Wooden Crates

Going through a furniture store has always been an inspiration to me.  I look at the different pieces and then I go through the process of building them in my head, and how I can modify and customize each one to my own tastes with only the tools I have at my disposal.  Walking through Wal Mart one day I saw they had wooden crates that resembled smaller versions of the old apple crates I grew up seeing in this area.  I could tell they were cheap and not very sturdy, but I immediately saw some uses for them that were really appealing to me around my home.  I also realized that none of the components of the crates were very lengthy nor thick.  They could all be made from scraps that I had laying around already.  On my next construction project, my dad and I were sent quite a bit of rough cut lumber that was warped and not cut quite to specifications.  I also had a table saw and chop saw set up to complete the cuts.  I could write down the lengths of each piece and go and cut out that list and deliver to my dad who was putting them up on the house.  That would leave me with time that most people I suppose would twiddle thumbs or play on smart phones.  I decided to cut the lengths of pieces I would need to begin making crates.  I cut crates out for two days in between cuts for the house which caused me to pretty much run from point A to point B delivering the cuts as I cut my own lengths from the scrap ends and the “throw away” pile.  I cut the corners from the 2x material with the table saw on a 45 degree angle, and I cut the straight slat pieces from all the other scrap.  

Furniture

When I got a huge pile completed I hauled them home and pieced them together into my first crates.  I used the crates to build shelves for my children’s clothes in their bedrooms. 

I soon found that those were not nearly enough, and also found more uses for the crates, and so I delved into the scrap lumber pile my dad and I had built up over the years from all the building projects we had completed.  I built crates and made shelves for my house with them and started having family and friends ask about them and began building them for their places as well.  I soon decided to advertise for the crates and began gathering lumber from all over the place to fill the orders, the rustic and tarnished wood seemed to draw more attention and so I would pick up wood from the roadside where people had dumped it, and off job sites from remodeling jobs, and from around the river and lake shores, from landscaping jobs where old landscape timbers were discarded and from cleaning up around friends’ homes.  I’ve cut up box springs, couch frames, beds, furniture, old decking boards, packing materials from lumber yards and even once cut up an old piano someone had thrown away.  I use the crates for so many things around my house I have nearly 100 in use at present. 

Selling

I’ve found that several of my advertising outlets tend to have their own quirks.  LetGo is the absolute worst for people trying to beat down your advertised price and thus I have gone up in each advertisement, so they feel they are getting a better deal.  OfferUp has been great for people being straight forward, but has not had nearly the responses, and Craigslist has by far been the greatest, both in quantity of inquiries as well as in fair dealings.  I’ve also learned not to let it get to me when people do not show up or do not follow through with their end of a deal on any of these, as I’ve had probably 50% back out once they requested me to make their crates, including one who requested special dimensions.  I suppose some folks are just that way and do not have any notion of anyone but themselves.  I have since stopped taking requests for special dimensions unless they have bought from me previously. 

Stewardship

Once again I find myself trying to be as efficient as possible with using wood scraps that would otherwise go to waste and rot or be thrown out.  God gave us the natural resources to use and be good stewards of.  I feel this is something I can do in a small way to make good on that. 

Genesis 1:26

Apple Cheesecake

Apple season is upon us.  Henderson County NC used to be the #2 top apple producing county in the entire nation.  Since that lofty place in history has since past it has now become the top importer of northern folks and other spillover from all other places far and wide, but that does not change the fact that we still have some fine apples here.  I am by far not interested in the least in the apple festival as it has become a craft show for the crowd that proudly display the “keep Asheville weird” bumper stickers.  I am however interested in the apples as they ripen.  I go into apple crazy mode this time of year as most people get into the pumpkin spice mode. 

The Fruit

Apples have long been my favorite and I love to cook with them in every way I can come up with and am always experimenting with new things to make.  When it comes to baking I used to go all out and feel it was not worth doing if it was not all from scratch, but since have found that cake, and muffin and bread mixes really speed up the process and get that end result out just as I want it and in many cases in half the time. 

The Concoction

My favorite creation thus far this year has been an apple cheesecake.  I modified an apple bread mix by adding my own fresh made apple sauce.  I peel and chop up my apples into a small pot that I’ve just covered the bottom with water in.  I add in a tiny amount of white sugar, a small scoop of brown sugar, a splash of vanilla, and a few teaspoons of cinnamon.  I heat it until the apples start to fall apart, but I leave the pieces big enough to still have some texture and size.  I coat each 8x3” baking dish with vegetable shortening to prevent sticking.  I then pour in the batter mixture and bake it at whatever time the mix requires to finish.  I let it cool completely.  I then mix the cheesecake in the same fashion and let it cool its required time in the bowl I mixed it in. 

The Combination

When both components achieve the proper temperature, I pour the cheesecake mixture evenly split on top of each apple bread and then spoon the remaining apple sauce evenly over both dishes.  I place both of them into the refrigerator for a few hours and let the cheesecake completely set up.  The crust is full of apples, the cheesecake is topped with apples, and it’s been a tough one to beat.  I normally cook with some variety of golden delicious apples and have had the best luck with those.  Sometimes I will throw in a granny smith apple or two just because I love the tart flavor, and those work well also. 

The Finished Product

There are very few things left here at home that I can still enjoy.  (As my writing in my prelude to this recipe probably shows in its underlying tones.)   The Lord has chosen to let this land be overrun for some reason and hardly any of the old ways and any of the old appeal still remains.  I am not aware of his “why” but I do still love the apples, and each season I strive to start as early as I can with the early varieties and sometimes I can even still find hardy varieties still clinging to the trees in the winter.  He has chosen to place me back here until my children are raised and so I will do my dead level best to cling to the few things he has left in place still that are good and appealing about this area. 

Proverbs 25:11

Gift Shoes

I once heard a story about an old man who was asked if he would want a new pair of shoes.  He said he would.  When asked what size he said “It don’t matter”  The man who was inquiring about his shoe size then said “Well I have to know what size you need so that I can get you a proper fitting pair”  The old man replied “Son I ain’t proud and I ain’t particular, if the shoes are too small I’ll cut out the toes and if the shoes are too big I’ll stuff the end with cotton.”  How much could we all use a dose of that humility in today’s world of me and mine and I want it now. 

The Moral

That story resounded in my head last night when after a long month of working without any days to call my own when I was debating on going fishing early this morning before work.  I set my alarm at 4 and crawled out of bed and took the day for what God granted it to me.  I had no other opportunities late nor early since last month to take off and fish, and I finally saw a few hours opening.  I realize its Sunday, and some Sundays I feel I get more out of just being outside watching the sun rise and enjoying the natural things God has allowed me to live amongst the church building is simply that, a building and I’ve always been an outside person.  

The Choice

I did not want to look at my 4 AM wake-up call as being too early and my window before I had to work as too short.  I think today one could say I both stuffed the back with cotton and cut out the toe to make it fit, but I got my fish and I had time to unwind better than I have gotten a chance to since I can even remember.  If there’s one thing I’ve always attempted to perfect it has been capitalizing on opportunities when I see them before me no matter how vague.  I don’t turn down the offer of new shoes no matter the size.

Isaiah 9:5

Dove Hunting

The Season

That little temperature change these last few nights and that breeze has made it clear that the summer is starting to cave in to the fall.  I’ll be looking in the next few nights for the bull bats to be flying to indicate that the dove season is about to begin soon.  They seem to know without fail better than any other indicator out there, weather or temperature or calendar, the bull bats seem to just know.  Dove season brings on a new zest of life that hardly anything else can match.  Something about those cool mornings and hot days and those little wing beats and tiny wing whistles as they maneuver in ways only doves can.  That back pedal and that drop in altitude and that distinct flap that only a dove has, that shape on the skyline that only a doves graceful form can create.  After having pursued them so hard for my younger years it always perks me up to hear any conversation about dove hunting regardless of what time of year it is.  As with most things I’ve invested my time and efforts into in my life I have obsessed over dove hunting and studied and researched it and read and watched whatever materials I could find on the subject.  Argentina is still my mecca. 

The Birds

There is something almost spiritual for me in this time of year.  If I had to choose any kind of hunting to give up, this would be one of my last two on the list.  The dove season here is long with its various splits and I have never been a one weekend warrior when it comes to doves.  I will pursue them from September on to the end of the last eligible time to hunt in January.  I’ve planted fields and mowed strategic areas out beneath likely flyways for them.  I’ve found them eating seeds from orchards and shot them over squash and tomato crops after the remains of the crop had been left to rot away to nothing but seed.  I’ve shot them from pastures and along creeks and near roads and utility lines they follow like paths we might walk.  I’ve bought decoys fixed and motion and experimented with countless shells and gauges of shotguns, and brands and styles of action.  I’ve gone through some wonderful bird dogs and had some phenomenal shoots that have rivaled anything seen on TV in some unlikely areas.  I have eaten doves in a variety of different ways, (not just wrapped in bacon and stuffed with jalapeno and cream cheese) and I’ve met a lot of folks over the years who shared my hunts both good and bad.  I’ve lost birds to hawks and falcons, and weeds and even hurricane flooding, and unfortunately, I’ve watched almost all my dove hunting venues grow up into housing developments and other modifications, but I long for my retirement when I can and plan to move somewhere there are still doves to be had on a regular basis. 

The Allure

I’ve always heard it said that the dove is a bird of peace, Noah sent out the dove from the ark to test the conditions of the flooding and it brought back the olive branch.  Doves are my favorite bird, and have been since I can remember.  I respect and revere them, I hunt them with a reverence and I do not take lightly their place in the world.  I often wish I had been alive to see the droves of passenger pigeons, and somewhere in the back of my mind hope that there will be an extreme population boom of doves or pigeons or something of the like in my lifetime due to changes in agriculture or some other phenomenon.  I also pray my children and grandchildren will have the opportunities that I have had to experience the doves in such a fashion. 

Genesis 8:8-12

Summer Crankbait Crappie Trolling

Summer and early fall used to be one of those times I could not find crappie and resorted to catching what bream and other various fish I could convince to bite until I began trolling crankbaits.  I set up my trolling rods with 8 or 10 lb line and I use smaller crankbaits.  I did not spring for the expensive brand that most people recommend because I do not like spending that much on pretty much any baits that I fish, but I have had a great deal of success using the cheaper knock off brands.  I always put on a small swivel with each crankbait as I found in my first attempt to troll with them that not doing so leads to massive line twist and thus horrendous tangles.  It just so happened that I ended up through breaking various rods, with a 10’ and 7’ rod on one side of my kayak and a 12’ and 9’ rod on the other side of my kayak.  I have a track system on both my kayaks and depending on which water I fish I use one or the other accordingly.  If its water that I have to walk a long way to or drag across a great deal of mud or up and down steep banks I take my lighter smaller kayak, and if it’s a spot I can easily launch and do not have to carry far to get into I will take my heavier pedal drive kayak.  I place my shortest rods in the holders closest to me, and my longest rods in the front rod holders closer to the bow of my kayak.  I also cast out my shortest rods first and thus do not have to worry about getting tangled in my other lines as much.  Once I cast my first two I generally will motivate forward letting the line go taut and then cast my others.  Once all four are in action I will paddle or pedal around 1 mph.  

Green Carp Indicators

I generally try to stay out in the main river channels and if I find fish I will continuously sweep back over that area until it stops producing.   When I first began I just had it in my mind where I “knew” the crappie would be and so I caught several where I “knew” they would not be as I passed and went on to that fertile ground I was very confident in.  It did not pan out at all and I didn’t so much as catch a single fish, not even a green carp.  (bass to those not familiar).  The next time I went back I continued on in the areas I had caught crappie the previous trip and I was able to consistently put fish in my boat.  I’ve landed all manner of other species with this method of fishing as well from catfish and bream to plenty of those green carp I referred to earlier.  Those I use as indicators of my speeds.  If I’m catching several spotted bass especially it usually means I’m moving too fast.  Crappie will still prefer a slower presentation and also a tighter wobble on the crank bait. 

Use Ice

A few folks I know will not eat crappie caught in the warmer weather as they say the fillets have a mushy consistency.  I find that placing them on ice for a while firms them right back up and I have not had any complaints, nor will I turn them down as table fare.  I have generally not caught my bigger fish in the summer, but the smaller “eater” size are fine with me.  They fry up nice and crispy.  God made the fish right at home in the water, just as God gave us the brain power to figure out how to pull them out of the water and put them on the table.  They aren’t as easy to catch generally in the summer as in the spring or fall, but there are a few ways, and trolling crank baits has fast become one of my favorites. 

Genesis 8:22

Compass Course

When I was in high school I decided to join the North Henderson High School Hunter Safety team, or “shooting team” as we all called it…before it became a popular thing for kids to go shooting up schools.  On this team firearms skills were stressed and stressed over and over with firearms safety as the key.  Muzzle control, storage, loading, and safety use.  I ate this up, and I honed my skills with my shotgun and rifle the first year and I discovered the actual hunter skills portion that involved a written test drawn from hunter safety course questions and, also a compass course for orienteering.  The following years the team members talked me into joining the archery team, and that was all huge for me.  I woke up and ate and breathed this competition and it became part of nearly every conversation it seemed at the time.  (My obsessive nature coming through that may be visible in some of my other posts.)   This compass course at first was not something I was interested in, I simply participated because the team needed it to compete.  After diving into it though, I learned it best I could and really started to understand it, and understand how to navigate, and began researching it on my own.  As with everything else I tend to do I wanted to be the very best at it and know as much as I could know about it.  My nature then kicked in because it was an area nobody really wanted to participate in because it wasn’t “pulling the trigger”.  I love those areas that are left behind by so many others and I love to excel at them and make people scratch their heads not only that I would even do it, but also that I would study and practice hard enough to be so much better at them.  The angles and the lines to follow on the compass course seemed to be the only kind of math that clicked in my head...mainly because of the patterns I could visualize. 

The Course

The compass course is laid off before hand by the wildlife officers and basically the participants are handed a paper with different coordinates and with each coordinate there are yardages they must pace off.  They must then stand on the starting point and they must obtain the first compass reading from the first coordinate.  If its “17 degrees N” and “43 yards” They must then find 17 degrees N on the compass, then they must pace off to the best of their ability the 43 yards.  They then stop on that second point and find the next coordinate and pace off its yardage.  Each course will run them into a large tree or a briar patch, or a creek bed or something they must navigate around.  They must take action to get around these obstacles and it is IMPERATIVE that they work together to do this.  It is a timed event and without the other teammates one person would be taxed so hard that it would be nearly impossible to complete alone.  After they proceed through their list off coordinates and yardages they should end up on a specific point that had been pre-determined.  The distance away from this point is then measured and treated as a “bullseye”.  For instance, within 10 yards of the point they were supposed to hit, they are awarded 100 points, within 20 yards they are awarded 90 points, within 30 yards they are awarded 80 points and so on…  This is then added to their score on their written test since each event, Shotgun, Rifle, Archery, and Hunter Skills are based on a 200 point perfect score potential. 

The Comparison

The one thing that stuck with me more than anything about that compass course, I have applied so many more times in my life to so many more situations, simple yet profound.  When you start at your compass course on your starting point make absolute certain you have your exact degree reading before you begin.  If you are only a few degrees off, then it makes it worse and worse and you are further and further away by the time you get out more and more yards away from the starting point.  I look at this as a slice of pie.  If you have a triangular slice of pie, then the point that is made from where this slice joined in the very center of the circular pie is akin to the point at which you begin your compass course.  You are standing at that corner looking out, and your reading is off by a few degrees, it is not obvious at first, the first few yards you go will be very close to the line you should have been on.  The longer you pace away from that point, the further away from your proper line you get.  If you go for many yards, the gap between your line you walked and the line you should have walked is like the crust end of the slice.  You are on one corner while your proper line is on the other corner.  This means your second reading will be even further away, and your third reading will be further and by the time you get to the end of your list of coordinates, you will be disastrously far from where you should be.  In this course you unfortunately do not have anyone to stop you along the way and say that you must correct your course.  You simply end up at a point sometimes from which you cannot even see the destination you set out to achieve from the start.

The Point

This stuck in my mind so profoundly that it follows me every day.  How close is that to real life?  We all start at that point, we all have that place we are trying to go in our life, and we compromise, or we make a bad choice, or we have an unfortunate event befall us and set us on a course that is a few degrees off.  We walk, and we walk, and we walk and when we finally stop to take stock of our situation, we realize just how far from our desired destination we are.  Unlike in the competition though, in life we have mentors, we have parents, we have friends, we have family, we have pastors or books, or most particularly THE BOOK, the Bible that can steer our courses back to the proper line.  You can get back on that line and you can walk it out, but inevitably another obstacle comes along soon we must navigate around these obstacles.  Running this course alone is not possible, negotiating these obstacles alone is not possible without leaving scars.  Each obstacle costs us time and make no mistake we are living in a timed event.  Not only does each obstacle cost us time, each deviation from that line costs us time, and most likely runs us through briar patches and any number of other things that leave scars and hurt us.  No person alive will be able to hold this line through life, but the ones who do seem to stay the closest to this line are the ones who are ultimately successful.  The ones who deviate definitely, have experiences and stories to tell and scars to show off, but that line is what we all should strive for.  Without that we are just wandering. 

Psalms 119

Lure Scavenging

I love the different seasons of scavenging, and treasure hunting, but one of my favorites is the winter draw down of lakes.  Most of the larger lakes have a time from days and weeks to month long periods where the water is drawn down, and usually it falls in the winter.  When that happens, one can walk the shorelines between the woods and the water and find lures that have been snagged and broken off either below the water surface or in limbs and logs and rocks along the side of the water.  These lures can be cheap and they can also be higher end, but these fall directly into the scope of my love of treasure hunting and scavenging.  

I have spent hours on end walking and looking and filled up my hat and my pockets before with lures I’ve collected.  I even collect the floats with the lead rings around their bases and clip out the lead and throw away the rest.  The lead from those as well as the sinkers and even some spoon lures I use to melt and pour my own jig heads for my crappie fishing.  Some of the bigger lakes have a great deal of tournament pressure and the tournament fishermen sometimes do not have time to go and retrieve lures as would some of the recreational fishermen just taking their time.  Over the years I have amassed quite a collection which I’ve either sold, traded or used for my own fishing.  Sometimes crankbaits will be abandoned, and their hooks will rust away but the baits themselves will still be perfectly useable, sometimes they can be found looking like they were just taken from the pack and placed gently into the water.  Even if the lures are broken sometimes pieces of them can be salvaged to use on other lures that may have missing eye rings or hooks etc. 

This tends to put me out near the water at a time when I like to say “I have the run of the place”  I enjoy being around when nobody else is and I enjoy being around the water because it tends to attract all manner of birds and animals and there is really no telling what sort of fish and driftwood and other treasures may be found besides lures.  I believe God instilled in us some natural affinity to be near water, be it rivers, lakes, or the ocean.  I know I have always felt an attraction to being near and in the water from catching creek minnows to kayaking for crappie.  The water provides so many opportunities.

John 4:14

Woodburning

Growing up I saw a wood burning tool laying around my parent’s house that belonged to my cousin and never used.  He moved away and left it and it got kicked around and moved around and put into drawers and on shelves as cleaning sprees ensued.  One day I decided to pick it up and grab a piece of wood and see just what it did.  I burned all kinds of wood and ended up absolutely loving everything about it.  I loved how the designs looked, I loved how the designs felt when completed, the wood smoothed over and had ridges and grooves, and I loved probably more than anything how the burning wood smelled during the process, although it made my eyes water.  I already enjoyed drawing with a pencil, and the wood burning was a slower version of that which nobody else really knew about and did not really know how.  I worked at it and it opened my mind up to different designs and I loved how it seemed to just flow.  I started out drawing the designs first with pen or pencil, but I quickly found that I could do a much better job simply putting the burner to the wood and drawing.  Certain types of wood were more difficult than others, I learned how to burn across knots, and incorporate them into designs, how to press harder and linger longer on the hard grains in the wood, and ease into the soft grains and move faster over them.  

I remember seeing wooden ammo boxes become a popular item, made with dovetail interlocking sides and ropes for handles, and all other manner of designs.  I wanted one so bad I could hardly stand it.  I asked and asked and was turned down each time.  Finally, I decided to go to the kindling pile where my dad threw out all the scraps from his building jobs.  I had a small folding hand saw that was absolutely not suited in any way to cut boards and lumber, an old hammer and a hand full of roofing nails.  I cut boards I measured with a tape measure I swiped from my dad’s tools that had so many nicks in it that I probably should have used it as a saw.  I crudely nailed the boards together and found some old hinges to attach the lid, and I used the dark line animal drawings from ammo boxes for reference and burned all kinds of designs on it.  I still use the box for storing most of the small things from my pockets etc in my bedroom.  

From there on I used photos for reference and tried to make things look more realistic.  I learned more and more techniques and grew more comfortable with different designs and through the years I’ve very much enjoyed requests for art work pieces.  I do not claim to be any expert, and I have never had any formal training to do what I do, but hopefully the world enjoys what I crank out. 

Exodus 31:2-5

Scavenging

Scavenging has been a way of life for me since I was trapped at home and had nothing but foot travel to get anywhere.  I always longed to get out and away, but I had no way to drive myself before I had my license.  I learned at a really young age that old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” was very true.  My mother always used to say as well “Find a penny pick it up and, all the day you’ll have good luck” While these things on the scale most people integrate them into their lives will not make them rich, it can certainly help out.  I soon incorporated a similar mindset into so many other facets of life, and I quickly connected that to just being efficient, picking up something someone else did not finish or discarded too soon before they got all the good out of it. 

I was fortunate to grow up in a rural place and had the run of many acres of property both that my parents owned and that my neighbors did not mind me running wild on.  I started young by picking up cans along the road frontage from my parent’s property and branched out to roads that crossed the neighbor’s properties and gathered until I had enough to make a trip to the metal buyer.  It took me a while to talk my folks into taking me there to cash in, but I remember making nearly $50 on my cans and it dawned on me that I could do something on my own.  I soon began roofing and building full time in the summers and realized that was much better money, but I also began wood burning or pyrography and art work and built things that people would notice and want to buy, and I saw so many wood scraps and other things I could use to make this, so I began gathering these from the job sites and making my art work with them.  I was and still am not the greatest salesman, so quite often I would have to sit on these items for long periods of time before I could find the right person who would buy them, but I kept at it.  The wood was going to be thrown away and so it was free so why not?  Most of the roof fixtures be they vents or covers for things are made of aluminum or some other metals, and most of them had to be replaced or just thrown out.  I discovered that these metals could be sold as well just as the cans could be, and thus I began gathering these.  I noticed at the time the electricians were not interested in picking up their tag ends of wire that they clipped, and often they would have huge lengths of wire, and often from wells and other areas that require thicker wire.  The copper brought a good bit more than the aluminum. 

I recently began gathering the wood scraps from everywhere and making wooden crates that I have sold for the past three years.  I’ve picked up everything from an old piano, to bed frames, to old couches and chairs.  I see roadside dump sites as opportunity and I love jumping into the dumpsters on the job sites I work construction on.  I pick up the slats from the lumber stores that they place to separate their boards when they discard them, and I also pick them up from the roofing metal companies when they deliver.  One driver always grins and empties them from his truck.  He actually started bringing me extras.  I enjoy making the crates, something about my brain relaxes when I do menial physical repetitive tasks, although I do not want to do that all the time, it does relax my mind from time to time.  There is actually quite a bit of thinking involved and problem solving so that it’s not as mindless as it seems at face value.

Society tends now to frown on folks who “scrap” because quite a large percentage of those folks are doing so to support a drug habit due to the fact they have a habit and either a criminal record preventing them from working a legitimate job, or their habit itself keeps them from making the hours required to hold down a job.  These folks have really dirtied up the industry with their larcenous ways and thus shaded the name of those who do not do things the wrong way.  Certainly, stealing the copper pipes and the heating and cooling units from homes is not a good way to go about things. 

I remember fondly going to the laundry mat with my mother and even sometimes I could beg to stay the night with my grandparents and go with them as well.  I would stretch my arms as far as I could between the washers and dryers and look under any, and all things that had a gap between the bottom and the floor for quarters the patrons would drop as they washed and dried their clothes and were not able to retrieve or did not even care to try.  I wore out many, many pairs of jeans crawling under the register desks at each store I went to.  I would search into each, and every couch and chair and corner and anywhere I went to find change.  Sidewalks, parking lots, anywhere and everywhere people were, change was dropped, and I had every intention of finding it.  When I was younger of course this mostly went to buying things I wanted to have, but I still do quite a bit of these things… albeit more nonchalantly and more stealthily, and this now I set aside for investing.  The amounts I get from the scavenging are not big, but after years of it, they do add up.  I try to do these things in a more passive way than I used to.  I do them as I live like I normally would, for instance I try to mostly buy my drinks in cans so that I can collect these and get at least a tiny percentage return.  I love how efficient it seems to be to do these things, or at least that’s what it seems in my brain.   I had a co-worker once tell me I was the biggest scavenger in the world, and I hope he’s right. 

Deuteronomy 15:10

Ground Goose Stroganoff

Cooking today I will be making my own made up version of stroganoff.  I remember as a kid growing up we would always go to the dinners after church when they would find a reason to have one…which was often.  One lady would always make this dish that was ground beef with a creamy sauce that was so delicious over rice and so different from anything we ever had at home that it was always my favorite.  In middle school I set out to re-create this dish after the nice lady had passed because I knew I’d not be able to have it again if I did not do something on my own.  I then made a version of it that was so similar that I couldn’t tell any difference in taste and since then have been tweaking and trying to subtly change it over the years so that it would be the best it could be, and then attempted to make it a little healthier (although it’s still definitely not anything on anyone’s diet plan) and what I have come up with is this:  Goose burger stroganoff.  Taking about a pound of ground goose breast add a splash of olive oil to a frying pan and a diced onion.  Brown the burger, making sure to stir it often.  Since I grind my own I do not add any fat to it, it’s all lean meat and will stick to the pan if not carefully tended.  Once the meat is browned, add one can of low fat cream of mushroom soup and one drained can of mushrooms.  Stir well and let this heat until simmering for 4-5 minutes.  Add a large scoop of low fat or reduced fat sour cream to the pan and stir it well to mix with the other ingredients.  Let this simmer 1-3 more minutes and then serve hot over brown rice.  Simple and delicious.    Having geese in the freezer most likely meant that there was a successful hunt at some point not long before, and not only for that, but for also the freedom to enjoy such pursuits in a country as blessed as the USA the good Lord should be thanked for this meal and getting to enjoy it with family makes it that much better.

 Matthew 6:26. 

Goose Stroganoff

1-     1  Lb of all lean ground goose meat

1-      1 Onion diced

1-      1 Can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup

1-      1  Large dollop of reduced fat or low fat sour cream

1-     1   Can of mushrooms (drained)

Salt and Pepper as desired

3 tablespoons olive oil

Add olive oil to large frying pan.  Brown ground goose meat together with diced onions, being sure not to burn.  When meat is browned add 1 can of reduced fat cream of mushroom soup and drained can of mushrooms.  Simmer for 4-5 minutes.  Add 1 large dollop of reduced fat sour cream and stir to mix well.  Serve hot over white or brown rice.  Serves 3-4. 

Dock Shooting for Crappie During Prime Time

                                                      Dock Shooting for Crappie                                    During Prime Time

My favorite freshwater fishing is dock shooting in the prime time of crappie spawn in the spring.  Despite all the publications about it be they video or printed in magazine or online blog or article on dock shooting, there are still tons of “fishermen” who do not try it or do not know how or cannot do it.  Thus there is something about knowing that I can reach fish that they will not have a shot to get.  It has always fascinated me to see other people going out and giving some half-hearted effort to just fish.  Not that there is anything wrong with just wetting a line without any intention of bringing home fish, just relaxing and getting away, but the way I fish is very businesslike.  I do not go with the intention of just catching a fish, nor with the intention of catching just any fish.  I hit the water hard for a specific time with a specific plan on how I hope to do that, and I change up quickly if that does not work.  I have in the back of my mind how many fish it will take to make a meal for my family and I go hard until I get that.  It does not always work out, but I have a huge sense of personal accomplishment when it does, and then I know I’ve done that in a way that not many others do.  When I first began kayak fishing I used to love showing fish at the boat ramp and watching the guys in boats scratch their heads wondering if they would do as well when they hit the water.  I now have moved back home and to an area where there is not nearly enough water to accommodate the amount of people who want to fish it, and so I don’t show my fish off at the ramp and let anyone know what I use, or where I caught them or that I even did catch any.  If anyone asks me I simply say “I caught a few small ones”…which I suppose is true if you compare them to salt water fish and bass.  I fish for dinner, and I fish in places most people deem the dead sea and swear there are no fish. 

When the sun comes up and the fish shrink back into the shade I can bend my fishing rod back and shoot my lure way up into the underside of a dock and slow reel it back to those fish concentrated in that shade.  That first single THUMP makes all that early morning rising and all that preparation and work to get to that first cast just seem like a magic formula.  That THUMP makes me feel a bird dog that first winds a bird slinking down in the grass and weeds.  They are HERE.  I did it right.  I found that fish hiding under there.   One of the old men who taught me how to shoot docks told me before he passed away “son if you feel like you are fishing too slow for crappie, then slow down some more”.   That advice has been gold.  Shoot that lure as far as you can get it under the dock.  If you hear it whack the wood at the back of the dock or metal, then that’s the perfect shot.  I carry at least two rods rigged up for shooting and if I get a bite or catch a fish and then break off a lure I immediately pick up the second or even third rod sometimes and shoot another lure right back where the last one came from.  The great thing about crappie is that most of the time if they are in there, they have buddies.  Spring time is like coming down a ladder with the fish.  The big ones start going shallow, then the medium fish and then the small fish and then the tiny fish go to the banks.  That first round in the spring is usually so exciting because the fish are generally the biggest consistently that will be caught through the rest of the year.  Big fish will also come through the rest of the year, but when they concentrate trying to go shallow and spawn, I tend to catch my biggest fish.  I will throw in some different methods during the spring, but shooting docks just has a hold on me that will not let go. 

I generally start my outings at 3 or 4 in the morning due to my hectic work schedule and I fish until I go to work, which is generally enough time to fill up my cooler with crappie when they are on the banks in the spring.  I get to see God turn on the lights and I get to hear the birds wake up and see the fog lift and I’ve already gotten in my workout for the day and caught my supper for the evening.  I have to just stop at times and thank God for the opportunity to go, to live in a country that has quality waters to fish, that has fish species that are choice edible, that allows me to fish when and where I choose.  For the strong back and body to fish from a kayak, for the mentors that showed me the ropes on how to find and catch fish, not having to guess with everything.  For the job that allowed me to have the freedom to get the equipment I use.  That first morning light is one of the times I am most thankful to be alive and well and living where I do. 

                                                                        Genesis 1: 20-21

Frying Panfish Outdoors Kick Off Signature Recipe

FRIED CRAPPIE FILLETS

Cooking tonight’s supper will follow the old rhyme “Friday- fish day”, and what other fish is there to eat on such a hallowed day but Crappie.  Preferably fresh crappie will be the order of the day but if its frozen then thaw it out because its Friday and why wouldn’t you want to invite over some friends and family for a fish fry?  In a large bowl put your crappie fillets in the bottom and add the cheapest generic yellow mustard you can find.  Lather all the fillets in the mustard and you may want to do this a few hours in advance and let them soak in the mustard in the refrigerator even.  In another bowl add your favorite fish breading mixture, some plain bread crumbs, and finely crushed tortilla chip crumbs.  Heat up a large pan or your fryer full of vegetable oil.  Put in half an onion and let it fry up nearly to a crisp but do not burn it, then take it out and toss it…it flavors the oil up nicely before you add the fish.   Take as many fish fillets as you can fry at one time from the mustard and drop them into the dry ingredients bowl and make sure they are completely coated.  (Do not leave them long in the dry ingredients as it will give your fillets a soggy and less than desirable texture.) Put the fillets directly into the hot oil and let them soak until they are golden brown and crispy.  Repeat until all the fillets are done.  Serve with homemade tartar sauce.  Catching fish is one of the most pleasurable experiences in the outdoors that can be had, and the way I fish allows a peaceful serenity most of the time, especially at the hours I go, and allows me to experience the sunrise or the night time sights and sounds on the water.  I can’t think of any better way to be close to God than to experience his creation first hand in such a way.

                                                                                    John 21:11

                                                           Fried Crappie Fillets

1-2 Lbs of Crappie Fillets

1 jug of vegetable oil

½ onion

Yellow Mustard

Fish breading mix

Plain Bread Crumbs

Finely Crushed Tortilla Crumbs

Coat crappie fillets in yellow mustard.  Heat vegetable oil in fryer or in deep frying pan on stove to around 350 degrees.  Drop in onion and fry until brown.  Remove onion.  Combine bread crumbs, fish breading mix and plain bread crumbs in bowl.  Roll mustard coated fillets into dry ingredients and drop directly into hot oil until they are golden brown.  Remove and drain off excess oil.  Serves 3-4.