The Surprise:
Her son, Dan, flew in from Utah and surprised her at her favorite local restaurant, JJ's. I picked him up from the airport, made sure grandma was at the restaurant, and snuck Dan in through the back door. While waiting to order, my Uncle Dan brought drinks to the table. I thought my grandma was going to jump through the roof with excitement. She really did jump fairly high considering how short she is :) Since no one else knew about Dan visiting, he also surprised both my mom and my aunt. They were just as shocked and happy to see him as my gma was.
Birthday Cookout:
We grilled-out at our house for family and friends. We celebrated not only Gma's birthday, but Bob's and Betty's too. It was a wonderful evening full of great food, laughs, old-time memories, cookies, cookies and yes Pat ..... more cookies! Clark even enjoyed the excitement , and He made a new friend who held him for over an hour! Thanks Lisa. As for Walter, he slept on the picnic table the majority of the time- it's his favorite spot.
Cleaning Time:
While Dan was in town, we helped gma clean out her garage and basement. What a job! We found so much stuff........things gma did not even know she had.........and things I had no idea even existed! Antiques, old newspapers, Veedersburg centennial apparel and memorabilia, my Aunts old baby doll - it's head spun around three times and had three different faces...... Yikes, never saw such a thing, recipes, old pictures, receipts from way back when, and so much more.
My Favorite Basement Find:
It's a close competition between the canned green beans from 1999................and My great grandfathers Wild Game Cookbook! I'm definitely going to go with the cookbook, complete with two pictures of my great gpa and his buddies hunting around his cabin. As for the recipes, it's a tough decision what to cook for dinner now since I have all these mouthwatering recipes to choose from. How about pheasant cake, snipe stuffed potato, or perhaps wild turkey in mole sauce? Don't have a taste for bird? Let's try roast leg of antelope, opossum in casserole, boiled bear liver, roasted shoulder of reindeer, or armadillo sausage? Now, I know what you are thinking........ Please share some of these recipes! Alright, here are a few that caught my eye :)
Beaver Meat Loaf (for you Lauren)
2lb ground beaver
2 tbs butter
2 eggs
1 onion chopped
1/2 c fine bread crumbs
2 tbs tomato catsup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp prepared mustard
Melt butter in pan, add onions, and fry until light brown. Add to beaver. Mix with eggs, bread, catsup, wor. Sauce, and mustard. Blend, shape into loaf. Place in well- greased pan in 350F oven for 2 hours. Baste frequently with 1/2 cup port wine. Serve with horse-radish sauce.
Sautéed Porcupine
Clean, draw. Soak in salt water overnight. Boil water, the pour off water, place porcupine in cold
water. Add 1 tbs black pepper and 1 tbs baking soda. Boil. Pour off water. Boil in clear water 10
min. Pour off water. Cut meat into small pieces, roll meat into flour, salt and pepper. Melt 1/4
cup butter in skillet. Add meat. Cook until brown, serve with bacon.
Woodchuck Stew
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp thyme
1 minced onion
1 tbs vinegar
2 cloves
Salt and pepper
Cut into serving pieces, place in kettle with all ingredients, cover with water. Boil. Reduce heat. Simmer for 3 hours, add 1 diced carrot, 3 potatoes, and continue to cook for 30 more min. Strain. Serve.
I got to the end of the book and there it was............. skunk: Roasted or broiled. How sad. I held my skunk tight that night :)
Thanks to everyone who made grandmas birthday one she will never forget!
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