Did we jinx the Ravens by serving Sloppy Joe’s at our play-off party?  Or was it because I did not buy that Flaco red wine that I saw at Calvert?  (I didn’t buy it because it wasn’t spelled Flacco and because it said it was a good sangria red.  Well, that told me that I had to doctor it up to drink it.  So, since I was not planning on making sangria and I–unlike my husband–prefer NOT to do inventive spelling, I passed on the Flaco red.)

During the first half, we screamed and cheered and laughed and jumped and clapped and pretty much scared MiniMo into the deepest recesses of MommyMo’s womb, while MaxiMo trash talked Steelers fans via cellphone and John raised his beer scepter in salute.  It was glorious.  We especially loved it when the Steelers left a live ball on the field and we ran it in for a touchdown.  Wow.

At halftime we fixed our plates with sloppy joes.  Basking in a 21-7 lead, we thoroughly enjoyed eating.  Alas, we should have stuck to calling them pulled venison sandwiches.  The second half was a completely different ball-game.  It was like they had switched uniforms.  So we screamed and jumped through the second half, but this time we were pounding the sofa and wailing and yelling and moaning.   How could Ray Rice fumble?  Ray Rice does not fumble. 

Ice cream and chocolates comforted us a wee bit in our loss.  Emotionally depleted, people made sad little exits.  We tried to watch the Atlanta Falcons game but we were all used up and just couldn’t care.  John and I went to bed and read for awhile.  We’ll be ok by next week.  At least we know who to root against.

Crockpot Pulled Venison

Sloppy Joe without the Flaco red

This is a great game-day recipe.  I started it in the morning and let it cook until half-time.  I quickly pulled the meat to shreds (not thinking that the Steelers were about to do that to the Ravens!).  I plopped the pulled meat back into the yummy sauce and called everyone to eat.  It was wonderfully tender, sweet and tangy.

In crockpot combine the following:

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 cup wine vinegar (I used my own basil vinegar instead)

1 T. cumin

1 t. chili powder

2 T. minced garlic

1 T. dijon mustard

1 c. ketchup

salt and pepper to taste

Brown the roast in bacon grease, then place in the crockpot with the other mixed ingredients.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  When the meat is nice and tender, remove the roast to a dish and use 2 forks to separate it into strands.  Return it to the crockpot, mix it in with the sauce, and serve on rolls.

(Note: the original “Slow Cooker Venision Sloppy Joes” recipe from Allrecipes.com calls for bacon.  I didn’t have any bacon on hand, but the bacon grease provided sufficient flavor.)