Beef Day 2019

Saturday February 16th was our designated Beef Day for 2019.  This has become an amazing and valued tradition over the years, starting back in the mid-80’s.  The day is chosen months in advance, and all the participants are contacted, menu set and assigned, and designations purchased.  The participants have changed over the years but the excitement, memories, and fun have only deepened.  Several years ago we left Grensburg at 7:30am in an ice storm, and were heartily relieved to arrive on Griffith Road in Smicksburg.  This year the skies and the roads were clear and dry, although the temperatures stayed at freezing or below.  That was good for the beef quarters.  This cow – which did not have a name or a number – weighed somewhere close to 700 pounds. (This is 1/4 of the cow!) It was a day-long chore to cut the quarters, trim the meat into steaks, ribs, roasts, and meat for ground beef. Nate and Dave are old hands at this now, and knew how to cut the quarters, what type of cuts came from which sections, and how to trim and designate the cuts into Rib, Chuck, T-Bone, Round, Porterhouse, Sirloin, and burger.  I know this is one of their favorite days of the year, and their acclaim is well deserved. 

With the B&B boys taking charge, most of the time Uncle Clifford and Aunt Joan just sat back and supervised, keeping us engaged in conversation and news of the family and neighborhood. Kath and I were the designated wrappers, and kept confusing our supplies, so I drew a line down the center of the table.  Kathy retaliated by drawing a sign that said “Keep out: No sisters allowed.”  Trying to soften the blow, I drew a heart that said, “Love you Kath!”  All in fun, and it was fun.  We still confused the supplies a little, though… 

This year Lynn and Sarah Pelc split their quarter with Sarah’s friend Jen, who proved to be a worthy contender in the cutting and trimming department.  She was no stranger to the process.  We were supposed to make a cheese run to Smicksburg Country Store, and totally missed out on our opportunity.  It was a huge cow and took all our time and attention!  We paused at noon to have the community lunch, which was lasagna, salad, Italian Bread, and home-baked pies (thank you, Sarah! – The Derby Pie was amazing!). Everything was delicious.

It was hard to get into the swing of the second half of the day, because we all needed a nap (zzzzz) – but we jumped back in and had our portions cut, wrapped, ground meat through the grinder twice, bagged and marked by about 5pm.  After cleaning the tables, knives, saws, grinder, and trimmers, we lugged a lot off beef out to our cars! (Thanks for your help, Nate and Dave!). It was 8pm until I personally had all the beef stacked and sorted in the freezer and all the leftover supplies put away.  I sent the leftover lasagna home with Kath and Nate in return for a piece of Sarah’s Derby Pie and a bottle of Light Italian Dressing.  Great trade off!  

As the day wound down, though, discussions led us to look into the future.  AJ and UC’s grandson Jason has taken over the farm and the cattle, but he has recently started a new construction and renovation business.  If no one keeps the farming active, this may have been our last year for Beef Day.  We are praying for a resolution that will make sense, but regardless of the future, we had Beef Day 2019, and it was everything we hoped it could be.  Thanks to our great team of beef-ers, and a wonderful blessing of friendship, family, and food!