Photo by arnold | inuyaki

South Carolina was the first state to choose the peach as their official state fruit in 1984. Georgia became known as the Peach State, and they chose the peach as their official State Fruit in 1995. Alabama also decided to designate the peach as their official state fruit in 2006.

According to the Acts of Alabama 2006:

The peach belongs to the family Rosaceae, a large family of herbs, shrubs, and trees distributed over most of the earth, and for plants of the genus Rosa, the true roses. The peach appears to have originated in China, where it was mentioned in literature several centuries before Christ. It was introduced into Persia before Christian times and was spread by the Romans throughout Europe. Several of its horticultural varieties were brought by the Spanish to North America, where it became naturalized as far north as Pennsylvania by the late 17th century. The numerous varieties of peaches under cultivation are generally distinguished as clingstone or freestone.

Thirty to forty varieties of peaches are grown commercially throughout Alabama. The harvest season begins in South Alabama in early May and is completed in North Alabama in early September.

Ingredients for a Quick Peach Cobbler

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• 1 can (16 ounce) sliced peaches, packed in juice
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon softened margarine

Instructions for Quick Peach Cobbler

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Open the can of peaches. Pour the peaches and their juice into the casserole dish. Heat them on the stove-top until they bubble.
3. Slightly beat 1 egg.
4. In a mixing bowl, mix the egg, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and margarine.
5. Drop spoonfuls of this mixture on top of the hot, bubbling peaches.
6. Use pot holders to carefully remove the casserole dish from the stove.
7. Put the casserole dish in the oven. Bake for about 30-40 minutes.
8. Serve warm with ice cream (optional)

Recipe adapted from:
Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Network Program

Tasty Peach Cobbler Treats

Wild Turkey is the state bird (or state game bird) of Alabama, Massachusetts, and South Carolina. Cooking wild turkey is a little different than cooking a standard store-bought turkey, because they are drier and have a smaller breast. It’s important to keep the bird moist when you cook it.

Ingredients for Wild Turkey

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• 1 bird – wild turkey (prepared – gutted and feathers removed)
• 1/8 cup – Salt
• 1 cup – water
• 1 can – chicken broth
• Stuffing recipes – see below

Directions for baking a Wild Turkey

1. Salt the turkey. This is similar to brining but better. Rub salt all over the turkey skin, and then refrigerate it over night.
2. Remove the bird in the morning and stuff it with the bread and berry stuffing shown below
3. Pour chicken broth and water over the bird and into the stuffing cavity
4. Bake the bird at 325 degrees for 4 – 4-1/2 hours, or until tender. The drumstick should easily pull away from the bird when it’s ready.

Ingredients for Berry Stuffing

• Bread – any you have around (raisin bread is good too)
• Dried Cranberries
• Blueberries (fresh or canned)
• Blackberries (fresh) – optional
• Apples (diced) – optional
• Eggs – 1 or 2

Directions for Berry Stuffing

Take any bread you have laying around. It can be slightly stale, because it will be cooking inside the bird and picking up the juices from it. Mix in any berries that you like. They can be fresh or dried. I usually add dried cranberries, fresh blueberries, and strawberries or blackberries if they are in season. You can also use diced apples, and/or any other berries that you like. Then, take one or two eggs (depending on the amount of stuffing) and mix it all together. Then stuff the bird. To keep the stuffing in the bird, you can use the hell of a loaf of bread and slide it across the opening of the cavity after you stuff the bird.

This is a very loose recipe. I usually just eye the cavity and mix about 1/3 more than I think it will take because I also stuff the back end of the turkey and push some of the stuffing up under the skin on that end of the cavity. The berries help to keep the bird moist and makes the meat lightly sweet.

To keep the bird moist, seal it with aluminum foil to start will help the bird absorb some of the liquid. Remove the foil about halfway through the baking process to brown the bird. You can pour some chicken broth and or white wine over the bird while it’s baking to keep the bird extra moist.

Tasty Turkey Treats For You

The White-tailed Deer is the state mammal (state animal, or state game animal) of Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. When cooked, deer is known as venison. It is a delicious, lean meat.

According to the Illinois State Museum:

The state animal was selected by a vote of Illinois schoolchildren in 1980. Candidates were nominated by the General Assembly and the Illinois State Museum. The children selected the White-tailed Deer, and a bill, effective January 1, 1982, was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor James R. Thompson.

Ingredients for Deer Barbeque

• 1- 16 oz bottle barbeque sauce
• 3 deer ham steaks
• 3 tablespoons honey
• barbeque seasoning

Directions for Deer Barbeque

1. Coat deer steaks with barbeque seasoning.
2. Place deer steaks in crock pot.
3. Pour in the remainder of the sauce and honey.
4. Cook on low heat for 10 hours.

Recipe courtesy of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources

Tasty Treats for You

From Busy People’s Slow Cooker Cookbook, by Author Dawn Hall of Swanton, Ohio

(Beef can be substituted for the deer meat in this recipe.)

It is important to note that white-tailed deer meat can and is easily substituted for beef in recipes using tomatoes or tomato juice. Ground white-tailed deer meat makes for a tasty burger, but most people in our area like white-tailed deer meat either in a sausage form or in a stew.

White-tailed deer meat is lean and tends to be a chewier, tougher red meat than a finely fat-marbled red meat such as beef or pork. To tenderize white-tailed deer meat (also known as venison) tomato sauce or tomato juice is often used.

Slow cooking white-tailed deer meat (venison) in a slow cooker is an ideal solution for tenderizing and cooking this meat at the same time. The process of slow cooking breaks down the toughness of meat; thus a slow cooker recipe using tomatoes, salsa or tomato juice are ideal!

People who are “meat and potato” eaters tend to especially like this soup. The tomatoes in the salsa helps to tenderize the deer meat.

Ingredients for Venison & Potato Soup

• 4 cups water
• 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen, Southern style hash browns
• 1 cup frozen chopped onion or 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound ground white-tailed deer, cut into bite-size pieces (Or extra-lean ground beef)
• 2 (4-ounce) cans mushroom stems and pieces, not drained
• 1 (2 1/2-ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1 (16-ounce) jar chunky salsa

Directions

1. Spray a slow cooker with nonfat cooking spray.
2. Put into the slow cooker the water, hash browns, onion, deer meat, mushrooms, onion soup mix, and salsa and stir until well mixed.
3. Cover and cook in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 to 9 hours.
4. If desired, salt and pepper to taste.

[ad#Google 250 x 250 right]Yield: 11 (1-cup) servings

Calories: 137

Fat: 4 grams (27% fat)

Cholesterol: 15mg

Carbohydrate: 13g

Dietary Fiber: 2g

Protein: 10g

Sodium: 629mg

Tasty Venison Treats for You

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(Beef can be substituted for the deer meat in this recipe.)

This recipe is from Busy People’s Slow Cooker Cookbook by author Dawn Hall from Swanton, Ohio

This comfort soup satisfies the soul. Slow cooking and the tomatoes both help to tenderize the white-tailed deer meat.

Ingredients for Venison Barley Soup

• 1 (48-ounce) can beef broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1-1/2 pounds lean, cooked white-tailed deer steaks, cut into small, bite-size pieces (or grilled eye of round can be substituted.)
• 1 cup frozen chopped onion
• 2 cups frozen sliced carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking barley, not cooked

Directions

1. Spray a slow cooker with nonfat cooking spray.
2. In the slow cooker mix together the broth, tomatoes, venison, onion, carrots, and celery.
3. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours.
4. Stir in the barley.
5. Cover and cook for an additional 10 to 12 minutes or until the barley is tender.

Note: This is also a great way to use leftover beef. I especially like using steak that’s been cooked on the grill. You can also substitute 1 1/2 pounds ground eye-of-round beef that has been browned in a skillet and drained.

[ad#Google 250 x 250 right]Yield: 11 (1-cup) servings

Calories: 173

Fat: 3 grams (17% fat)

Cholesterol: 43mg

Carbohydrate: 13g

Dietary Fiber: 3g

Protein: 22g

Sodium: 703mg

Delicious Venison for You

It is important to note that white-tailed deer meat can and is easily substituted for beef in recipes using tomatoes or tomato juice. Ground white-tailed deer meat makes for a tasty burger, but most people in our area like white-tailed deer meat either in a sausage form or in a stew.

White-tailed deer meat is lean and tends to be a chewier, tougher red meat than a finely fat-marbled red meat such as beef or pork. To tenderize white-tailed deer meat (also known as venison) tomato sauce or tomato juice is often used.

Slow cooking white-tailed deer meat (venison) in a slow cooker is an ideal solution for tenderizing and cooking this meat at the same time. The process of slow cooking breaks down the toughness of meat; thus a slow cooker recipe using tomatoes, salsa or tomato juice are ideal!

If you like stuffed cabbage rolls, you’ll like this. It’s a lot faster and easier to prepare than Cabbage Rolls.

Ingredients for Unstuffed Cabbage Soup

• 1 pound ground white-tailed deer meat or eye-of-round beef
• 6 cups beef broth (made with bouillon is okay)
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable juice
• 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
• 2 cups frozen chopped onion, or 2 cups fresh
• 1 (1-pound) bag coleslaw mix, or 10 cups shredded fresh green cabbage
• 2 cups instant rice

Directions

1. Spray a slow cooker with nonfat cooking spray.
2. In the slow cooker mix together the deer meat ( or beef), broth, vegetable juice, tomatoes, onion, and coleslaw.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
4. Before serving stir in the rice.
5. Cover and let the soup sit for 5 minutes.
6. Serve hot.

[ad#Google 250 x 250 right]Yield: 16 (1-cup) servings

Calories: 140

Fat: 3 grams (20% fat)

Cholesterol: 10mg

Carbohydrate: 18g

Dietary Fiber: 2g

Protein: 9g

Sodium: 488mg

Delicious Venison for You

It is important to note that white-tailed deer meat can, and is easily substituted for beef in recipes using tomatoes or tomato juice. Ground white-tailed deer meat makes for a tasty burger, but most people in our area like white-tailed deer meat either in a sausage form or in a stew.

White-tailed deer meat is lean and tends to be a chewier, tougher red meat than a finely fat-marbled red meat such as beef or pork. To tenderize white-tailed deer meat (also known as venison) tomato sauce or tomato juice is often used.

Slow cooking white-tailed deer meat (venison) in a slow cooker is an ideal solution for tenderizing and cooking this meat at the same time. The process of slow cooking breaks down the toughness of meat; thus a slow cooker recipe using tomatoes, salsa or tomato juice are ideal!

From Busy People’s Slow Cooker Cookbook, By Dawn Hall from Swanton, Ohio

If you like stuffed green peppers, give this a try. You’ll love it, and it’s so much quicker and easier to prepare than Stuffed Green Peppers.

Ingredients for Unstuffed Green Pepper Soup

• 1/2 pound ground white-tailed deer meat or eye of round beef
• 3 cups beef broth (made with bouillon is okay)
• 2 cups or 3 (5 1/2-ounce) cans low-sodium vegetable juice
• 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen chopped green peppers or 1 cup fresh
• 1 cup frozen chopped onion or 1 cup fresh
• 1 cup instant rice

Ingredients

1. Spray a large slow cooker with nonfat cooking spray.
2. In the slow cooker mix together the white-tailed deer meat (or beef), broth, vegetable juice, tomatoes, green peppers, and onion.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
4. Before serving stir in the rice. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
5. Serve hot.

Yield: 8 (1-cup) servings

Calories: 151

Fat: 3 grams (19% fat)

Cholesterol: 10mg

Carbohydrate: 21g

Dietary Fiber: 2g

Protein: 9g

Sodium: 593mg