The next generation

[oldpro]

Because of unforseen work commitments for the rest of my family I was given the task of keeping my 9 year old grandson last week when he got out of school for the holidays.  We ended up hunting five days in a row, and harvested snow geese, specklebellies, and sandhill cranes.  He harvested his first snow goose and first sandhill crane, which was a remarkable feat in my opinion. Equally as important, he was a willing participant in getting the game from the field to the table.

We had pot roasted snow goose, courtesy of my cajun friend who hunted with us on three of the mornings.  We had a wonderful goose gumbo, also cajun style.  On Christmas day, we had our traditional beef tender, but this year had sandhill crane breast filets cooked over live mesquite coals as well.  The sandhill crane was a perfect medium rare, and the family agreed it was better than the beef tender and lived up to its reputation as the "ribeye-in-the-sky". 

My grandson told me after the Chrismas dinner that the birds you harvested yourself seemed to just taste better.  I coundn't agree more.

I hope all of you at Chef Talk had a wonderful Chrismas, and here's best wishes from my family to yours for a Happy New Year!.

. 

 

[oldpro]

I apologize if I offended anyone with my original reference to my friend with his roots in Louisianna.  It was not intended as any kind of a slur, and I have edited the word in question.

 

[fr33_mason]

Some of my fondest memories groeing up was of times hunting with my dad, grandfather, and most of the family.  It was and still is somewhat traditional for the families that are from around my area.  Nice to see that type of thing still going on.

 

[kyheirloomer]

I didn't see your original wording, Tyler. Was it the CA phrase you used? I don't reckon anyone would have been offended by that. Certainly not the white-booted folk to whom it applies.

I didn't grow up in a hunting family. In fact, my father hated guns, and nobody understood how I developed a love of what the Brits call "blood sports. But even as a youngster I knew I was a hunter.

My kids, on the other hand, grew up surrounded by firearms that they learned to use at an early age. Hunting and fishing was our way of bonding, and it was a family tradition to make holiday hunts, particularly on Thanksgiving morning. Later on even Friend Wife joined the party, and I especially remember (talking about southern Louisiana) when Eli Hadel learned her why we sit in the blind long after taking a limit.

Not that what you guys do down there is really duck hunting. Heck, the birds jump in the blinds, yelling, "take me, take me." /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif

 

[oldpro]

I didn't see your original wording, Tyler. Was it the CA phrase you used? I don't reckon anyone would have been offended by that. Certainly not the white-booted folk to whom it applies.

I didn't grow up in a hunting family. In fact, my father hated guns, and nobody understood how I developed a love of what the Brits call "blood sports. But even as a youngster I knew I was a hunter.

My kids, on the other hand, grew up surrounded by firearms that they learned to use at an early age. Hunting and fishing was our way of bonding, and it was a family tradition to make holiday hunts, particularly on Thanksgiving morning. Later on even Friend Wife joined the party, and I especially remember (talking about southern Louisiana) when Eli Hadel learned her why we sit in the blind long after taking a limit.

Not that what you guys do down there is really duck hunting. Heck, the birds jump in the blinds, yelling, "take me, take me." /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif

It was the CA word.  Actually, the duck hunting has been a bit slow this year.  We are in the grip of a severe drought, and the ducks get blown off what water there is rather quickly.  I understand the conditions are even worse in south Louisianna.  It's been a hard year for them with the oil spill and the hit their seafood industry took as a result. There was an article in the Houston Chronicle about the local oyster industry as well.  The big oyster house in Matagorda that services a lot of the Houston restaurants is now working a single shift with a skeleton crew to keep the doors open.  The whole Gulf Coast was affected by that oil spill, not to mention the slow economy.   I know this is a difficult time for the entire food service industy.

I'm doing my part to help  We have a blustery, cold day for this area today.  I have a big pot of gumbo on and the whole house smells wonderful. Oysters will be a going in the pot last.  Thie biggest decision I have to make at this point is okra or no okra. 

I'd be interested in what some of the rest of you prepared over the holidays. 

 

 

[gonefishin]

   Thanks for sharing Oldpro!  It's funny how newer generations seem to be getting further and further away from the essence of food (hunting, gardening).  People seem to blame a lot of things, I only see ourselves to blame.  If I don't get off my butt and teach my kids it's my fault not theirs.  Thanks for doing your part...in two generations.

   Happy holidays!

  dan

 

[kyheirloomer]

Ease up on yourself, Dan. It ain't your fault.

All you can do is raise them up the best you can. But don't forget that there are societal pressures as well. Nowadays that means the opposite of self sufficiency and a sneering attitude at the opposite of affluence. So no matter how you raised them, most do not garden. Given times like we've had the past two years, though, and there's a massive turnaround.

As to hunting and fishing, there's been a 40+ year campaign waged by those against such sports, gleefully supported by the mass media. So it's understandable that fewer people engage in them. Even so, based on the latest figures, 15,000,000 Americans (you start that figure by saying, "fifteeen million...) describe themselves as serious hunters. And that's defined as hunting at least 20 days/year. 

What most amuses me about the anti-hunters is that they talk a good game, but haven't stepped into the economic breach they caused. Most meaningful conservation efforts in North America are supported by hunting and fishing license fees and by the excize taxes on hunting and fishing equipment. Take away that money and the programs languish and even die for lack of financial support. I'll get off the soapbox now.

Interestingly enough, despite their loss of popularity, when it comes to participatory recreation (that is, things you do as opposed to things you merely watch others do), all three of these score highly. Depending on the specific year (and who's counting) golf and gardening jocky back and forth for first place. These are followed by fishing, and then hunting. "Gardening" means growing things, not necessarily vegetables, which is why it scores so highly. Although the figures are not broken out, pragmatically we know that vegetable gardening alone would score much lower. Sadly.  

 

[siduri]

I can see the sense in being against hunting, but only if the person against it is consistent and does not eat meat.   Then no problem.  being against hunting but in favor of organic animal farming is pretty ridiculous - what could be more organic? (unless the animals are foraging around the nuclear waste or something!)

I would have a hard time killing an animal myself, but am not opposed to it, since i eat plenty of meat myself. Well, most people don;t make bread but have no problem eating it and no one accuses them of being inconsistent.  

But as for passing on traditions - some traditions the next generation will take up with pleasure, especially if they participated all along.  Others they will reject, because if they don't reject SOMETHING, they'll be just photocopies of ourselves. 

 

[gonefishin]

    I'm fine if someone doesn't want to participate in hunting, fishing, or whatever.  I just think it's a shame when children aren't exposed to any of it.  Then society says...oh, our children don't even know what a cow looks like in person.

      What a shame.  I just think exposure is important.  You may not have a farm in your backyard, or in your town.  But you can drive to one and many times take a tour and even milk a cow yourself.

  Conservation is a funny thing.  You've got some organizations that are all up front talk, loud as ever.  Then some others may be worthwhile stewards of the land and habitat, but they sometimes overlook things like population growth, etc.  I've found, that if you ask an honest hunter or fisherman about conservation they'll often take the position of being very proactive for habitat and population growth.

  dan

 

[nicko]

I grew up going to a hunt club with my Dad and brother hunting for pheasants. It was not really for the food aspect but for the sport of hunting and spending time with our Dad. As a young kid I never really enjoyed hunting mainly because I was a lousy shot and never seemed to hit anything.

Recently though I have started hunting again after taking some classes and learning how to shoot properly. It is a great feeling to be out walking in the field with friends waiting for the dog to flush up a bird. One thing I noticed right away is that when I bring home still warm pheasants after a hunt I have a deeper respect for where that meat came from. I am more careful on how I handle the meat and how I cook it. I really think it helps me have a clearer perspective on where our food and the nourishment comes from. And it also helps me show the food more respect.

 

[gonefishin]

  KYH,

  If I don't get off my butt and teach my kids it's my fault not theirs.

   Happy holidays!

  dan

    I was just using myself as a part of a larger example.  While I may not participate in some things, I do in others.  Plus I take my kids, on occasion, to farms to see the pigs, sheep, horses, cows.  If we're eating something I get them involved with the cleaning and preparations of the food.  I have them try one of our tomatoes next to a summer store brought.  Eggs don't come from the store, and the taste/look of an egg is different depending on several variables. 

  I do believe some children are natural hunters (of).  My son, our middle child, may be one of these people...maybe not.  He's got a definite interest and who am I not to expose him to these things?

 dan

 

[oldpro]

School started back up on Monday, so I lost my hunting companion (until Saturday).  We added a rabbit to our pot, which he shot, and he declared fried rabbit to be a gourmet quality dish. 

Like KYH, I did not grow up in a hunting/fishing family.  I did, however, start preparing Saturday family meals when I was 12 years old and have always loved cooking.  When I started hunting in my teens with friends from hunting families, I added game to the table and have been gathering and preparing game since. This interest led me to start collecting cookbooks on game cookery, and the historic prepartation of game fascinates me.  In our past, the game gathered in the field was the staple of our diet, and I've derived a lot of pleasure trying to duplicate the recipes dating back not decades but over 100 years ago. 

It's been a lot of fun sharing some of these recipes with my grandson the past couple of weeks.  I think we'll have roast specklebelly goose this weekend out of one of my old cookbooks.