We will be picking up our pork this week, which means we'll be able to make things like carnitas and souvlaki and tamales and red beans and rice and all sorts of wonderful things. I'm so excited. Thanks to our friends who gave us their extra pig (we tried to pay for it, and they wouldn't let us, because they had been raising/feeding him and not wanting him for a while, they were just glad to get him off of their hands), our cost per pound of the hanging weight was only $2.62. I'm not sure how much we'll have in our take home, but we keep so much of the animals when we get them butchered that our ratio is pretty high. So, I expect our cost per take home pound will be around $3.00 - 3.50. And we got a good portion of our garden turned over, and the thistles killed. What we learned is that if we get a pig/piglet this year, we will call and schedule our butcher date on the same day we get him. By the time I called, the butcher we like was so backed up that our date wasn't for about a month or a month and a half after we really wanted it done, but we knew we had called late. However, the snow and ice we had slowed them down even more, as they had to maneuver in and out of farms in pretty snowed in areas, and that date was pushed back until it was nearly a month later than that. So, we were feeding him in the below freezing, and sometimes below zero, temperatures here, which meant that not only were we feeding him longer, but also he was eating more than he would have because of how cold he was, so we spent more on alfalfa pellets and such than we would have otherwise. Mostly, though, we were able to have him forage and eat scraps, so our feed cost was not as high as it is for our chickens and turkeys, even. We prefer our meat to be from grass fed or foraging animals, so we just have to make sure there is another space for him to forage and eat, away from our garden.

We're still eating out of pantry and freezer, for the most part, and so our meals are a little weird, but tasty. One of the people Rich works with has a winter place in Arizona, and he brought Meyer lemons from their tree for the staff. Rich waited to take many until everyone had taken their fill, and brought the remainder home on Friday, so I made a lovely Meyer lemon tart with a sour cream custard. There is enough juice and zest left to make one other thing, and I'm thinking a Meyer lemon pie with a dark chocolate layer over a lemon shortbread crust. We've got to eat these things up now, as Lent is in less than a month.

Below, I include our daily Bible readings which we use to read through the entire Bible each year. We read through all of the Old Testament and New Testament, reading the Psalms and Proverbs twice. Remember that the Psalms are according to eastern numbering in our daily Bible reading, also I Kings is the original designation, it is I Samuel in western Bibles (II Kings is II Samuel in the west, III Kings is I Kings, and IV Kings is II Kings, I Ezra is also called I Esdras in other translations, II Ezra is often translated as Ezra or II Esdras, though this is complicated by it sometimes being I Esdras being Ezra in modern language and II Esdras being Nehemiah, and in that case, there is a III Esdras, it really depends on which translation you read).

• Sunday Ezekiel 33-35, Psalms 138:1–12, Proverbs 29:19–23, Revelation 8
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Dried Cherries and Cinnamon Sugar, Coffee
  Dinner: Pumpkin Pie and Bacon
• Monday Ezekiel 36-37, Psalms 138:13–24, Proverbs 29:24–28, Revelation 9
  Breakfast: Meyer Lemon Tart, Coffee
  Dinner: Hamburger Stew, Whole Wheat Bread
• Tuesday Ezekiel 38:1-40:23, Psalms 139, Proverbs 30:1–5, Revelation 10
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Quick Berry Compote with Lemon Zest, Mint Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Saucy Sour Cream Meatballs with Green Beans and Egg Noodles
• Wednesday Ezekiel 40:24-41:26, Psalms 140, Proverbs 30:6–10, Revelation 11
  Breakfast: Ful with Toast and Green Hot Sauce, Spiced Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Hashbrowns and Fried Eggs with Avocado Mash and Hot Sauce
• Thursday Ezekiel 42-43, Psalms 141, Proverbs 30:11–15, Revelation 12
  Breakfast: Chorizo Breakfast Casserole, Coffee
  Dinner: Moroccan Beef and Squash Tagine, Freekeh
• Friday Ezekiel 44-46, Psalms 142, Proverbs 30:16–21, Revelation 13
  Breakfast: Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins, Hard Boiled Eggs, Coffee
  Dinner: Nutball Soup with Fried Tortilla Strips
• Saturday Ezekiel 47-48, Psalms 143, Proverbs 30:22–25, Revelation 14
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Cheese and Sausage, Toast, Coffee
  Dinner: Corned Beef Sandwiches, Vegetable Sticks

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up.

Labels: Family, Homemaking, Homesteading, House, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen