Truck Party

Alright already - enough!

I've gotten a lot of grief over my Friday post, which was all pictures and few words. There's a good reason for that. The clicking of the keyboard hurt my head.

Let me explain.

The weather around here has been pretty dismal for most of the last month. Everyone was getting a bad case of cabin fever, so my wife and I figured it was time for a party. Since my truck had just turned twenty years old, we decided to throw a Truck Birthday Party. Nothing fancy - just an extended Happy Hour on Friday afternoon.

My 1995 F-150 all decked out for the party. Yes, that's a homemade birthday hat on top of it.

We sent out invites, stocked up on food and drink, and waited for the big day. I had a bunch of wild game in the freezer, so I thought it would be interesting to grill it and conduct a blind taste test. I used the same cut of meat, cut them into cubes (think meat ka-bobs - no veggies), marinated them all in the same concoction, and grilled them all at the same time. Everything was as identical as I could make it. The only variable was the meat itself. We had antelope, beef, whitetail deer, and elk.

Meanwhile, my wife busied herself with the chips and dip, veggie platter, fruit and cheese, and deserts. I iced down the beer and lined up the wine bottles. Then we sat back and waited for our guests to show up.

Evidently everyone else was ready for a party as well. We had about 30 people attend. They showed up early, stayed late, and ate and drank enthusiastically. That was fine with us. We had plenty of time, chow, and booze.

Unfortunately, as chief chef and host I was too busy to eat much. I did not, however, let those duties prevent me from sipping imbibing guzzling. I paid for it the next day. From what I understand, I wasn't the only one.

The results of the blind meat tasting were interesting. The antelope provoked the strongest responses. People either really liked it, or really didn't. It does have a strong flavor - not gamey, but more of a herb flavor. Since they graze quite a bit on sagebrush, I guess that makes sense.

The beef and the venison were middle of the pack. No strong reactions one way or the other - mostly a "pretty good" response, but not out-of-this-world raves.

The hands-down winner was the elk. Tender, flavorful, juicy - it was really, really good. And it disappeared in a hurry.

Anyway, a good time was had by all.And I (re)learned a valuable lesson. Eat first, then drink. And alternate drinks with glasses of water.