In better news, the new lid for my canner arrived today. Sent with an invoice that said 'No Charge' and a note of apology for any inconvenience. Wow! What great service! Now we just need to figure out what to do with the old lid. They didn't tell us to ship it back but I don't know what I'd do with it. V is going to email them tomorrow and ask them if they want us to return it so they can recycle it- melt it down and recast it.
I have calmed down a bit about the beef. I think I just wasn't expecting them to call quite so soon. For those who don't remember, we ordered a side of grass fed beef from a local Amish farmer at the last Winter Market in early December. I knew he was taking it to the processor the first week of January and that it would be ready mid month- I just hadn't made the connection that it is, in fact, mid January. Okay, I knew this intellectually, I'm not totally out of touch with reality, but the significance snuck up on me. I am excited to get the beef. It will mean many, many months of food security with V's job situation still up in the air. Right now we can easily afford it and have been saving the money for it, but with no work steady work in sight for V it will be great to have- almost better than money in the bank. I'm actually looking forward to figuring out what to do with some of the more uncommon cuts of meat we will be receiving. Ah, a food challenge!!!
So, all in all, today was odd but good. I had a day working at a job I enjoy then came home to my loving family, a warm house and good food. What more could I want?
Oh Yeah! The acreage with room to expand the homestead.
It was a weird day. My husband didn't even try to go to work. When he woke up there were three cars stuck in our street. As he didn't have anything terribly pressing to do, he burnt a personal day in the interests of safety.
ReplyDeleteHaving the lid to your canner will help with your beef storage. Mom used to can stew beef and you could do up some beef stock the way you did the turkey stock.
Here in Oregon, by law we have to sell the sides of beef by hanging weight. That means you will lose some in the boning process, so you may not be storing the actual weight you were billed. I'm not sure how it works in your state though. But, it is normally weighed before cutting. Most of our customers are Weston Price/Nourishing Traditions followers so they take all the bones and tallow and get the full weight. To sell by the cut, the prices are higher, and your farmer would need a special license. You are not getting took, I'm just letting you know, because this is the most asked question we receive.
ReplyDeleteYou will love the taste of the beef that you can. :) Your pressure cooker is great for cooking a fast roast for dinner too, delicious!
Stephany- I had thought that the arrival of the new lid was a good sign for the beef arriving.
ReplyDeleteThrowback-Thanks for the info. We realize that we are being charged for the entire HCW and that there will be a lot that we don't see. I was surprised- well, maybe not too much- that they asked if we wanted the soup bones. I said 'ABSOLUTELY, YES!'. The only thing I passed on was the tongue. We were still told to expect to need approximately 4 cubic feet of freezer space-I think I'm close. This farmer does have beef available by the cut at about 3 times what we are paying per pound for the whole thing. I figure that the t-bones will more than make up for the rest. Now if it will just warm up enough to fire up the grill!
Interesting about the meat - I have never really known about that (as I am veg) but I'd love to hear more about how that works, how you store it once it is home, etc....
ReplyDeleteIt does seem an odd start to the day, but with those temps, it all seems to make sense, that can be really dangerous. Stay warm and safe indoors if you can!
The timing for the canner lid couldn't have been better and it sounds like they have great customer service! Enjoy that beef, we've ran out and I had to buy some from the grocery store, ughh..I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian until we can get some fresh from the farm meat!! Stay warm and hopefully V can take you to work while the temps are so low.
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