, you are good to put the lid on the pressure canner.

You need to allow steam to flow steadily out of the steam valve before you add the weighted gauge. This will take a few minutes. Once you can visibly see steam coming out of the gauge (located to the right of the dial in this photo), you can put the weighted gauge on the pressure canner. 

Once you add the weighted gauge (the little metal piece that rocks), the pressure will begin to build in the canner. The PSI (number on the gauge) and cook time will vary drastically depending upon your elevation and what you are canning. I always check the National Center for Home Food Preservation or the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving for cook times and PSI.

For quarts of meat stock in a weighted-gauge pressure canner, you need PSI of 10 if you are under 1,000 feet in elevation and PSI of 15 if you are over 1,000 feet. I can almost everything at PSI 15. This means that you wait until the dial reaches 15 before you start your cook time.

For quarts, you will maintain the PSI at 10 (if under 1,000 feet) for 10 minutes. If you are above 1,000 feet in elevation and canning at 15 PSI, you will cook for 15 minutes. Once time is up, turn off the stove. DO NOT open the pressure canner until the PSI is at 0 and the pressure is gone from the canner. If you open prematurely, the jars can explode and all of your work is ruined. 

Once the pressure is out of the canner, remove the jars with the jar lifter. Place the jars onto a heat safe surface on a dish towel. Do not allow the jars to touch one another. Over the next few hours, you will hear the jars popping. That is okay. Once the jars are cool, push each lid to make sure it is solid. If it pops, you will need to use it within a few days and refrigerate it, as you do not have a good seal.

So, this sounds like a really long involved process, but it really is simple. The first time will take you longer, but by the second or third time, this is a breeze. I can while I am meal prepping, doing laundry, watching TV, etc.
​
Happy canning, friends!

In 2003, I was a county fair queen, with a little red car, and a lot of makeup.  I grew up in a small town, and although it was a farming community, my family did not even have a garden. Culturally, food was not important to me and I never questioned the source of my food. My parents did not can, hunt, or fish. 

I had friends whose parents hunted and fished. I did not understand that lifestyle. Honestly, I thought that people that hunted and fished did it out of necessity, not out of choice. I thought game meat was "dirty" and unappetizing, although I do not recall ever actually eating it.

Years and many miles later, I realize that I was wrong. Really wrong. In the past ten years, some of the most incredible meals that I have eaten included wild game. 

After college, I planned to go to graduate school in Miami. But then the University of Denver gave me a scholarship. I packed my two wheel drive SUV and headed to Colorado with the firm intention of never staying longer than three years. I did not own a proper winter coat or weather proof boots.

I met my husband in graduate school and we started working in Denver after graduation. He is from the southwest and I decided to stay in Colorado. I had no idea where that decision would take me. During one trip to visit his family in New Mexico, I saw a sign warning of animals in the area. I literally asked my husband, "What is that animal that looks like a bear with antlers?" That, my friends, was an elk.

Due to the recession, wanderlust, and a desire to leave Denver, we quit our jobs and moved to the mountains. While talking about the move, my husband warned that our new neighborhood might have bears, mountain lions, or other predators that could require me to shoot a gun. I insisted a) that was completely untrue, b) he was trying to scare me, and c) I would never shoot a gun. Much to his delight, we had a bear in our front yard within the first week. I had never seen a bear in real life. It smelled absolutely awful (think about a sweaty person living in a fur coat for years). Throughout our first fall, the bears came within feet of our open bedroom window every weekend.

My husband started elk hunting. I had no idea this was something that interested him and I certainly wanted no part in it. He would wake up in the dark in the freezing November temperatures, armed with a gun, and head off for the mountains. I was terrified that he would shoot himself or get lost in the wilderness. In hindsight, my position was reminiscent of The Christmas Story ("you'll shoot your eye out!"). 

During his first hunt, he shot an elk. He returned to our house well after dark, covered in blood and looked like he had just murdered someone. I was not impressed. Only now do I realize how difficult it is to track and stalk an elk in the snow. Only now do I understand how physically grueling it is to hike for hours in high altitude conditions. 

Since the beginning of my husband's elk hunts, I always helped him process the animals. Holding a bloodied elk quarter in the kitchen while wearing my college sweatshirt was a big wake-up call for me. I had never seen an elk (alive or dead) and now I was helping my husband process one. 

While he was learning his new hobby, I decided to learn how to can. Remember, I had absolutely zero family members teaching me how to do this. I  was all on my own, armed with the internet and a subscription to Mother Earth News. I was terrified (for good reason) that I was going to poison us. 

I tried lots of recipes: chicken/lamb/venison/elk stock, tomatoes, red chile pinto beans, Anazai beans, lamb stew, raw chicken, jalapeno jam, strawberry lemonade, bruschetta, apple butter, apple sauce, salsa, Asian plum sauce, giardineria. The giardineria was exceptionally terrible.

I also started cooking wild game and have learned quite a bit along the way. For example, elk ribs must be cooked in a very specific manner. Elk ribs are not pork ribs. I have rendered elk fat to make pies and made more venison stews that I can count. 

Eventually, I started to go with my husband on his elk hunts. 2019 was the first time that I took an active role in the hunt. In November, we went on a 5 day elk hunt in the Rocky Mountains. My husband's tag was in a difficult unit, characterized by deep canyons and steep mountains. We utilized a hunting app that was a real life saver! (More on that later.)

He bought me my first pair of binoculars for this hunt. Armed with a backpack filled with layers of clothing, snacks, water, gloves, hand warmers, first aid supplies, oh - and the binoculars, we headed out into the dark, cold November morning to find an elk.