Questions

Porter is getting to that age where his questions are getting harder to answer. How do trees grow and why is the sky blue may not be completely simple questions, but they are unemotional and fun. Lately, I've had more of these kind...

How can people die if they have lots of people that love them?

If it's not okay to kill people, how come they shoot the bad guys?

How are they going to get the baby out of your belly?

There is a certain level of honesty without too much information that is required here, and sometimes it is hard to draw the line or even know where to start. I find that I tend to over think it too much, and really what he wants is a short explanation. He's curious about death, but he's not scared or sad about it yet like I am. It has taken me awhile to realize that taking away my emotions (and embarrassments) is the way to make these conversations better. I had been putting off the baby delivery discussion forever, and it turned out to be no big deal at all to Porter. I am pretty sure that as he gets older, the questions are going to get even more difficult. And I hope that I'm ready.

I'm Cooking: We have a lot of venison in our freezer, which is great. But I find that I can't use it exactly as I would beef, it has more flavor that can be off putting in the wrong dish. I threw something together the other night from fridge leftovers, and it turned out really tasty. Even the kids ate it (mostly). You could also use almost any vegetable here.

Venison Curry

1 pound venison steaks, cut into bite sized pieces
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-2 cups crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3 cups chopped bell pepper, carrots & broccoli
3/4 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)
salt and pepper to taste

Toss venison with the soy sauce and marinate for an hour or more (you can skip this if you want). Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat, and brown the meat quickly in batches, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Set aside.

Add remaining butter to pan, and saute the onion, garlic and ginger until soft. Add spices and a little salt, and cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes, cilantro and vegetables, and simmer covered until the vegetables are almost done but still crisp. You may want to add them at slightly different intervals if you have veggies with vastly different cooking times. Add sour cream (or yogurt) and venison with any juices, and simmer lightly until the meat and veggies are both cooked through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice.