MARCH

[Micanopy]

Cooked for a crowd of 500. It was their annual Beast Feast. We made Jerk Chicken Legs, ribs with a guava BBQ sauce, coconut rice, hush puppies, pulled pork, brisket with some kind of green stuff applied, and the stars of the show……2 whole pigs.





There was a feller there making Gator Ribs. I tried them but gave them the big thumbs down. Way too dry for me. Gator Tail is far better. There are two ways to approach gator tail. One is small pieces cooked hot and quick, and the other is larger pieces cooked long and low.



The savages came to eat that was for sure and the poor pigs were devoured.




The venue was a restaurant with a large Tiki Bar, right on the water. I was speaking with the manager and he said the most amazing thing. The business grosses a million bucks a month. That even with them being closed on Mondays. I got a tour of the kitchen and spotted their commercial fry station. It had twelve baskets all lined up. They also had steamers that you put the food in a perforated tray and in a few minutes steamed to perfection. It really wasn’t that big of a place and I was surprised at how much money it makes. He said last weekend they cleared a quarter million in just two days. That is slinging some hash baby.


The weather is not conducive to me fishing today as it is rainy and windy. They are calling for thunderstorms and I do not do lakes in lightning. Tomorrow is looking like a solid….maybe at this point. The fish are finishing up their spawn and should be moving out to where I can get after them.

The club meeting has been postponed due to standing water in the man’s yard. We have gotten a pretty good dose of the stuff lately. The other day was the first rain we had gotten all year. Spring is never a good time to be dry.

I have allowed the bird feeder to run dry as it is time for the finches to head home. All fattened up from my special blend of seed. The doves live here year round even though they are a migratory species. I stopped feeding them as well. The deck and it’s furniture will definitely look a lot better now that the birds have other places to leave droppings.



Guess I will piddle around today.

[BobC]

Some good looking eats, Micanopy. Interesting report on that restaurant. The guy must know what he is doing and delivering a quality product.
Bob

[Micanopy]

Cyclops

[DockShootinJack]

Cyclops

Some poor fish will have nightmares are seeing Cyclops swim by. Unique jig. A change from what they usually see gets bit most of the time.

[DockShootinJack]

Cooked for a crowd of 500. It was their annual Beast Feast. We made Jerk Chicken Legs, ribs with a guava BBQ sauce, coconut rice, hush puppies, pulled pork, brisket with some kind of green stuff applied, and the stars of the show……2 whole pigs.





There was a feller there making Gator Ribs. I tried them but gave them the big thumbs down. Way too dry for me. Gator Tail is far better. There are two ways to approach gator tail. One is small pieces cooked hot and quick, and the other is larger pieces cooked long and low.



The savages came to eat that was for sure and the poor pigs were devoured.




The venue was a restaurant with a large Tiki Bar, right on the water. I was speaking with the manager and he said the most amazing thing. The business grosses a million bucks a month. That even with them being closed on Mondays. I got a tour of the kitchen and spotted their commercial fry station. It had twelve baskets all lined up. They also had steamers that you put the food in a perforated tray and in a few minutes steamed to perfection. It really wasn’t that big of a place and I was surprised at how much money it makes. He said last weekend they cleared a quarter million in just two days. That is slinging some hash baby.


The weather is not conducive to me fishing today as it is rainy and windy. They are calling for thunderstorms and I do not do lakes in lightning. Tomorrow is looking like a solid….maybe at this point. The fish are finishing up their spawn and should be moving out to where I can get after them.

The club meeting has been postponed due to standing water in the man’s yard. We have gotten a pretty good dose of the stuff lately. The other day was the first rain we had gotten all year. Spring is never a good time to be dry.

I have allowed the bird feeder to run dry as it is time for the finches to head home. All fattened up from my special blend of seed. The doves live here year round even though they are a migratory species. I stopped feeding them as well. The deck and it’s furniture will definitely look a lot better now that the birds have other places to leave droppings.



Guess I will piddle around today.

Fine looking spread. Very nice mahogany color on that pig. Ribs look awesome. Never had gator ribs only the tail. Those look to be fried.

[Micanopy]

Went today and caught six nice large bluegill, and six crappie with only one of them worthy of keeping. All tossed back. Beautiful day, with heavy fog first thing.

[DockShootinJack]

Any day with fish in the boat is a pretty good day

[Micanopy]

I think so too Jack.


The fishing has been tough for a few months now. I manage five or six fish days most times. My buddies manage a few more than that, but we do the same thing and I have no idea why he nabs the extras. Seriously, same speeds, same lures, same technique and he catches more fish.

Yesterday the popular lure was the pink head, white body and yellow tail with no blade. I saw a few hits that resulted in no fish, but figured those were bluegill having issues getting it all the way inside their mouthes. The ones that did swallow whole looked like they had swallowed way too much and were choking on it. They of course fight differently than crappie and tend to stay under and use their bodies to go side to side in a futile effort to resist. I would call them large sized.

So we are well beyond the “Full Moon Spawn in February”, and we are now past the “Full Moon Spawn in March”, and I suppose the fish still have eggs. So much for that theory. However, I imagine that very soon they will be all done and back to being their old selves once again. I can’t wait for this festival atmosphere to revert back to abject boredom so when they spot my offering they bite it.

Today I have an A/C job to do so no fishing for me today. Probably ride around in the boss’s truck and stand around and BS with the customers. I have no clue when it comes to A/C units, but I can lift and fetch and stuff. Yesterday he had to fix a store where crack heads congregate. He said they were smoking the stuff right out in the open and sales of the dope seemed brisk. The owner apparently likes having them about as they do buy malt liquors and cigarettes and such. I suppose they bring customers into the parking lot as well. Pretty sad that here in America we allow convenience store owners to prey upon the sick. Those folks that choose to live without regard to rules and societal expectations and are completely addicted to something. I believe that at least a third of the money spent on EBT cards goes to these store owners….and they are not serving hot turkey sandwiches either. They cheat the system and rake in obscene profits off our generosity.

The puppy is doing great. He is romping about, playing and chasing squirrels. He is very patient and will sometimes sit at the gate waiting for me to come home. It is good to see him up to his old stuff. He has been on a diet trying to lose some weight. Wife says he is too skinny now, but I think he is at his fighting weight. The doctor said he is diabetic and he gets shots twice a day. He is a good sport about it but I can tell he doesn’t care for it. I try to make it part of the routine and so he kind of knows it is coming. I will offer him a little more food in his bowl going forward. Now her dog, well that is different. She stays on the starvation diet plan I have selected for her. Not that she is fat mind you, just to make sure she stays fit and trim. At 15 years, she cannot afford to swell up like her Daddy has. LOL

I have been making the wife lunches for a while now and have tried to impart some diversity. Last night I fired up the griddle and cooked some crappie fish fillets from the trip a few days ago. Then I slid on some scallops, and finally some chicken tenders. I layered these atop a bed of rice for myself, and atop a bed of spinach for her. Placed a ring of tomato slices around hers and added chunks of mozzarella cheese. I cut up the leftover chicken this morning and added that to some spinach for her lunch. I used mozzarella and tomato slices and also added some baked pumpkin seeds and a few blueberries, and a few splashes of red wine and vinegar salad dressing. She is always dieting you know. Fraid so. This affects me because tonight I had planned on making Smash Burgers and Mac & Cheese and fries. Now that deal is off and I am right along side her eating green stuff. Healthy stuff. Boring stuff.

Now that I have that griddle thingie I am starting to read recipes that people make on their large Blackstone griddles. Grateful I do not need to provide space for one, too. It is a lot like pan frying only better because you get to play with the food more. Slide it over here, flip it over there, make silly patterns. It is starting to become a favorite way to prepare fish, because……. wait for it….wait…..because she wants to eat healthy. Yup. No way to get around that stuff. Pretty insistent.

I am not thrilled with the pizza pan thingie anymore. The oils and such drip off the edge and onto the concrete. Also, it is difficult to spatula up small round items because there is no edge. I saw where Lodge makes a 17” skillet with two dog ears on it. Man that thing looks like it would be a much better choice for me. I have to becareful because every single time I get a kitchen gadget she starts in on a discussion of me having too much stuff and can’t store it all. Which is true, no doubt, but what am I supposed to do when I have to do all the cooking. I have to slop her, her dumb little dog and my savage, and they all have expectations you know.

I saw where people use sanders to smooth the surface of their Lodge skillets. This to make them more slick and able to be used for cooking eggs and stuff. After twenty years, one can build up enough layers of burnt oil to get along with flipping eggs, being as the surface is above the sand textured surface, but sanding the thing some gets you there quicker. I watched and read and discovered that too much sanding and polishing will prevent the oil from accumulating and you ruin the skillet. I intend to try this for myself and plan to sand it smooth, but not go mad with the sandpaper. Leave a little surface to it. Then season and see how things go. Do more later if needed.

I also read where folks are saying that the process that Lodge uses to season is not especially good for us. Lodge says otherwise but I can see where seasoning myself is probably the best way to proceed. I have other pans and skillets I can experiment with until I figure out exactly what I want. They tell me that Flax Seed oil is the best for seasoning cast iron, with grape seed oil a close second. I really do want that slide to be available to me when cooking and so these efforts will be worth it when fixing delicate items.

I should probably just cook on my stovetop using Teflon coated skillets but the way i do things I generate a lot of smoke, so outside will be best still. Shrimp are so hard to resist when you dip them into a butter and garlic melt and slather them upon a hot piece of iron. That sizzle is so nice and they come off without a lot of extra stuff added. You get to taste the shrimp still, and it is fast and easy enough with my custom modified propane tank thingie that takes up very little floor space in the garage.


Haven’t made any new jigs to show you guys. I am kind of like in a holding pattern until the spirit moves upon me again. I noticed that my creations come in spurts not evenly over time. God moves me……and away I go. Sometimes it lasts for weeks. Well He has me waiting for my next creation and I simply cannot wait to see what it will be.

[DockShootinJack]

I have use avocado oil with pretty good success on cast iron. I also have some grape seed oil as well. I have sanded one or two pieces to smooth them some. It does cut down on the time to rebuild a slick coating. Lodge makes a rectangular griddle also that works okay for smash burgers and such. I have one of the large cast skillets. Certainly doesn't fit into the sink very well when clean up time comes. I would think food from cast iron is probably safer than food from whatever wonder coating they have dreamed up for cookware these days.
One could always go the the Himalayan salt blocks for cooking. They look to put a great sear on a steak. Good to here the Pup is doing good.

[Micanopy]

The seasoning went pretty well. It isn’t done yet as I have only done it twice. First coat the pans were golden yellow. They are much darker now and starting to develop the slickness I was after.

The new 17” skillet is awesome. While it fit in my old propane setup, it looked kind of rough. Redneckie. The bride was complaining that me cooking in front of the garage prevents guests from interacting with me. This means she is responsible to entertain them. She wanted me to move the cookers to the backyard where people could expect me to mumble something every so often. So……I needed to alter the setup some.



She had a long time friend over Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. The theme was binge watching old Twin Peaks episodes. Man did they ever watch some TV. I didn’t have to entertain very much as they were mesmerized. That is one of my complaints about watching TV. You stare zombie like and the next thing you know it’s next week.

I fashioned up a cheese and fruit platter to nibble on. Then I fixed baby back ribs with teriyaki sauce. Then I cut up some mozzarella cheese and skewered it along with a grape tomato and slathered them with a red wine vinaigrette salad dressing. As the night progressed I could see them fading so I fired up the griddle thingie and made grilled cheese sandwiches. Then set out a really good salsa and some Mexican cheese dip and tortilla chips. In the morning I made coffee and bacon and eggs and toast and fruit for breakfast. The new skillet performed wonderfully well. Although the eggs kind of stuck a little, another good curing should fix that.

I attacked the yard yesterday and trimmed branches and pulled weeds and chased the dead leaves out of the flower beds. Mulch has gone up in price from last year. I scattered enough to cover the front of the house. No snakes.

This morning we both got up early. She to exercise all that food away and me to get the boat ready to go fishing. Want to hit up a lake I haven’t been to in a while. If they bite well I will cook her fish tonight. Otherwise I have to go buy something as I am all out at this point.