9/15 66 pounds and I still cant find the node.

           Today was the day that I feared most (other than the day we are going to fry things). We walked into the kitchen and Nick and Brian went to get the huge lamb, which was plopped in front of us with about as much grace as one might use ridding themselves of garbage down the disposal. 

The body was…. Fine. It was what I had imagined really. The flesh was firm, the fat was… there; it was like someone had taken the meat section at Publix and assembled it. The worst part was the head. I get it heads are supposed to be gross but this thing could easily have made an appearance at Halloween and been just fine. First of, the cheeks were gone. I think that was the biggest shock. Its tongue was just lolling about like a huge grey slug all over the table. While I understand that farm animals don’t really have the best dental hygiene, I was not ready for the short rows (did I mention that they don’t have teeth covering their entire jaw, just bits) of grey green teeth peeking out from shrunken cheek meat and rows of tendon and sinew.

            After the shock had warn off the fascination and excitement took over. I felt like I was in the big leagues. They had trusted me and 10 other noobs not only with this expensive undertaking but the trust that we would use this animal to learn, grow and produce something beyond flesh and bone. This was our first opportunity to show our respect to an ingredient. It is so easy to throw around a vegetable, strain and toss a chicken foot or use only part of a stick of butter. It is another thing entirely to understand that this animal gave its life (however unwillingly) for my intellectual edification. That fact alone taught me more than deboning a shank ever would.

I am proud of my ability to jump into this without too much fear or hesitation.

I should work on being more alert. Don’t skip on the coffee again….

Take a ways

·      Honor the animal

·      They keep telling me the offal (internal organs) will be delicious… I’ll hold my judgment until I can taste for myself but I do so with a much more open mind than before.