Friday Fish Recipes

I'd like to start a little weekly post with recipes to try for the fish that you catch.

I will post 2 recipes on Friday for the rest of the summer. 

So if you have a recipe you would like to have featured please message me on Facebook. 

It would be great to see how many recipes we can post.

Sauteed Walleye

I found this recipe on Pinterest. Here is the link to the actually recipe.

This next recipe was floating around on Facebook.

Lemon Dill Grilled Fish Fillets
If you’re fishing, you won’t even need to carry the fish in to the campsite. These fish packets are light and flaky, and they’re a perfect way to serve up the catch of the day.
4 fish fillets, cleaned
1 lemon
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon dry dill
Pepper to taste
Olive oil or butter
4 foil sheets
Lightly grease bottom of foil sheets with olive oil or butter. Place the fish fillet on top and sprinkle each with ¼ of the salt and dill and pepper as desired. Slice half the lemon into rings. Squeeze the juice from the other half of the lemon over the top of the fish. Place two rings over each fish and drizzle with olive oil or add a small pat of butter. Fold in sides and roll tightly to seal the packet.
Place the packet over smoldering white coals for 3 minutes. Flip and continue cooking for 3 more minutes. Remove from the fire and allow to sit for at least 5 minutes before eating.

Have a great weekend everyone! Let me know if you try any of the recipes and how they turned out.

Summer Family Fishing!

I have fond memories of fishing at a local reservoir and family fishing trips to Black Lake, NY when I was a child. This is a family tradition I want to pass on to my son and make new memories with my own family. (Oh, and invite my dad and brother to tag along too.) I want G to learn to fish and hopefully he will love it (or at least appreciate it) like hubby and I do.

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of June already. Even though the weather has not been great this month, we have been able to get out fishing weekly. I really look forward to our mornings on the lake. And getting our freezer stocked with fish. I have fished more this year so far than I have in the past several years.

Late spring fishing 

My lil fisherman

That is partly because G is 4 years old now and  is really starting to understand what fishing is about. He gets excited when the bobber goes under and when he gets to reel in a fish. He does not always fish with us, sometimes he brings his tractors to play with or pretends he is the captain of the boat telling us where to fish.  But he knows that we are on the boat to fish.

So far this year we have been blessed by the Blue Gill fishing gods. We usually catch 30 on average each trip They are soooooo tasty!

One of my catches (nice hair)

Hopefully the weather will cooperate this weekend and we can start to do some pike fishing. Don't get me wrong I love catching blue gill after blue gill. I just like to put some variety in my freezer. I can guarantee you that if the pike aren't biting, I will be fishing for blue gill.

UPDATE - I got a fishouflage tackle box instead of a pink camouflage. Love it! I'm still working on filling my tackle box.  Hopefully by the end of the summer it will be full.

Happy Fishing!

Dreaming of Hunting Season

This past weekend we were out on our boat fishing for blue gill. As I sat there watching my bobber, I found myself daydreaming of hunting. So today I looked up the opening date.
 There are 110 days until PA archery hunting season starts.

Typically the temperature is on the rise in June and we are starting to spend our weekends on the lake. I love the long lazy sunny days playing in the water and reading in the sun or fishing. I would be extremely happy if we had a few more weeks of warm weather here in PA. This year my mind is skipping over summer and looking forward to the fall and hunting season. (I'm NOT trying to wish my summer away by any means.) Usually I don't start thinking about the fall until August.

I have started watching hunting shows again. When ever I am home and in the house I turn either the Outdoor Channel or Sportsman Channel on. Even if I am not sitting down watching. I like to listen while I'm cooking dinner or doing other chores.  I would venture to say that I might have deer on the brain!

All the new promos for the new season of hunting shows are starting to surface. They are just fueling my daydreaming. I can't wait for July when the new seasons start.

This time of year can really get you excited for hunting, whether you are starting to watch hunting shows again, starting to practice shooting, scouting for places to put your tree stands or getting your food plot in. Which ever stage you are at, have and keep dreaming!

Are you getting excited about hunting season? What gets you excited to hunt?

Guns & Ammo, Ammo & Guns

I recently took my Hunter Safety course, it got me thinking about a whole lot of blog ideas. The first one I wanted to write about is guns and ammo.  How well do you know your guns and ammo?

I wanna go over basics about guns for those women out there thinking about getting into hunting or shooting. When I was starting to think about hunting with a gun, I thought I new more about guns. I had shot guns before and was careful with them. But taking the hunter safety course help me realize I didn't know as much as I thought and need to learn more. So I would like to pay things forward. As I learn more about guns and hunting I will share the information.

 What is a gun? The very basic function of a gun is a mechanical device that uses pressure from burning powder to force a projectile through (barrel) and out of a metal tube (end of barrel is the muzzle). The basic anatomy of a firearm is an action, stock & barrel. 

Now I would like to show you the different shotgun and rifle actions. 

Bolt action -this gun operates by lifting the handle up and pulling it back.

Pump action - this gun operates by sliding the forestock to the rear to open the action and then sliding the forestock forward to close the action. Also known as a slide action.

Semi Automatic - to operate the action on a semi-auto you must pull back the bolt's handle. To close the action, pull back to unlock the bolt and then let go allowing the bolt to slide forward. Also known as autoloading. (ie. Fully automatic firearms are not legal to use for hunting in PA.)

Lever action - this gun has a large lever located behind the trigger. To open the action you must push the lever down and forward (towards the muzzle). This will eject the cartridge.

Hinge action - This gun is very simple to load and unload because of the hinge action. To open, point the barrel at the ground, press the release and the stock will drop down exposing the barrel. Also known as Break action. I would like to own one of these types someday. There is just something about them that draws me to them.

Now a little info on ammunition. Not all ammo is the same. Rifles barrels have spiraling grooves cut into the bore. Rifle and handgun ammo is classified by calibers. Caliber is the size of the rifle or handgun bore and the size of the cartridge. The inside of a shotgun barrel is smooth. Shotgun ammo is classified by gauges. Guages measure the diameter of the shotgun bore and size of the shotshell. Here is a diagram that shows the differences between the two.

The left is the rifle shell and the right is the shotgun shell.

So  if you are like me and want to know more, start googling.

Disclaimer...I am not an expert, this is just some of the stuff I learned at my hunter safety course.

Venison Recipes

What are your favorite venison recipes?

Recently I realized we are out of venison, so of course I am craving venison. So I have started thinking about  venison recipes.  I wanted to share my favorite recipe with you. I have also asked my Facebook followers what their favorite venison recipes are. So I am going to share those with you too.

My absolute favorite way to eat venison steaks is fried up with butter and onions. Sometimes I will even add mushrooms. I know it is simple and maybe even a bit boring. Growing up that was always the way my dad cooked it so I think that is really why it is my favorite. I like to have asparagus or a sweet potato with my venison. Just recently I came across a new recipe for broccoli & cheese baked potato. I can't wait to try this with some venison. (Yes, I know it will be a while since we are out of venison.)

Marty G, follower of A Little Pink in a Camo World  gave me a marinade recipe to try:
Marinade
Oj
Worcestershire
Garlic
Ginger
Red Wine
Put in a ziplock bag with venison and refrigerate overnight. Grill it ... charcoal preferably.

My son's new favorite way to eat venison is bacon wrapped venison. My brother made them for him. He just cut up strips of venison and wrapped a slice of bacon around each piece and baked. Bacon on anything makes it better.

Just so everyone knows, typing these recipes is giving me an even bigger craving for venison. I'm getting a little angry that we do not have any in the freezer to eat.

Biscuts, gravy and deer sausage (or my husbands favorite - homefries, gravy & sausage). Try using deer sausage instead of elk sausage in this recipe....When Biscuits, gravy and elk sausage collide. I recently discovered a new blog From the Draw. Emily posted this recipe. I can't wait to try it.

This recipe is for my hubby. I'll make these this fall for football Sunday. I found this recipe on Legendary Whitetail website. Thank you Jennifer Rademacher for sharing your recipe.
  Bacon wrapped Deer Poppers
1 1/2 lbs marinated venison steak, cut into cubes
1 (8 oz) pkg of cream cheese, cut into small cubes
1 lb bacon, cut in half
8-10 jalapenos, cut in half, cleaned & cut into 1/4 inch strips
Place a cube of cream cheese on a strip of jalapeno, top with venison and wrap in bacon. Thread onto skewers and grill over low heat until bacon is crisp and venison is cooked through.

My next recipe comes from a friend. Her family likes to eat venison marinated in garlic butter and grilled or broiled. Yum!

Ok. I can't take it anymore. I have to stop writing the post because I am salivating over it. And getting more and more depressed that we are out of venison. It is also making me more determined to kill more deer this fall. Last year hubby and I each got one deer. This year I hope we can get two each! I better get out and shoot my bow and guns more.

Outdoor Summer Fun

Temps are finally warming up (for the most part). I love being out side when the weather is warm.  However, my house suffers in the summer because I get home from work, change my clothes and head outside with my 4 year old son & hubby. I don't want to be inside cooking, let alone being side because I have to clean. I wanted to tell you what we like to do when the temperature rises.

Here are my top favorite outdoor activities in the summer:

• Being on the water. Whether we are canoeing down a creek or on our pontoon boat (we spend most of our time on the pontoon). We do a LOT of boating during the summer. We meet up with our friends, anchor the boats and hangout all day on and in the water. One water sport that I would like to try doing is kayaking. 

 

• 4 wheeling is another favorite summer activity. There is something about riding all day and getting muddy that just puts a smile on my face. 

• Cookouts & picnics. Hubby is the grill king in our house. We eat our dinner out on our porch almost every night in the summer. Eating outside after a crazy day at work just relaxes me and puts my mind at ease. We also enjoy getting together with our friends for cookouts.

• Fishing! I crave a good fish fry, especially when it is the fresh fish that you caught that day. Fishing is becoming a family weekend activity. I hope to be able to start fishing at least once a week with my hubby and son for the rest of the summer.
  
  
  
  
  
• 3D shoots. On any given shoot, we have about 3 or 4 friends with us. Sometimes we even have a larger group of friends shooting that we divide into girls/guys groups. There is just something about girl time in the woods!

• I enjoy hiking. Walking through nature trails, a field or the woods with my family looking for wildlife. Sometimes we also drive our truck around at night to spot of deer.

• Last but not least camping with my family. Last year was the first time we took our son camping in a tent.  I want to do a little more camping this year, even if we just camp in our backyard on the weekends. I think we will camp in our backyard next weekend! G will love it.

What are your favorite summer outdoor activities? What should I try?

My dream home...

If money was no object and I could have whatever I wanted in my home, I would have a lodge style home. I love all the wood, stone and openness. So I thought I would share some pictures of my favorite lodge spaces. (I LOVE Pinterest!)

The most important room in the house...the kitchen

Living room favorites

Bathrooms

Master Bedroom

Kids Bedrooms

Have you thought about what your dream house would look like? Would it look similar to mine?

Michelle the Huntress

I have decided to introduce you to some of my Huntress friends. So today I will introduce you to Huntress Michelle Mattis. Michelle and I have been friends for quite a few years. She is just getting into shooting a bow and back into hunting. Here is my brief interview with her.

What was your first hunting experience?
Michelle: At the age of 12 or 13. I went to the "big woods" in Warren with my uncle and cousins. I climbed a big hill and sat for hours with out seeing a deer.

Who got you into hunting?
My uncle when I was a child. And you. (She is referring to me, the author when she says "you".)

What is your most memorable hunt?
Climbing the hill and vomiting. Then my cousins telling me suck it up. There is also the time when my cousin lost his contact and took my glasses to wear so he could see to hunt.

How would you like to hunt with your sons someday?
Yes, I think Damon would be the one more likely to go out hunting with me.  I would also like to find a significant other someday, that likes to hunt.

What are your other hobbies?

May 3D Shoot

I work full time as a phlebotomist. I like to got to 3D archery shoots. Boating on the lake in the summer. Also like to dance. When the weather is nice I like to get outside and walk. Ride 4 wheelers.

What do you feel are your obstacles for when you go hunting?
I am afraid of being in the tree stand.  I am afraid of heights. Not seeing anything is also an obstacle I do not want to have.

What are your favorite hunting sites?
Just for Does, The Crush and A Little Pink in a Camo world. Michelle is the recent Facebook winner of a pair of Muck Boots. Just for Does and Muck Boots were having the giveaway. Way to go Michelle!

What motivates you to stay involved with hunting and the outdoors?
You and Caleb. (Caleb, author's husband.) And the strength that I am gaining from shooting my bow. Best part is the "girls" are getting perkier!


How do you stay informed on hunting issues?
You and Caleb.

Bear, Oh my...

A few weeks ago we had a night time visitor...

Now this picture was not taken by us. This was taken up the hill from us. He seams to be visiting other houses in the neighborhood.

Now let me tell you how we found our visitor.

It was around 10/10:30 pm and I had just fallen asleep. Hubby was still up watching tv. He heard some noise outside. There was a bag of garbage on our porch that I had taken out earlier in the evening. (I know, I know I should not have left it there.) He immediately thought it was a cat or a raccoon. He was going to get the .22 to go out and shoot it. As he got up, he happened to glance out the window and saw an unexpected visitor, a black bear.

Next I was being shaken awake...."Babe wake up there is a bear on the front porch!!!"

By the time I got to the window, the bear was just off the porch in the lawn. I was in shock. I had never been that close to a bear. I was speechless. I am not sure I want to be that close again without a gun in my hand.
 (I know I had a window between us, but I was still a bit scared.) Hubby tried to get some pictures, but there was a glare in the window from the light on in the house. :(

In the morning we were outside looking around to see if our visitor left any trace of being there.
 This is what we found.

Those are 5 AA batteries. Wow!

I'm sure glad that hubby didn't just get  the gun and head outside.

Have you had any visitors lately?

Hunting with Toddlers

Spring gobbler season is wrapping up here and I'm bummed that I didn't get to go out hunting more. But at the same time I had been feeling guilty about going hunting. We have a toddler, so when ever we go hunting we have to have G spend the night at a grandparent's house.

So this spring between hunting and working, G had to be with a his grandparents or a babysitter 3 weekends in a row. That makes me feel very guilty. I work all week long, then to have him be with someone else on the weekends really ramps up the mommy guilt. When I was out hunting I was thinking about much better it will be when G is old enough to go hunting with us. But when is old enough?

When did you first take your toddler hunting? What animal where you hunting for?  Our soon to be 4 year old has been out squirrel, rabbit and wood chuck hunting with his Dad and Poppa. We plan to continue doing this when ever we can.

Our tot is not ready to sit quietly for a couple hours to be able to go hunting with us. Heck, he gets bored fishing if the fish are not "jumping in the boat".   :)

He does like to go small game hunting with us during the fall and I know when he is ready we will love hunting. But until that point I don't think my mommy guilt will be going away anytime soon. But I want to keep hunting and I want to hunt more. But until he is ready we will keep asking Grandma and Grandpa to keep G over night, so that Mommy and Daddy can hunt.

So for the parents of toddlers, how do/did you handle hunting with small children?