Wing Spur picnic

This Saturday is our annual horse picnic/fundraiser (for Wing Spur). Each spring in April we throw a picnic under the metal canopy where we eat among the wild ones. Most tend to shy away but curiosity gets the best of them and they wander in to watch the goings-on. It's a pretty time of the year out here. Also May is the annual round-up to corral everybody and give them shots and check their health. That vet bill is pretty big. And he's kind enough to realize we're a nonprofit and give us a discount! Those two days are wild and can get just like a rodeo, since we don't handle them any other time of the year, wanting them to stay wild and just 'be.' They have stuck with their tribe integrity for the most part (they are a matriarchal society), but don't have enough acreage to kick the older males out to start their own harem. We intentionally adopted two families so not to split up a family and over the years they've bonded together more or less as a group. The babies born since have grown more tame than the rest and will let you pet them.

We determined early on we wanted the picnic to be out of the ordinary so we haven't served the standard 'picnic' fare of bar-b-cue or catfish, not that we don't love to eat them both. If folks are good enough to come support the horses we wanted to serve an outstanding meal. For the first several years, we've been blessed to have the award-winning Redneck Gourmets cook for us, led by our neighbor, who also grows grapes and makes his own wine. Their dutch-oven cooking is awesome. They spend days in preparation and serve up feasts such as pork tenderloin in cranberry-chutney sauce and corn pudding, and berry cobblers and rolls...Last year it rained so hard all day it was like a Biblical deluge. Only 20 hearty souls showed up in the freezing, wet weather. It was really disheartening after all the work the RG put into the meal. They are taking a sabbatical, for which I don't blame them. At least, we hope they are, and they resume cooking in the future. But they are brilliant and beyond generous, so whatever they decide, they will always be #1 in our book.

This year, a greek friend who owned the top catering company in Little Rock is making the entree and dessert, and I am making musaka and a Greek salad. Another friend is contributing Tzatziki and pita bread, and we'll have a keg and soft drinks and tea as usual. Because we have out of town guests and the house will be a veritable food factory towards the end of the week, I probably won't be posting much more this week. I'll catch up with everyone soon. (If Excy has his heart surgery next week, it may set me back a bit longer, though...).Here are a few photos from past picnics....