Cut up sheet

Thanks to some lovely friends in Franklin, today we took delivery of a side of lamb, with a side of pork still to come. The freezer will be very full again. The local abattoir that processes the animals provides a 'cut up sheet' for private stock to complete with your instructions on how you would like your meat butchered and packed. End result: we now have meat packed into portions for two and ready to cook. And we know exactly which paddock the lamb came from - now that's local sourcing. I've been consciously cooking and eating less meat recently, so this supply will last us a while. I have a string of recipes lined up to try.

On Sunday night I tried venison for the first time in years (it was tender and lovely), at a dinner with the person who shot and butchered the deer himself. After my recent rooster butchering experience, I'm pretty sure I could not tackle something the size of a deer.