Snipe Hunting

Here in the United States Snipe hunting is a rather interesting sport and a sport used most often to teach youth to just quiet down for a bit and to learn to enjoy nature.

As a father I would say that a sons first snipe hunt is a father and son bonding expeirience. I have never gone snipe hunting with my daughters because I didn't think they would all that much enjoy the out come, lol.

Snipe hunting is such a popular sport and I am sure everyone has their own stories of learning how to do it and the technique used for bagging a Snipe. If a bag was used.

Snipe only come out in the dark and are very quite and quick little critters. I guess the best way I have taught others to catch them is to arm themselves with a paper grocery sack. Next is to locate ones self on a trail when it gets very dark. Quiet is most important. Extremely important!!!

One takes the paper sack and lays the open end in the direction of the moss growing on the north side of a tree at least 10'-15' from the tree. One must lay behind the bag reaching their arms over it clutching the open end of the bag for the snipe to run into it. Every once in awhile a very soft whisper like "whoooot" must be done to attract the snipe. Also every once in awhile a small tap was to be used on the bottom of the bag.

Many a camper doesn't get past this stage without falling asleep but if one does and a Snipe does run into the paper sack then the sack must be quickly rolled up and a run must be made for camp with the prized snipe.

What is your adventure in Snipe hunting and would you care to share it? I'm sure everyone has a tale to tell and remember, other parts of the world can't enjoy the Snipe Hunting Adventures we share here so make them feel the love of the sport. Don't get to involved with the catch of the big Snipe and the beating of the bag. We don't want to gross anyone out or offend the Snipe Lovers of the world that just don't understand.

Thanks, Mac.

Sausage Stromboli

Description:
Not to long ago I posted my Pepperoni Stromboli. The recipe is the same here except for the use of crumbled browned Italian Sausage instead of the pepperoni and some diced onions and peppers.

Ingredients:
One homemade bread that has risen.(Deflate). or pizza dough. Store bought dough is fine if you hafta use it.
1 lb of Italian sausage removed from the casings.
1 diced onion
1 died bell pepper
12 oz or so of shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil


Directions:
Preheat oven to 425*. Roll out your dough to about the size of a sheet pan. Let the dough rest for a few minutes. Sprinkle on cooled browned and crumbled Italian sausage.Sprinkle on diced peppers and onions. You should dice these very fine. If you want bigger pieces, saute first and allow to cool then add them. Sprinkle the cheese over the sausage, peppers and onions.
Roll jelly roll style. Pinch the seams closed and placed on an oiled sheet pan seam side down. Brush with olive oil. Place into a 425 degree oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack and allow to rest for 10 minutes to allow the cheese to set. Slice into 1/2" slices to serve. I like to serve mine with a fresh Marinara sauce for dipping.

Enjoy, IC

Sausage And Peppers

Description:
I love Italian Sausage served on a nice torpedo shaped roll topped with sauteed peppers and onions. The smell alone drives me nutz with anticipation.
Some like sauce on theirs but not me. I want to taste the sausage, peppers and onions.
I like to use sweet sausage but at times crave spicy.

Ingredients:
6-8 links of Italian Sausage
2 large onions halved and sliced.
3 Sweet Bell Peppers, color doesn't matter, halved, cored and sliced into strips.
2 cloves of smashed and minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:
In a skillet, brown the Italian sausage over medium high heat turning every few minutes to produce even browning all the way around.
Remove the sausage from the skillet. Add the garlic, peppers and onions, Reduce the heat to low. Place the sausage back in the skillet over the onions and peppers.
Cover the skillet and allow the sausage, peppers and onions to get to know one another. The flavors will meld together. After about 10 minutes taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.

One of the most important things with a Sausage Sandwich is the roll. The roll has to be a good one. Crusty exterior with a nice soft center. To serve the sandwich, cut the roll in half. lay 1-2 sausage on each roll, load with the sausage and peppers. Wrap each sandwich with foil, allow to sit for about 10 minutes. The juices from the vegetables and sausage seep into the bread.

Enjoy, IC

Sausage Gravy

Description:
This is a very simple and delicious gravy to serve over a nice biscuit for breakfast.

If I have fresh tomatoes on hand I love to eat a few slices along with this dish right over the gravy..

Ingredients:
1 lb of Jimmy Dean or Bob Evans breakfast Sausage Log,
2 tablespoons of flour
milk, 1 1/2 to 2 cups
salt and lots of fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Brown the sausage in a skillet. Stir in the flour and mix well into the sausage. Slowly add the milk to make your gravy. Allow to simmer on low for about 5-10 minutes to cook off any raw flour taste. Add salt and ground pepper to taste.

Serve over a nice hot fresh biscuit.
Enjoy, IC

My Mortgage Lifter Tomato Review

Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes are not keepers. That's probably why you never see one in the market around here. They go bad super fast. Pick one and by the next day the tomato starts to go bad. Pick them under ripe and they go bad just as fast and don't seem to ripen any further.

They are an excellent tasting tomato and very meaty. Once the fruit form it ripens super fast. None of mine would last more than 2 days before showing signs of distress. Even when refrigerated.

I can a lot of tomatoes and these are not a good tomato for that purpose unless you can time it right to pick and can the same day and the tomatoes are to the right ripeness that day. When I can, I like to do about 5 to 10 quarts at a time.

The Mortgage lifter Tomatoes went bad fast on me no matter what I did. Picked them red off the vine, picked them a tad under ripe, set on the counter, window sill, in the fridge or in a brown paper bag. They would go bad just as fast on the vine after ripening as they would in the fridge. My compost pile can contend to that.

Next year, it will be back to my trusted beef steaks.

My Turn For A New Computer

My wifes 's computer died a few weeks ago and yesterday was my turn. I was on Farmtown and everything was taking so long to load. I decided to run the registry cleaner and when it showed only one error the red flag should have gone up but didn't. I clicked restart my computer now and when it restarted all I had was a nice black screen looking at me.

I did the old f12 to open eventually and scanned my hard drive and found that it wasn't working right. I tried to start in safe mode after I was able to get that screen to open but it wouldn't open windows. I tried starting at last time of good operation and nothing.

I ended up going to Best Buys and getting another laptop. I like it and can't believe the difference in operation. This computer has Vista and I don't mind it at all. I thought it was suppose to be such a bad program from what I've heard others say about it.

 

The Peanut Challenge. Peanut Themed Chicken Kabobs

Description:
I accept the challenge and am going to wing this. I'm going for the grill with this dish.
With a choice of beef or chicken, I think I'm going to go with chicken with the peanut flavor and maybe go for a them along the lines of a Thai dish. i'll break out some hot pepper flakes, some good ole soy sauce and maybe some honey. Seems that with the sweet I may need a touch of sour too so lets go for it.

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breast cut into 1" cubes
1/2 gallon of water with a 1/2 a cup of salt for an overnight brine for the chicken.
8 scallions
8 bamboo skewers

For the glazing sauce

1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup of honey
The juice and zest of 2 limes
1 teaspoon of Better than Bullion chicken base.
1 teaspoon of hot red pepper flakes
1/4 cup of low Sodium Soy Sauce
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 medium onion minced
2 cloves of garlic smashed
A pinch of salt and a dash of Cinnamon

1 cup of coarsely chopped honey roasted peanuts for a surprise finish.



Directions:
Brine the chicken pieces overnight. Rinse before using and pat dry.

Place the bamboo skewers in a sheet pan and cover with water and allow to soak for 1 hour.

In a medium sized sauce pan add a touch of peanut oil and saute the onions, garlic and pepper flakes. .Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and allow to reduce for about 25-30 minutes for a thick barbecue sauce consistency.

Pour sauce into a bowl and allow to cool.

Blanch the scallions in boiling water for about 30 seconds and remove to a bowl of of ice water to stop the cooking.

Get the grill going. if using coals, get the coals started at one end of the grill. If using gas, just light one side.

To assemble the Kabobs.

Start with 1 scallion. Stick a skewer through the white end of the scallion, Slide down the length of the skewer gently about an 1" or so, then place a piece of chicken on the skewer. fold the scallion over the piece of chicken and pierce again. gently push down the skewer pushing the chicken and scallion about an 1'. Repeat this step 5 times wrapping the scallion over the chicken each time and then sliding. After the first kabob is assembled the next 7 should be a breeze.

Scrape the grill grates and apply some peanut oil on the grate with a paper towel and some tongs to prevent sticking. If the grates are smoking the grill should be plenty hot enough.

Place the Kabobs on the side of the grill without the fire under it and grill the kabobs for 20 minutes with the lid closed. Turn after the first 10 minutes.

Place the Kabobs over the fire now. Brush on the peanut butter glaze sauce and turn. Allow a few minutes and turn again. Few minutes more and brush and turn again. Build up a nice glaze this way. Keep turning every few minutes and brush on more glaze to prevent burning.After about 10 minutes remove the Kabobs from the grill and ready for special treatment.

Place the chopped honey roasted peanuts on a plate. As the Kabobs are removed from the grill, roll in the peanuts to coat and then onto a serving platter. Serve with lime wedges and squeeze a bit of the lime juice on while eating.

Enjoy, IC