Buy Some Bison

I made bison burgers for dinner tonight. Delicious!!!

1) Mix together 2 pounds bison & 1 envelope onion soup mix
2) Form 8 patties.
3) Season lightly with pepper & Lawry's seasoned salt.
4) Spray pan with cooking spray (I use olive oil spray).
5) Pan fry over medium heat for about 4 minutes on each side.

I just LOVE bison! It satisfies my carnivorous farm girl cravings for a good, juicy burger, but without the fat and calories!!! I find this absolutely mind boggling, but bison has fewer calories and fat grams per ounce than skinless chicken breast!!!

Get the low-down at http://wildtbison.com/nutrition-facts/ .

And, oh yes, I can't eat bison without thinking back nine years. At that time, Jay and I were self-employed, running our little bead business for about six years, and - being the entrepreneurs that we were - we were always looking for the next big thing in self-employment. On a whim, we went to Baldwin, WI to check out Silver Bison Ranch (http://www.silverbison.com/). I loved their little gift shop - gifts were my "thang". Jay, however, was fascinated with the BISON!!! Bison?!

When we got home from our impromptu adventure, Jay could talk of nothing but of what an amazing business venture bison ranching would be. He read everything he could find on raising, eating, and selling bison. This floored me because me husband is very much the city boy. He hadn't even had a pet since he was about 8! (Oh - except for the ferrets, Digger and Lilly, that he had briefly when we were first dating - I almost forgot about them.) Since we'd been thinking of getting a dog anyway, his focus switched from looking for a family house dog to researching herding dogs so that we could buy the most appropriate breed for our bison ranch (I think the decision was the Australian Cattle Dog)!!

As Jay pursued all things bison, I was actively supportive. I was NOT a dream crusher!!! I was the cool wife - the one that all his friends wished were theirs because she did NOT stomp out dreams - even CRAZY dreams!!! Even dreams that were NOT her own!!! Besides, in the beginning, I was sure that Jay's obsession would quickly run its course, but a month later, when he headed off first, one weekend to a round-up at the Silver Bison where he "assisted" with vaccinating the bison, and then, another weekend to a bison auction to check out stock, I was seriously FREAKING OUT!!!

Now, as aforementioned, I was born and raised on a farm. I knew the "ins and outs" of the farm life, and for me, the "outs" outweighed the "ins". My dad raised exotic waterfowl, and we NEVER went on vacation - never ever - in large part because who else in the world, let alone our little town, knew how to care for a Siberian red breasted goose or a Trumpeter swan or a Rosy-billed pochard (yes, that's a real bird - look it up!!)? I could just about imagine how easy it would be to invite someone else to take the reins at the Riedmann Ranch so that we could take a little vacay. Never mind, that I could absolutely NOT picture my citified hubby living the life of a rancher, farmer, whatever. He liked dressing up and enjoying a fancy dinner, a bottle of wine, a Broadway show ... I KNEW this was not for him, but he was in deep ... deep in his fantasy world where we were sitting on our porch like Ted Turner surveying our vast prairie filled with bison a la "Dances With Wolves" and sipping warm Merlot and nibbling Brie. How cozy.

I had to wake him up!!! We had been married four years - we someday wanted kids - a bison herd takes at least 7 years to build up and turn a profit (and that's when you actually know what you're doing!); it would be like starting all over financially - we had the means right now to start a family - seriously, if he needed some excitement in his life, something new, something crazy, then maybe - just maybe - it was time to take the plunge - not into bison ranching - but into parenthood!

So that's what we did ...