Posted By: Jesse Williams
This recipe is my number one recipe for any and all pot lucks, including branding. It is easy to make, especially in big batches, freezable, and always a favorite around the dinner table. I like to make all sizes, ranging from individual to party size, to have on hand in my freezer. They do take some time to thaw so I usually set them out the night before or the morning of to make sure.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Literally just mix this all together in one GIANT bowl. Add 2 cups of cheese into the mixture and save the remaining cup to sprinkle on top. Grease a large tin pan (because nobody wants to clean pans after branding!) and spread the mixture into the pan. Top with extra cheese. Put a layer of foil on top. Cook at 350F for about an hour. Test with a fork to make sure it is hot all the way through. *I triple the recipe to feed about 65 people at branding. I also make extra and freeze in individual tin containers for Clay and I to just pop in the oven when we're feeling lazy! You may also like...
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Posted By: Jesse Williams
My hubs LOVES pumpkin pies. So when he begged for pie as a dessert at our branding, I knew I had to do something (but certainly not cut and serve 65 slices of pie- is he crazy?!). So I used my all-time favorite easy peasy pumpkin pie filling from scratch recipe and put it into individual tarts. This way all you need to do at branding is put them out with a can of whipped cream and there's no fuss or mess! And bonus, just like the apple tarts, this recipe is CHEAP!
Ingredients
Directions
Posted By: Jesse Williams
This apple pie filling recipe comes from my mom and it is always a sure-fire hit. You can use the same filling recipe to make one large deep dish apple pie, however for branding I like to make individual tart sized pies for less fuss and easier clean up.
My favorite part about this recipe is how cheap it can be! All the apples are from our trees the year before. I core and cut all our crab apples in the fall, lay them on cookie sheets and freeze them (so they won't stick together). I then throw them in large freezer bags and voila! Pies are too easy!. You can also make all your own pastry (it's actually easy!) for a super cheap way to feed guests. Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Thaw frozen tart shells & apples (if necessary) 3. Cut apples, if necessary 4. In a bowl, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon together. Pour the mixture into a bowl with the apples. Mix until all apples are evenly coated. 5. Sprinkle lemon juice on top of apples (I only do this if using really sweet apples. I don't use the lemon juice when I am using crab apples from my backyard.) 6. Fill each pie shell, only to the top. 7. Put upside-down tart shell or pre-cut homemade pie shells on the top of the tart. Squish edges of the tart to keep from boiling over. 8. Brush each tart pie with milk. Slice a hole in the top of each tart. 9. Sprinkle sugar on top of the tarts. 10. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes. Watch carefully. You want the tart to be golden brown when done. **I like to put all my tarts on tin foil on top of the baking sheet. Inevitably, some tarts will boil over and it is really difficult to get the baked on goo off! 11. Let cool. Enjoy or freeze for later! You may also like...
Posted By: Jesse Williams
I have had a lot of questions about how we structure our cow/calf management tags in our herd, as I have posted a few pictures of making tags and our DIY Tag Board, that seemed to confuse people. This leads me to believe we must be doing things rather different than anyone else (which could be a good or a bad thing) and so I thought I would take a few minutes to share what we do and why. I would LOVE to hear how you do management tags on your operation because there is always room for improvement!
The International Standard
We do follow the international tag lettering system for our COWS. This handy dandy little system gives your cows a letter for their tag that corresponds with the year they were born. This is super convenient when buying cows at the auction mart- IF (and I stress, IF) the previous owner follows that same international standard. I am learning more every day that there are less and less people following it, which I always ask myself 'Why not?'. If you have any insight into that, please let me know!
Cow Tags
As mentioned above, we give all cows their letter corresponding to their year of birth, followed by a management number. We simply started at 100 when we began our herd. This is because we have very similar cows to our family members, who we also sometimes run in the same pastures or management groups. By starting all our numbers in the 100's, (their's start in the single digits), we can easily identify whose cow is whose.
We also use a different colored tag for every year of birth. This is simply another aid to allow us to identify a cow at a quick glance. Sometimes you may only be able to see the number on the tag because of long hair, but if its orange you know that is likely a 'B' cow, for example. It is probably over kill (and does make for a LOT of extra tags always hanging around in every color) but it does work well for us.
Reusing Tags & Saving Money
In order to save a bit of money we reuse the same calf tags every single year. At weaning we cut the button off the back of each tag, saving the tag for the next calf crop. We do this when the calves are in the chute ready to load onto the liner to the auction mart. We simply lean over the chute with a tag cutter and remove the tags. Now this is easier said than done and I'll be the first to admit it. In previous years we had an old rickety chute that had bars across the top. Those bars were just in the right spot to bonk your head when you weren't paying attention. We do have a better chute now, but it is still somewhat inconvenient and been a topic of discussion in our house for some time. I guess the cheap side of us won over because we are still doing it!
After weaning, we take the tags in the house, wash them in soapy water to remove any old dirt and use a knife or pen to pop out what's left of the old button. We then use a tag pen to trace over the existing letter and number to make sure it is vibrant and readable for the next year.
Economics on reusing tags:
*These are the actual costs of tags and buttons we purchased in 2015. Tax not included. Large Allflex 2 piece tags/buttons: $30.44/ 25 tags & buttons ($1.22/head) Allflex buttons: $14.59/ 25 buttons ($0.58/head) Savings: $15.85/ 25 head ($0.63/head) For a herd that produces 100 head of calves continuously, you would be saving $63.40 per year (or $0.63/head). Now that doesn't sound much, and it really isn't, but 63 bucks is 63 bucks in my opinion. My father in law loves to say that when you are young, you trade work to save money, and when you are old you trade money to save work. Clay and I are still young so I think we will continue to take the extra few minutes to remove tags, wash them and reuse them each year, at least for now. Note: We have a very low tag loss rate in calves. In 100 head, we might lose one per year, if that. Pros/Cons of Our Tagging System
While this is the way the hubs' family has been doing it for years, my number one concern when I was introduced to it was the increase in time/work to tag replacements twice, plus the stress of two tagging steps for replacements, or the removal of the tags for calves going to market. They have to be tagged at some point in their life, but the second tagging for replacements is usually done in the chute when the heifers are receiving annual vaccinations. And because we use the same hole that their original tag was in, I think the stress is fairly limited.
For the calves being sold to market, I think it would be fair to say there is some stress on weaning day and adding an additional few minutes in the chute trying to wrangle a tag out of their ear likely adds to it. However, I don't know how much stress or how much shrink that would equate to, and if it would be enough to cancel out the savings from reusing tags. The other option I see a lot of producers use is to tag at branding rather than at birth. I am not particularly fond of this method just because it is hard enough to know which calf goes with which mother when they have corresponding tags. Without tags for a few months before branding would always make me worry I have the wrong calve/cows matched up. This would wreak havoc on my record keeping system as my data would no longer be reliable. If a cow lost her calf and adopted another (which most certainly happens), and I use the adopted calf's data as that cow's progeny, I could have very skewed results as to the genetic characteristics that mother throws.
At the end of the day, this is how we've been using management tags in our herd. It may or may not work for you herd but we sure would love to hear how your system might differ. Leave a comment or send us an email!
I am not sure if this is more for my hubs or for me, but either way we fight with cracked, sore, dry lips all winter, being inside and out all the time. This is just a super easy recipe with some natural ingredients that you may even have on hand! Materials3 TBSP Bees Wax 3 TBSP Coconut Oil 1 TBSP Honey 1/2 tsp flavoring (I used vanilla extract) 5 small lip balm containers (I found mine at Michael's Craft Store) DirectionsIn a microwave safe dish, melt the beeswax and coconut oil for 2 minutes. Be careful, it will be hot! Mix in the TBSP of honey, stirring until combined. Then add in the flavoring/essential oil. Melt in the microwave for 15 seconds. Pour the mixture into your containers and allow to cool. If it looks like your emulsion is settling out, mix it up again and put in the fridge for fast cooling. The recipe made 5 jars!
By: Jesse Williams While it isn't a very exciting present- a bag of grain- it sure does feel good after a long day of chores in the cold. This super easy, quick, homemade gift will give your rancher a relaxing way to warm up or relax their aching muscles. Plus you can personalize with a fun material choice. Make one for each family member! Materials Cotton fabric (two fat quarters will work) 6 cups of wheat (or a preferably awnless cereal variety) Sewing machine & thread DirectionsPick your favorite cotton fabric, double it over and cut a 6.5" x 16" rectangle. You'll need to repeat this with another fabric choice, but you can pick any color you want as it will be inside and not visible. I picked a "lovely" pink floral pattern that has been sitting in my fabric drawer for years. You'll now need to place the fabrics on top of each other in a specific order: 1. floral, face up 2. cowboy print, face up 3. cowboy print, face down 4. floral, face down Pin in place for sewing. Sew a seam along three edges (two long sides and one short side). I used a 1/4" seam. Turn the bag right side out. Fill the bag with 6 cups of cereal grain, preferably wheat. Because we are not big grain farmers, the only thing we had in the bins was barley, which was quite dirty. I thought the awns might make the bag pokey but because of the two layers of fabric, you can't even feel them. I would still try to get an awnless variety if possible though. You will now need to fold over the 1/4" seam on the short edge and sew the length shut. I did a double seam to make sure there would be no weak spots. Then, Voila! You have your very own microwavable heat bag. Pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes and place on all your aches and pains after a long day of chores, a late night pulling calves or cold day of moving cows.
Posted by: Jesse Williams This year we tried something new when we were making our annual deer sausage- pepperoni's! This called for a different casing than we were used to but overall we think our first attempt was a success. Check out this simple recipe below! If you've seen our Big Game Sausage recipe, this will follow the same format, except for different spices and casings. You can reference that recipe for lots of tips and tricks in preparing the 60/40 ratio of ground deer to pork that we used. Ingredients (20lb batch)20lbs of ground meat (we used 12 lbs deer, 8 lbs pork) 1 pkg Original Wild West Pepperoni Sausage Seasoning (we paid $7.99 at Peavy Mart) Pepperoni Casings (we purchased them from our local grocery store's butcher division) Hot water for mixing DirectionsThis recipe is too easy. After grinding your deer/pork, mix them together with your hands, adding in the package of spices and any hot water you may need to increase the mixability of the pepperoni. Once you are satisfied that the mixture is well combined, transfer the ground meat to your sausage press. Because pepperoni's are typically much smaller than sausage, we reduced our sausage press tip to about 0.75" diameter, however do whatever your family prefers. This will be larger than the traditional 'Hot Rods' you get at the convenience store, but makes for a great snack! Push the casings onto the tip of the sausage press. You will notice that they are a lot stiffer than your sheep gut casings you might be used to with sausage. They're also red. Very red. And that dye will get everywhere! I would highly recommend laying down a plastic sheet on your table as the red dye could turn light colored tables pink!. We tried pinching the pepperoni's into individual sizes as it came out of the press, but quickly found out that wasn't very efficient. I would recommend just making one big coil of pepperoni until you run out of casings, then pinch them off after. The last step is to cold smoke the pepperoni's so that they are ready for snacking. We use a small propane powered smoker, and although we can't fit a lot in at a time, its quite effortless- just put them in and forget them. We smoked our pepperoni's for about 4 hours. Check often to ensure you are not burning them, but that they are still cooked all the way through, as we don't cook them again before eating them. We then just packaged them in Ziploc freezer bags and threw them in the freezer for easy access whenever we want a snack! You may also like these other #meatmonday recipes...
By: Jesse Williams Ingredients
Directions Preheat oven to 350F In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and pepper. Chop the pheasant breasts in to bite sized cubes. Coat each piece of pheasant in the flour mixture and brown all sides of the pheasant on the stove with canola oil. You may want to do this the night before to prepare to cut down on preparation time the day of. Or you could freeze the pheasant chunks for use another day. Remove pheasant chunks to a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt, rosemary and pepper. Add the chopped apples to the dish, as well as the apple cider and wine vinegar. We use apples from my mom's apple tree that we core, chop and freeze each summer for easy use all year round. You can of course use fresh too. Mix thoroughly. Pop the covered casserole dish into the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350F. We usually pair this dish with mashed potatoes, so if throw some in a pot and let your house fill with the delicious aroma of pheasant! You may also like these other #meatmonday recipes...4 Favorite Pheasant Feasts
Peasant's Pheasant Pot Pie Pheasant Sliders Pheasant Fingers Big Game Sausage Easy Smoked Deer Roast Posted By: Jesse Williams This is based off our favorite chicken pot pie recipe, which you can find here. We simply replaced the chicken with pheasant, and used up all of the extra veggies & potatoes we had in our cupboards. It was a great way to use up all of our extras, including frozen veggie leftovers! Plus, it made some room for our individual pot pies! LIFE HACK: You can bake your pheasant in the slow cooker to easily shred the pheasant before using it in this recipe. Add 4 extra breasts so you can make Pheasant Sliders too! You can easily freeze pheasant sliders and pot pies to stock up your freezer meal supply. Ingredients Directions Preheat oven to 425. Spray tinfoil pans or dishes with cooking spray. If making your own crust see below for our recipe. If not, you can get various different pre-made crusts that will do the trick. We used home made crusts for these pheasant pot pies, but we couldn't find individual pie shells at our local grocery store, so we grabbed some small rectangular pans that should hold enough to feed the two of us with one pie! In a saucepan over medium heat, melt your butter. Stir in your onion and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes. Be sure to stir often. Add your salt, pepper and flour to the saucepan and gradually add your milk & broth, stirring. Bring to a boil. Add your chicken and thawed veggies, as well as your potatoes. Continue to stir until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Scoop your mixture into your pie crusts. This recipe filled 9 small individual pie plates or 7 rectangular larger pans with a pie crust on the top of the mixture with slits to allow airflow. Use your fingers to pinch the edges of the crust. At this point I put the individual pies in the freezer to be eaten later. If not freezing, pop in the oven for 20-40 minutes depending on the size of pie you chose. Crust Ingredients2 cups all purpose flour 1 cup shortening or lard 1 tsp salt Create a slurry with: 1/3 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup ice water Crust DirectionsIn a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until you achieve pea-sized crumbs. In a separate bowl create the slurry of flour and ice water. Be sure there are no lumps. Add slurry to the large bowl, mixing the dough with your hands. Turn dough onto a floured surface and fold the dough onto itself while kneading to create layers. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to the desired thickness. I used a bowl that was slightly bigger than the tin foil pie plates I was going to use, to cut the crust. Note: I had to make this particular crust recipe twice to have enough dough to make 9 small individual chicken pot pies. Many recipes only call for a top crust, not a bottom lining crust. If you choose to go that route the above recipe will be adequate for the amount of filling made in step one. If you choose to make one large pot pie the above recipe should be enough for one full top and one full bottom crust. You may also like these other #meatmonday recipes... 4 Favorite Pheasant Feasts
Apple Pheasant Bake Pheasant Sliders Pheasant Fingers Big Game Sausage Easy Smoked Deer Roast Posted By: Jesse Williams Ingredients 4 pheasant breasts 1 can chicken broth 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 3/4 cup barbeque sauce 1/2 small onion, chopped 1/2 Tbsp canola oil 1 Tbsp brown sugar Directions This recipe requires some work beforehand to create the pulled pheasant. I like to start the morning we are going to enjoy the dish by cooking the pheasant breasts in a slower cooker on high for 4 hours. Throw in the pheasant breast, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Let simmer until cooked. LIFE HACK: While you are baking the pheasant in the slow cooker, add 4 extra breasts so you can make Peasant's Pheasant Pot Pie too! You can easily freeze pheasant sliders and pot pies to stock up your freezer meal supply. Take the pheasant out of the slower cooker and use two forks to shred the breasts apart until it resembles pulled pork. You can now either add the sauce ingredients to the crock pot with the shredded chicken and let it simmer for a an hour or so, or you can make the sauce on the stove. If that's the case, add the onion, barbeque sauce, oil and brown sugar to a pot. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the onions are soft. Add the sauce to your shredded chicken and place on your bun. Enjoy! You may also like these other #meatmonday recipes..4 Favorite Pheasant Feasts
Apple Pheasant Bake Peasant's Pheasant Pot Pie Pheasant Fingers Big Game Sausage Easy Smoked Deer Roast |
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