These past weeks have been a challenge for us Mississippians. The cold weather not so much, but the snow, or lack of it, has been unfair.
We took one of the “preparing” days of the recent forecast and cut, split and hauled wood to our front porch to fill our fireplace and chimney corner in anticipation of the big chill and excitement of the snow. Well, you know what we got. Snow flurries, snow flurries, snow falling from the skies, blowing in the wind, never sticking to our ground. Then of all things, the state got up to 10 inches on the Gulf Coast area.
We have a beach house directly across the road from the beach and I’m sure it was beautiful to sit there and watch the beautiful white snow, almost to be mistaken for the white Gulfport sands. Now, that is a mistake and a crying shame for the weather to have sent the snowstorm so far south. We talked about going down to our house the day before the snow was due to fall, but then wondered if we would be happy to be snowed in for the several days without food or able to get down those 14 feet of front steps. So, we hibernated here on the farm.
Of course, my grandsons that live across the road here in Sallis loved the cold, frigid weather because it is great duck-hunting weather. They leave nice warm beds before daylight, pull on so many layers of clothes their arms stick straight out and hit the water holes where the ducks will land in the early hours, guns ready, and begin the duck calls with the bizarre little mouth pieces that sound like a duck and wait. Of course, they travel with a little butane heater.
They took a trip this past weekend up in the northern part of Arkansas to a duck game reserve and brought back so many of the feathered birds that I believe the limit was surely reached. All the beautiful mergansers, mallards, snow geese, pintails and Canadian geese have been feather-plucked, skinned, some cooked and some frozen to be used in several “out-of-the-ordinary” meals in the days to come. I understand that you can make chipotle duck pasta, duck chili, quesadillas, gumbo, Southern style barbecue, pan-seared duck breasts, and you can boil, broil or fry them and even make jerky.
I believe those two boys could be a modern-day Daniel Boone as they know so many ways to prepare deer meat and have a freezer full of this delicacy. I guess this will be useful if we have a shortage of protein in our lives.
Now, if we could just figure out who or what might want to hunt and find “something” to dispose of all the coyotes, skunks and raccoons we have here on the land.
Roasted Duck
1 whole duck
2 t. paprika
2 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
½ cup of butter melted
Preheat oven to 375. Combine paprika, salt and pepper and rub onto the skin of the duck. Place duck in a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour. Spoon ¼ cup of melted butter over duck and cook 45 minutes more. Spoon remaining butter on duck and leave for 15 minutes more in oven. Rest for 10 minutes.
