Backyard Fun

Now that summer has officially begun and the nights have gotten warmer, we have started having bonfires in our backyard with our friends and family. I look forward to summers and all the bonfires at our house and the bonfires we are invited to at our friend’s house. They are so nice and relaxing.

Last weekend we went to a friend’s house for a fire and mountain pie dinner. The week before, was a housewarming party with a bonfire. And a few weeks before that was a bonfire and camp out in our backyard.

Mountain Pie maker and pie

I want to start having more camp-outs in our backyard. We just need the weather to cooperate. It has been so rainy in our neck of the woods. So we have had to hold off on camping more Our tents are pretty wet now. So we have to let things dry out before we can camp again.

What fun things have you been doing with your family this summer?  Do you have backyard camp-outs?

Friday Fish Recipes - Bluegill

Sorry again. I was busy with one of my best friend's wedding this weekend.

Unfortunately, life has been busy and we have not been able to get out fishing. So we have not got to put any pike or walleye in the freezer. :( 

Since my freezer is full of Bluegill, I thought I would just post recipes to cook them.

These recipes can be found on the Outdoor Channel website. So this first recipe intrigues me. I love Mexican food, but I have not been a fan of seafood in Mexican food. But Bluegill fajitas sound delish.

Bluegill Fajitas

1 tsp lemon pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

6 Tbsp lime juice, divided

1-1/2lb bluegill fillets cut into 1/2" strips

4 tortillas

Combine lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and 4 Tbsp of lime juice in a resealable plastic bag, add fish. Seal and shake; chill 30 minutes.

Grill fish, covered with grill lid, on a grill rack coated with nonstick cooking spray over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes with fork. You may broil if you wish

Load up each tortilla with fish and the toppings of your choice.

Bluegill Fritters

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg, separated

2/3 cup milk

1 Tbsp butter, melted

2 cups bluegill fillets, flaked

oil for deep frying

Preheat oil to 370 to 375 degrees.  Sift together flout, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and baking powder. Mix egg yolk with milk and add to dry ingredients; beat well. Add melted butter. Fold in stiffly beaten egg white and fish flakes. 

Drop by tablespoon fulls into hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper bag. 

Serve at once with horseradish  and ketchup, chili sauce or wasabi sauce.

I think I will have these at our next party. Sound so yummy!

Meet Hunter James

This is the first of two "Meet Hunter".... I want to introduce you to the 2 men in my life that inspire me and help me to continually grow as a huntress.  So today I want you to meet my brother...James. I asked James the same questions that I ask my Huntresses.

1. What was your first hunting experience? 
Sparrows, in the backyard with my Quicksilver BB gun. Actual first chance to wack something nice was in Cuba, New York.  I was with my dad, it was the 3rd drive of the day, I was about 10 years old and all bundled up in a snowsuit. We had walked across a blustery field and then came to a pine block and I saw 3 ruffed grouse on the ground about 10 yards away. I told dad not to move, we stopped and I eased up my 760 with the cross-hairs on the bird. Snap PFFFFFTTTT. Dad was shocked. 

2. Who got you into hunting? My dad.

3. What is your most memorable hunting experience? 
Most memorable hunting experience, wow I need a criteria for that. I would have to say bird hunting for the first time I ever went to Tonowanda swamp duck hunting with dad. We got there late but the birds were like mosquitoes. I shot my first drake wood duck, a drake mallard and 2 green wing teal (AKA...pocket ducks). We didn't hunt the pocket ducks after the first year because there was not much to eat on them.

4. What are your hobbies, besides hunting?
Hockey, fishing, football, watching sports, movies at the drive-inn and shopping at Gander Mountain or Bass Pro shops. I really like bass tournaments. I also like to teach people to hunt and fish. It is challenging and rewarding to see them succeed.  I also like to break clay with a shotgun.

5. What are the obstacles you face when hunting? 
My patience. I have to probably be the best impatient hunter there is. I have some techniques that work for my impatience. As I get older I am more impatient. My eyes also. I will have to switch from open sights to a scope in the future. The bugs and poison ivy when spring turkey hunting.

6. What are your favorite hunting sites/shows? 
Roger Raglin Outdoors because he slug hunts whitetails, Pheasants Forever, NWTF turkey shows and Ducks Unlimited (especially now that it's dirty bird Browning sponsored). I like to research on ballistic calculators, bullet trajectory and wind resistance coefficients. I frequent Browning and other major shotgun sites. Airgun reporter is also a favorite.

7. Who inspires you to stay involved in hunting? 
Mainly my nephew and my sister. I like to help people learn to hunt. I might consider retirement after they figure out hunting and kill a big monster. lol

8. How do you stay informed on hunting issues?  
I read Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, what the news and listen to people's scuttle butt. I think it's a jungle out there and a lot of good gun owners/hunters get a bad rap. But it is like every game, it only takes one or two bad apples to spoil the whole crate.

I  hope that all of the huntresses out there have someone in their life to help and inspire them to be the best huntress they can be.

Friday Fish Recipes - Baked

Sorry forgot to post this yesterday.

I do love fish fries! However, they are high in fat. So in an effort to watch my calories, I am going to give you  a couple of baked fish recipes today. 

Baked Parmesan Fillets

Baked Parmesan Fish Fillets can be found on the McCormick website. This recipe is lower in calories and carbs. The fat content is still a little high, but if you pair it with a nice fresh salad and a light dressing it will balance out. 

These next recipes come form the Eatingwell website. They always have delicious recipes that are lower in calories and fat.

Tilapia & Summer Vegetables

I'm always looking for away to incorporate more vegetables from my garden. And I can make this recipe with tilapia or with other fresh water fish we have frozen in our freezer. I would leave out the capers. I'm not a fan of those.

Alright. I have given you a few healthy recipes.
Good eating.

My "Dream" Fishing Trip

After having my dream about a moose hunt and reading A Reel Lady's blog about her recent fishing trip, I have started thinking about what "dream" fishing trips I'd like to go on. 

What fish species would I like to catch? And where would I like to go? Oh the fishing memories we would have. I have always fished small lakes and rivers. I don't think I have caught anything bigger than 5lbs.

I guess my first trip would be close to home. I want to catch a big walleye out of Lake Erie. I have caught walleye before out of smaller lakes and creeks. But I wanna hook into a 15 pounder. I can't even begin to imagine what that would feel like on the end of my pole. Hubby has gone fishing in Lake Erie and caught a few big walleye. So now it is my turn and I will even let him come along. :)

My big fishing trip would have to be saltwater fishing.  I'm not sure what exactly I would like to catch, just something big! In A Reel Lady's blog, she talks about having Tarpon Fever. She says watching tarpon jump out of the water, really gets her heart pumping. That sounds interesting! Or maybe it would be fun to catch a marlin or shark. I think hooking into something that is going to jump out of the water would be amazing. 

My uncle does a lot of fly fishing around the world. He has seen some beautiful places and has  caught some amazing trout. So maybe someday, I will get to have my uncle take myself and my family fishing with him. However, eating trout is not one of my favorites.  That's ok...I can practice catch and release!

What's your "dream" fishing trip?

Friday Fish Recipes - Featuring my brother

Last week, I decided not to post my Friday Fish Recipes because I was on vacation and it was a holiday weekend. Sorry.

This week I want to share with you my brothers's favorite recipes. He has been cooking fish for about 15 years now.  His true passion is fishing. He is a great wealth of information to me. He sends me articles to read and recommendations on new lures to try.

Left to right: My dad, my son & my brother. My son's first fishing trip with his uncle and grandpa.

 James does love all things outdoors. He fishes all summer and hunts pretty much the rest of the year. I have even sparked his interest in bow hunting again.

Here are a couple of his favorite recipes for cooking fish.

Ameri-Chino-Citrus walleye

Ingredients

4 walleye fillets 1- 3 lb eyes optimal

1 stick of air temp butter

1 onion

4 cloves garlic super fine chop or minced or jarred minced works

1 generous shake of garlic powder

1 generous shake of onion powder

1 slight sprinkle of cumin powder

1 dash of cayenne pepper

1 generous sprinkling of black pepper red pepper mix

Lemon juice concentrate to taste

Lime juice concentrate to taste.

2 cups of cooked white rice.

Take four nice walleye fillets bone and prepared well. Take a large piece of heavy duty tinfoil not the cheap crap heavy duty tinfoil. Lay it out flat and rough butter with a butter knife your four walleye fillet area on the tin foil. Lay four fillets on foil and thin yet generous size buttered tinfoil. Then Lemon and lime concentrate walleye carefully as not to spill all over i like a good amount because this will make a sauce. Place 2 small pats of butter at each end of the fillets. Next chop and or mince garlic, cut onion into thin round ring's. Sprinkle garlic over fish, then place rings on top of fish season with all of the listed seasonings and powder. Cap and or fold over access tinfoil to form a packet. Run outside light your grill place packet on grill for 10 to 15 minutes depending on walleye size keep between 300 and 350 on your grill. Next make 2 cups of white rice. A good side for this is this packet grilling with everything minus the fish, but with asparagus or fresh green beans. When fish rice and asparagus is done place one inch of white rice on a plate put walleye on top, then cut asparagus to small pieces or place on the side. Then take fish juice at bottom of the packet and pour or spoon over fish and rice serve hot, and salt to taste but i rarely add anything. Tends to be perfect right out of the packet.

and

Chili-Dusted Catfish

This is Chili-Dusted Catfish with Cumin Rice. He got this recipe from the In-Fisherman cookbook. I know he substitutes pike and walleye in this recipe.

I hope everyone has a great fishing weekend!

Fishing different lakes...

Fishing different lakes in your area can be challenging. But what about fishing in different states? This is the dilemma I am facing now.

As I continue working to fill my tackle box…I have been struggling with what lures to buy. I struggle with wanting to buy the ones that have always worked for me in the past. The problem with doing that is that I lived in Western New York then. Now I live in Northwest Pennsylvania.

Hubby and I have different ideas about what bait to use when it comes to panfish fishing. I have always used tube jigs and minnows to catch perch, crappie and bluegill. Hubby has always used an ant jig and grubs. And the grubs work. We are catching a bunch this summer. So I can't argue with him.

Favorite tube jig

My favorite go to tube jig for panfish has not worked for me here in PA. I'm not sure if it is just the location on the lake we are fishing. Or is it the time of year? Or is it just this lake? Or maybe it is just the simple fact that we have not tried this jig with a minnow on it. (That's how it worked before. Hubby uses grubs for panfish. :p That is a whole other story.) Hard to tell. So if you can't beat them, join them...I now fish with an ant and grubs.

 We have been stocking our freezer with bluegill. So now I would like to start fishing for some pike or walleye. I want  to get some bigger fillets to try different recipes.  

WARNING ... Shameless plug ... check out my Friday Fish Recipes.  For the next month or so, I will be posting new fish recipes to try.

So what lures do I buy? Do I start with what has worked for me in the past? Or do I just buy something that looks good? What I have decided is that I will pick up a lure or 2 to try and each time I go out fishing I will try a new lure out of my husband’s tackle box. :) Then when I find one that works, I can go pick up one for myself. I will buy one that looks like it could work and I will probably buy something that has worked before for me also.

Worst case, I will have the lures I know that will work when we visit family in NY. 

How do you decide which lures to buy when you are fishing in a different lake or state? I welcome your input so leave me a message.

Now that I have been writing about fishing I want to go fish, but I have to go to work shortly. Maybe I will pick up an fishing magazine to read tonight.