Eastern Shore Christmas

My wife and I traveled down to Easton,Maryland last Friday to enjoy the town Christmas parade.
Before the scheduled kick-off we enjoyed a few pints and some oysters and a walk among the shops.
This old-school gun shop is  a rare breed these days. You walk in and smell canvas and waxed cotton and gun oil and tobacco. You can actually find 10 ga. shells for your goose guns. Filson is a featured brand.It is getting harder and harder to find a local gunsmith who knows the way around an old Browning or Beretta. I do suspect a small item or two from this store will find its way to my stocking on Christmas morning.

Despite the Weather

 The dawn rose snowy and ugly this morning. However, I had a settlement conference in Wilkes Barre...a 2 plus hour drive on a good day. With the cold and snow...not so much.

 The drive to get on the highway was unpleasant. Mini-vans were skidding into guard rails and supposed "all wheel drive" vehicles were off the road and kissing trees. There was a flat bed 18 wheeler stuck on the on-ramp to 476 and the rookies and snow-incompetent drivers were stacked behind him.

 As a veteran of many a snowy drive to hunting camps and ski destinations and beer runs, I was prepared. I had my 2010 F-!50 in real 4 wheel drive and some 100 lbs bags of sand in the bed for added weight on the back wheels.

I had to make it to this Mediation session...it is how I earn the money to keep me in shotgun shells and camo Goretex and steeplechase wagers and whiskey. I made it in just under 3 hours. I settled the case...bid farewell to a very happy client ...and pointed the truck South. Heading South from Wilkes Barre takes one  by PA 22 at Allentown and a quick right takes you toward the Sportsman's Mecca. We needed some new blood in our heard of goose decoys at the club. The gear above ended up in the back of my truck for the ride home and will be deployed Thursday and Friday as the Delaware waterfowl season re-opens.  It is going to be in the single digits Thursday when we take to the duck blinds before dawn and only a little warmer when we set up for geese at about 8:30 A.M. when the ducks usually stop flying. So no posts until after the gun stops smoking!~

The Original American Spirit

 From Washington Post, a quote from Jim Murray, an English writer and one of the world's top whiskey critics.

“The best whiskey is coming not from Scotland any more, but from Kentucky,” he said, adding that Buffalo Trace, a bourbon distillery in Frankfort, Ky., is “arguably the best distillery in the world.”

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/9/english-born-whiskey-critic-says-scotch-out-americ/#ixzz2n8c8tknm
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Shot and a Beer

 After all the pre-Thanksgiving cooking was complete on Wednesday, I headed out to the best local tap-room on the Main Line: The Roache & O'Brien.

 This joint has been around forever...since the 30's. I had 9 oz drafts in here when I was 16.

The guys behind the bar know what you drink and know their job, always have a hearty hello and put the proper games on TV. Darts and a good Juke comprise the entertainment. Smoking is allowed and there are always a few guys you know from the neighborhood or from high school sipping a pint.

You have to appreciate a joint that is open from 7:00 A.M. on Thanksgiving day...and then closes at 2 P.M. so the staff can get their turkey on...and then re-opens at 7:30 until 2 A.M. so revelers can have a few drinks amongst friends after the bird is digested.These days, joints like these are few and far between in suburban America....this sportsman is damn glad one is in his jurisdiction.

More Eat What You Kill

 Saturday 7:15 A.M. The Boardwalk blind at H&H Waterfowl Club,Smyrna,DE.

 It was around 20 degrees at legal shooting time. Thank God for modern waterfowl gear...waders with 800 grams of Thinsulate, warm camo coat, camo fleece hat...all the rig to ward of the  frigid damp air of the marsh. As my Grandfather would say: "Colder than a grave digger's ass."

 A lone mallard hen sweeps by to take a peek at our decoy spread. She is whistlling by right to left. I shoulder the gun and shoot. Splash one mallard. Genna sees the bird drop, marks, and off she goes. The bird is in hand.

 I hung the bird overnight and cleaned it on Sunday. On Monday I prepared wild duck cassoulet.

 Sauteed onions and garlic. Add the cubes of duck breast and thigh meat( not much meat to garner from the legs of a wild bird.)Add carrots and stock from the Thanksgiving turkey. Fresh Thyme and lots of pepper come next. A dash of salt and chiffonade of Sage

 I always add the carcass to braise for a while and extract all that wild flavor of freshly harvested game.

 Next add some garlic sausage from DiBruno Brothers in South Philly. Then some white beans and chopped tomatoes join the melange in the Le Cruesette.

Simmer for a while. To serve, toast some Italian bread with a little Gruyere on top. Place the cheese crowned crouton in a bowl and ladle the cassoulete over top. A Pinot Noir or a Barolo pairs well. I am just a knock around kinda guy, not much on wine, so I like a icy cold Stella Artois or even a Yuengling Chesterfield Ale with my cassoulete. A meal like this is the gustatory ancillary benefit to all the fun and  work of waterfowling. You cannot get this in ANY restaurant....anywhere.

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I don't always drink Bourbon. But when I do...it is often Wild Turkey.
Especially when it is 40 degrees and windy at the Lehigh v. Lafayette game tailgate.

Kids

I took my son hunting on Friday after Thanksgiving. We set up for geese in the afternoon , ducks Saturday in the morning and geese for the balance of the day.
The kid in the photo above could just as easily be holding a 20 ga. hunting with his dad.
The time in the blinds this weekend gave me lots of opportunity to talk to my boy at length. Time  has been hard to come by recently as he was preparing for the SAT's and has a busy schedule for school and sports.
There were 7  other guys at the duck hunting club on Friday night....and my 16 year old. He held his own in the company of men. As I have said before, I feel it crucial to immerse my son in the rituals of men. Then he cleaned me out at the poker table Friday night. Maybe the little jerk should stick to his school-work.