Reindeer

Brother and his girlfriend came down from Nome after Christmas with Avakate, the cutest niece on the planet ever. I was lucky enough to be volunteered by the council to host a New Year's Day celebration luncheon for the community. Part of this responsibility was providing some food. I decided reindeer soup would be awesome and easy and would go a long way. So I had the office order reindeer from St. Michael. This is what came. My brother was sweet enough to help me butcher the chunk of meat. I would have seriously struggled without his assistance.

Reindeer butt. Sorry Rudolph.

Brotherman cutting off a hind quarter

I was extremely proud of us. The only part of the reindeer that we didn't use was pictured below. We skimmed off all the fat we could and put it in ziploc bags and gave those out along with the ribs, the leg bones (all sawed in half by my dear mother), and the back bone. There were big chunks of meat for everyone who volunteered to make soup.

Unused bits

I now feel like I could butcher a caribou. So that means that I need to go caribou hunting post haste. I'm sure I wouldn't be the speediest butcher-er but I'm anxious to try. I just don't want to get a caribou with those fly thingies in the skin. I shudder to think about that. I'm cringing just thinking about it.