My Cup Runneth Over

Spring Break 2k15

What a whirlwind Spring Break it's been!  I've got two days left and it will be gone before I even know it!  Seems like I just hop from one event to the next with hardly a breather in between!  But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Super Cute Outfits

The week started with traveling to Colorado for our "Denver Beef Experience."  And what an experience it was!  We began in Greeley, Colorado in an adorable Bed and Breakfast (one of my favorite things) and a 4 mile adventure to the convenience store.  The next day we had the amazing opportunity to tour JBS Greeley Beef Plant and Five Rivers Feedyard!  In essence, we were able to see the entire picture when it comes to raising cattle.  I was very excited to see production on such a massive scale, with nearly 80,000 cattle on feed and 5,000 being harvested per day. Those numbers are so incredible to me and a true testament to the efficiency of production present in the beef industry!

Bison and Elk Steaks!

That night, we traveled to downtown Denver.  We were put up in The Curtis (not too shabby digs *wink wink*) and had dinner at The Buckhorn Exchange.  The Buckhorn specializes in exotic meals, such as various wild game.  I settled for a bison filet and elk steak, both of which were pretty good!  The restaurant also had tons of mounts and I was actually pretty happy I was able to identify the majority of them!  I had to dig a little while back into my wildlife knowledge, but it sure did come in handy!

"Texas Gone Arizona Style"
Steak & Potatoes

The next day, we were able to spend some time taste testing different doneness levels, recipes and styles of beef.  This was probably one of my favorite experiences, as I now feel like I can understand what consumers are tasting.  All beef is nutritionally equal, but there are obvious taste differences between levels of doneness and grain finished and grass finished.  We were also able to cook Iron Chef Style and prepare our own beef dish to be taste tested by my fellow team members and chefs of the Beef Innovations kitchen!  We finished up with a very informative meeting at "Where Food Comes From," a progressive company specializing in source verification and then another delicious dinner.

On our last day, we went back into Denver for a meeting with USMEF (United States Meat Export Federation) on the value of meat exports.  Trading on a global market is beyond fascinating to me.  Did you know that exports add about $300 per carcass to beef animals?  We are able to create a market for products that consumers don't want here domestically, like liver, tongue, head meat and other organ meats.

USMEF

You might be wondering about any flying mishaps I might have had, and I proud to report that I did not get randomly stopped in security and only had minor problems on the flight back!  I had a tight layover in Dallas and had to sprint to make my plane to C. Stat (of which we then sat there for an hour due to technical issues. Of course).

About sums our friendship up.  Logan is annoyed, I'm laughing.

Catching Crabs!

When I got home, I decided to go to Houston Livestock Show (since I've never been) and watch the steer show.  The sisters of one of my great friends, Logan, were showing and I watched one of them show and then spent a couple days with their terrific family!  We spent the next day at Galveston beach, and even though it was cloudy and cool, I still managed to burn.  Lucky me.  We caught six crabs and I learned pretty fast they are aggressive little suckers!  The first crab we caught, Sebastian, would attack a stick and hang on to it with his claw.

It's been a terrific Spring Break, and honestly, my favorite one to date!  Surrounding yourself with good people and even better friends always makes for a good time!

Until Next Time Folks!
Alicia