Perfect! Thanks Connie

Yup, my doctor did not clear me to do the all-night training this weekend - I'm supposed to avoid hills for the next 3 weeks and I'm not allowed to train through pain, but at least I can still run and work out.

So, I'm surprising him w/the fancy dinner tomorrow, so I'll be able to marinate it overnight.

On the bright side, offsetting the scary cost of the musk ox, I picked up a couple of lbs of chicken livers at decent cost.

I'm making a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake too....I nearly staggered under all the groceries walking back from the market at lunch, plus I'd picked up some wine for the marinade and then the chimay beer. I don't even have everything for the cheesecake yet, but the basics (cream cheese, graham crackers, cocoa powder) I figured I'd pick up cheaply at the discount supermarket near my house.

(It's funny how opposite we are in eating - vegetarian, b/c I think meat tastes horrible, and cheesecake? yech! On the bright side though, at least I won't steal his desserts!)

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

... (It's funny how opposite we are in eating )

I'm a vegetarian too, but I know how to cook meat for others.

I taught Chinese cooking years ago, and wedding-cake decorating a few years later. Amazing how infrequently those two turn up in real daily life, though.

Now, Will's skills and education make a lot of folks happy.

There really is a joy in preparing a great meal and making people happy through cooking - it's one of the things I've always enjoyed and was the primary motivation for me going to the Culinary Institute.

Soon I'll actually be raising a significant portion of my own food ( also one of my long term goals, and a big part of our upcoming cross-country move ) - the taste of an egg fresh from the nest boggles the senses!

well i made the marinade! will (and connie) thank you! i'm really looking forward to surprising him with this, and the marinade smelt delicious, so i think he'll love it. i agree, i really enjoy making nice meals for people. i've been vegetarian since i was a teenager, so meat is the one thing i don't really know how to do.

ooh, will, that sounds great. i'd love to have a farm someday, and have a bunch of rescue farm animals and raise rabbits and chickens for the dogs (and the eggs too). fresh food is lovely. i have to say, i was really pleased that the musk ox, though shockingly expensive, was wild and fed on all the good natural stuff before being hunted.

oh, and neb and teagan were very interested in the marinade, even when i didn't have the meat out. neb even stole a piece of onion (not allowed!), i was like 'hey! midget! dogs don't eat onion! ya big goof'.

i'll let you know what he thinks of the meal. but thanks for your help, you guys are the best!

 Quote: Will Rambeau

There really is a joy in preparing a great meal and making people happy through cooking ...

And I have noticed that hardly anyone gets all happy about vacuuming or dusting. Cooking is much different.

 Quote: Will Rambeau

- the taste of an egg fresh from the nest boggles the senses!

There is a farmers' market three blocks away once a week, and that was where I discovered that truth. The eggs are usually laid that day, or once in a great while the previous day. Now I would not even consider supermarket eggs.

I used to not like eggs! Turns out it was cold-storage eggs I didn't like.

Can I come over with doggy bags while you guys do hmmmm whatever, Jenn?
Making me hungry just reading about it.

If I miss nothing else from the West, it's the fresh veggies and fruit. LOL. Some years ago some friends on a road trip bought me a flat of avocado's to give me as a surprise when they got back. Somewhere around Michigan they got tired of the fruit flies in the (I believe it was a 59 Ford station wagon) car and threw them out at a rest stop.

Nothing like fresh food.
Randy

I have to agree with the posts above....I have to say that I have really enjoyed going out to the coop and stepping in chicken crap to get eggs for breakfast that morning(except the poop part). I also live in a VERY organic minded part of Wisconsin. The largest organic co-op in the country is based 15min from my house. Organic Valley in LaFarge. So to say that our area has very organic, very fresh food minded individuals is an understatement. We also have a Waldorf school, and a very large Amish community located close by also.These are just other examples of the type of people that are organic minded... The opportunities for me to get some of the freshest food has been wonderful. The farmers market is also wonderful in the summer months.

Sorry I got off topic, I just had to share when everyone got talking about all the food and such.....

just thought i'd update. quantum of solace was a big hit, but....

toby loved the musk ox. i'm afraid i got him to guess (it took a while and some hints) friday since as he notes, i'm terrible at keeping secrets.

and will, he loved the marinade. commented on how great it was several times.

i admit, i let him grill it on the bbq....it just seemed like a wise decision

and the cheesecake turned out! my first cheesecake....phew.

b/c i'm a nerd, here's a pic of the musk ox:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/nuneons/MuskOx#5269292679764005186

I just read the middle of the thread.
Jen I'm glad you didn't pick the wild boar. Wild or domestic it stinks like boar hog (very nasty and a smell you will never forget) when you cook it. It tastes fine after it's cooked with no hint of the nasty smell. The only way to safely cook it is outdoors and downwind of the house.