Pumpkin Pie

Because Turkey-Day is right around the corner....

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12 Months of Awesomeness: April

Twelve Months of Awesomeness continues with another item that I have been meaning to do for years, but simply put off until tomorrow. Well, today is that tomorrow. I have always wanted to learn how to grow my own food. This month, I will be building a large elevated planter and growing my own fruits and vegetables. I have always considered myself a friend to the plant world (hehe), so now I will actually learn how to grow them. Now don't get me wrong, I have planted flowers and trees before, but just never actually produced food for my table through a garden. This may not seem like as big of a goal, but this is something that is important to me as I try to live a more sustainable life. Maybe I will even try eating only things not purchased at a grocery store or restaurant for at least a week.

In fact, I am going to do just that... this will be a dual goal. Once my garden is up, I will also try eating only food from my own creation for a week a month... We'll see how that goes.

I will start building the bed first, because we are getting 6 inches of snow today and my morning looked like this:

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Back To The Start

Back to the Start from Comodín de la Helvetica on Vimeo.

WARNING - NON FISHING POST: Anybody that knows me knows how I feel about factory farming. It's why I don't eat fast food. It's why I eventually want to get back to my roots and live on a working, sustainable farm. Killing animals is how food gets on the table and I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is keeping 100 chickens in a small cage, stuffed together with all of their beaks cut so they don't kill each other. Beef is wonderful, but I don't want to participate in pumping cattle so filled with hormones that they become zombies. These are both examples of how your chicken McNuggets or Big Mac get onto your plate.

What I am getting at is this; I want to eat meat, but that doesn't mean that I want to torture animals. That is exactly what is happening in factory farms across the country. So one day, I would like to get back to where I know that the food I eat comes from animals that lived quality lives and were treated with dignity. If this still doesn't make sense, watch the video above (or just watch it if you like Willie Nelson) to see the difference between sustainable farming and the commercial slaughterhouses. Don't forget to turn off the playlist on the right, so you don't have two songs going at once.

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Hip To The Recipe

Every once in a while, I will post something very random and non fly fishing related. This sometimes will be a recipe. This is one of those times.

Pick the crabapples off the tree. Don't pick them off of the ground unless you like worms in your crabapples.

Dont' leave them near the dog. Dogs dig crabapples.

Try to pick ones that aren't too red or too yellow. Somewhere in between gives you a slightly sweet, but tart apple. 

Set up your cutting table. You'll be here a while. Quarter the crabapples

Put the cut up apples and cinnamon sticks into a pot and fill it with enough water to where you can see it, but not enough that the apples start floating. Bring to a boil, then bring it down to a meduim heat simmer for 15 minutes. The apples should turn color. 

Line a strainer with 2 layers of cheesecloth and strain the juice from the apples. Discard the apples, but put the cinnamon sticks in the juice. 

Pour the juice back into the pan. Bring to a simmer, and let cook for 10 minutes. Skim off any foam that comes to the top.

You have two options here, if you can get the juice up to 230 degrees, then pour in the sugar while stirring vigourasly. Crabapples are naturally high in Pectin, so you normally do not have to add any. 

If you live at altitude, like me, then you probably arent going to be able to get it up to that temp. So get it as hot as you can and stir in sugar. Then bring it to a roiling boil and stir in Pectin (Certo is the brand I use, it can be found at your local grocery) , stir for one minute then pull it off of the heat. 

Pour it into your jars, leaving at least a 1/4 inch of space at the top. Put tops on, put them in a warm bath to seal. Viola'...

Crabapples aren't typically thought about for consumption, but trust me. I have never met someone that doesn't like Cinnamon Crabapple Jelly. Enjoy.

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Happy New Year's!

Happy New Year's y'all. I hope that you all have a prosperous and healthy year. Be safe tomorrow, because as my Grandfather used to say, "New Year's Eve is when the amateurs come out to play".
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It Will Be All Frozen Over Soon

It will all be frozen over soon. The crappie pond, that is. Soon the flat water littered with popping crappie will turn into a hard skating rink. The ice fisherman will be dragging their sleds filled with augers, buckets and minnows onto it's hard surface. It will be their time then, but now, right now it's my time. Fall is well set in and I don't hit the crappie pond as often as I did in July. So I will take advantage of my 1wt and spiders. I will take advantage of these beautiful speckled fish that fry up so delightfully. Right now... right now is my time.