ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 11, 1996 TAG: 9612110071
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
THE idea for their new venison cookbook was planted years ago, when Laura Newell-Furniss assisted in editing "Please Pass the Potatoes," a fund-raising book about potatoes. At that time, she and current co-author David Horne were working at the Society of St. Andrew, a Bedford-based world hunger relief organization that salvaged unwanted produce to help stock local food banks.
Almost three years after that venture, Horne and Newell-Furniss are director and assistant director, respectively, of Hunters for the Hungry. This time they're stocking food banks with deer.
"It's good to take things that are going to waste and use them as a food source," Newell-Furniss said recently by phone from the nonprofit corporation's office in Big Island near Bedford.
Horne, on another extension, shared the interview. "You are now talking to the entire [Hunters for the Hungry] staff," he laughed.
To produce the "Hunters for the Hungry Venison Cookbook," Horne requested favorite recipes and personal or company profiles from individuals, outdoor organizations and area food banks. Newell-Furniss compiled and edited the information.
The project took about a year to complete and yielded a nice variety of ways to cook venison and some interesting cursory reading about influential people and organizations connected to outdoors sports and related hunger projects.
Among the people profiled are Gov. George Allen, Trebark Camouflage founders Jim and Sherry Crumley, and Roanoke Times outdoor writer Bill Cochran. Nineteen outdoor organizations and five food banks are profiled as well.
"Hopefully, this will be seen as more than just a collection of recipes," Horne said. "We want to educate people about these programs and organizations, too.
"The response was mostly good most people understood what we were trying to do."
Part of what they are trying to do is raise funds to pay for processing deer donated by hunters so the meat can be used by food banks. It costs about $30 to transform a full deer carcass into usable cuts of meat.
Since its founding in 1991, Hunters for the Hungry has funded the processing of 355,000 pounds of meat. It's about 78,000 pounds toward its goal of 125,000 pounds for 1996, Horne said. Still, there is more meat available than there are funds.
"There is a lot of need for red meat," Newell-Furniss said, citing it as a good source of protein. "It's really a shame to have to turn down hunters' donations."
She pointed out that venison is surprisingly versatile. So food banks or individual cooks would have plenty of ways to use the meat.
From among the cookbook's 88 recipes, she chose Venison Cheese Puffs, a recipe submitted by Horne's wife, Debbie, as a favorite.
The puffs are tasty, easy to prepare and could easily be adapted as appetizers, Newell-Furniss said. She also especially liked the jerky from a forester at the Prince Edward County Virginia Department of Forestry because it is made in the oven and doesn't require special equipment or expertise.
Horne unabashedly said his favorite recipes are, "my own."
"The fajitas are a different use. You'd be hard-pressed to tell it from beef," he declared. He also frequently fixes his venison steaks in red wine, making a meal he describes as simple and delicious.
The 44-year-old outdoorsman said that he'd occasionally gone hunting with his father while growing up in Rockbridge County. But as a kid, he found it cold, often wet and generally unappealing. When he reached his mid-30s, most of his friends were into hunting, so he tried it again. This time, he liked it. He now only hunts with a bow, which he said he finds is more challenging.
On July 4, he married Debbie, whom he calls the real hunter in the family.
"She's taken three deer already this season," Horne boasted.
Newell-Furniss doesn't hunt at all.
"I got involved with David at the potato project and was more involved in taking things that were going to waste and using them as a food source," she said.
As one-half of the staff, Newell-Furniss stays busy with her varied job duties, which sometimes include picking up whole donated deer.
"It's definitely not your nine-to-five," she said.
When she does get some free time, the former school teacher likes to hike, bird watch and spend time with her husband, Butch Furniss, and their 5-year-old daughter, Danielle.
"I may take up hunting down the road," she said.
If she does, she'll probably use the new Becoming an Outdoors Woman program offered by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which focuses on teaching women hunting, fishing and other outdoors skills, she said. More information on that program is available by calling Libby Norris at (804) 253-7072.
The "Hunters for the Hungry Venison Cookbook" costs $7.50 plus $2.50 shipping and handling. It is available at Trebark Camouflage in Roanoke and at the Hunters for the Hungry office in Big Island. Call (804) 299-6050 or (800) 352-HUNT.
Recipe for: VENISON CHEESE PUFFS
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON Staff. 1. Laura Newell-Furniss and Davidby CNBHorne are co-editors of a Hunters for the Hungry cookbook that
features venison recipes. Also included are profiles of individuals
who have combined hunger relief with their love of the outdoors. 2.
Hunters for the Hungry is a statewide organization that operates
from a small office at the Sedalia Center in Big Island in rural
Bedford County. The group puts excess deer meat into the hands of
hunger-relief organizations. color.