Cow Pies

It's a sad day. Darren took my sweet Peruvian friend, Sabino, to Salt Lake so he could go home to Peru tomorrow and Rosie and Ruby are on their way to be butchered.

Darren wasn't going to tell me when this day was because he knew I would be sad. He said one day the cows would just disappear, but I found out. We were up at 4:30AM trying to load them into the horse trailer so he could take them. I put some corn into the trailer and Ruby hopped right in, but Rosie put up a fight. She was saying, "My momma told me about this day, I'm not going anywhere!" Sabino and one of Darren's other workers were helping us try to get them into the trailer. It was hilarious to watch them try to maneuver Rosie and then swearing because they stepped in a big, soft pile of cow poop. I'm sure Rosie was laughing saying, "Ha! I showed you!"

Yesterday I let the cows out to enjoy the pasture one last time and when I came out later, they had climbed under the fence and were laying in the round pen with the horses. Silly cows!

We had two pallets full of bags of steer compost sitting out by the pasture and Darren kept blaming the horses for knocking the bags off of the pallets and breaking them open. I found Rosie and Ruby playing in them the other day - it was like they were trying to put on their perfume!

After Rosie and Ruby were loaded up, Darren, Sabino and Clay were gathering up some last minute tools to take up to the cabin to fix a broken railing. I was seriously contemplating opening up the back door of the trailer and telling the cows to, "Run!" But Darren busted me and told me not to even think about it.

I just have to keep telling myself that my family is going to eat this winter and I can't be sad about that.

Yesterday, Darren made this yummy beef stew for us. With all this beef, we are going to be eating lots of it when the temperature is twenty below!

Rosie Stew

Cook four slices of bacon in a large stockpot until crisp.
Toss 1 1/2 pounds lean cut beef stew in 3T. flour, 1/2t. salt and 1/8t. pepper. Add to the bacon mixture. Then add 1T. olive oil, 8 ounces slices mushrooms, 1C. sliced celery, and 1 1/2C. chopped onions. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the beef is browned. Add 6C. beef broth and one bay leaf. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes. Add 2 large potatoes sliced, 1/3C. pearl barley, 2C. sliced carrots and 1C. green peas. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for 25 minutes.

Stir in 2T. flour that has been blended with 2T. cold water to thicken the stew up. Cook, stirring until thickened and bubbly.

You could make this into a cow pie by putting this into a pie tin that was lined with the premade pie crust dough and then cover the top with the other piece of dough. When I make a chicken pot pie, I usually bake the crust at 350* for about five minutes before filling it and then slicing a few holes in the top of the crust before putting it back in the oven to cook for 30 to 40 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown.