Winter Love Hot Cocoa

by almost_rosey // 16Feb2014 // No Comments

Someone asked me if I was sick of winter yet. I smiled and said, “No. I love winter.” I proceeded to explain that I am very active in the winter (as I am an avid ice fisherwoman) & that winter up here in Almost Canada is better than it is in central to southern Minnesota. I know you think I am crazy but let me explain.

It snows a lot more in central to southern Minnesota than it does up here. There is also more freezing rain & slush further south. In Almost Canada it may be colder and the snow definitely lasts longer, but the constant snow & slush in the air & on the ground is not the same. I also do not have to drive 1-3hrs one way to get to work & then repeat that commute after work. I know that is the biggest part of loving winter even more since I moved. I drive about 1.5 miles to get to work or any other place in town. It is a very nice change. I also explained this to the person who asked me if I was sick of winter. He smiled & said that he was glad I said that. That it was nice to hear someone positive & say good things about winter.

I think that people here in Almost Canada sometimes forget about the beauty of a small town & what winter has to bring. Almost everyday I hear people say how they are sick of the cold & how winter came early and will probably stay late, etc. I’m not saying I’m thrilled about the -30F for the past two months. Yes, two months. It has been brutally cold, but I still love winter. The cold signifies ice which means fishing. The snow looks beautiful on the lake when you are driving a snowmobile in the morning with the sun coming up or as you stare out of your portable.

After a long day of fishing & being out in the cold (especially cold since the heater broke on the way out to the lake), I thought it would be nice to have some hot cocoa and remember why I love winter & this small town.

Hot Cocoa

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/4 cup powdered milk
1 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
few dashes cinnamon
dash cayenne

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Fill mug half full with mix & top with boiling water or milk. Stir, add marshmallows, & enjoy the warming comfort of hot cocoa. Store the rest in an airtight container for the season.

(If desired one can add a teaspoon or two of instant espresso or coffee to the individual mugs as well. So good…)

Parmesan Encrusted Walleye with Lettuce Risotto

by almost_rosey // 6Feb2014 // No Comments

I mentioned previously that I had lots of Walleye in my freezer that needed to be cooked and that I had to get creative with it. I decided that I was going to think of it as any type of fish that I wanted, so that it could be prepared in any way that I wanted. I needed to let go of all my previous thoughts about how to cook walleye. I decided to try and make more of a gourmet dish. I though I would encrust it with parmesan and then make a nice side to accompany it.

Thus, I ended up with Parmesan Encrusted Walleye & Lettuce Risotto. Neither of these things is new, but I have never made either of them. More importantly, I came up with my own recipes for them. Although I am sure they are similar to other recipes out there (as many recipes are similar to one another), at least I can say they are mine.

For the Walleye…

Walleye, approximately 4 fillets fresh or thawed if frozen (enough for 2 people)
Flour
Salt & pepper
1 egg
Milk
Breadcrumbs, seasoned
Parmesan cheese, finely grated (the kind that comes in a “shaky” container)
Olive oil

For the Lettuce Risotto…

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2/3 cup Arborio rice
¼ head iceberg lettuce or 4oz lettuce, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
2.5-3 cups water
1 tbsp butter
2-4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

Chop the onion and place in a skillet with a few teaspoons of olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until tender and slightly colored.

Meanwhile get two plates and a bowl for the walleye prep. In one plate, place flour and salt & pepper. Gently mix with a fork. In a bowl, beat 1 egg with a little bit of milk. In the last plate, place equal amounts breadcrumbs & parmesan cheese & mix.

After the onion is tender, add the Arborio rice and stir for 2 minutes until toasted, but not browned.

Add ½ cup chicken stock and stir until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Add the lettuce and sauté until slightly wilted.

Add the rest of the stock and ½ cup water. Stir until most of the liquid has been absorbed and add ½-1 cup water increments until the rice is al dente*. It should be creamy. Stir in the butter and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

*When you have about ½ cup water left to add to the risotto, prep the walleye. Take the walleye and place in the flour mixture, coating both sides, and shake the excess off. Next, place it in the egg & milk mixture. Finally, place it in the breadcrumbs & parmesan cheese mixture.

Place the coated walleye in a skillet with olive oil and cook over medium to medium high heat for about 2 minutes per side until cooked through and golden brown.

Serve the walleye over the risotto and enjoy.

Getting Creative with Walleye

by almost_rosey // 29Jan2014 // 1 Comment

A few weeks ago my fishing guide took me out ice fishing. Let me explain how wonderful this is…

We get up and get ready and leave on snowmobiles from the house. We cross the street to reach a ditch and drive for a very short distance to a park with access for us to get on the river/lake. We continue to drive until we find a suitable place to fish and move if necessary. We fish and then drive home. It’s amazing if you ice fish.

We went out fishing and stopped at a point but there were no fish to be found. We moved to another spot a smidge over 5 miles away where my fishing guide was sure there would be fish. The water was a bit too shallow so we moved just a few feet away to where it was deeper. That’s when the action started. It was slow at first but around lunch time the bites were constant and they were all nicely sized fish. We ended up coming home with one shy of our limit but added a perch in there as well to make up for it. I caught the biggest walleye of my life so far…a solid 18 inches.

Now what to do with all these fish…

Of course for lunch the next day we fried them up in beer batter. A method of eating fish that is always delicious. In the past I have made fish in a bag or en papillote where I got the recipe from Emiglia. I always add onions to the bag when I make this & use olive oil instead as I have that readily available.

Cabillaud en Papillote

I decided to look to her again for guidance as I have never really cooked fish. Almost 30 and never cooked fish. Well now I need to start. I need to get creative as I have lots of walleye and will continue to have lots of walleye to work with. I decided to make blackened walleye. There are no pictures as it was too delicious and I forgot to take them. My fishing guide who has been eating fish his whole life said it was the best walleye he ever had. I messed up and used 1tsp oregano instead of 1/4 but it didn’t matter. The fish was so flavorful! I also served it with rice & sautéed onions and roasted broccoli. The sauce was divine on the rice & onions.

Blackened Fish

As I had just finished a 12 Soups of Christmas challenge I thought I should attempt a seafood chowder. I used my freshly caught walleye & shrimp that I had in the freezer. I did not have fish stock or clam juice so the next time I make it I would replace the water with one of those items.

Seafood Chowder

1/4lb bacon
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 small to medium carrots, peeled & chopped
2 potatoes, diced
1/4tsp cayenne
1/4tsp salt
1tsp thyme
black pepper to taste
16-24oz water
10-12 oz milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup (feel free to use cream of potato or another cream based soup)
Walleye, cut into bite sized pieces (perhaps 4 average walleye, I had one vacuumed sealed pack)
Shrimp, peeled & deveined (I used about 12-15 medium shrimp)

Cook bacon in large pot until crispy. Remove and set aside. Add onion & carrots to bacon grease and cook until translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add potatoes and continue to cook until potatoes begin to become softened, about 10 minutes.

Add water and simmer for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender. Add more water as needed.

Add the milk while stirring and add the cream of mushroom soup & seasonings. Stir until combined and allow to come back to a simmer. Add the fish and cook for 8minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes more. Crumble the bacon and add to the soup. Serve with French bread or garlic toast.

Now that I have cooked walleye in a few different ways I am very excited to continue to come up with recipes. I’ve discovered that walleye doesn’t have to be just a beer battered fish and if you get a little creative it can be used in many new & interesting preparations. Stay tuned.

The 12 Soups of Christmas

by almost_rosey // 9Jan2014 // 3 Comments

I worked briefly at a company in Plymouth, MN and met a wonderful person who helped me see the light & believe in my skills as a chemist. Prior to working there I had a position as a chemist for a different company. Towards the end I dreaded going to work. I would wake up feeling sick every morning and there was nothing to be done to help my career at this company. The company was great, but without going into details, let us just say that it was not a good fit. I started to actually believe I could not do chemistry and that I had made a grave mistake going into this line of work. The lady with the magic wand at my temporary position made that change. She made me realize that I did love my field of work and that I was good at what I do. Although I ended up leaving that position to go to a different company in a dream location – Almost Canada. I won’t ever forget her inspiration. This lady also told me about the 12 Soups of Christmas. I remember thinking that it was a cool idea. I had to ask again what it was…

About seven years ago I had the idea to make soup for 12 days in a row. I was really into soup and I had just gotten a really good soup cookbook from half price books. I did not succeed my first year, or any year after that. But, every year, I make an effort to make twelve soups between black friday and epiphany. I usually peter out around new years. I think I average about 7-8 soups.

Well, she made a group called the 12 Soups of Christmas (which later changed to the 12 Soups, Stews, & Chilies of Christmas) and invited me. I love soup. I love soup in the winter. To have a reason to make more soup just makes plain sense. So I embarked on a soup journey.

My 1st Soup was a Leftover Veggie Soup. I just used what I had in my pantry/fridge to make it (veggie stock, kidney beans, cabbage, carrots, onion, green pepper, & crushed tomatoes). It was simple, yummy, and no food got wasted.

My 2nd Soup was a Light Broccoli Cheese Soup. I have never made broccoli cheese but didn’t want to deal with the calories & fat so I looked for a lightened up version. My Recipes/Cooking Light helped me out. It was yummy (not the same as the original version) but one I could make anytime without guilt. Broccoli Cheese Soup

My 3rd Soup was a Light Potato Soup. I had the same line of thought as I did for the broccoli. Cooking light came to the rescue again with a recipe that uses cauliflower with the potatoes. No one will be able to tell this is a light soup. The cauliflower blends in so well. Creamy Light Potato Soup

My 4th Soup was French Onion. Again, a soup I had never made. For the recipe I looked to my friend who resides in France and of course she had one for me. Everyone, MAKE THIS SOUP. I will not order French onion again – at least from a restaurant in the U.S. French Onion Soup

My 5th Soup was a Chicken & Summer Squash Corn Chowder. I had a few issues due to the fact that the food processor I was using did not have all the attachments so I will write it with how it should be made but with notes for how I made it.

Sautee 1 chopped summer squash in small amt of olive oil in pot until tender.
Add 1/2 C chopped green onions with salt, pepper, and thyme to taste.
Puree one can corn with 1 C milk (this is where I failed and it would not puree cause I didn’t have appropriate blades). Add another 1C milk & blend till combined. Pour onto veggies in pot.
Add 1.5-2C chopped cooked chicken (I used leftover rotisserie chicken).
Add another can corn if your puree worked. If it didn’t…Skip this step and add potato flakes until soup reaches desired consistency. Serves 3

For my 6th Soup I thought about making a tomato soup but then thought of an old soup recipe which I love. It is from my pumpkin & squash cookbook and is roasted squash, tomatoes, onions, garlic, red pepper, and various seasonings. So I decided that I would make Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Soup to stick closer to the tomato soup aspect but so that it would be embellished a bit for grilled cheese as I had leftover baguette to be used as well. Soup 6: Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Soup

2.5lbs tomatoes
2 red peppers
1 onion
5 cloves garlic
2C chicken stock
bay leaf
salt & pepper & basil to taste

Preheat oven to 400 & Lightly oil a baking sheet.
Cut off tops off tomatoes. Cut tomatoes in half. Cut red pepper into 4 pieces. Slice onions into rings. Peel garlic cloves.
Place all onto a lightly oiled baking sheet & drizzle liberally with more olive oil. Roast for 20-25minutes.

Place vegetables into a pot and add 2C chicken stock, a bay leaf, & salt, pepper, & basil to taste.
Bring to a boil & then simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
Puree with an immersion blender or a food processor. Enjoy with grilled cheese or with baguette slices with melty gouda.

Since it is winter I decided to make a squash soup. Soup 7: Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash
1C chicken stock
3/4can evaporated milk
2-3 sprigs thyme

Cut butternut in quarters, remove seeds, and coat all surfaces with olive oil. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for 45-60minutes at 375.
Remove pulp from skins and place in food processor with chicken stock & evaporated milk. Blend till combined.
Place mixture into pot and heat until desired temperature with thyme. Remove thyme and enjoy. Serves 1 hearty portion or 2 lunch/starter portions.

For Soup number 8 I made a soup I recently posted about, Carrot Soup, as I had just received some more garden carrots from a co-worker. Serve with an over-easy fried egg on top and try it for breakfast. It is a great way to get vegetables into your diet right away in the morning.

For Soup 9 I made Cream of Chicken with Wild Rice. I have never made this soup & was not even going to try to make it healthy. I did use a slow cooker to help me out as I went fishing on this day, so all I had to do was come home and add some rice & cream and let cook a bit longer. In a crockpot add…

1 chopped onion
3-4 chopped carrots
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
1 C water
1 lb chicken cubed
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp each thyme, basil, & pepper
1/8 tsp each garlic powder & onion powder.

Cook on low for 7 hrs and add 1-2C cooked wild rice (use amount you prefer). Add 1C half & half with 1-2 tbsp flour and cook on high for 30 minutes to thicken.

For Christmas I had duck for dinner. I decided to use the leftovers to make duck noodle soup. Soup 10: Duck Noodle Soup

Boil a duck carcass from leftover duck dinner for 45-60 minutes to make a duck stock and loosen all the leftover meat. Remove carcass and let cool slightly to pull meat off. Set meat aside.
Sautee 1 chopped onion, 1 stick chopped celery, & 3-4 chopped carrots for 10-20 minutes until slightly softened.
Add veggies to stock with 1 bay leaf, 1tsp oregano, basil & thyme to taste, 1/4 tsp each black pepper & salt.
Bring to a boil and then let simmer until vegetables are tender. Add the meat back to the pot while you cook 3-4C wide egg noodles. Add the noodles to the pot and enjoy a very flavorful soup

As I approached the end of my soups to make, I had no idea what to choose. I had been choosing soups I had never made before so wanted to keep along that theme. There are so many soups to choose from! I decided to make Stracciatella Soup. I had never made it and loved. It is like Italian egg drop soup. The plus side, it takes about 10 minutes to make!

Soup 11: Stracciatella Soup (Recipe courtesy Giada de Laurentiis)

For my last soup I decided to make one of my favorite soups which is lentil soup. I had plenty of dried lentils and bacon that needed to be used as well so it was a win for my pantry & fridge. Soup 12: Bacon Lentil Soup In a large pot…

Cook 4 slices of bacon until very crispy. Remove and set aside.
Sautee 2 chopped carrots, 1 large chopped onion, 2 chopped cloves of garlic in bacon grease until slightly tender (5-10minutes).
Add 1/2lb dried lentils, 3-4C chicken stock, and 1C water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender & soup is thick (about 90minutes).
Top with bacon. Serves 4

I did accomplish the 12 Soups of Christmas (I stayed pure to the original – No stews or chilies) before January 6th which was the deadline. It was a simple yet fun cooking challenge. I find that cooking or baking challenges give me an extra boost of motivation. I also tried making many new soups which is a win as well. There are many more soups to be conquered out there so I will continue to do this every year and hopefully come up with a list of favorite soups.

And if you are wondering, the lady who invented this group also accomplished the 12 soups.

My First Quilt

by almost_rosey // 25Nov2013 // 2 Comments

I am not a crafty or creative person. I never have been. I also never learned how to sew or do anything of that nature. Lady skills I call them. I always wanted to learn mainly because of my grandmother. My Grandma Nellie has been quilting her whole life. She has a room stacked full of quilts. They used to be stacked almost to the ceiling.

Over the years as family members took them home from visits, they started to dwindle down as she did not quilt anymore due to old age. Her quilts are amazing (I’m slightly biased to be sure), and I wanted to learn that skill. I live in Minnesota after all. One needs many quilts in the winter or anytime if you are a cat.

A few years ago, I bought a quilt kit. And this past Saturday, I finally finished it. Why the delay? Well, there is quite some back story that won’t be gone into but the point is I finished it. I cut the fabric, pinned it, sewed it, and put a back on it.

My first quilt. Sure, it was a kit. I just had to cut the fabric, assemble, and sew. There isn’t even any batting, but you have to start somewhere. I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as my grandma, but I can try. This is only the beginning.

Comfort Food

by almost_rosey // 9Nov2013 // No Comments

I have been absent from writing & baking for a bit. It isn’t because I want to be but rather because I have no Internet where I am staying. I do have my phone so hopefully this goes through. For those of you who are interested I have landed my dream job in a dream location. This has caused me to temporarily live with someone until I can get a place of my own. Thus, I was only able to bring up a small amount of items to get by and all my baking equipment and supplies stayed down south.

The person with whom I am staying has gone deer hunting as I imagine most people up here have done. After all, Deer Monday or Deer Day (the Monday following deer opener) is a school holiday. This weekend I am all alone. My guy is also off hunting so he did not come up to visit. The weather is also quite crisp and there was a slight snowfall yesterday & today. To warm myself up and be comforted by one of my favorite foods, I decided to make a pot pie with what I had on hand.

Directions: Preheat oven to 375F. Chop 1 onion and 2 stalks of celery. Add to sauté pan with 2tsp olive oil. Cook over medium heat for 5min. Meanwhile, peel and chop 3 large carrots. Add carrots to pan, cover, turn heat down to low.

Bring a pot of water to boil & add 2-3 potatoes depending on the size. Boil for 30min or until cooked through. Remember to move your pan veggies around every so often. Cube or shred 8oz of cooked chicken. Once the potatoes are done, drain the water. Add milk and yogurt & mash until desired consistency.

Add a concentrated chicken stock and 1/2C water to the veggies with pepper to taste. Add the chicken & transfer to a baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes and bake for 30-40 minutes. Serves two or one person twice.

Wild Duck Stew

by almost_rosey // 18Oct2013 // No Comments

It is rare that I cook the protein or meat for meals. I have always been the vegetable or side dish girl. Sure I can cook chicken breasts, roast a whole chicken, make meatloaf, hamburgers, etc, but I never cook anything of substance. I make casseroles & I use my slow cooker a lot. I live in the mid-west, I have a long commute, enough said. Needless to say, I have also never cooked wild game. Yes I grew up in the mid-west, but until recently I never was exposed to it. As fate would have it, I ended up with a hunter.

He brought home some wild duck and I decided that I would try to cook it. I love duck, but I have never had wild duck. My hunter does not even like it very much. He says it is too gamey and bloody, which is what many people say. I decided that I would look to various recipes for wild duck and thought of a blog I follow (Food for Hunters) as surely they would have some recipes for this wild game. They had a few recipes and I decided to adapt one of them to my own needs.

Wild Duck Stew (Adapted from: Apricot Wild Duck with Swiss Chard & Goat Cheese Polenta )

2 to 3 wild duck breasts (depending on the size of the duck), skinned & cubed
salt and pepper
1/2 C of all-purpose flour
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/4 C whiskey (or water)
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
1 C red wine (make sure it is drinkable so you can it enjoy with dinner)
3 C vegetable stock
1/3 C good honey
2 tsp dried thyme
2 sweet potatoes

Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. Salt and pepper the wild duck and coat in flour. Shake off excess flour and cook in the dutch oven until browned on all sides. Remove duck and set aside.

Reduce heat down to medium and add the carrots. Cook until slightly tender, about 5-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the whiskey, or water, and turn heat back on. Allow liquid to evaporate with slight stirring.

Add the duck back to the pan, the adobo pepper, the wine, the vegetable stock and slightly stir. Add the honey while stirring so it does not settle to the bottom of the pan. Add the dried thyme and additional pepper to taste. Allow the mixture to come to a boil for 3-5 minutes.

Place cover on and put into a preheated 350F oven and bake for 2.5 hours or until tender. Remove from oven and place on stovetop. Remove cover and reduce liquid to desired consistency (about 10-15minutes).

Approximately 45 minutes before stew is finished, start to boil water for the sweet potatoes. Boil potatoes for 30 minutes. Remove skin and mash. Serve duck stew over potatoes and enjoy wild duck.

The 2013 MN State Fair

by almost_rosey // 8Sep2013 // No Comments

One of my favorite things to do every year is go to the Minnesota State Fair. Some people never go, some go every few years, and some go multiple times a year. I feel like how many times you go to the MN State Fair says a lot about you as a person. I go once a year, every year.

The MN State Fair is a wonderful event. It is full of various types of people, attractions, and foods to eat. This is what draws me and countless others. Everybody goes for different reasons. Basically, I like to go and do the following: people watch, eat, drink, go into the agricultural building, and look at the animals. Those are my things that must get accomplished at the MN State Fair. If something else happens to squeeze itself in that mix I think of it as a bonus. Let’s start with the people watching.

There are so many people that go to this event. This year a bit over 1.7 million attended the fair from August 22-September 2, 2013 (a mear 12 days). You will see all types of people. Some people travel from the corners of the state just to go. It is always best to try and go on a weekday if possible to avoid the massive crowds.

I also like to look at the animals. They have the same buildings every year, but for some reason I keep going back to them. There are judging contests and there is also a birthing center. I happened to see Andrew Zimmern in one of the barns this year. So cool. If you didn’t know, Minneapolis is sort of his adopted home town. I wonder what he ate at the fair…

The food and the drink is probably what most people go for and is definitely one of the main reasons I go to the fair. I always look up the new foods for the year and try to pick a few to sample. This year I tried a jalepeno and cheddar corn dog. I get a corn dog every year and thought this could be a new twist to an old classic. I was rather disappointed. It tasted almost the same as a regular corn dog unless you ate the raw sliced jalepenos with it. I also tried the deep-fried pumpkin pie. If you know me, then you know I love pumpkin so skipping this new food was not an option. I also ended up eating: Australian battered potatoes, cheese curds, pork shop on a stick, and sunflower ice cream. Did I mention it is important to go in a group so you can split everything? That is key. A group of 2-4 is ideal and that way you only get a bite or two and you can try numerous foods. I drank a few craft beer flights as well.

One of the last things I do is go into the agricultural building. I love looking at all of the plants, flowers, and vegetables on display. They also have the largest pumpkins! In additon, there is a honey/bee/baking area. This is where they keep the bees and have shows and tutorials. They also sell tons of honey, which you are able to sample prior to buying. This year I did not buy a local honey like I normally do. I bought a raw honey and it cost $28. Crazy, but why not?

There are also baked goods and small crafts in this area and one of my goals in life is to end up not only having something being judged, but to win a ribbon. Maybe these posts will help me get there. Until then, I will continue loving the MN State Fair.

Finding the Silver Lining or at least a Silver Catfish

by almost_rosey // 1Aug2013 // No Comments

About two weeks ago I had an allergic reaction to my migraine medicine. This was a sample med and I had never taken it before. Unfortunately, it had an ingredient in it that as an adult I have suddenly become allergic to when taken with a few other things. These items are: caffeine, the perfect timing between caffeine and said ingedient, and a mysterious third ingedient to be determined.

I took this medicine as I was supposed to go to work and I had a migraine. After about 20 minutes, my lips felt hot and tingly. This is the first sign of my allergic reactions. I went into the bathroom and they were starting to swell. I grabbed some anti-histamines, took them, and prayed. I prayed that they would do the trick so that my throat wouldn’t swell too much resulting in the use of my stab-me-pen (EpiPen). It worked well enough, but I spent the whole day on the couch with a puffy face and puffy lips constantly dosing myself with anti-histamines.

Finally at about 4:30 I decided that I should get some fresh air hoping it would make me feel better. Thus my fishing guide and I decided to go catfishing nearby as we are in a contest to catch the largest catfish. (It should be noted that I was supposed to work until at least 5PM so that the earliest I could have gotten home was 6PM. Therefore, going fishing this early would definitely not have been an option).

We got to the river at about 5PM and set ourselves up. At about 5:30, my fishing guide had a bite. He asked if I wanted it and I said it was his fish. He set the hook and asked again cause it was surely a cat (catfish). I said OK and started to reel in. It was my first catfish! We grabbed the measuring tape and it was 23×13 inches. Not too shabby!

It was a bit hard to hold this creature down and I was not about to stick my hand in its mouth like some people do. Only a few moments later did my line go off and I grabbed my rod and started to reel in again. This one was smaller (23×10.5in) but put up more of a fight which is always fun.

Both of these catfish were on the brown color scheme. I had never caught a catfish before this day and now I reeled in two and can definitely say one was all mine. Every other time before this when I would go catfishing I would catch carp, so I was ecstatic that I could finally put some entries in this contest.

About 30 minutes later, my line went off again. My rod almost went into the water before I could grab it. I did catch it and my line started taking off. I learned early to let it go a bit before you start fighting back but it almost took all my line off my spool completely! I started fighting it towards shore and it was a slow and tiring process. This fish would not give up. Finally I got it to shore and we, the fish and I, were both exhausted. This one was 27x15in! The biggest cat of the day and I was so proud to call myself “Queen of the Cats” for this day.

This fish was more silver and blue in color and I thought it was beautiful. It should be noted that the contest is a catch and release contest, so all of these fish were released back into the river and swam away happily (well happy to get away). All three of these fish put me in 23rd place at the time for channel catfish. I was thrilled considering I had never caught one before this day.

This day started off horribly. Having an allergic reaction is horrible, especially one that affects your mouth and throat area. If I had not had this happen to me, however, I would not have caught these three fish as I would have been working and missed my window of opportunity (we didn’t catch any fish later in the evening).

Sometimes it is hard to see how anything good can come from something bad. Sometimes it is hard to find the silver lining. In this case though I did. I found the silver lining and it came in the form of a big silver catfish.

Love at First Sight

by almost_rosey // 8Jul2013 // No Comments

Two years ago today I fell in love. I fell in love with sport shooting. It was love at first sight. Gun sights that is, and pulling the trigger sealed the deal. I remember the day vividly. Whenever something momentous happens it is easy to remember the date. In addition, this day (July 8th) just happens to be an old friend’s birthday so it was quite easy for me to remember when I fell in love with guns. To commemorate this anniversary of sorts, I decided to go shooting and shoot a new gun. Before I talk about today, let me reminisce about July 8th, 2011.

I have always been interested in guns and sport shooting. I just never had anyone to take me as I was growing up. Perhaps it was reading The Dark Tower series by Stephen King that started it all, “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” Whatever it was, I had a need that went unfulfilled until the day I went shooting.

Walking into a range for my first time I looked to the guidance of others for everything. What gun to shoot, how to hold the gun, how to stand, how to focus on the sights, and everything else involved. I ended up shooting a Glock 17 9mm for my first experience. I shot about 70 rounds of ammo that day. It took me about 60 to even hit the target I’m afraid to say. Once I hit it I was able to hit consistently, and I saved my first target to remember.

Starting off with a 9mm may not have been the best choice, but holding the gun out, lining up the sight picture, focusing on my target, and pulling that trigger made me fall in love. If you have ever been shooting than you know the feeling. It is one of pure exhilaration, yet complete calmness. I become perfectly zen while shooting. Everything else fades away and there is nothing but me and my target. It’s almost a form of meditation since everything else disappears from your life as you focus on a single shot.

When I went back to the range the next time, I ended up shooting a .22 pistol and it was much easier to develop my shooting skills. I even ended up joining a league to keep me practicing and to see the improvement in my abilities. I did end up shooting 9mm again and I was much better after I got my technique down. Shooting is expensive though and finding the time is not always so easy. I hadn’t been to the range since December 2012. Which brings me to today.

I realized that it was my shooting anniversary and there was no time like the present to get back into it. I decided to make a reservation to go shooting and to try a new gun. I also wanted to try a revolver since I had never shot one before. I went with a .38 special (Ruger LCR) and it was snappy to say the least. Many reviews claim that the recoil is felt less and it can be a “shoot all day” type of gun. I’m afraid I have to disagree. After 50 rounds I was ready to be done. Since I still had time left, I decided to try a larger caliber. I went with a 1911 .45 ACP (also from Ruger).

This was a great gun to shoot. I loved it. The recoil was nothing like I expected from a larger caliber. I’m petite with small hands so I have always been scared to shoot larger guns. I’m definitely going to try some more 1911s and other types of larger caliber guns. I might even start shooting some shotguns or rifles in the future.

Today was a great day of shooting just like it was in 2011. I love going to the range and shooting my favorites. However, trying new things makes me remember how I fell in love two years ago. It was simply love at first sight.

Feeling Almost Rosey

Put Those Glasses On

Being Minnesotan