Cow Tails and Pork Ribs

A little over a week ago, the dad of the ranch brought home our homegrown meat from the butcher.

We had hoped to turn some of the pig into sausage, but the meat processor in town didn't return our call. So we decided to cut up the meat ourselves.  It saved money that way, too.

Here they are looking in the book that tells how to make the proper cuts for pork roasts and ribs, etc.

Jonathan pulls half a pig out of the bag.

And Rose helps.

Our cow had been sent on from the butcher to the meat cutter out near Calhan, but we had asked for all the liver, heart, etc. Here we are taking a look at the heart.

I cut the heart into pieces to freeze. Perhaps we will grind it later and add it to other ground beef.

We also cut the liver into pieces to slice later. It was too much to try to do it all that evening.

We had also asked the butcher to save the cow tail for us. I cut this into chunks to use for soup bone.

Ever price soup bones at the store? That's why I saved the cow tail. It's good soup bone. 

No one will ever know it's tail soup.

Jonathan gets a kick out of catching me off guard on the camera--

since I do that to other people!

It's okay! We have so much fun taking pictures of fun, beautiful, or unusual things to share on my blog or just for fun for ourselves that we just tease about it. 

Notice I said, "fun, beautiful, or unusual."

Does that describe me???  Well, at least the "unusual" part!  Ha ha.

Trying to decide how to cut this pork.

Timmy cuts bits of meat off of bones to turn into sausage with our meat grinder.

Carrie found a recipe online for sausage, and is finding and measuring spices.

Several helping that evening.

Carrie mixing the spice into the ground meat after Dad puts it through the grinder.

The grinder kept clogging up, even though we had sharpened the blade.

Wonder what this bone is supposed to represent?

Back in the schoolroom, I was grading papers and working on report cards.

Carrie had filled three vases with the huge bouquet Jonathan had brought home for me that weekend

when I had been suffering a lot with some physical issues. Above, there is a beautiful vase on my school desk. And below is the bouquet on the kitchen table.

It seemed like the flowers only got more and more beautiful for days.

Perhaps it was the love that bought and brought them.

Perhaps the beauty was in the eyes of the beholders.

Either way--what a blessing those lovely flowers were to this Pennsylvania country girl who gets so hungry for beauty.