We’re taking a little blogging break through the rest of the year, but don’t worry we’ll be back in 2015! Check out our Facebook page for updates and holiday posts! Enjoy this season and time with your family!

~ The Idaho CattleWomen

Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s Dec. 2, but there really is no denying the calendar. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating with family and friends. I always enjoy this season. The sights, smells and sounds of the holidays bring a smile to my face. And while I offer thanks and praises every day; it’s still nice to have a day completely dedicated to showing gratitude for our many blessings.

I am thankful for a strong family. Not only did I grow up with a large, supportive family, but I gained many wonderful people into my life when I married. Through good times and bad, we are in it together and committed to making it all work. It’s like that with so many of Idaho’s ranching families. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and visiting with them over a cup a coffee. They love the land, their animals and their families. And whatever life throws at them, they just get back up and keep fighting for what they believe in.

I am thankful for my husband and children. You never know how much you can love your spouse until you get all bundled up and go out to check heat on the cows in the middle of the night or help fix a fence in a blizzard because the cows got out (that was really early in our marriage). Our children provide us with moments of joy and laughter daily (and some times minutes of head shaking too). Truly though, I am thankful I get to be their mom because they continually inspire me to be better tomorrow than I am today. They are our future, our legacy.

I am thankful for my health. I know friends and family who are struggling now with various health setbacks, and I do not take for granted being physically fit and healthy. And beef is definitely part of my healthy lifestyle.

I am thankful to be part of a strong agriculture community. Being part of the food and fiber industry is not easy as so much is dependent on factors completely out of our control—like weather, markets and consumer demand. But I can’t think of an industry more noble or rewarding.

Speaking of what’s unpredictable. It snowed again here. Last week was quite mild, then boom, it’s winter again. Of all the weeks this month this was not the one my husband wanted snow. He’s been planning his schedule for breeding cows and this is the big week. He has done all the prep work, given the shots, synchronized them so they would come into heat at the same time, researched all the pedigrees, calculated the EPDs, purchased the bull semen, and spent many hours studying and planning. The weather is not on our side right now as it can affect the conception rate in cows. I’m hoping all his hard work will still pay off though. There is nothing so rewarding as seeing the new baby calves hit the ground (which will happen 9 months from now if all goes as planned).

But that is one thing with cattlemen and women. Even though the weather is not going as planned, we will still be thankful for the moisture. We will be thankful in all things—both big and small.

~ Maggie

Maggie and her husband raise their four children and registered cattle on his family’s southwest Idaho ranch. As a family, they enjoy sports, showing cattle, 4-H, church and other activities when not working on the ranch. She likes to experiment with recipes in the kitchen, shares her love of sweets through baking with her children, and has been known to start a DIY project every now and then. Sometimes she actually finishes one.

As the leaves begin to turn their beautiful orange and yellow colors, you can begin to feel the chill in the early morning air. Fall approaches us this year with more items added to our “to do list.” Along with our horse and cattle operation and saddle business, my husband Matt, is a rep for Western Video Market. As per the customer’s request, he will travel to the location of where the cattle are, and video calves, yearlings or breeding stock. You can watch the sale on satellite TV or the Internet. When the seller and buyer agree on price and delivery date, the rep will go to location of cattle and help sort and load them. It is the reps responsibility to make sure the trucks are at the location to load, the cattle are the right weight, and all paper work is taken care of.

The boys and I have had the opportunity to go with Matt and help. On one of our most recent video sales, we went to a beautiful ranch in Wyoming. It required us to stay the night so we decided to stay at a hotel so the boys could swim. The owner of the cattle asked us to help him gather the critters in a large field above his house. So we loaded our horses, kids and swim suits. It was the later part of the morning as we pulled into the corral, saddled our horses, and put on the extra coat we didn’t think we would need.

We head out across the field aiming for the pine trees and mountains that lie ahead of us. The cattle are waiting in the mist, slowly milling around. The field turned out to be a rather large one. It took a large part of the day, the sun warming us up enough to take a few layers off. It was a great gather, the calves running and bucking, and cows bawling for their own, and we even got to rope a few stragglers that decided to turn back on us. No complaining here. It was a beautiful day, spent riding with my family, getting our young horses rode, and being reminded how blessed we truly are. We left them in a corral overnight so they would be easy to get to in the early morning to sort and ship. We had a nice evening, and the boys swam until their hearts were content.

The next morning came fast, a rather chilly one in fact! Matt and I sorted the calves from cows, making sure our counts each matched. The truckers were there, waiting patiently for their turn to load. The brand inspector looked the cows and calves over. Matt takes care of the paper work transactions, and we load the trucks. Away they go…

That job is complete, and now we go onto the next one…gathering our own cows. Happy Fall Y’all!

~ Jayme

Jayme lives in Shelley, Idaho, with her husband Matt, and their three sons. She was daddy’s little cowgirl being raised horseback on the family cattle ranch. Matt and Jayme have known each other since their early junior rodeo days. They are both 4th generation ranchers and have a cow-calf and horse operation. Jayme drives school bus, and helps Matt on the ranch in addition to chauffeuring kids. Matt is also a custom saddle maker.

Jayme also blogs at www.cavvysavvy.com where this post first appeared.

I love to cook. I love to experiment in the kitchen too. In fact, to me a recipe is a mere suggestion. I take from or add to depending on ingredients I have on hand or what my family likes and dislikes. My dad is a lot like that. He’s always adding a little of this, a little of that. My mom prefers a recipe to follow exactly. That’s why she’s the baker in the family; she makes THE BEST sugar cookies ever!

Well, moving on to my point. I enjoy being in the kitchen and getting creative, so lately I’ve been trying to figure out some different recipes. At first I hesitated to share recipes because I don’t always have precise measurements, but I think everyone can gain confidence to cook this way. I hope to give you enough details that you’ll want to try them out and can even experiment a little yourselves!

We love fresh fruits and veggies around here. I would love a garden to grow my own; every year I think we’ll plant one, but alas I haven’t been to get that goal accomplished yet. Some day, but until then I’m happy to head down to the local farmer’s market to grab some fresh fruits and veggies during the summer and fall. During the other times of the year I have no problem buying fresh produce at the grocery store, but when the market is open, I love supporting the small family business in town.

I’ve cooked with peppers quite a bit—bell peppers that is. My family loves to eat them fresh or cooked in other dishes. But one pepper I’ve always wanted to try was Poblano peppers. Not that is hard to do or mysterious or anything, but something I just hadn’t tried. The other day when I was picking up produce, I decided to give them a try.

Roasted Poblano and Beef Burritos

First I washed the peppers. You know they are super fresh and straight from the plant when they are still covered in dirt! Then, I put them under the broiler for 6-8 minutes. I checked to see if they had roasted all over, then added additional minutes until there was a nice char on all sides. Next, I put them all in a brown paper bag to help them sweat. This loosens the skin so it’s easier to peel.

While the peppers were roasting and sweating, I browned ground beef with some garlic and chopped onion. No matter what leanness of hamburger I’m using, I always drain the meat. Now here’s where you get to experiment as you add other ingredients to your stuffing mixture. Variations I suggest include black beans, corn, shredded cheese, cream cheese, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, onion powder. Add what you or your family like in the desired amount and mix until heated through. Really, I promise, you can not mess this up. Start with a little and add to it as needed. I didn’t add in beans this time, but did add some red bell pepper.

Poblanos are a mild pepper, but they can have some heat to them. I used plastic gloves just to be safe. Nothing fun about pepper juice in the eye! After they had cooled some, I made a slice in each pepper. I stuff a couple peppers with the ground beef mixture and pulled the sides back around to hold in all the stuffing. I sprinkled them with cheese then put them under the broker again for a few minutes. I added a touch of fresh cilantro then served these to my hubby for lunch. He thought they were delicious! It would also be easy to dip them in an egg mixture then flour and fry them up for Chile Rellenos (think I’ll do that next time).

I had some leftover tortillas so I decided to wrap my chile (filled with the beef mixture) inside the tortilla. I put the burrito in a dry, non-stick skillet and browned it on all sides. I decided this is the way I like them best— no need to add extra fat or calories with oil, but giving them a nice crunch and texture.

I hope next time you’re at the farmer’s market or your grocery store, you’ll grab some peppers and give this recipe a try. Let us know what you came up with! Leave us a comment on this post or on our Facebook page. Enjoy!

~ Maggie

Maggie and her husband raise their four children and registered cattle on his family’s southwest Idaho ranch. As a family, they enjoy sports, showing cattle, 4-H, church and other activities when not working on the ranch. She likes to experiment with recipes in the kitchen, shares her love of sweets through baking with her children and has been known to start a DIY project every now and then. Sometimes she actually finishes one.

I heard Skeeter’s pickup drive by the house, I looked at my alarm clock and it was 6:23 a.m.  Oops, I didn’t set my alarm and didn’t hear James’. I could hear James in the shower. We were supposed to be up and ready to head to Willow Creek for day one of gathering cows. I jumped out of bed and went to the kitchen to make sandwiches and put together a meager lunch for the crew. I could hear my father’s voice saying, “We’re burnin’ daylight.” I checked with JJ to see if she was going to be able to go with us or if she had to stay for volleyball pictures. I was delighted when she said she didn’t have pictures and encouraged her to get moving. She had a volleyball game Thursday night, early volleyball practice Friday morning, went to the Gooding vs. Melba football game Friday night and got home after midnight.  Needless to say, she wasn’t jumping out of bed.

Skeeter caught the horses in time for the horseshoer to show up and set one of Rocky’s shoes. Once that was done, Rocky, Cash and Boone were loaded and we headed north to Willow Creek, a little less than an hour away. Again, not the early start we had hoped for, but we were finally headed to our destination. We met up with Ben, Bruce and Bruce’s dog, Meg, at the south end of the allotment where several pair had been taking advantage of the water and green feed the August rains brought us.

And so it began—up the hillside, picking up cows along the way headed north towards the cabin and the upper meadow field. We had several tree and brush filled draws to clear along the way. We managed to flush out a deer that headed around the hillside and appeared to be on a collision course with Skeeter and his horse, Boone. She headed straight up the hill when she got a glimpse of them. Even with the occasional cow bawls, horse whinny’s and Bruce saying “that’ll do, Meg,” it was very peaceful and seemed like you could hear the faintest of noises.

About halfway we met up with Rishelle, Kris and Kris’ dog, Skye. They had left from the cabin and rode through Hagan Canyon. They reported seeing a few pairs, but they went further up the canyon, eluding them. We developed another game plan. Ben, Kris and Skye headed west further up the hillside and would drop down into the orchard, named for the lone apple tree in the area. The rest of us continued north pushing the 30-some pair we had gathered along the way. We made it to the meadow field near the cabin and barn, clearing the five head in the horse pasture.

We began eating our lunch and watching for Ben and Kris to come down from the orchard with any cows they gathered along the way. When we saw the head of the first cow poke around the side of the hill, we mounted back up and went to help. A rough count gave us 47 pair and 2 bulls, which included a number of animals that didn’t belong to us. That means we didn’t have everything. Guess this is day one of 2014 gathering.

~ Dawn

Dawn and her family raise registered Herefords near Gooding, Idaho. Her great grandparents began a legacy of raising cattle in Idaho. She and her husband, James, and their two children continue producing range-ready bulls for commercial cattlemen. They enjoy working together as a family and the ranching lifestyle.