OH DEER

Lets Rack it up to a 4 point Order Artiodactyla : Family Cervidae : Odocoileus virginianus (Boddaert) I had 28 peaceful interrupted hours, just George and I. Amazing how just a little time helps the inner spirit. Watching the young King Fishers dive bomb the creek for dinner. Ha I even remembered how to operate the TV. I impressed myself, even if it took me 15 minutes to re figure out how! The roofers did not make it out yesterday due to the rain which we very much needed. I got a call early evening asking if I minded if they came today. I know my face grimaced. I said, “ok” what with the 4th coming et al. George was still confussled about the new sleeping arrangements adding to that my Sweetie [also MY DEAR] was not here. He, the dog, went upstairs as I called from downstairs and he finally resigned himself to joining me in the “Camp Out” room. With a lovely 63 degrees I drove George to Grams and Gramps. It is a lovely one-lane semi paved country road. You know the kind that if you are WISE you take at 3 mph around the curves that might produce a car coming toward you. By now I have all the pull off areas memorized and drive with my brights on. I have contemplated honking just before the really narrow un seeable curves. But then that would disturb the wild life. Today a young fawn, a fox, a black snake and a box turtle crossing the path. Then this magnificent White-tailed 4-point buck with a rack still in velvet with his mate... WOW! Amazing what a break in the weather can do for the soul. Still not quite as awesome as the 8-point that lives in our area. Now there is a creature. Once a summer he still test me as to whether or not the Hosta Plants are still a NO NO! All I have to do is go out side shake my finger and say, “AHEM?” He looks at me in silly disbelief, snorts, a stand as a defiant child might, then ambles off. People use several terms when referring to antlers, the most common of which is "horns." However, antlers differ from horns quite dramatically. Cows, sheep, goats and bison have horns; deer (members of the Cervidae family) have antlers. Horns usually consist of a bony core covered by a keratinous sheath (similar to the material in a fingernail) that persists from year to year. Antlers, on the other hand, are composed of true bone and are grown and shed on an annual basis. In fact, antlers are the fastest-growing bone tissue known. Of course a song came to mind, possibly cause my Sweetie is not here…yup it is Bobby Vinton and Blue Velvet…go figure:) Leg of venison with lavender

Ingredients 2 kg leg of venison 2 cloves garlic, cut into slivers

250 g back bacon

2 sprigs fresh lavender and extra for garnishing

2 onions, skinned and halved

olive oil

salt and coarsely ground black pepper

flour to thicken sauce

quince or kumquat preserve

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 ºC.

Make rows of incisions all over the leg, each about 6 cm deep.

Insert slivers of garlic into the first row and pieces of lavender into the second. Repeat until all the holes are filled.

Cover the leg with rashers of bacon, overlapping each slightly, and secure with cocktail sticks. Place the leg in a deep oven pan and surround with the onions. Sprinkle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for about 1 1/2 hours until tender. (Remove the bacon 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time and chop finely.)

Reset the oven to 200 ºC and brown the leg.

Remove from the oven and place in the warming drawer for about 20 minutes.

To the pan juices add a little boiling water, red wine to taste,

5 ml (1 t) quince preserve and a few sprigs of lavender.

Cook until thickened and the flavours have developed.

Thicken with cornflour.

Serve the leg with oven-roasted vegetables and gravy.

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