I can cook now, so bring on the wild game

I finally learned how to cook. More than just the obligatory hamburger on the grill, too. I’ve gotten pretty good, if I do say so myself, and now I’m ready to experiment with some new wild game recipes.

Cooking was always a daunting chore for me. I managed to scrape together meals that somehow didn’t kill me during college, and in my single days, on the rare occasions I didn’t buy food already prepared at a restaurant, I figured out how to make chili and spaghetti. But that was about all I could do.

When I got married, I was assigned the task of cooking. I added a couple more dishes to my repertoire, but there was nothing spectacular. And for 20 years, my family was forced to choke down the same six or seven different possible meals each night.

But then COVID hit, and like many people, I expanded my culinary skills. I’ve learned how to make a new version of tacos that’s a much bigger hit with the family than my previous basic attempts, which came out of a McCormick spice package. I’ve learned how to make tortellinis, Beef Wellington, French onion soup, and a whole bunch more stuff I never dreamed I’d know how to create.

I can’t take full credit for it – I learned a lot of it from Hello Fresh, the company that sends you all the ingredients and very easy to follow instructions. But I’ve also ventured out on my own and searched out some more complicated recipes on the Internet and in actual cook books that have been gathering dust in my cabinets since my wedding day.

And now it’s time to spice up some of those recipes with game meat. I don’t know if wild game will work with all those recipes, but I’m determined to try. I’ve already found that dove can give your tacos a whole different flavor, so it’s worth testing out how elk or deer work in a Wellington. Now I just need to go get the meat to put in those recipes.