Feed your pets food you can trust. Their ancestors didn’t eat a lot of corn, soy, or wheat gluten  

The tragedy of an untimely loss of a pet is devastating; to say the least, but if you as the owner were the one to give your trusting pet the food that killed them it must be heart-wrenching. Unfortunately, that is exactly what’s been happening throughout the US, because of pet food containing wheat gluten that was tainted with a form of rat poison. As a result, numerous brands of pet food are under recall, and without extensive research, it’s next to impossible to know which pet foods to trust.

Well, be assured that your pet’s ancestors didn’t eat corn and soy pellets mixed with meat by-products and God knows what else. Your pets (if they’re dogs or cats) evolved on a diet of mostly meat. Granted, they probably didn’t eat a lot of meat from cattle, but they did from wild game, of which some are ruminant like cattle, such as elk.

We know from experience that dogs can do very well on a diet of raw beef and table scraps. In fact, our dog, Al, lives almost solely on table scraps and various forms of raw beef . In the past, when we have tried him only dog food, he didn’t do very well and always acted as though he were starving.

Soon we will be featuring edible beef trim for pets, which simply means chunks of meat scraps that would normally go into the grinder for hamburger at processing, but we’ve reserved some for your pet’s optimum health. Currently we have stew bones, organ meats, and hamburger to serve your pet’s needs. 

We will have our edible [beef trim for pets] available starting Monday, April 23, 2007. Receive approximately 20 pounds of trim, in vacuum-sealed, 1.5 - 2 in pound packages for only $50.00.

Healthy alternative to the junk food marketed to kids

One way to keep them eating healthfully is to give them something healthful that they can't resist. Your kids will love our frozen [tamales and burritos made from 100% grass fed beef, free of added hormones and antibiotics. The flavor is out of this world, and kids can't get enough of them. They are easy to heat in the microwave, and can also be re-heated in the oven. The tamales can be reheated in a steamer as well. The casseroles take longer to heat but are delicious. Healthy food never tasted so good.

Standing Rib Roast Recipe for Easter

     For those of you who purchased the large rib roasts we offered on special last month, I promised to send out this old-fashioned recipe for standing rib roast with Yorkshire pudding.

Standing Rib roast

◊        Rub roast with salt and pepper to taste - be sure to use good clean sea salt like Celtic Salt, or land based ancient seabed salt like Redmond from Utah.

◊        Place roast, fat side up, on a rack in an open roasting pan

◊        Roast in 325⁰ F oven

◊        Insert meat thermometer to core after 2.5 hours

◊        When core of roast reaches 135⁰ F remove from oven, cover roasting pan, and keep warm, but not hot (140⁰ F)
     The Kitchen features soups, chili, stews, salads, sandwiches, tamales, burritos, and much more.  Of course you might be able to tell from the name that we feature desserts that are so good you want to eat them first.
     Dessert First Kitchen is also a small grocery store featuring both conventional, plus natural and organic products, along with many gift, and other general store type items.
     If you’re going through Saguache, be sure to stop in, we’re located on Highway 285, just south of the Y, on the east side of the road, across from the Museum.

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Yorkshire Pudding

◊        Increase oven temperature to 400⁰ F

◊        Scrape pan drippings into (2) 8.5” round baking pans

◊        Beat 4 large eggs for about a minute with electric mixer, or two by hand

◊        Add 2 Cups milk, beat another half minute by electric or minute by hand

◊        Add 2 Cups flour and 1 tsp salt and beat until smooth

◊        Pour batter over drippings in cake pans

◊        Bake at 400⁰ F for 35 to 40 minutes or until done to the touch

◊        Cut into wedges and serve hot with roast

*Since the drippings go into the Yorkshire pudding, you won’t have any for au jus, so if you want au jus with your rib roast, simply make up a pot of grass fed beef stock with some stew bones, it’s so easy it only takes minutes. Click here to get our quick and easy recipe for beef stock]

*For the wheat sensitive, I’ve tried Yorkshire pudding with spelt flour that I ground myself, and like all recipes you have to use more spelt than what regular flour is called for. I couldn’t get the spelt Yorkshire pudding to rise and puff up quite as much as it will with white flour. If you would like to order an 8 - 10 pound rib roast, for Easter, we have only a few left so order now.

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On the Ranch

As of April 1st we have approximately 300 calves on the ground. Calving has gone well, for the most part, except that a number of our first-calf heifers (young, female cattle who are having their first calf) have had big calves, requiring birthing assistance. 

Our neighbor, Linda, cites research from the University of Nebraska that suggests as calves

develop in their last trimester of gestation, (cattle’s gestation period is 9 months 10 days), during a hard, cold winter, the calves have a tendency to grow larger because during the cold weather the cow’s blood supply gravitates towards the core, rather than out into the tissues, and therefore, the developing calf receives more blood supply than it normally would in milder weather. By that logic then, March calves are supposed to be the most vulnerable because their last trimester of gestation in through the coldest part of winter. 

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Many of the Greater Sandhill Cranes have left, heading northward in their bi-annual migration. It’s fun to watch them circle higher and higher as they prepare for their long flight over the mountains. It’s always sad to see them go, but of course September will be here in no time, and they’ll be back before we know it.

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Dessert First Kitchen

     Dessert First will be closed for construction from April 1st to the 17th, re-opening on April 18th. This was planned closure and construction, so that we could rearrange our seating, and the configurations of some of our coolers. This also gives our business partners, Lyn and Mike, an opportunity to lounge on the beaches of Jamaica for a couple of weeks. It’s a well-earned rest for both of them as they’ve worked their tails off since we opened in September. Be sure to stop in and see the re-model after we re-open. Dessert First Kitchen is open from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM.