More About Our Cow

Since Annie asked, I'm happy to give a few more details about our cow acquisition for all those who are interested in knowing the info. :)

Our cow, who's name is very Shakespearean (still not going to tell you, but that narrows it down, perhaps), was grass fed until the last month of its life. At this point, they start feeding it on grain to get some of the grassy taste out and to help create some marbeling. It really is some of the tastiest beef I've ever had. And, one excellent thing about it when I was pregnant was that since I knew where it came from and what it had eaten and such (i.e., no antibiotics or what have you), I could still have a nice medium steak if I wanted. Of course, I didn't really like my beef undercooked (nature is one heck of a smart lady) so I rarely did, but if I had wanted.

Cost-wise, it really is quite a steal. You pay a per pound amount -- ours was $3.25 per gross pound (i.e., before butchering) and then you go over with the butcher what cuts you want. This year, in contrast to last year, we went for a lot of steak and also increased the amount of hamburger we got in lieu of many roasts. Whether you eat a pound of hamburger, a pound of filet mignon (my personal favorite) or a pound of NY strip (which is what we enjoyed tonight for dinner), you've paid $3.25 for it. I can truthfully say that filets and NYs would never be on the menu at our house if we didn't do this cow thing! :) The only drawback to this method is you do have to pay upfront (our total cost was about $1100), but if you can save your pennies, the decrease in your weekly grocery bill makes up for some of it. For us, our dining bill also decreased because we kept finding that we were never as happy with restaurant beef after...