Whistling Badger Blog

A couple notes: This recipe started from the ancient and venerable "Game Cookbook" by Geraldine Steindler, but it has evolved considerably since I first learned it.  Traditional stroganoff uses the tenderest cuts of beef or venison, but I like to save those cuts for broiling or smoking, so this recipe uses less prime cuts. Also: Amounts are more like guidelines than rules. Don't get too uptight about it. Life's too short. Beyond that, you can tell I'm not a real food blogger, because I'm going to skip my life story, historical notes, and an essay on the spiritual meaning of stroganoff, and just get straight to the recipe. What you need: 2-3 lb elk or deer round , trimmed of all gristle (easier when it's still partly frozen) and cut into small strips or cubes  (beef will work if that's all you've got; I once was told it's good with sage grouse but I'm not sure I believe that) 1/2 c whole wheat flour 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground pepper. 1/2 c ol...

My first attempt at a primitive bow string Mystery jawbone  I'm going to use this post as a place to put a few pictures for posting on other forums, with no particular rhyme or reason.  Mostly bow tillering pictures.  Feel free to enjoy if you're interested in that sort of thing.  If you aren't, my feelings aren't hurt. This is a ruffed grouse.  My first kill with a home-made bow!  It was delicious . hickory pyramid bow on the tillering tree After whacking two inches off the top limb: More tillering 12-5-21 Braced. 24" draw.   Full Draw.  Looks a little stiff through the right mid. 12-9 Full Draw. 12-18 Full Draw.  After heat treating hinge on right side fade. 12-18 Full Draw with stiff spot highlighted 12-14 Full draw, after some work with the Gizmo to eliminate the stiff spot. A juniper stave.  My first locally-harvested bow stave.  Excited to try to get a bow out of this one. Attempting to chase a ring on a juniper heartwood...

The world continues to alternately shut down and open, but the music goes on.  I released a CD in March.  Sort of.  I had scheduled a performance right at the beginning of the covid mess, which I had to cancel.  As of right now, there's no realistic prospect of doing a live performance (my lead cellist is about to head off for college, among other things).  This makes me very sad:  Getting all those musicians together to do a live performance would have been absolutely magical. But, onward we go. So.  I actually didn't release it all. But it's done, and it's out there, and I'm fairly pleased with it.  It's been getting some play on Wyoming Public Radio and Pilgrim Radio (the regional Christian station), so that's good for the ego. The album is called Strengthen.  Some of you might remember that I lost my mom a few years ago; these songs were inspired (and a few of them were written) by her.  All of them deal with various aspects of m...

Point #1:  It's a health device, not a campaign poster.  I'm so libertarian I make  myself  uncomfortable at times, but when I go into a business, I wear a mask.  As far as I am aware, Wyoming residents are not required by law to wear them.  That means you aren't gaining any anti-big-government/libertarian/rebel/tough guy cred for going face-commando.  It's just a choice you make. Point #2:  The mask isn't to protect you; it's to protect people around you.  If you wear a mask it doesn't mean you're scared, and if you don't it doesn't mean you're brave.  Recent research suggests that a lot of people might be spreading Covid 19 without showing symptoms.  You might have it and not know it, and wearing a mask is a way of keeping your germs to yourself. When I go into a business, I don't wear a mask because I'm afraid.  I wear a mask because I'm trying to be courteous to others.  Do you wash your hands after you take a...

What is grace?  As a follower of Jesus, it's something I think about a lot.  It comes up over and over again in his teachings, not to mention in all those great old songs.  Did you know that in Koine Greek (the language in which the New Testament of the Bible was written) grace, favor, good-will, blessing, gratitude, joy, delight, and thankfulness are all the same word?  The word is charis .  It is a word of many conjugations and derivations, a word of rich, layered meaning, bringing to mind a gift, unearned and freely given.  And that's what grace is:  A gift, a source of joy and thankfulness, a state of living in delight and gratitude.  It's something I don't have to earn; I simply get to enjoy it. Christians often equate grace with forgiveness, and rightfully so:  Forgiveness is not something one can earn; it is a gift to be given with sincerity and received with gratitude.  But grace is so much more than that.  Grace is the ...

Well, gentle reader, this corona virus/toilet paper apocalypse thing is getting to me a bit.  The night before last I was feeling pretty anxious about the state of the world.  I'm not usually a big worrier; I generally try to focus on the stuff I can do and refuse to think much about the rest.  But I have to admit recent events have been getting me down.  So, I was up a lot during the night.  I spent a lot of time praying, singing, trying to get my head on straight. Yesterday was a busy day.  Did a lot of school work in the morning.  I'm a teacher, and yeah, we're all having to re-learn how to reach kids in this new and hopefully temporary reality.  After lunch Katie (my 10 year old daughter) and I went for a long walk.  We saw new baby lambs, friendly people out cycling, a few drivers that waved and smiled at us.  We walked down the road a couple miles to North Fork creek, where we skipped rocks, soaked up sun (it being the absolutely...

Today, I got to head out to Red Canyon, ostensibly to hunt rabbits, but mostly to wander around, launch arrows at twigs and dirt clods, look for petroglyphs, confuse the daylights out of some muley does (I've been working on my fawn bleat; it still needs work), and generally let the magic of beautiful country wash the crud of a stressful week out of my head. It is hard for some people to believe that teaching elementary music can be stressful.  I won't go into the reasons here.  Those of you who work in the current education system need no explanation; the rest of you will have to take my word for it.  It isn't like being an EMT or an infantryman; there is no trauma or horror, but little things build up over time.  For me, nothing cleans out the old attic like an afternoon in the red cliff-juniper country. My rabbit arrows, despite being the wrong spine for my bow, were flying well.  No suicidal rabbits presented themselves as candidates for...