Fried Venison Dinner

Ingredients:
Venison cut in strips.
white potatoes
1 Leek
1 Sweet onion
1/2  red cabbage
1 collard greens
Flour
Favorite spices
Salt
Butter
Olive oil
milk

1. Cut onion and cut only the white part of the leek to your liking. Save the leaves.
2. Pull the leek leaves apart and clean if there is any dirt. Chop the leaves to your liking.
3. Saute onion and leek in butter and salt.  
4. Cut cabbage and collard greens to your liking.
5. Saute cabbage, leek leaves and collard greens in butter and salt.
6. Flour venison in flour and your favorite spices.
7. Fry venison in olive oil and butter.
8. Place fried venison on a rack over a pan.
9. Boil potatoes, when tender to your liking, drain water and mash potatoes. Add salt, butter and milk to potatoes and mix well. Enjoy.

Fairfield Fiddle Farm Beginners Fiddle Book

The Fairfield Fiddle Farm Beginners Fiddle book 1 is a fun book to learn shuffling and double stops. I've had this book since 1996 and I never used  it until about a month ago. I've know how to play double stops for several years but shuffling is new to me. Someone explained the shuffling the easiest way of understanding of the bow strokes as long,short short,long.The first two song at the beginning are recognizable to most people in a country style: Mary had a little lamb and Old MacDonald had a farm. My favorite two songs that I can play fairly well from this book are the Camptown Races, Cripple Creek. 

A member from the Fiddlerman.com forum shared a link to a website that you can pick a old time song and jam with it called Old Time Jam. I haven't had a chance to try it out so maybe a future post about my experience. 

A video of me playing a few songs from this book. The reason for stopping and squeezing my hand because I have arthritis in my right hand causing me be sloppy on some parts. I didn't repeat part of the songs to cut down on time for the video. I've got a little bit better since this recording.

Honey Mint Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:
Whole chicken
1/2 cup Honey
1 pack Mint leaves
dash Garlic
Olive oil

1.

Preheat oven to 425°F, rub olive oil all over chicken, place chicken breast up in pan.

2. In a medium sauce pan add honey, minced mint leaves and garlic, simmer for a few mins.

3. Place chicken in oven for 30 mins.

4. Lower oven to 375°F and cook for 2-2 1/2 hrs.

5. On the last 30 mins brush on honey mint sauce.

6. After 15 mins brush on sauce again.

7. Enjoy. Stuffing goes great with this meal.

Got any left overs? Try shredding the chicken and fry in up with a egg in the morning.

Smack N' Good Macaroni and Beef (Venison)

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef or venison
1 1/2 uncooked small elbow macaroni
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 ts. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
2-3 ts. Worcestershire sauce
4 tbs. A1 sauce
American cheese

1. Brown the ground meat, drain fat.
2. Stir in macaroni, onion, green pepper, salt, pepper.
3. Cook, stirring until macaroni is transparent.
4. Add tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce and A1 sauce.
5. Cover, simmer for 20 min, then stir.
6. Turn heat off, add american cheese slices on top and let stand for 5 mins.
7. Enjoy.

How I made my Athame

A few weeks ago in one of my posts I stated that I was working on my Athame and that I would share with you how I made it. I forgot to take a photo of the first part with the new handle but the process of my scabbard or sheath is the same way. There are diagrams in Raymond Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft in Lesson 3 pages 41-45. Also those pages explains how to etch and engrave your blade. To remove the handle with rivets make a shallow cut with a Dremel or small cutting disk in a angle below the rivets and use a flat head screwdriver and pop the rivets out.

Tools I used:

Athame:



This is what my blade looked like when I found it.




Handle removed.

New handle diagram from  Raymond Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft in Lesson 3.





New handle, handle of the blade is glued with epoxy between two pieces of wood for 24 hrs.



Handle is sanded down to a oval shape and added a second edge on blade.



Drilled a shallow hole on the end of the handle and epoxy glued a quartz crystal.Sanded the handle a little bit more.



Cut a oval hilt, wood burn vines and leaves then wood burn pentagram, my Zodiac sign, ruling planet and on the other side wood burned my Craft name in runes (it is a secret) on the handle.



Cut two rectangle pieces of wood and trace the blade on both. Before you trace the blade on your second piece of wood, flip the blade if the edge is not the same as the other side.

My husband was in such a rush to glue the wood together he forgot to let me take a photo of the pieces apart with the center cut with the grove shaped of the blade.

Sheath is almost done. It don't come out unless I twist the knife handle to me and away from me to lock it.

Sheath sanded and shaped.

Sheath engraved, wood burned and both sealed with clear semi-gloss.