If you take a beef wellington, shrink it, and substitute buffalo (bison) for beef, behold the Buffie Wellie. These bite sized bison wellingtons were a hit at my birthday party and as an appetizer for our Thanksgiving meal.  They would be a welcome addition to any special occasion hors d’oeuvres spread. The Wellie is made of three components: roasted bison, mushroom duxelles, and puff pastry.  The bison can be roasted and duxelles prepared two to [...]

Are you making handmade gifts this year?  We are! Hand-rolled beeswax candles will make an appearance in several gift baskets.  They are simple enough that Lillian can make a passable candle and they burn cleanly with only the slightest honey scent. We order bulk beeswax sheets from Knorr Beeswax for $43 (shipped) for twenty 8×16 inch sheets and wick. It comes in a variety of colors and is very high quality in our experience. To [...]

I have no pictures of the turkey or family portraits or plates of food from this Thanksgiving.  Instead, I have pictures of Big Mac. Big Mac is a hog raised by my mother’s cousin’s family, the Barkers.  After Thanksiving dinner (including the delicious ham of one of Mac’s former barn-mates) a group of us went out to visit the pigs.  We found Mac, a solid large Hereford. And when he turned around, we saw Big [...]

There’s a new green company in town. Dsolv Bags, based out of Columbus Ohio, makes compost friendly lawn waste bags. They offered me a starter set to test during my fall leaf cleanup. I opened the starter set carrying case to find a collapsible funnel, 8 polymer mesh dsolv bags and a bag handle. On the first try, I ripped one of the dsolv bags trying to fit it around the funnel/sleeve. Oops. Once I [...]

Did you know that black dogs and cats are more likely to linger in animal shelters than any other color of pet? The problem is so pervasive that shelters have given the syndrome an acronym, BBD, for Big Black Dog. BBDs persist in shelters despite being personable, house trained, and gentle. The animal shelter from where we adopted our hounds, Capital Area Humane Society in Hilliard, is actively combating the lack of adopters from dark [...]

Here’s the only turkey we cooked this year: It’s an eggy buttery bread shaped like a turkey, entirely Lil’s idea. Thinking about thanks, read Teacher Tom’s As Big As That Perfect Everything.  He eloquently describes how rote ‘thanks’ is meaningless compared to the childlike understanding that we’re all in this world together, all thankful for all being. What Food Says About Class In America is another good read for this day of feasting. May your [...]

We at Hounds in the Kitchen have many things to be thankful for this year: family and friends, a garden that filled our pantry with home canned goods, a dog finally healed, and new projects like cider pressing. On Thanksgiving, especially, we are thankful for animals that give their life to feed us. In turn, we use every bit of the nutritious goodness in each animal we cook. When we buy, brine, cook, and carve [...]