Second Hallowiener

Jen and Steve couldn't make it to the official Hallowiener this year due to the wedding of Steve's best friend. So on Wednesday we gathered up our leftovers and went down to Zach and Sarah's for a second (and less beer-soaked) Hallowiener. Rather than just tossing everything on the grill, we actually took the time to prepare some of the meats and have a real dinner.

We marinated the remaining bear loin in a wine and lemon-juice mixture that we found online, then roasted it. The alpaca and venison loins were covered in grill rubs and grilled. Sarah found a recipe for the unagi that involved coating it with a delicious fish sauce. And we fried up the remaining rabbit and python sausages with some onions and bell peppers. The results were delicious across the board, and it was nice to have a slightly more adult variation on Hallowiener.

I'd really like to see this party evolve in the coming years as we start to have kids. The party we've been throwing for the past few years has a definite shelf-life. We just won't be able to sustain it for too much longer. But if we can start focusing in on 2 or 3 exotic meats and throw a fun dinner party, we'll be able to keep doing this for as long as we can find meats and recipes.

I'm glad we were able to have the second Hallowiener, both to try out a few recipes and to share around the leftovers. With Kevin leaving next week, it'll be nice to not get stuck with a fridge full of game that I have little interest in cooking. This way everyone got to enjoy the meat just a little more.

Stories of the Red Goo Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

For this first time in six years, we were able to throw the annual Hallowiener party on Halloween. Whether it was because of that magical timing, or because we've now thrown this party six times and have a lot of experience, I'm pleased to say that the party was very nearly perfect this year. Nothing was broken. We had the perfect amount of beer. And I even had the foresight to take a vacation day on Monday to deal with the aftermath.

The party began, as always, with people arriving on Friday night. Ben and Autumn's bus came in shortly after ten, and Zach and Sarah were right behind them. Sarah got to work preparing the opossum, which needed to be brined before cooking. We hung out and drank beer until Scotty arrived in his unique way.

Scotty decided to come to Hallowiener at the last minute, so Kevin wanted to keep his attendance a surprise. His plane landed around the same time Ben and Autumn's bus pulled in, and he got a taxi from the airport. We were hanging out in the kitchen, with the front door open in anticipation of Alex, Natalie, Bryan, and Alyssa. Scotty decided to burst in and surprise everyone. Instead he ran smack into the glass door, which remained closed to keep Kina in. Sarah heard the impact and went to investigate, and the surprise came off quite well, if slightly painfully for Scotty.

We set up beer pong and our remaining overnight guests trickled in. Zach and Sarah left early to get some actual sleep before Hallowiener, and I really should have followed their lead. Instead I stayed up until 2:30 with everyone else and naturally woke up shortly after 7.

When everyone else woke up (Zach and Sarah were actually back before this, being early risers like Kevin and me), we made biscuits and gravy and mimosas and played board games. At noon we switched to beer and started getting ready for the party. Some people went for a walk because the weather was perfect (sunny and 60 with bright autumn colors). Other people took naps because they are smarter than me. We fired up the grill at 3 and the rest of the local guests arrived shortly thereafter.

Alex kept a list of all the meats we grilled and ate over the course of the afternoon, which I will reproduce here with my own notes of flavor:

• otter sausage
• Surprisingly delicious, dark rich meat.
• alpaca loin
• Very small, very good. Kind of fatty
• black bear rib
• Super fatty and super delicious. Hard to get off the bones (this is where I gave up carving)
• Python and rabbit sausage
• just a little sour. Would be great with some jalepenos
• Cajun beaver sausage
• also good, but kind of forgettable (Alex actually forgot to include this one on his list)
• water buffalo porter house
• I had to send this back because it was too rare the first time. It came back perfectly medium-rare, very similar to a cow steak
• black bear loin
• Also very fatty and delicious. There was a lot of bear meat
• yakwurst
• Last year's favorite, a pleasant repeat for this year
• arugula, edamame, and cauliflower salad with Sriracha, sesame oil, and soy sauce dressing
• This is what Chev, resident vegetarian, ate
• unagi eel
• The only fish this year, and we had to fillet it ourselves. It was a success!
• white tail deer
• We usually get venison of some sort. I'm not sure if this is the same as what we've always had or not (it probably is). Regardless, it was very good, and not as gamey as I was expecting
• sago worms
• the best of the bugs, by popular consensus, a little earthy
• grasshoppers
• earthy, but also dry and dusty
• silkworm pupae
• basically this was like eating dust, from what I gathered
• stuffed opossum
• a great success. The brining helped, and this was absolutely delicious. Hard to get off the bones though.
• bunny
• It's not Hallowiener without a bunny. We've had one every year

 We didn't have as much meat this year as we've had in previous years. But I preferred having more of fewer animals. Everyone was able to get seconds, or even thirds, of their favorites. And we finished grilling well before the trick-or-treaters showed up.

As the locals trickled out, we switched over to drinking games with the traditional round of Dr. Killebrew, which I haven't won in years now. The keg beer is just too cold to chug. I'll need to set aside a cup to warm up a little bit next year. Or is that cheating?

At any rate, the second half of the party was a ton of fun. Alas, my lack of sleep caught up with me, and I was in bed by 9:30. I'm mad at myself for falling asleep so early and missing so much. On the bright side, I got a solid 8 (or 9, thanks to Daylight Saving's Time) hours of sleep and woke up perfectly rested at 5:30 in the morning.

No one else was going to be awake for hours, so I went downstairs to retrieve my tablet and book to occupy myself. I noticed the curtain blowing in and saw that the door to the backyard had been left wide open all night. Kevin and Craig were both sleeping on couches in the living room, so I figured no one had come in to steal anything. I closed the door and went back upstairs.

About five minutes later I vaulted back out of bed and searched the entire house for my cat, Onyx. He was in none of his known hiding places, so I went outside to call for them. My shouts woke up Zach and Sarah, and Zach came down to help. We moved Onyx's food to the door and, with nothing else to be done, went back to bed. I was worried, but Onyx would certainly come back when he got hungry or when the house emptied of strangers.

Around 6:30 it started raining, and it wasn't too long before an irate and soaking Onyx ran upstairs yowling. I dashed down to close the door, and Onyx disappeared to a hiding place to dry off. All told, he probably wasn't outside for more than three hours. So he got a little adventure and made it home safely.

Eventually other people woke up and we poured mimosas and scrounged for breakfast while playing games. I wanted to make sure we killed the keg before everyone left, but it turned out that we very nearly had the night before. There was just enough beer for one side of a 6-cup game of pong. I'm very proud of us for finally buying the right amount of beer for this party.

While we were playing games, I also commented on the lack of mystery puddles. It seems that filling our house with Mudders inevitably ends with a puddle somewhere that I don't want to investigate too closely. But that didn't happen this year! Of course, Chev and Alyssa immediately mentioned the red goo in the downstairs bathroom. I'm still not sure what the deal was here, or even how bad it was. The mess had been mostly cleaned up by the time I went downstairs later in the day.

Ben and Autumn were the last ones to leave, and Jen and Steve were able to stop by briefly and see them, even though they'd had to miss the bulk of the party. We ended the day with Chinese food and one last game of beer pong (there were extra cans in the fridge, just in case). Then we abandoned the mess for the night and went downstairs to watch TV.

I was glad I didn't have to work on Monday. I slept in and then alternated clean-up with television. It was nice to have the extra day to decompress, recover from my hangover, and clean up the house at a slightly slower pace. I also watched half a season of Jane the Virgin, which might be a perfect show. I'm glad the party was such a success this year, and I'm especially glad that we aren't hosting Thanksgiving later this month. I get to relax now, instead of gearing up for the next big party.

A Visit From the Butcher

Kevin wrote a poem for Hallowiener this year, and it was so wonderful I had to post it here.


Twas the night before Hallowiener and all through the kitchen,

Not a creature was stirring, they were dead as fried chicken.

The fridge was well packed with sausage and hare,

And kegs were out icing in tubs by the stair

The mudders were passed out all over the floor,

With visions of venison and wild boar

And Caitlin and I were tucked in and warm,

Enjoying the calm ahead of the storm

When out on the patio arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter

Away to the window I stumbled and fell

To make sure all was right with my old Weber grill.

The moon through the branches of now leafless trees

Gave light to the red cups, blown around in the breeze.

When, what to my half drunk eyes should appear

But a kangaroo, yak, and a couple reindeer.

Herding them all, so tasty and thick,

Was a butcher, I thought might be playing a trick

But behind him came others, with all types of meat

And i suddenly realized this must be a treat.

"Now Camel! now, Llama! now, Pheasant and Beaver!

Iguana! Alpaca! Prepare for my cleaver!

And as you prepare for the cut of this knife

Remember how tasty your flesh and your life!"

As a lamb at a slaughterhouse walks calmly by

Not knowing that soon it will be sent to the sky

So too did these creatures step calmly up

Volunteering themselves to be what we would sup.

I made my way down, down to the main level

Anticipation flowing for the next day's revel.

I opened the door, to offer the butcher,

Any help he might need, or beer from a pitcher.

He was dressed in brown leather, from ankle to hood,

And his clothes were all stained with intestine and blood,

A stack of thick steaks he had piled nearby

He looked just like death, with a twinkle in his eye.

His brow, it was furrowed!  his dimples how stoic!

The work he was doing was truly heroic!

His droll little mouth in a state of repose,

And the beard of his chin dripped red as a rose.

The hilt of his tool he held tight in his hand,

And the block on the table was fancy and grand.

He had strong broad shoulders, and muscular arms,

Undoubtedly ladies did swoon at his charms

He was skilled at his craft, a seasoned old killer

I hoped to one day know as much as a griller.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but finished his work,

And filled all the coolers, with game meats and pork.

And laying his cleaver back down on the block,

Double checked that in fact we had plenty of stock.

He then sprang to the woods, but gave one final bow

To honor the creatures he'd butchered just now.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he ran out of sight,

"Happy Hallowiener to all, and to all a good-night!"

This also inspired our wonderful friends to write some poems of their own

Killing Spree

We hosted the fifth annual DC Hallowiener last weekend. It was as fun as it is every year. More importantly, we seem to be growing up. Slowly but steadily. Which is great because it probably won't be long before there are small children attending this party, and it needs to evolve a little before that happens.

Kevin and the iguana

Kevin took Friday off from work, as always. He ran around to various stores to pick up meat and munchies and beer. He got home around the same time I did, and we spent a few hours getting the house in order. Ben and Autumn arrived before too long and Zach and Sarah were right behind them. We caught up over dinner and in between trick or treaters until the Boston contingent arrived. Then it was on to beer pong and other games. Mas and I won six games of pong that night, staying up until 2 am when we decided to retire and remain undefeated. I went to bed then. because I could barely keep my eyes open, but everyone else stayed up until 4. This was not the adult part of the weekend.

Seanna and Brandon arrived bright and early in the morning. Kevin picked them up at the airport while I made biscuits and gravy, because I take every opportunity to cook this rather decadent breakfast. There were mimosas and board games, and I began to prepare some of the more complicated meats. The iguana had to be parboiled and then marinated. The beef tongue needed to be soaked and then simmered. Unfortunately, I mistook the rabbit for the tongue (in my defense, they both looked like penises) and we didn't correct the mistake until the rabbit was partially cooked.

We recruited everyone staying at the house to help us put it in order for the party. We moved furniture, set up a bunch of air mattresses, and cleaned up as much as possible. I did as many dishes as I could throughout the day, with the help of Autumn and Seanna. I eventually end up too distracted to do more dishes, but I try to stay on top of them as long as I can. The locals started arriving around 2 and things started to get busy. To give you an idea, it was at this point that Kevin decided to pour himself a glass of cider. We found it on the counter the next morning, exactly where he'd left it. He never found the time to drink it during the party.

Around 3 Sarah started preparing the rabbit and pheasant stuffing and Kevin decided it was time to butcher the snake head fish he'd bought. snake head fish are an invasive species, and he'd managed to buy an entire 12-pound fish. Butchering it was an experience. I had to stop Kina from lapping up the blood multiple times. We ended up with a bunch of lovely steaks that I kept trying to get other people to take home. I don't need to be eating slimy fish for the rest of the month.

The snake head fish, pre-butchering

Butchering the snake head fish

Then we fired up the grill and started cooking. I got exactly one picture of the first batch of meat before I was overwhelmed by other hosting duties.

Meat! Starting at the top and moving clockwise: alpaca sausage, camel steak, wild boar sausage, kangaroo loin

The first few things were timed pretty well. I had enough time to chop everything up and pass it around before the next meat arrived. But then the bunny, pheasant, and iguana all came out at once and all hell broke loose. As it always does. I recruited Brandon to deal with the full animal carcasses and focused on the steaks and sausages. I probably would have stayed there for hours had I not been distracted.

One of our guests brought his dog without clearing it with Kevin and I first. The dog didn't really get along with Kina and Lily, and there were a couple of incidents before Kevin told him his dog had to leave. At that point I was a little too shaken up to keep cutting the meat, so I went outside to drink my beer and socialize. Thankfully other people took over the chopping and serving. I managed to calm down, but I wasn't in the mood to eat at that point. I'm sure all of the food was good, but I ended up trying less than half of the animals this year. And I completely missed the duck, duck, brandy sausages, which I spend all year looking forward to.

Of the meats I did get to eat, the beef tongue was unexpectedly good. Tender and flavorful, and I could probably slice one up and be perfectly satisfied with beef tongue soup. The yak sausage was the clear winner of the night. And the rabbit/rattlesnake sausage was good, too. Though it was a bit overpowered by the jalapeño. From what other people have said, the octopus wasn't as good as in years past.

Here's the entire list of animals we cooked, as recorded by Jen:

• Kangaroo
• Wild boar sausage
• Alpaca sausage
• Cow tongue 
• Octopus
• Snake head fish
• Camel steak
• Nilgai (antelope)
• Iguana
• Rabbit rattlesnake jalapeño sausage
• Yakwurst
• Roast rabbit
• Octopus
• Pheasant
• Bacon
• Shark
• Conch
• Kangaroo sausage
• Turtle
• Beaver leg
• Duck duck brandy sausage
• Squid
• Venison saddle
• Emu drumsteak

The yakwurst was the last thing I ate that night. We had enough leftovers that I was able to try the emu and beaver on Monday. They were pretty tough, but I'm sure that was more a factor of the reheating than the actual meats. I'm a little surprised at myself for abandoning the meats so thoroughly. I was just having too much fun talking to people outside.

Aftermath

When everyone had had enough to eat, Kevin and I quickly cleaned up. We put a bunch of extra meat in the fridge, threw away things like the iguana carcass, and left a huge pile of dirty dishes in the sink. While we were doing that, Zach poured beer for Dr Killebrew, and we transitioned into phase II of Hallowiener.

Everyone played beer pong and danced and talked and munched on chips for the rest of the night. We ran out of beer just before midnight and were unable to buy anymore because the stores stop selling alcohol. It was definitely for the best. The party lasted a few more hours, with Gatorade taking the place of beer on the beer pong table. Most people woke up in a reasonable state the next morning. Tired, but able to eat breakfast and function like human beings. We played games and people trickled out until Kevin and I were left alone with the mess and the memories in the early evening.

Slumber party in the basement (there was another mattress to the right of the picture)

It always takes a few days (or a week) to get our house back in order after this party. I'm usually too exhausted to tackle more than a bit of it at a time, so the house gets put back together in stages. We still have a bunch of meat leftover, which is good because we haven't found time to go to the grocery store yet. And most of it is uncooked, which is even better. The cooked leftovers are rough to get through, but the prospect of a nice, marinated kangaroo or camel steak is a nice perk of hosting this party.

Halloweiner IV: Quad Damage

This was our fourth year hosting Halloweiner, and I think we're really perfecting this party. Although we definitely got way too much meet this year. So much that I barely remember all the things we ate. And I was so busy cutting and serving it to our 30+ guests that I didn't even attempt to take pictures. So I'm relying on the help of my friends for this particular blog post, in terms of the list of meats and pictures of said meats. Our friend Alyssa takes far better pictures than I ever could, anyway.

We started the day by braising a pig's foot to be grilled later. We also set out some cured meats to snack on. I managed to get pictures of both of these things (with my crappy iPad camera) because no guests had arrived yet.

Pig foot! It's already been braising for an hour or so at this point

Cured Meats. Some of these were spicy, some were fatty. They were all delicious.

 

 

Like always, we had a rabbit. Although the popularity of this seems to be declining. Bunnies aren't large, but most of this one was put in a quesadilla a couple of days after the party. The stuffing went really quickly, though.

Mmmmm, bunny

We also got a lot more seafood this year than in the past, including this catfish that was prepared three ways (and also went mostly uneaten).

Catfish with a spice rub, a lemon-pepper rub, and unseasoned. I think there's also some conch meat in that pan.

We also got a Mako shark steak at the Eastern Market. The verdict? This basically tastes like swordfish.

Shark steak!

But the real star of the night was the cow heart. Everyone was pretty excited about this. Unfortunately it took a really long time to cook and didn't make it to the table until everyone had already stuffed themselves. It was still fun to try a bite are pretend I was khaleesi.

Zach is ready to demolish the heart

Heart halved and cooking. Most of it is still in my fridge

Rather than talk about everything we cooked and tasted, I'll leave you with this list that Alex recorded through the night:

• Kangaroo loin
• Wild boar loin
• Mysterious fish (something flounder?) 
• Chorizo sausage
• Lamb & herb sausage
• Squid
• Octopus
• Rock fish
• Wild boar sausage 
• Pig foot 
• Roast bunny
• Ostrich loin
• Asian barbecue sausage
• Mako shark
• Ox tail
• Bunny sausage
• Elk medallion
• Duck duck brandy (sausage)
• Conch
• Catfish
• Pulled pork
• Cow heart!
• Russo sausage
• Orata (fish)
• Calatrese sausage
• Heart sausage
• Eel (dry)
• Venison saddle
• Tofu bunny
• Octopus
• Venison pork cherry sausage
• Eel (wet)
• Cow tail
• Camel burger
• Salted jellyfish

The ostrich was a real winner. It was super tender and rich, more like beef than a bird, but still delicious. And as expected from previous years, I loved the kangaroo and duck, duck, brandy sausages. I didn't try the jellyfish, because almost everyone made the same look of disgust immediately upon eating some. Word is it tasted like salt and nothing else.

I'm looking forward to next year, when we will hopefully buy a little less meat. I'm not too fond of the leftovers that are currently (still) sitting in my fridge.

Halloweiner 2012

This is over a month late, but we hosted the most successful Halloweiner ever this year, and I wanted to at least get some of my picture up before I forgot completely.

We got a whole bunch of different kinds of meat this year, including some pretty exciting sausages. Here's a picture of everything on the counter

We also got some lobsters, which was a first for Halloweiner. It helps to have kitchen with a stove in addition to the grill. We get to cook a lot more things.

The lobsters were actually kind of sad. I think they were out of the sea water too long before we cooked them. But the octopus was thoroughly exciting

That last picture shows our lovely serving area, with all sorts of tasty morsels out to try. I believe the lobster, rabbit, and octopus are all on display there. Those were some of the first things to come out. As you'll see, it's important to get the interesting stuff out early in the evening.

I was pretty proud of the serving area. We made fancy signs and everything. But then the meat was so staggered that we barely needed them. At least we got to use our new serving dishes.

The rabbit came out so good last year that we decided to do two this year. They were delicious again, and we had twice as much stuffing that last year, which was a definite plus

As I mentioned, we also had a bunch of exciting sausage. There were so many that I decided to use the wrappings in the pictures to keep them straight.

However, it appears that this plan did not last long. I very quickly became to distracted to get pictures of everything and too drunk to care.

Of the unpictured things, the veal shoulder was the most delicious thing of the night. Alligator remains fishy and chewy, and I don't think we'll be getting it again. All of the sausages were delicious, though my favorite was something we dubbed "duck, duck, brandy". It was made of duck breast, duck liver, and brandy. And it was brought by a friend of a friend who I now remember only as jerk-face. I think we had an altercation during a drinking game that left me belligerent.

Surprisingly (though perhaps not, given my stunning lack of pictures) we finished the keg around 6:30. Some sober people went to get fancy beer, and a (sober) friend and I went to Safeway to pick up Coors Light. By the time we got back, the meat was mostly cooked and the drinking games were about to begin.

I only stayed up until 11 or so. I played a final game of beer pong that I think did me in completely. But that may have been in my best interest, since the next morning was relatively pain-free for me. The rest of the party kept going until the second 2:30 in the morning (gotta love Daylight Saving's time) and they were really feeling it in the morning. We are none of us in college anymore, and parties like Halloweiner make me wonder how we survived at all.

I'm already looking forward to next year.

Murder Tastes Good

In college every year our dorm threw a huge BBQ the Saturday before Halloween that was dubbed Halloweiner. We ordered all sorts of exotic meat, from ostrich to shark to alligator, and had a lot of fun throwing things on the grill and tasting new things. We'd advertise and raise funds with t-shirts and beer mugs using the tagline "Meat is murder. Murder tastes good."

Last year, with everyone in town for the Rally to Restore Sanity, we had a perfect excuse to start the tradition back up. This year we have a whole house to accommodate a bunch of guests, so we had to throw it again. And despite the snow it was a huge success!

We put a tarp up to protect the grills from the snow.

My best friend made some delicious appetizers in the form of pumpkin seeds, guacamole, and corn dogs while we waited for the local guests to arrive. It was all delicious

vegetarian appetizers

These appetizers had all the important food groups: meat, cheese, bread, and black sesame seeds

She also decided to roast the rabbit. In past years we've grilled the rabbit, which results in some fairly uneven cooking. The outside gets cooked while the inside stays raw, so we always end up picking at the outer bits while we wait for the inside to finish cooking. It's not the greatest situation. But this year, the rabbit turned out great.

Raw bunny, with a belly full of stuffing

Bunny's all tied up and ready to roast. 

In the above picture you can see the bunny's guts. We didn't eat them, but I believe we identified them as the heart, kidneys, and liver.

Basting the bunny

Delicious roasted rabbit

Stuffing

Bunny's aren't very big, so there wasn't a whole lot of stuffing. But it was delicious.

Cooked bunny

Most of the bunny meat is on the legs. It didn't last very long.

We cooked the rest of the meat on the grill under the tarps. We started with a whole bunch of burgers. We had buffalo burgers

Buffalo burgers

Wild boar burgers

Wild boar

Venison burgers

Venison burgers

And kangaroo burgers!

Kangaroo burgers!

We threw them all on the grill at the same time, but Boyfriend was able to keep them separate and remember which was which

Grilling the burgers

They were all delicious. In my opinion the kangaroo was the best. It was surprisingly tender with just a hint of a gamey aftertaste. The venison was the chewiest and ultimately my least favorite. The buffalo was pretty standard (but still delicious). And I decided that the boar burgers tasted like "Winter is coming". That was partially because it was snowing and partially because one of our friends was in the middle of A Game of Thrones. He was drinking any time anyone said "Winter is coming".

Mmmmm, venison

After the burgers came some wild boar loin and kangaroo loin

Boar (left) and kangaroo (right)

The boar had a distinct pork taste; it was super pig! And, again, the kangaroo was surprisingly yummy. That's fortunate, since we bought a bunch of kangaroo and still have two loins in the fridge. So much kangaroo.

We chopped the loins up into easy-to-share bite-sized pieces.

Super pig!

Delicious kangaroo

Next we moved on to some slightly more exotic meat: elk and alligator. Well, elk is a little less exotic, at least for someone with relatives who hunt it. But it's certainly not an everyday thing, which is what this party is all about!

Elk medallions (left) and alligator (right)

I can't remember eating the elk, so I don't know how it came out. The alligator was better than I was expecting. It's usually like a chewy fish, but this was closer to chicken in both taste and texture. Not to say it tasted just like chicken, because that's a cliche. But it was certainly tastier than I had expected.

Finally we cooked a rattlesnake

Rattlesnake!

This was probably the biggest letdown of the evening. We were full of anticipation because none of us had ever eaten snake before. But it turns out snakes are almost entirely skin and bones. The meat needed to be sucked out from the middle, and it didn't taste very good. Oh well, live and learn.

We also cooked some normal meat for the less adventurous guests. And for the moments when you just needed something familiar. We had kielbasa, sausage, and an entire chicken.

Sausages and kielbasa

Chicken

All in all, it was probably the most successful Halloweiner ever. Everyone got to try a bit of everything. We discovered that venison should not be made into burgers, kangaroo is delicious no matter how you slice it, rabbit is better roasted than grilled, and snake isn't worth the effort.

I can't wait for next year!