$1 Taco Tuesday

Have I mentioned that the thing we miss the most about San Diego is the Mexican food (well, other than our friends, of course!)? Shallow, aren't we? We lived there for many years and we miss the food (and Trader Joe's and Henry's, but those are food related as well. Hm.). We went to $1 Taco Tuesday at On the Border....the whole lot of us, except Wayne who always seems to be out of town the majority of the time that we are in SD. My husband is certain that Mr. Curles does it on purpose just to leave Brad with 11 children and the almost equivalent of 2 wives.....poor guy. Now, I know that On The Border isn't real REAL Mexican food, but we take what we can get - remember, we live in Montana. Anyone out there that is looking for a great investment ought to open a taco stand here in Montana. You know, a Roberto's/Aliberto's/Jaliberto's because almost everyone who lives in Montana is from California and we all miss the Mexican food - and the salsa.

On the road AGAIN

I am a worry wart and I am thankful to post that the drive to San Diego went without a hitch - no thawed out bison(praise God!), no crashes, no tire blow-outs, no break-downs, no run-away trailers, no one broke in and stole our things OR the bison, and we didn't lose any kids at the gas stations. Those are just some of the things I have nightmares about before these trips.

We hit some really strong winds in Idaho - the girls had to literally hold their skirts down so that they would keep from flying over their heads as they walked from the car to the gas station. That was quite a sight. We stayed in SLC, Utah (one of my favorite cities in the U.S. and no, we are not Mormon. It is my alma mater - go Utes!). Utah was and is beautiful. Day two began with lovely weather and the worst part of the drive. Vegas was - well, Vegas..... and hot.....and crowded. That's where the culture shock starts. We hit Corona, CA (beautiful!), breathed a sigh of relief, and stopped at Rubios for fish tacos. Yahoo. All along the road we listened and analyzed music (well, Josiah and I did) and listened to books on tape (Dandelion Fire by ND Wilson was the book of choice for the trip down). Once again, our adopted family, the Curles', extended their precious hospitality to us for the visit and we arrived ready for a grand adventure. We weren't disappointed.

McGyver Strikes Again

Have I told you that I call my husband, McGyver? No? Hm, well, I do, because it is fitting. He can do/make/figure out just about anything. One time, on the way to a church camping trip, we came across friends of ours who had broken down on the way to the campsite. We pulled over and with a mag-light handle, a bicycle handlebar, duct tape, and something else that I cannot remember (something strange!), he had them back on the road and running fine. Not only did they keep on trucking that weekend, but they ended up driving around for 6 weeks with it that way until they could afford to have the car fixed. ha. Well, there are similar stories, but that's our favorite. So, this week, McGyver did it again. We have been renting a truck/trailer each time we go to San Diego for a bison delivery, and this time, McGyver decided to turn our trailer into a permanently insulated box. We had friends over working with him all week (we really do have great friends!). We now have an insulated box that will require much less dry ice. We have another insulated box that goes inside the insulated trailer too. We should be good to go and no more renting trucks for us. That McGyver; he's amazing! :)

McGyver, with his lovely assistant, painting the trailer. Tad working on cooler box. Tad was here all day long - from bright and early until after dark. What trooper. I wish I had taken photos the day before too when Chris Miller and Jay Rickel were here helping out.

CROCK POT BRAISED BISON SHORT RIBS

This recipe is for short ribs, which are not good on the BBQ - too little meat and no fat. BUT, cooked in the crock pot, they are delicious!!!! Here they are!

Crock Pot Braised Bison Short Ribs

3-4 pounds short ribs

½ c. flour

1 ½ t. paprika

1 t. salt

½ t. dry mustard

2 medium onions, sliced and separated into rings

1 c. beer or stock (bison homemade or beef store bought)

1 clove garlic (or more!!)

3 T. water

2 T. flour

If you are using beef, you’ll want to brown the short ribs to remove the fat, but with bison, you can skip this step – you want all the fat they’ll give you! Combine ½ cup flour, paprika, salt and mustard; toss with short ribs. Add rib mixture to crock pot. Place onions, beer (or water or stock) and garlic in crock pot. Stir to mix ribs with onion rings (be sure onions are under ribs). Cover and cook on low 8-12 hours or high 4-6 hours. Remove short ribs to warm serving platter. If thickened gravy is desired, make a smooth paste with 2T flour and water. Turn crock pot to high and stir in paste. Cover and cook until gravy is thickened. Or you can do the gravy in a sauce pan. They are absolutely delicious served over mashed, red potatoes.
Makes appx. 6 servings.

Lime Cilantro Tacos

I promised to put two recipes on the bison website, but I cannot get on there to do it. So....I am putting them here instead. I will eventually get them on there as soon as my hubby has time to tell me how to get on! He has a secret password I guess - who knows what I might put on there! ;) The first is a Dunham family favorite. For all of you San Diegans who love carne asada, this first one will be one of your favs to. It calls for flank steak, but you can use round steak (we have our round cut really thin - it substitutes for any recipe calling for flank steak, which, on a bison is really kind of measly - they can't help it if they have little flanks, poor guys). I will put the second recipe in the next post. Enjoy!

LIME CILANTRO TACOS
1 ½ pounds flank steak (or thin cut round steak)
4 limes; 2 juiced, the other 2 cut in wedges
1 ½ t. paprika
1 t. salt
½ t. pepper
1 c. chopped cilantro
2 T. chopped onion
Tortillas, cheese, guacamole, tomatoes, sour cream, olives - any other taco garnishes you like.

Prepare marinade for carne asada by using the juice from 2 limes salt, pepper, cilantro and chopped onion. Place all these in a plastic Ziploc style bag along with the flank steak. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Grill the flank/round until done (3-5 minutes per side maybe - watch it, tough bison is overdone bison??). Slice steak 1/8 thick along the grain first and then chop into small pieces. Fill tortillas with meat and garnish with other items. Yum!!

bison, bison, bison

We are getting ready for a bison delivery in San Diego. We leave on Thursday and, as usual, there is little thought given to much but bison right now. We eat (yep, literally), sleep, and breathe (not literally) bison. So here's a photo for you from the last time we were at the ranch. ...of bison.

Rhett and Link links

Do you know who Rhett and Link are? If you don't, then you should. These guys do skits, songs and crazy stuff for company promotions. For instance, in this video http://rhettandlink.com/blog/2009/04/08/413 Taco Bell paid Rhett and Link to do a singing drive through order promoting a new contest. The people working at the Taco Bell drive through had no idea about the deal. Here are a few of our favorite Rhett & Link links. Get ready for a few laughs....no, get ready to fall off your chair. We think they are hilarious.

http://rhettandlink.com/videos/#maine-man-series
http://rhettandlink.com/videos/#invisible-bed-fence
http://rhettandlink.com/videos/rlk-wales#mohler-mclaughlin
http://rhettandlink.com/videos/baja-inspection#
http://rhettandlink.com/videos/rlk-wales#bbq-song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM5ubGwDfI0

And don't stop there - go to their site http://rhettandlink.com/ and watch some more. You don't often find really funny stuff that is clean. They also have done some things as the Fabulous Bentley Brothers (see Genesis and 2 Chronicles - they are our favs) for Jellytelly.com, Phil Vischer's (of Veggie Tale fame) new internet programming for kids.

The Mighty Bison Slayers

We are getting ready for a bison run to San Diego at the end of the month and so for the past month we have been harvesting animals for the trip. We are so blessed to have great friends to help with the task. The funny thing is that they all love it. Good for us, huh? AND they are really good at it. Dennis (our asst. pastor) is an avid hunter and makes quick work at one of these guys. Scott has been out a few times too and really has the process down. The Haymond family is learning and enjoys getting the experience, and they were such a great help. It is fun being out there, and most of my kids love it too. Elisha LOVES gutting. She thinks it is so interesting finding the organs (ooh!). This last week, everyone but me went to the fields to do the deed.....every party has a pooper and in this case, I was glad it was me! :)

Trip to Bozeman

Last weekend, we took a trip to Bozeman to deliver some bison and visit the Olsens. It was Colleen's 40th birthday! AND, she is 4 1/2 months pregnant, so we couldn't pass it up. Up here, in the Flathead Valley, we are all out of snow, so I assumed that they would be too. Not a chance. In town and on the other end of Bozeman, there isn't any snow at all, but at their house, they had at least a foot and it snowed all day Friday and Saturday. We got out the snow mobiles and the kids went bonkers. When the weather cleared up and got beautiful (Bozeman is a beautiful valley and they get lots of sun), they also broke out the mini bike. We spent a lovely evening with our good friends, the Behrendt's, too. It is always a great time when we visit. It is too bad that we live so far away. We are so thankful for the great friends that we have here in Montana - it is hard to believe that we haven't even been here for two full years.

Montana Ranch Beauty

No photgraphic tricks here - these are the real deal! Spectacular