You know, when I decided to to the "I want that Wednesday" posts, I really thought I'd have to struggle to find things I wanted. I'm not really that materialistic, and I guess most of what I want falls into the category of "stuff that makes me more self-sufficient" or maybe it makes me more "country" or even a "hick."

I don't care. I like me, and I like our "hick" life!

Today the items on my discriminating list include items that we need for processing deer. We butchered Kev's deer all by ourselves, but it wasn't pretty. We quickly discovered the necessity of having a good set of knives. A butchering set. Now, I have a set of kitchen knives, but they are cheap knives and just don't hold up to the demands of cutting up meat. They got duller and duller and duller as we worked. I've never mastered the art of sharpening knives with a steel either. That was Daddy's job and Kev sometimes sharpens my knives. But, we really really need a good set of knives.

Besides a good set of knives, I also need a new one of these...
It's a vacuum sealer. Or, some call it by one of the brand names-- "Seal-a-meal". I need a heavy duty one. I have a cheap one, but it wasn't cooperating with me when we were packaging our not-quite-professionally-cut meat. Sometimes, it would seal, other times, I had to baby it along. So, I want a new sealer.

Finally, I want one of these:




We make lots of jerky out of deer meat. We borrowed this exact model a couple of years ago from a friend in Colby. It was FABULOUS! We loved it! We've been saving up for one of these, and we want this exact model. Besides drying jerky, I can dry onions, fruit, and herbs (if my herbs ever produce enough to dry). I can make fruit rolls and lots of other fun stuff.

Someday, I'll have all this stuff. Then, butchering & processing meat will be so much easier. Maybe by then, we'll be good enough that our meat cuts will even look like they should...

(Hey, I should update you all too...I got my meat grinder that I wanted about a month ago. It worked so nice! Just ground that deer meat up into burger like a pro! While our steaks aren't pretty, at least our burger looks like burger!)