Yes, we have lambs in our Labor Day Parade in Bellevue.  Photo by Sara Sheehy

Last time, we broke out the primal cuts of lamb.  Do you remember what they are?

• Shoulder
• Breast
• Rack
• Loin
• Leg

Lets jump right in, starting with the shoulder.  The shoulder tends to be an underutilized cut of lamb, partially because it takes slightly more work to prepare and a bit more patience to cook.  Don’t plan on just taking it out to the grill 20 minutes before the guests arrive.

A couple of cuts that you may see in your local butcher shop are:

• Boneless Shoulder – Square cut shoulder with bones removed (can be rolled, stuffed, or cubed for stews) Recipe
• Blade Chop – Cut from blade portion of the shoulder containing part of blade bone (good for braising, panfrying, or grilling) Recipe
• Arm Chop – Cut from arm portion of shoulder contains part of the arm bone (prepared similarly to Blade Chops Recipe
• Stew Meat - Cut from boneless shoulder into cubes (perfect for stews and kebobs) Recipe

If you are lucky your butcher might also carry:

photo from www.pigpigscorner.com

• Square Cut Shoulder - Full front quarter include the arm, blade and rib bones (usually roasted) Recipe
• Lamb Neck – Slices from the neck including bone (usually braised) Recipe

I can’t believe that summer has gone by so fast.  Though we are not quite to golden aspen leaves, the weather here today says that they are not far off.

Outfitted with antennas and radio frequency tracking equipment, Justin, Scott Bergen from the Wildlife Conservation Society, and 1 year old Duncan and I headed out into the field to find the GPS collars that were a part of our long distance pronghorn migration study.  Last year, the collars did not release as anticipated and recovering the collars turned into an epic adventure. We were prepared again for a difficult period of finding the collars and I was certainly wondering whether bringing a one year old along would be an epic parental disaster. The day turned out to be anything but epic as we found one collar after another with relative ease. Scott started out early and had already found 2 collars by the time we met up with him in the Pioneer foothills at 9 a.m. We reviewed the maps, divided terrain and headed out. Duncan, Justin, and I found a pair of collars up a short, gentle draw after about a 10 minute walk.From the spot, it seemed like the pronghorn must like having a nice view of the spectacular Pioneer peaks.

Several naps later, we had recovered 8 of 9 collars and were quite please with our success.

We’ll report back after we download the data and see how the migration route compares with year 1.

I am getting married tomorrow.  Sara Sheehy, the creator of many images that have adorned these blog pages and I are back in New Hampshire preparing for our garden wedding and harbor side reception.  It is very nice to be back on the ocean for a few days and see all our friends and family, and not to mention the anticipation of marrying my perfect companion.

When we decided to get married back on the east coast there were a few elements of Idaho that we knew that we would have to bring back with us.  Sara is wearing cowgirl boots with her wedding dress and we are going to be serving Lava Lake Lamb at our reception.

I am picky and think that a sit down dinner tends to break up an event and confine people to their tables.  For our reception we threw out the plated dinner and the tables completely.  Passed hors d’oeuvres will be the order of the night.  Lava Lake Lamb will be part of the reception with Moroccan spiced lamb meatballs.  I am very excited to share the lamb with my family.

We can’t wait for our bit of Idaho wedding in New Hampshire.