A Boy, A Dog and Their First Dove Hunt

How many of you remember your first dove hunt? I’m not talking about just getting to go along and be a dove chasing water boy, but to sit with a shotgun and get to really hunt. I will always remember my first hunt and all the shells it took for me to kill two dove. It may have taken nearly a box but they were shot out of the air even if they were slowing to land on a dead tree near the stock pond.  I did not have a dog on my first dove hunt and in fact I was grown and out on my own before I ever hunted with a trained dog.  What an experience to get to hunt with a dog that could find the dove I dropped in tall sunflowers and retrieve that dove to hand.  I was to spend many years hunting with trained dogs and all of them are special memories.  It must be wonderful to go on your first hunt and have a great bird dog.  Not only to have a great bird dog, but a great bird dog that thinks you are the greatest hunter in the world.  From their looks in the picture above Hunter and Doc know that feeling.  For some reason I don't think they will ever forget it, Wild Ed

Fishing In Port O' Conner

I haven't had the time or opportunity to go fishing at the coast in quite a while so this week I am living my fishing through my younger brother.  Hopefully I will get to go in the future, but in the mean time maybe Mike's story will feed your fishing need, Wild Ed

POC Trip

We left the dock around 7:00am on Sunday morning heading for the jetties in Port O’Conner. With storms lurking all around, POC was about the only place it wasn’t raining. The seas were rough as we headed around to the surf side of the jetty. Due to the large sets of breaking waves, we could not anchor too close to jetty. The first few minutes, we hooked into a couple of nice reds followed by two large jacks and the long battle required to boat them on small tackle. The reds continued to bite for the next two hours. All together we boated 11 slot reds, tagged three slightly oversize reds and released 3 large oversize reds. The reds slowed down, but just as quickly the Spanish mackerel and trout took their place. We managed to land 8 nice smacks and 3 nice specs up to 24”. The seas were getting rough and the thunder getting closer, so we moved to the inside channel and soon got into the black drum, sheepshead and large ladyfish. The 3 sheepshead were undersize but we managed to catch 7 nice eating size black drum and release several large ladyfish before the lightning started getting too close for comfort. On the way in, the temperature dropped quickly and we could see the green-tinted clouds getting nasty all around. One boat told of being caught in a hail storm. Back at the docks around 11am, it became clear that we had caught the lion’s share of the fish that day. Boats were lined up in the rain trying to get out before the storms got any worse. To top off a perfect day of fishing, a large shrimper followed us into the docks and we bought 20 pounds of huge white shrimp for $4 a pound. Another awesome fishing trip at POC. (Yes, the wives had us book another trip week after next!) This was only my 2nd trip to POC and both times have been awesome.

Give Capt. Marty Medford and his son Capt. Matt Medford a call at “Fish of A Lifetime Guide Service”  361-983-3474  They did all the work and we just had to reel the fish in! After it was all over we went by Capt. Marty’s place and Momma had us a piece of the best pecan pie I have ever put in my mouth and that ain’t no fishin story! Wild Ed and I are going to have to make POC one of our regular fishing spots.  Mike

Great story and adventure that makes me jealous, but I am glad you guys had a great time in the Texas Outdoors. I think Marty will owe me a piece of Momma's pecan pie.  Wild Ed

Beginning Home Brewing

Last year, when it used to rain, wild mustang grapes made a fair crop at our family place in Lampasas. We had always made this wonderful grape jelly from them. My wife cooked up a batch of jelly for the season and we were set for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. My next trip up I found a new growth of ripe grapes so I picked a couple of buckets full and took them home. My wife informed me that she had made all the jelly she cared to make for a while so I decided to use the grapes and try an old wine making recipe. I ended up making my first batch of wild mustang grape wine and it turned out wonderful. I was looking forward to making a second batch this year as the sixteen bottles from last year are all gone. Since there has only been 2.75 inches of rain this year there were no grapes to harvest so I will not be making wild grape wine.

This brings me to my current project, I have a friend that is an accomplished brewer and makes craft beers and ales along with classic wines. He offered to let me come over and watch him brew up a batch and put it into the carboy fermenter. I learned about mini mash recipes, malted grains and malt extract along with the wonderful smelling plant, hops. All of this was steeped, mixed, stirred and cooked. It is rapidly cooled and special yeast is added before it is poured into a fermenter and an airlock placed on top to let the fermentation process begin. There is a lot to making a premium craft beer or ale but there are complete recipes for the beginner and homebrew enthusiast to follow step by step. We also mixed a batch of Chilean Merlot to start fermenting. This came in a kit with all the ingredients along with complete directions.

After a trip to Austin Homebrew Supply with my friend, I am watching the classifieds for used brewing equipment such as carboys, Cornelius kegs, air locks and other brewing and wine making supplies. There are all sorts of places online where one can learn about this process along with suppliers of equipment and kits with enclosed recipes. Here is the link to the homebrew supply I visited in Austin. http://www.austinhomebrew.com/  I had never been in the store, however I found the staff to be very helpful.  I wondered through the isles of wine kits, equipment bins, books, cheese making supplies, grain bins, malt extracts and other supplies that I do not have a clue what they were, but I will learn.  The helpful staff answered all my beginner questions and acted like I was a long time valued customer.  It was so great to go somewhere that the staff appreciates customers and does not treat them as though they are doing them a favor to wait on them.  Austin Homebrew Supply can supply complete equipment kits and recipe kits along with printed instruction sheets for making your favorite craft beers, ales or wines. I am sure they would be happy to ship right to your door.  I am getting ready to make their Texas Red Ale my next project, Wild Ed

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Chicken Spaghetti and Taste Bud Changes

As a kid growing up in a West Texas town with three church colleges I went to a lot of church socials and pot luck dinners. It always seemed like the church ladies would make casseroles for these group meals. By my count, about six out of every 10 meat dishes were some form of Chicken Spaghetti. You would think in West Texas they would cook beef. I hated Chicken Spaghetti with a passion. It would literally make me sick. I got in trouble several times as a kid because I would not eat the awful dish. I remember getting sent to my room because I would not eat mom's Chicken Spaghetti, but that was ok as I would just go read a book. I became an avid reader. I was happy to go to my room just so I did not have to eat that terrible dish. If I came in and my mom was making Chicken Spaghetti I would head down the street and try to find a buddy that could invite me to dinner.

As I got older it became harder to avoid Chicken Spaghetti when served. I was often in environments where it would be difficult to not at least pick at the dish. In some cases I would have to eat some of it just to be polite and make a good impression. Then one day something magical happened. I was at a dinner with my girlfriend’s family and guess what her mother served, Chicken Spaghetti. I had to eat it, there was no where to dump it, hide it or do anything else with it. I would have to eat that whole pile of pasta with chicken and who knows what else that had been heaped on my plate. I tried to eat the Chicken Spaghetti in minute amounts mixed with salad, green beans or rolls. As I ate dinner a strange thing happened. The dish that I had hated with such passion was actually starting to taste pretty good. I could not believe it, I felt ashamed like I was doing something wrong as I savored the flavors in that dish. I thought it must have been a strange phenomena or maybe my taste had been messed up by something else. I pushed the dinner to the back of my mind until several weeks later when I sat at the table with my family. I had just come in and mom was fixing plates in the kitchen.  She told me to sit down at the table and she would bring me a plate. Guess what was heaped on the plate she set down in front of me, yes it was Chicken Spaghetti. A whole plate full of Chicken Spaghetti with nothing else but a piece of garlic toast to help mask the taste. I started out with a small bite with toast, it was good. I took a bigger bite with no toast and it was wonderful. My mom’s Chicken Spaghetti was fantastic, what was wrong with me.

I later read the taste buds change about every seven years. My oldest daughter, who has three kids, uses this story to get her kids to try new foods or old foods they did not like again. I was reminded of this when my seven year old grand daughter called me the other night and told me “Papa, today is the day my taste buds change” she was turning seven and was all excited to try all the foods she did not like. The moral to this story is to try new things or even to re-try old things. You might find something you like. I thought a fitting ending to this story would be to give you my favorite Chicken Spaghetti Recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does, Wild Ed



Wild Ed’s Fantastic Chicken Spaghetti


Ingredients


• 3 cups Cooked Chicken


• 4 cups Dry Pasta or Spaghetti


• 1 can Cream Of Mushroom Soup


• 1 cup Cream of Chicken Soup


• 1 cup Velveeta


• ¼ cup Finely Diced sweet Green Pepper


• ¼ cup Finely Diced sweet Red Pepper


• ¼ cups Finely Diced Onion


• 2 Cloves of Garlic diced


• ½ cup black olives diced


• 1 small can of mushroom pieces


• 1/2 jar (2 Ounce) Diced Pimentos, Drained


• 1/2 teaspoon Brisket Rub


• 1/4 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning to taste


• Salt And Pepper, to taste


• 1/2 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese


Preparation Instructions


Cook and cut up chicken, at least three cups. Save the stock from the chicken to add to dish as needed


Sauté vegetables in olive oil and add spices, stir in and melt Velveeta, cans of soup and cheddar cheese. Add cooked chicken to mixture.

Cook spaghetti or pasta, I have become partial to fixing the pasta that looks like sea shells. When pasta is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients and mix well.  Add chicken stock to reach consistency you prefer.  Sprinkle with parsley and paprika for color.  Enjoy.

Texas Wildfires

Texas fire fighters were fighting over 60 different fires in Texas over the Labor Day weekend, many are still not under control. Over 3.6 million acres and 1,000 plus homes have been burned since the fire season started. Some 600 of the homes in the last weekend. There are people and livestock all over the State with no place to go. Many people did not get anything out of their homes as the fires moved so quickly in the high winds we had this last weekend. Over 80,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.

The State was already in terrible shape for wildlife and livestock as most pastures have nothing to eat. Feed and hay prices have gone through the ceiling due to the drought. The fires have destroyed ranches and farms that have livestock that which will not be able to survive on the scorched land. Many Central Texas livestock operations are in need of feed and water. Wildlife rescue people are being taxed to the limit with wildlife victims of the fires. If you have the means to help any of these please get involved and do what you can.


Firefighters, many are volunteers, have been working long hours in fighting the fires. They also need food and supplies along with places to rest. Many families could use anything extra that people use day to day. I am not listing the help centers as they are different all over the State.

This is a link to a site to send aid to the firefighters.
http://txwildfirerelief.org/

Or you can contact the Red Cross of Central Texas


Many churches and other organizations are setting up help for families and firefighters. Landowners in the area that were not burned have been donating pastures for livestock that has no where to go. If you contact officials you can find out where to help in your area. Do what you can, Wild Ed