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The city mouse stores food for winter

We are at the supermarket yesterday and manged to buy nearly $150 dollars worth of goods.  Including some ground lamb that I intend to turn into a late 16th Century dish once I find some powered nutmeg and cloves.  

Interestingly enough, the same market had cloves but I've no way to make them into a powder.  So, if anyone wants to get me a pestle and mortar for the holiday's that be great.  But I regress.  

Sue and I have a refrigerator and two freezers, both of which are stuffed to the gills.   Our basement has become an ad hoc pantry as food takes over one corner.  My wine fridge has 3 local wines in it and I'm planning on adding a few more to it in the coming months. I've got a few beers stored away as well. I could not help but laugh and tell Sue that the "City Mouse" was storing away food for winter.

Which, she reminded me, is exactly what we are doing.   We moved into our home in September.  Basically living here for only two months and missing out on the growing season.   Although Sue knows how to preserve food via canning, it's something we simply have not practiced in the past. Nor do we have anything to can.  

Storing up for the long, cold days ahead
So until we get to that point, it's best to save up for some future day.  It's been a long time since I've had to drive in snow (no, it's not snowing yet but it will), and although I enjoyed getting out of the house for a bit today, we are still a 30 minute drive from the nearest markets.   So it's better to stock up so you don't have to make that drive.

We talked about how an old friend of hers wants us to go in with them and buy either a quarter or a half of cow with them.  Or perhaps even a pig.  

I'm learning a lot out here in the country, and doing the math it may make sense for us to get a 1/2 a cow with friends, although where to store it would be an issue.  Although it looks like that will happen closer to the new year than anytime soon and we should have some room in the freezer by then.  

What shocks and surprises me at how commonplace this quickly sounds.   

"Hey Rob, you want buy a 1/2 of cow with us?  Run you about $1000 dollars and give you a yield of about 170 pounds.of meat" sounds reasonable.   I've paid $25 or more for a good steak at a restaurant.  Why not pay less for the same cut? The biggest advantage to doing it this way is that your paying the same price for each cut of meat. The filet mingon is costing you the same as a prime rib which is costing you the same as a hamburger.

It does sound like a lot of beef, but that would last us about a year and would prevent us from buying meat at the grocer. Something, up until several months ago, would have never ever entered my rader. Nor would I've ever considered doing it, much less found out how. Their is some debate about exactly how much beef the "Average American" eats but in 2019 it was roughly 217 pounds. Yes, we should all be cutting down on our red meat consumption, but buying 1/2 the cow means that your removing yourself from having to buy other meat in the future, as well as saving money on gas and time. Now the conversation turned once again. We have considered chickens and goats eventually. It be nice to have fresh eggs, and we've already talked about goat's milk and cheese. Any animal we get would require time, and that in turn may pervent us from doing things like taking a cruise or just getting away from the weekend (Sue and I love to travel). Plus, evenutally a chicken stops laying and when that time comes, it's best it end up in the soup pot. Although, thanks to capitalism, their are actually chickens that have been raised for their meat only, and those that arn't. I have been a pacifist my entire life, and seriously doubt if I could kill any living thing. I may explore that pacifism in another post. Knowing where my food comes from, does not bother me. So for now we will load up the fridge and prepare the best we can for the coming winter. I plan to dig in and be safe and warm in my little den. Knowing that spring will eventually come.
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