A Must Have

This book should be on the shelf of every Sportsman or Outdoorsman. Concise, well written and incredibly comprehensive, you may find this at a Flea market for cheap or on Amazon. Within these pages one finds information on everything from chokes and gauges of shotguns and rifle ballistics to camping tips, boating,fly-fishing,first aid,wild life identification,rods, reels,survival,decoys,knots,scopes, archery,tents,saws,campers,canoes,State resources,maps,GPS. All the chapters have good diagrams and schematics and text. This is a tome about which one can rightly say: " If it does not have it...you do not need to know it..."

Game Freeze

While I did not shoot many ducks or geese this year...it was actually a miserable season all over the "Delmarva" region, I did harvest some birds and put a few in the freezer. The problem with wild game is if you leave it in the freezer too long, even well packaged, it tends to freezer burn and lose the unique flavor of game. So this Sunday I decided to make Cassoulet and use up some of the last duck breats.
I had already made confit from some goose legs...really the only thing you can do with the rangey tough legs of a 3 or 4 year old bird harvested on its 3rd Southern migration.
The confit, along with some Wood Duck breast and some store bought Kielbasa made for a delectable game stew in the French vein.

The procedure is fairly simple:
Cube the duck breats with fat on....render it on meduim flame in an oven proof Dutch oven style vessel(I have Le Crusette.) When the fat is melted, remove the meat. Add 2 diced onions to the fat and saute until just caramelized, de-glaze with some white wine, then add 3 or 4 cloves of chopped garlic, fresh Thyme, ground pepper and about 2 cups of game stock or chicken stock.
Simmer for a few minutes then add 2 cans of drained diced tomatoes, 4 cans of white beans, return the duck meat to the pot and drop in the shredded goose confit. Add the cubed kielbasa and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the top with a mixture of fresh made coarse bread crumbs mixed with chopped fresh parsley. remember to place the bone from the confit in when it goes in the oven...this adds another level of flavor and richness.
Then put the pot uncovered in a 350 degree oven and cook for about 1/2 hour. Remove and let cool a bit on the stove top. With tongs, retrieve the bone of the goose leg.
Serve with a fresh salad of butter lettuce with mustard vinagrette, fresh crusty bread and a Cotes de Rhone or Pinot Noir and dinner is ready. We enjoyed this last night with my family, my mom and a guest...rave reviews....delicious.

Vonn-derful

OK...so that post title reads like a bad Daily News headline. Nevertheless, this All American vixen is dynamite on the slopes and generally just hot. The lovely Lindsey Vonn just became the first U.S. skier to win four overall World Cup titles. This is a major achievment. All that athletic talent and dazzling looks as well...ouch.
You may recall I posted about Vonn in 2010 when writing about the Vancouver Winter Olympics. She has continued her success on the slopes since then and reaching this milestone in World Cup Ski racing is phenomenal.
Sadly, we in the U.S. have a really hard time following these feats. Very little World Cup skiing is televised. It is not really covered in print news. I remember as a kid watching Wide World of Sports and February and March Saturday afternoons seemed to always feature some exciting ski races from Europe...the famous Hahnenkam for example. Not so today. Whether we watched on T.V. or not. Vonn's triumph warrants our salute.

Another One Goes Down hard

Lenny Dykstra....Nails...chewin' tobacco spittle dribbling down his chin, uniform covered in dirt from slide into 2nd base or a diving catch in Center Field. I saw him play as a Met in 1986 at Shea when he dropped a home run into the Bullpen against the Astros. My College buddies were Mets fans and took me to the NLCS game.I knew he was a Helluva ballplayer.

Fast forward to 1993. Nails had one of his best seasons. He was now wearing a Phillies uniform and was a spark plug to this exciting National League Champion team. He led the league in walks, hits and runs, and at-bats and was 2nd in MVP voting. He hit 4 home runs in that '93 World Series. We loved him here in the Quaker City.
But Nails was also the knucklehead who was driving drunk on a country road out my way when he crashed and injured himself and team catcher Darren Daulton. He was the ugly American who refused to remove his ball cap in an elegant restaurant in Paris, berated the Manager who asked him to take off the hat, and proceeded to order $1500.00 bottles of wine and swill them like Yoo-Hoo.

This week Lenny is wearing an orange jump-suit and is in State Custody in California. His post baseball behaviour and business dealings have been reprehensible to say the least. His troubles are not over either as he still faces Federal charges regarding his Bankruptcy and selling or disposing of assets after filing. He tanked businesses and lost investor money and defrauded many. Life outside the ballpark was not so easy huh?

It was sad to see the picture of Lenny having the handcuffs slipped on his wrist.It is sad to see Nails in a state issue orange suit. I would rather picture him in dirty Phillie's pinstripes with a big wad o' chew pawing the dirt in the batter's box.

Kite Flying

Not exactly a sporting pursuit...although apparently in Afghanistan they have fighting kite with ground glass glued to the strings to try and cut their competitors loose. But flying a kite is fun as Hell with your two cute daughters on the beach( my son was not even born yet.) This photo is circa 1996 on the beach in Bay Head,NJ. It was an early evening in late August. The wind had picked up and my wife and I grabbed the girls and a kite, walked to the beach and commenced flying. The girls squealed with delight as we launched the kite and soared it high above the surf. You can see the kite string and handle in my daughter's hands. These are the memories that sear into a parent's mental archives to be trotted out when things seem gloomy...an instant smile.

Soldier Hunt

When I am not hunting waterfowl or other game, I can often be found scouring Flea Markets and Antique shops stalking these WWI toy soldiers. They were manufactured by two companies: Manoil and Barclay.
My collecting began at about the age of seven when my parents, both antique hounds, bought me a soldier for about 25 cents one day to shut me up when I wanted to leave a Flea Market. What was at that time a pacification became a collection. These items now cost quite a bit more than a quarter....if you can find them.
One of the benefits of my litigation practice is that I go far afield to various Courthouses all over PA. On the way back to Philly I can stop at antique and junk shops around the Commonwealth to try and find a piece for my collection. The two American companies pumping out these "dimestore soldiers" thrived in the 30's, cut production during WWII and then faded in the late 40's and 50's when plastic soldiers became cheaper and more popular.
When I met up with ADG of Maxminimus, we discussed our shared obsession with toy soldier collections and I have been meaning to post about my collection. The pix are not very high quality...but you get the idea. The display is in my living room atop a family heirloom piece of furniture that used to sit in my Great Grandmother's "parlor"...a fitting pedestal for these relics of past play.

The Heavyweight

Tuesday afternoon I drove up to a side street above the Port Ricmond section of Philadelphia to visit the famous Front st. Gym. A description and stories about this gritty boxers facility is better left for a seperate post. You can visit Brohammas Blog where he provides some excellent pix and prose.
The purpose of my visit was to watch my new boxer train. Joey Cusumano was here in Philadelphia from his native Virginia Beach to get some medical tests required by different state boxing commissions. He has upcoming bouts and with the vagaries of the State by State local rules for which tests are required, I wanted him here to make sure it was completed properly. I am excited about this kid's talent and athleticism.
After the work-out I had dinner with Joey and his trainer as well as legendary boxing advisor Don Elbaum. Over steaks at the Palm we discussed upcoming bouts and opponents and general strategy for his move up the ranks. Joey is a charming and driven athlete and I am looking forward to working with him.