By Cattle moving down to the lower pasture for winter. Cattle work this week. Patrick rode in the truck. He pointed out two heifers I had not noticed. He sees things I do not. The work is shared.
Patrick on the porch in the afternoon. Coffee in the good cup. The cottonwoods.
Biscuits Sunday morning. Same recipe Mom learned from her mother. Lard, not butter — old school.
Tomorrow I move the herd to the upper pasture. That is the next thing.
Storm came through Friday night. Thunder. The dog hid under the bed. The kids slept through it. The cattle bunched up by the windbreak. Standard.
Three days of horses this week. The work is meditative. The horses know. The owners pay. The cycle holds.
Wrote a blog post Friday night. The first one in two months. About making chili in a snowstorm. Short. Practical. Posted it. Forgot about it.
The barn cats are doing their job. Down to one mouse this week, in the feed shed. The cats brought it to the porch as proof. They are professionals.
Truck started cold Tuesday. Twelve below. Battery is the original. I will replace it before next winter. I always say I will replace it before next winter. I never have.
Drove to Billings for parts Friday. Stopped at the cemetery on the way home. Stood for ten minutes. Came home.
Hauled three bull calves to the auction yard Wednesday. Got a fair price. Came home. Counted the cash. Put it in the ranch account.
The wood pile is half what it was at Thanksgiving. I will split another cord on Saturday. The cord will be ready by next winter. The wood always is.
A neighbor's heifer was choking on a corn cob. I drove over with my emergency kit. Cleared the cob with a length of garden hose. The heifer recovered. The neighbor brought a pie the next day.
Hank, the dog, herded the chickens by accident. He apologized in the way dogs apologize — eyes down, tail low. The chickens were unimpressed.
Drove the back fence line Saturday. Two posts down from elk. Replaced them in the morning. The fence held the rest of the week.
A reader emailed about the elk chili recipe. Asked what beer to use if non-alcoholic was not available. I wrote back: any beer is wrong if you don't drink. Use stock.
Mr. Whelan from down the road came over Saturday with a story about a horse he sold in 1979. The story took an hour. I listened. He needed someone to tell it to.
Listened to the cattle market report on AM radio while I worked the shop. Beef is up. Feed is up. The math is the math.
Worked on the truck Saturday afternoon. Plugs and wires. Two hours. Hands black with grease. Came in. Showered. Ate.
The Tuesday Roundup AA meeting was eleven this week — three new guys from a referral. The room was full. The coffee was strong.
Mended the chute hinge Wednesday. Welder was finicky. Got it on the third try. Patrick used to do this. I do it now.
Took a walk to the river before supper Tuesday. The cottonwoods were silver. The water was running. I did not think much. I just walked.
The Musselshell was clear Sunday. Could see trout in the deeper pools. Did not fish. Just watched.
Sunday biscuits are non-negotiable out here — same as they were for Mom, same as they were for her mother. This week I wanted something that honored that tradition but put it to work for the whole family at once, the kind of thing you can set on the table and step back from. Pigs in a Pool does that: sausage tucked into biscuit dough, baked together, no ceremony required. It’s the same honest combination — lard, flour, heat — just shaped differently.
Pigs in a Pool
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 8 fully cooked breakfast sausage links
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup lard or shortening, cold
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted (for brushing)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or muffin tin.
- Make the biscuit dough. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in cold lard using a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add milk. Pour in milk and stir just until a shaggy dough forms. Do not overwork — a rough dough makes a tender biscuit.
- Portion the dough. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Flatten each piece into a rough oval about 1/4 inch thick.
- Wrap the sausages. Place one sausage link at the edge of each dough oval and roll it up, pinching the seam and ends closed. Arrange seam-side down on the prepared pan.
- Bake. Bake for 18–20 minutes until biscuit is golden brown and cooked through.
- Finish. Brush tops with melted butter immediately out of the oven. Serve hot.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 290 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 580mg