Cooking with Wild Game featuring Stacy Lyn Harris

[00:00:00] What would you do if you found yourself as a newly married couple and your husband brought home Wild Game leaving it up to you to figure out what's for dinner? We got the chance to talk to Stacy Lyn Harris who found herself in just such a situation.

[00:00:18] Stacy Lyn is the host of The Sporting Chef on Outdoor TV. She's an Alabama native, mother of seven, and I can safely say one of the most interesting guests we've ever had on this show.

[00:00:31] Lainie and I got to chance to talk to her about how she cooks up Wild Game and her new cookbook. So whether you've got a hunter in your life or not, I think you'll find this conversation very fascinating. Meet you at the table.

[00:00:46] Welcome to the Steel Magnolias Podcast. We are two sisters here to have uplifting conversations about life in the South. The South is full of beautiful diversity in landscape, people groups and culture and we want to showcase each part.

[00:01:02] We've got plenty of room at our table. So pull up your chair. Here we are with a fellow double namer Stacy Lyn Harris. We are so excited to be with you this morning. Welcome to the Steel Magnolias Podcast.

[00:01:20] I couldn't be more excited to be here. Y'all are so awesome. I've been listening to all y'all's episodes and just like catching up. It has been fantastic. Y'all are awesome.

[00:01:30] Well, thank you. We are so glad to be with you. We feel like we're with a kindred spirit already. So tell us Stacy Lyn. I'm gonna probably say Stacy Lyn as much as I can because I love a double name.

[00:01:43] Tell us just let's start from the beginning. Tell us about your upbringing here in the South. Where were you raised? Well, I was raised in Montgomery, Alabama. So like right in the middle smack dab in the middle of Alabama.

[00:01:57] My mom, you know more of a city girl type. My dad he and you know, they were divorced at an early age. She was in Vietnam anyway, a lot of stuff with that. But he lived in the country.

[00:02:10] So I kind of had a little bit of both worlds. My mom was a career woman, you know type person. You know, my dad was an outdoorsman did a lot of fishing and hunting and so I would go to his house and you know

[00:02:21] it was like entering a whole different world. And I can't say that I just you know that I loved it but I did get to go swimming in the creek and that was like loads of fun.

[00:02:33] But then I ended up meeting my husband who was a really big hunter. So then my dad and he had in common this hunting and fishing and outdoors, you know lifestyle and gardening and the whole nine yards.

[00:02:49] So that is kind of interesting but that's where the lawyer in me is my mom and the Mary and the hunter and outdoorsman and then becoming that has been with my husband. So that's a little bit of a backstory.

[00:03:05] My goodness, they need a little asterisk in your bio that also says and also a lawyer because I mean everything I've read about you is talking about just the southern content you've been creating, the cooking, the writing. Mother of seven.

[00:03:20] Homeschooler, homesteader, I mean you but also lawyer. Oh my gosh, you just dropped that in there like that was so casual. You are amazing in all that you are tackling. No, no, no, I

[00:03:34] really not but um. I want to hear more about now where did you meet your husband? Yeah, yeah, we met at his dad's Bible study the summer

[00:03:43] before I went to college and then there was this dance and it was so funny because several of my children, all of my children have started at the college that I graduated. He and I both graduated from and it was just a it's Auburn University at Montgomery anyway

[00:03:58] it's a offshoot of Auburn and a couple of them have gone to Auburn because they're engineering majors and you can't do that at at AUM. But we met in one particular spot at AUM and it's like right then it was kind of like birds were singing and

[00:04:14] you know, I was under the stars and I'm like, yeah, this is the man I'm gonna marry. But then you know, I had had a high school boyfriend that I couldn't quite shake and anyway it was seven years before we ended up getting married.

[00:04:29] So it was kind of an on again off again relationship, but I knew right that moment I really did that, you know that we were gonna we were we're gonna be married. Wow Okay. Now you knew that you were gonna get married

[00:04:42] But did you know and did he know going into marriage what a big hunter he was? Was that already something that you were fully aware of? Yeah, I did because and he did because his dad said if you can't

[00:04:57] If you can't give up hunting for her then you don't need to get married to her And so this was kind of in a big issue In fact, he was gonna ask me to marry him several months before he did because he wasn't quite sure

[00:05:10] He could give up honey. And so and it's still just a huge huge deal But he backed up when we got married to only go in, you know, I think he went every morning

[00:05:21] I think instead of every morning and afternoon. I don't know but it was a lot It was a lot the 50% cut was still going every day It was still going strong and I don't know anybody else who does that. I mean as much as he does

[00:05:35] I really don't I mean he is totally He is like a Daniel Boone for real and he just loves it. I mean every kind of hunting duck deer You know quail Dove you name it turkey and he does it and all my kids do it, too

[00:05:55] So that's that's been a real blessing so I had a problem with it when we were first married I had a major problem with it and I kept bucking him and I would like, you know go Oh, are you you going again?

[00:06:08] I was trying to be the Holy Spirit and And and it finally one day it was like you're not the Holy Spirit You need to stop bucking them and try to get on board with this because this is what your job

[00:06:18] So I was like, okay, so I started cooking it and that's what you know That's how all of this developed and it's like this great big blessing from something That was a real big struggle to me, you know at the beginning of our relationship

[00:06:31] And I know there's a lot of people out there that can identify with this So kind of tell us about the early days of him bringing home What he has caught

[00:06:41] From his adventure and now you're gonna try to do something with it. I'm frightened for you listening to that question So I only knew how to bake when we got married and I could bake anything you wanted but cooking it was not as easy to me but

[00:06:57] So he would bring this the deer meat home And and I like to keep in shape and I didn't want to just eat stuff just for the heck of eating it I mean it needs to be good and that if it's not good

[00:07:08] Then I don't I'm gonna eat a bite and be like, okay I'm done with this because I don't need calories from something. I don't know So he was making it and I didn't love it and so I was like I need to eat this

[00:07:20] I need to learn how to love it And so I decided to look at old books and stuff and and I looked at like really old books where you know No hormones or no No Saline solution No

[00:07:33] Anything was put into the meat to make it tender or to taste good and I wanted to work, you know Learn how to cook like that and once I learned

[00:07:40] That really it has to do with what kind of meat you're using and how you go about preparing it and when you learn the technique you got it made and so I learned all of that and then I started cooking it and

[00:07:53] We started loving it more than we loved The beef and you know The chicken you could get from the store and all that because we started keeping chickens and and all and you know

[00:08:04] Anyway, it all one thing led to the the next because when you're eating great food like that when you're eating Organic food wild food You're like why would I want to eat anything but that and so you start growing a garden and trying to keep as little

[00:08:21] pesticides as possible In your garden and and being more conscious of that because you're eating such healthy food and lean Yeah Wow, and maybe this is a silly question, but was he bringing this stuff home already processed like already cleaned Do-it-yourself people yeah

[00:08:44] And he didn't bring he doesn't bring the entire deer home now if it I mean he will cut it up You know on site because here in the south You don't have very many days that you can like you can't hang your deer out there and age it

[00:08:57] you have to do something with it, so I've created these like like buckets that we can put it in and And age it in the refrigerator But he cuts it all up before he gets home the deer now if he was bringing ducks home or dove home

[00:09:10] Oh my gosh, and he still does this and thankfully we live off of the road, and I have a nice house I love my house and everything but but it's not

[00:09:20] We do so many weird things he so he brings it home and in the back of the truck And he you know pulling off the feathers they go flying in the air You know out here

[00:09:29] And I'm sure the neighbors would not enjoy that and all the dogs would probably just you know come and just hang out You know next to us and start howling or something so anyway, but just cleaning all of that stuff

[00:09:41] You know usually it's on the tail of the truck in the front yard Yeah, or fish scaling them on my front porch and like right now I have all kinds of like saws it sounds terrible, but I have all it's all good

[00:09:54] But I've just like learned my one of my daughter-in-laws She's a lawyer And she's just like I used to be when I was her age and she's like I Don't know how you stand this and so I'm like well. You know with age of mellowed a lot

[00:10:08] You know I'm not that I'm still kind of type a but not not I don't think not like I used to be or maybe I put it other places. I don't know oh my goodness I mean, I'm just trying to picture a young bride

[00:10:20] And I think so many people out there when they came into a relationship They were like like you I can bake or I've got my mama's lasagna I know how to do well, or you know I've got my thing, but what you are describing is so

[00:10:37] Stretching oh my goodness. We're your friends like Stacy Lynn. What's going on over at your house over there like what's happening? No, I was in law school at the time and and I didn't have Many friends I didn't have time for friends so so no

[00:10:55] You know and they knew really my friends that I had they knew that he was a big hunter And so they knew that all of that would probably be going on anyway And he was you know in camouflage all the time. You just never knew you know but

[00:11:08] you know that it was just kind of expected and But I think the hard part was being in law school and then With the last year I got pregnant like three months after we got married, and so I still had

[00:11:23] The baby I had a baby and then the baby was A six weeks old I think when when I graduated law school, so I went that whole time You know being pregnant and everything so it was the and then

[00:11:36] We moved for Scott to go to dental school the day I took the bar exam So it was like super busy And then I wait for my results

[00:11:45] And and I was like I had better pass because if I didn't pass I am not taking this again ever yeah Thankfully thankfully I did wow Whoa, I'm blown away. I know I don't know how she's had this many hours in every day. I know

[00:12:01] They say we all get 24 I feel like Stacy Lynn has to get more but I don't know I always wish for more And yes, I have to sleep. I'm bad. I have to sleep nine hours

[00:12:12] Yeah, so I can I'm not one of these people that can you know to do the three-hour thing I? My kids would never want to see me ever if I did that yeah Yeah, that's yeah You've mentioned dear you've mentioned

[00:12:29] You've mentioned deer you've mentioned quail and duck what is your favorite game to cook It would be deer it would yeah, I don't know if it's just because um I have you know so much more experience with it, but I mean I like turkey too

[00:12:45] I think it's because it's big and because you can make a lot of stuff and with with seven kids I I it's like to do quail or something for seven people It's a lot and so or to do dove, you know

[00:12:58] We will have big gallon bags full of dove and we'll use them all i'll have to cook all of those You know to feed everybody so but if I have like a hind quarter

[00:13:08] um, which is like the back um, kind of like the the the thigh muscle right around that of the deer and I cook it a

[00:13:16] Certain way i've got you know meat for the week. I mean, you know, or you can you know, it's so and we also can um Grind it and so i've got the it's just like going to the grocery store

[00:13:27] Really once you put it up you just go out to the refrigerator or the freezer and go Oh, I just I need three pounds of ground, you know meat and so there it is. And so you just pull it out and

[00:13:38] Between my husband and all the kids we'll usually get 13 deer a year now. My oldest two sons are married So they take their deer but they come over here to process it

[00:13:50] And so i'm not when we're gonna change that and maybe I should be happy about that because they're here And but it's usually sunday afternoons And so i'm cooking sunday lunch for everybody and then they're processing the deer the same time

[00:14:03] In the same room and so it gets kind of um, it's it's a very high high key house You know when everybody's here, it's like, you know, there's a lot going on

[00:14:14] When did your children learn to hunt like at what kind of ages are we talking that you got Like six months old in the backpack. So I mean they you know squirrel hunting

[00:14:27] Um, you can do a lot of things, you know out in the woods and we were out in the woods a lot Because um, I would get I didn't particularly get cabin fever

[00:14:37] But my children would get cabin fever and they would need to get out especially when I had a new baby So we would take I would take the new baby and put

[00:14:46] Him or her on my back and then we would go hiking in the woods and you know kind of hunting You know, maybe sort of you know, everybody was pretty loud. But but hunt or fish we went fishing with my fourth child

[00:15:00] Hallett it's a boy. We went fishing with him on day one that I came home. I think I went straight from the hospital Fishing with my dad because the kids just needed to get out. It was you know, yeah

[00:15:12] Um and and they just couldn't stay cooped up so we just all went so he was like, you know What is that two or three days old? So it's certainly Everybody's getting their fresh air their exercise

[00:15:27] And then add to it your your grocery shopping at the same time that My mind is blown. I know and I try to only go to the grocery store once a week because I really I

[00:15:39] To do a lot to get a lot done. I feel like I need to be at home I mean home is where all of our energies have been all of our Creativity um All of our ideas everything happens here

[00:15:55] And I didn't want to be on the go all the time getting ready and putting makeup on and getting out You know if I could stay here and do the things I needed to do

[00:16:03] So I would try to and I still keep that same schedule. I still only go once a week to the grocery store I did try to just go once a month when they were little Wow

[00:16:13] And so you've got your own garden going too because that's where you're getting most of your fresh Yes, fresh stuff. Wow That's the only way you could go that

[00:16:22] Yes. Yeah, and it's great to be able to go outside and get stuff one time. I was shooting the sporting chef show And um the producer came over And and it was a day early and we were getting the chicken coop all nice

[00:16:35] Just in case I went in there and you know, we were cleaning up around the house. I had my hair wet I was experimenting with the turkey breast in the um in the Not the crock pot, but the pressure cooker. I was trying to do a particular recipe

[00:16:49] And he showed up and i'm like I had the wrong day And and so we had to shoot Like eight things that day and so I was so not ready And but the thing is we had all the meat in the freezer

[00:17:03] We had the garden going so we had like I don't remember what it was if it was cabbage or what but we had some stuff That we could do out there. I always have grits I mean what southerner doesn't have grits so, you know

[00:17:14] You can have your cheese grits and whatever with it every kind of wild game goes good with that um, and you know So anyway, it was a lot of fun because we were able to come up with so many creative ideas and just use what we had

[00:17:26] Here that's brilliant. It was a lot of fun Tell us about the sporting chef show. Yeah, how did that all come to be? Well, I don't even know um, I met I wrote a book called um Healthy family family

[00:17:42] I can't remember the name of my books. Um, happy healthy family tracking the outdoors in And that book got picked up by Um, they changed the name of it to wild game something another but anyway

[00:17:55] Um, and it got picked up by a publisher and then they wanted me to write a sustainable living book And that book came out at the same time that the original sporting chef show um started with

[00:18:07] A chef that um that ended up wanting me to host a show So then I started hosting the show and that's how all of that came about so, um, and it's just a real fun show a real fast show it's got everybody on it like

[00:18:22] It's got usually I don't know between five and eight people that come on And um and cook their specialty with wild game, so it's a pretty fun show Well, we get outdoor tv at my house. So I did get to see an episode

[00:18:37] And I thought that was really cool the way it cuts away to another, you know professional in their kitchen They're talking about what they love cooking Yeah, but I didn't realize that where you were standing when in that particular episode

[00:18:51] Are they all shot at your house on your property? They are okay. Okay Because I mean as you were talking this whole time i've been thinking there needs to be cameras following

[00:19:02] Stacy lynn in her life. I mean that would be more reality television and you probably it would be fun I'm, not sure you know I mean, you know, it's like so many different things that happen

[00:19:14] I guess during the day and i'm like do I really want everybody to know that? um, it's nothing bad, but then you're like No, i'm, not sure I could be under scrutiny all day. It was one thing. I did not want to marry a preacher

[00:19:26] For that reason, isn't that crazy? You know, I dated a guy That was a preacher and I really really liked him, but i'm like I don't want to marry a preacher Um, because I like to wear red fingernail polish, you know, and so

[00:19:39] I like high heels. I like really high heels. I'm, not sure I could do it It's a high standard. It is it's a that's a special calling for sure Well, I I don't know if everybody would know where to get to the sporting chef

[00:19:52] So i'm going to link to it in our show notes so that they can watch you because it is a very interesting show Do you like cooking in front of the camera or is that hard too?

[00:20:02] It's hard, but I do like it. Yes. I do. I do. I think it's a lot of fun I like this is the thing, you know with all of the fast moving

[00:20:10] Um hands videos and all of that on like instagram and all that. I really don't love that I really like communicating, you know with people and I like to be able to say You know where this recipe came from and hey

[00:20:24] You're gonna really want to pay attention because this icing is a little bit it will slide You would write it's better to make it in a sheet pan or you know, I want to say some stuff and

[00:20:34] I don't I I'm wanted i'm more of a teacher than just Want to show you how to do this? Yeah So yeah, so but um, but on instagram and all that I do have the reels and you know

[00:20:44] I do all of that kind of stuff too. So yeah, yeah, but yeah, you're right You get to add what your grandma would be telling you if she was cooking with you, right? That's right the memories which this book, you know, my new book is like

[00:20:57] all the memories yeah, yay We are so excited. We got a copy of love language of the south your brand new book, which is coming out The death episode releases march 5th. I'm so excited and it really is it's a celebration of the food the hospitality

[00:21:14] And the stories of your southern home It is such a beautiful collection. We have so enjoyed looking We really have and you have so many good classics in here Yes, if you know, there's so many cookbooks out there, but this one's full of good classics

[00:21:31] and then I loved that you put a lot of your game recipes in here and even some really unique twist on On some things Yeah, I love I love what you chose

[00:21:44] Well, thank you. I did want it to be one of those books that you just were like Oh that has that in it, you know, like i'm gonna do all of my thanksgiving um Just like with the recipes in this book or whatever, you know and

[00:21:58] Where it would be, you know something that you would use on a regular basis and so that that's um, and I wanted the all of the stories kind of like

[00:22:06] Push the food and all of the food push the stories and it's kind of like they just like intermeld Um, and I wrote it that way But then in the end I wrote a menu, you know in the back like have this for this

[00:22:19] You know occasion and this for this occasion and also put it in You know desserts appetizers, you know and stuff Also because I didn't know with the way I wrote it if people could find what they wanted. Yes

[00:22:33] That's so good in the very front you do have part of your dedication is for your um, your grandma So yeah, tell us a little bit about her and just the impact she had on you well, she was just um

[00:22:47] She loved me. I guess that was the biggest thing You know you you name maybe two people in your life that you feel like love you just for who you are and that there's no expectation and I think that's probably

[00:23:00] The biggest thing that I can say about her, but she was so giving Um so loving she cooked amazing. She cooked for my dad He worked for the power company and he was an only child and she cooked for him every day at lunch

[00:23:14] So he would go over to her house at lunch every single day and she would start at nine o'clock in the morning You know cooking soup and fried cornbread and or fried chicken and whatever she had going on peas beans

[00:23:28] You name it and she was cooking it and just her service and love for him And for me and um, and the food she had I just i've tried to duplicate it I called my dad the other day because I was doing um, uh the fried cornbread

[00:23:44] Which I feel like is kind of like my specialty But I called him and I said now this is not tasting the way granny's tasted. I don't know what i'm doing wrong so we talked through all the process and I didn't realize that

[00:23:55] The flour or the the cornmeal she used was taken off of the market and um For like it was ancient mama cornbread Anyway, it was taken off and when they brought it back under a different name. It wasn't the same anymore

[00:24:09] So it that's it's so frustrating and i'm like, okay So how can I get that same creamy texture that the inside of that fried cornbread had if I can't use the same? Stuff so I don't know but but anyway

[00:24:22] White lily is what you need to use if you're going to be doing it and it gets pretty close um, but just trying to get as close to

[00:24:30] And she would give you only half the recipe and you had to figure out the rest. She didn't do it on purpose You know, it's like she would leave something out or say dump the flour in my mama said that she made the soup one time

[00:24:40] And she said dump the flour in and she did and all clumped up And she's never been able to make it and i'm like we could have kept trying and figuring out what she meant but no uh and so

[00:24:50] Um, but she was just a lovely person and um, she worked at she worked at parisians and she taught All the time and she worked there Um wrapping gifts. That's what she did her whole life. That's what I did. I did that really at parisian

[00:25:05] Oh my gosh, no Yes, I fell in love with wrapping gifts at parisian It was the greatest department store ever. Yeah, it really was Yes, and she met so many neat people and she was like, you know, of course she would brag about me

[00:25:22] I bet your grandmother i'd see some stranger out and i'm like I think I was I was more popular then than I am now Because she was out proclaiming, you know, you know

[00:25:33] You do get a lot of talk time with people when you're standing there wrapping their gifts, you know because there's just you know, even if you're a fast rapper, there's a little bit of time that you're just kind of

[00:25:44] Shooting a breeze and chit chatting and yeah, I can see where she had some talk time about you That is too funny Yeah Well what what tell us anything else that you just want to highlight about the cookbook because it is it's just beautiful

[00:25:59] I think for me. Um I I hope that people will read the stories and the the recipes are good enough to for you to buy this book but I want people to read the stories and um, and and Understand like like for the hunting and fishing chapter

[00:26:16] Um, I talk about how hunting is an art form And I think you know, I have a different idea a different vision of what people would ordinarily think or the potluck You know got a chapter on potlucks and on you know

[00:26:30] At the church and how you know, of course preachers they they may you know Have a little weight on them because they have to eat every single person's stuff and I talk about southern women and how they're really sweet

[00:26:41] Until they're not you mess with their kids you mess with their you know people and in you There's nothing that compares to that. And so just the passion of the southern

[00:26:54] Southern people and we have a lot of passion and whether it's food or we can be talking about hunting and we're going to start You know some passion here. We talk about you know anything and we were just full of passion We're just not

[00:27:06] You know, like I think we have a lot of excitement for life I mean the the most patriotic people in my mind come from the south, you know, we've we've really um, we've got a corner on the passion and I and I think

[00:27:20] I think you could even fighting over banana pudding, you know, I talk about that, you know, so I think all of that plays into um It you know the whole book, you know, and and and what you want to feed your people

[00:27:35] I think another really big thing and i'm really going to stop talking about it in a minute But another really big thing is the hospitality Aspect of it and that hospitality is not necessarily just uh Entertaining it's truly giving yourself to other people truly

[00:27:56] Giving the needs whatever the needs are meeting those needs having people drop their baggage off whether it's physical or Emotional or whatever at the door come in

[00:28:06] Be refreshed with a cookie and and some tea or a piece of cake. I have lots of cakes in the book, by the way

[00:28:12] um and and and tea and you sit there and you listen to them and you either give feedback depending on if they want it or Not and or you don't and it's like just meeting the needs of people and so I I and how really southerners

[00:28:30] Because I think that we were we grew up in the bible belt kind of we have the same characteristics, you know as as the church Wanting to serve wanting to listen wanting to care for people and it even if people are not christians

[00:28:45] It's kind of instinctual, you know, because we live here and this is just what's been passed down And um, and I think you get that also, you know from the book I love and all of that really is a love language

[00:28:57] It is I loved that you picked that as as your title the love language of the south Yes Yeah, and it is everywhere in the south Every place every occasion you're gonna get the food. Yes, you know, it is a love language

[00:29:14] It is oh stacy lynn. You are such a delight You have just spoken so many good truths today and just you have shared your passion and we

[00:29:23] Love your passion because we love the south and gosh, you're just such a kindred spirit. This has been a really fun conversation I've had a great time I'm, really excited for people to get to know you

[00:29:34] Like I said, we'll link to uh, the sporting chef how people can watch you We'll link to the love language of the south your brand new book so people can read and cook and um, Yeah, don't be afraid to cook some wild game

[00:29:48] I know I have a couple of friends who uh, Have told me they don't know what to do with that quail when it comes in. So I now have a place to point them. Yes that red pepper jelly

[00:30:00] Yes, so good. Yeah. Yes and in covey rise. Um, i'm gonna be I did a recipe for them magazine And I did a sweet tea brine with the quail and it is delicious

[00:30:13] Pepper and you just put it in a skillet and there you have it and serve it with some You know peaches and I mean, it's just it's just delightful and it's not very difficult to do

[00:30:22] Love it. That's a pretty magazine too. Wow. It is a pretty magazine. Wow It is so yeah, and people can also like uh, A newsletter sign up at stacylynnharris.com and i'll send you recipes too in your inbox. Oh cool. Awesome I'm gonna subscribe to that myself. Yeah

[00:30:41] Well, we're gonna we're gonna let you go because you have world problems to solve because you are that much of a superwoman but again Oh my gosh, thank you for your time and we do look forward to getting to cross your path again soon

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