Post-Fair Finally

The ham sale was a success. Miss Kylee made out like a bandit (a very grateful bandit). A big THANK YOU goes out to Bob Cope with Mid-MO Truck and Trailer.

THANKS BOB!!!

Curing of the HAM

The 4-H county fair is here again and this year is no different from last year...we country cured a ham. It is amazing to think that our grandparents had no choice but to cure hams (that is if they didn't want them to spoil) but we now only do it by choice. We truly have come a long way but despite all that I believe that curing hams is still a valuable skill and a great reminder of how good we have it.

Kylee worked hard on her hams.

She trimmed them with loving care.

And smoothed down fat with a smile.

Adding the cure it is always her favorite part. She needed a little help from our friends over at 4 Quarters Perry Locker but once she saw Kristen do it she remembered how to stuff a hock.

And stuff she did.

She enjoys stuffing the hock a little too much but that's just my opinion.

After a good trim, a lot of cure, and some pretty wrapping paper the ham is ready for hanging...at least 5 months of hanging.

It is amazing how this bloody, fatty, hunk of meat turns into...

This blue ribbon deliciously smokey country cured ham.

It smells so good she can hardly contain herself...goofy girl!

Tonight is the big sale. Wish Miss Kylee luck. Hopefully her ham sells well.

Disappointed, Down But Not Out

The big fair sale was yesterday and all the livestock and hams were auctioned off, one by one. Before the sale each child lined up to have their picture taken with their show animal/ham. It was a day of preparation, mild chaos, and disappointment followed by confusion, anger, and one very sad little girl.

This was some one's idea of a practical joke. You see that ham with the Grand Champion ribbon on it, well, that is Kylee's ham. However, she didn't get Grand Champion...someone switched the ribbons.

We were congratulated by family, friends, and even our own club leader. I also spoke to the head of the livestock division from the Extension office about our winning the Grand Champion ribbon and no one said anything to us or Kylee until picture time--four days later.The sad part is that the head of the livestock division is also in charge of hams but apparently knows nothing about them. I asked simple questions like, "What paper work do we need to fill out to reserve the ham for state?" Her answer: "I don't know." Great leadership and organization.

The really sad part is that they knew about the ribbon switching and didn't fix it or tell us until we confronted them. Nice, right. Get a kid's hopes up, let them believe, then, rip it away. The fact that she didn't get Grand Champion isn't the real issue. Sure, we wanted to win it but she still has a blue ribbon ham and that is just fine by us. The real issue comes from the fact that they made my little girl cry and then had the "well, this stuff happens so just get over it" attitude toward her (one lady actually said that). It wasn't their fault, somehow it was our fault. Please explain that one to me. This is her first year in 4-H and her first time competing in anything--great first experience. Needless to say, my husband marched over to the Extension office and gave them a piece of his mind. They just argued with him. Go figure.

Oh, well. We know we don't have the clout, social status, or the elbow rubbing techniques to turn any heads and get a fair shake in 4-H but we still get the last laugh. No matter what the local yokels say we are still taking that ham to state and my baby still did a fantastic job on her very first country cured ham. We are also the only people taking a ham to state from Audrain county. Now that says something. I'm not sure what it says just yet but it says something.

State fair, here come the Windmann's and we are out for blood. 

4-H Fair Results

And the winner is........................................................

Kylee!!!

Here it is, the Grand Champion ham. Ain't it a bute! I am so proud of my baby girl. Her first year of 4-H and she walks away Grand Champion. Look out Sedalia because the we are going to State.

This is the bookshelf Miss Kylee made for her woodworking project. She didn't make state but she did earn a blue ribbon. She did such a good job.

Poo-Boy got into the action, too. He won first place in the pedal tractor pull.

He gave it his all, pedaled his little heart out and pulled a whopping 35 feet.

He won a gold metal and he is still wearing it. He'll probably go to bed with that metal around his neck. Now that the kiddos have had a taste of victory they are hard core 4-H'ers. They can't wait until next year and neither can I.

4-H Fair Time **The Ham**

The county 4-H fair is just around the corner and I can't wait! You see, this is our first fair and our first ham...it is a really nice ham. We are hoping to place well, maybe even go to state but lets not get ahead of ourselves. 

Out of the bin the handsome ham emerges...

Kylee watches with anticipation

Down, down, down the handsome ham (and my handsome husband) makes its way closer to the waiting child  

Yeah, time to open the ham...it's just like Christmas. Not really, we don't give our children ham for Christmas but if you are looking for a nice holiday present for my husband a ham is a great idea. Just a thought....Oh, never mind...

Scrub, scrub, scrub the ham scrub the ham all clean...merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream...

If you have never made a country cured ham then you may be wondering why the ham needs a scrubbing. Well, I'll tell you...it's mold. Not a lot of mold so don't freak out and it doesn't effect the meat at all. But it has been dangling in a grain bin since February. Please, let me explain...

In order to make a country cured ham you need to first procure a nice USDA inspected, skin on country ham. You'll want to do this in January, February at the latest. Then, you trim the ham down to "doll" it up and make it perdy. After you've made it all perdy, you then rub it down and stuff the hock with a salt cure which is a mixture of salt, sugar, red pepper, black pepper, and any seasoning you might like. There are several different recipes but I like to keep it simple. Now, here is the fun part, you wrap the ham and all it's salty goodness in a brown paper feed sack and let it hang in a barn or a bin for a couple months. Yes, I said months. Take it down, wash it, re-cure it, re-wrap it, re-hang it...for another couple of months. Again, yes, I said months. Finally, in July you pull it down, wash it up, and prepare it for the fair. We smoked our ham. In fact, it is smoking right now. I told it about the hazards of such a nasty habit but it won't listen...that was a joke, son...I say, I say a joke...(name that character)

And there you have it! One country cured ham ready for show and sale. I have it on good authority that Miss Kylee has one of the best looking hams of the year. Wish us luck, I hope we take Grand Champion but either way we enjoyed curing the ham and plan on repeating the process next year.

BeBo Bouncers 4-H Club Tour a Farm

As most of you are aware my daughter is a member of a local 4-H club called the BeBo Bouncers. Soon the Pooboy will be a member as well but for now he just tags along behind big-sis. This past meeting we had a farm tour of Sydenstricker Genetics Angus farm.

 Here is Mr. Eggers introducing us to SydGen Trust 6228. Trust is a mammoth of a bull and seems as docile as a kitten--of course there were no other bulls around at the time, I'm sure that had something to do with it.

Upon meeting Trust, Waylon had two concerns:

First -- "Where's his horns, Mom? He is a bull right?"

Second -- "Is he gonna charge me? 'Cause you know bulls hate red and I'm wearing red. He's not gonna charge me is he?"

I assured him that he had nothing to worry about because some bulls just don't have horns and that not all bulls hate red. In fact, I told him, I think Trust actually likes the color red.

Our next stop took us to a muddy pasture full of romping yearlings frolicking in the puddles and slush that days of rain have created. Can you find my backside? Now find Poo-Boys backside. Here's a hint: Look for a lady in a fancy jean jacket hugging herself because she is cold and the word "DuPont." Yep, that's us.

Here's Miss Kylee front and center squinting against the sun and intently watching the yearlings. I'll bet money she is thinking how great it would be to jump in that mud with those cows......then try to ride one.

All in all, I think it was a good tour and the kids really enjoyed it. Of course, Pooboy couldn't leave without jumping off the ledge of the silage pit--which scared me half to death. He had to prove that he was just as big as the other kids jumping off the ledge but that's my Pooboy; he's always trying to prove something.

A big thank you to Sydensticker farms and to the BeBo Bouncers. If you'd like to learn more about 4-H or even join a club visit Missouri Extension office to find a club near you. 4-H is a great way to teach kids about agriculture, responsibility, respect, and community involvement.



Photo credit goes to VirtualErn.

 On a slightly related note: We were squeezed for time so we stopped at McD for supper before the farm tour. I found it humorous that I was shoveling a quarter pound of Angus beef into my mouth while standing among the source. That's just my morbid sense of off-the-wall humor.......I see you, now I eat you. Forgive my weirdness. And I still like pork better but beef is good too.

Hamming It Up For 4-H

Recently, my daughter joined 4-H. I might add that this was not of my doing, I had intended on her joining just not right this second. However, her grandmother stepped in, made the phone calls, had the Extension office mail the packet, and the deed was done. The only problem is that one of the projects is the country cured ham. You see, the 4-H er's that are on top of this sort of thing start curing just after the new year, today is February 12 and we just got the ham. So, needless to say, we are about 30 days behind schedule. Not to worry, being the courageous folks that we are and unhindered by this whole time constraint thing (not to mention I had little choice in the matter since Kylee already had her heart set on showing and selling a ham at the fair) we cured that ham.

 Please forgive the pictures, I forgot my camera at home and was forced to use my phone. It doesn't take the best pics and this is as big as I can make the picture while keeping it somewhat focused.

Kylee trimmed the ham to make it pretty. She was a little scared of the knife at first and really didn't want to touch the meat but after a while she got use to it and I think she did a great job.

Here's the ham after Kylee got done trimming it. Ain't it perdy.

 Once the trimming was complete, it was time for the curing. She actually enjoyed this part because she got a chance to get messy (although she didn't want to stick here finger down the hock). She smacked, rubbed, patted, and piled the cure on gingerly.

After all was said and done, they wrapped it and bagged it and now it is sitting in preparation to be hung in a few days.

 This big boy (or girl, I didn't meet the pig) will soon be hanging from the rafters in my parent's riding shed. Now that the easy part is done it's up to Kylee (and me, of course) to keep an eye on the ham. I can't wait until she has to open it in about 30 days to clean it. I won't forget my camera for that event!

A BIG thank you goes out to Richard and Kristen, owners of 4 Quarters Processing in Perry. They were great with Kylee and she really enjoyed the process.

Stop by and try their sausage. Waylon loved it!

Thank you again Kristen and Richard!

Have you ever done a country cured ham? I love to here from you.