Good-Bye Little Bucks

Yesterday we butchered the buck kids. My dad came to help and Grace and I prepared to hide in the house and ignore the situation. But we were all surprised though. Verdict: not so bad.

Grace and I were in the kitchen. Probably making cheese or preparing to make cheese and Grace starts peeking out the window and giving me little updates. "Mom! it's hanging already," "Mom! the skin is off," until ". . . Mom . . . I kind of want to see it closer. Is that bad?" So we walked down the driveway and one thing lead to another and the next thing you know we were having a very hands on anatomy and physiology lesson. We saw all the organs and veins and Grace asked clever questions, as she usually does. And then we backed off when they did the second kid. But we did see it. And it was so quick. Really. Zip-zip.

And honestly this feels like some sort of farm turning point for us. We can do the unpleasant things too. Not just the warm fuzzy stuff. We both feel like if we are going to eat meat we should be willing to do the deed ourselves. Raise up an animal with care and respect and dispatch him quickly. And we did. And the meat looks lovely. Plus it's so quiet in the barn now. Those boys were LOUD.

Cheese tangent:

After the butchering was all done and cleaned up Grace went home with my dad to spend the night and Mike and I went into Carlton to by some (a lot) of cheese supplies. I got new forms for soft cheese and hard cheese and new cultures, both replacement and NEW cultures. (I know! I got shivers too!). AND all kinds of moulds and some new books. YAY. Plus we had the super best lunch at this place in Carlton called The Horse Radish. Wine flights and cheese plates. It was completely delightful. Carlton. Who knew?

Cheese recommendation from Mike: Truffle Stack, cow milk cheese, Mt. Townsend Creamery. This thing explodes in your mouth. It's creamy and gooey with a lovely bloomy rind that just intensifies the mushroomy earthy truffly awesome-ness.

Cheese recommendation from Megan: Humboldt Fog, goat milk cheese, Cypress Grove Chevre. I can't even talk about how yummy this one was. It was like a layer cake of strong goat cheese yum. Bloomy rind with ash underneath and layer of ash in the center. It was almost dry/crumbly in the center and creamy up along the edges.