Johnsfolly

@Mitch f We tried kimchee, but could not get the right Asian ingredients for the spices. Did not come out well. We need to find a decent Asian market here in Maryland. Once we do will try the kimchee again.

Little Patuxent River - MD Poplar Lick Creek - Maryland (with restablished native brookies) Gunpowder River - Maryland (filled with streambred browns) Fallfish and Tuckahoe Creek - Maryland (caught 15 species of fish in the creek and close to 400 total fish so far)

Picked up some pottery last time that we passed through Zanesville OH. We used this crock to make a simple sauerkraut recipe with caraway seeds. Fermented the cabbage for about a week and it was done. Pretty tasty. With good sauerkraut, just needed to find some dishes to use it. Love hotdogs with kraut. Picked up some pretzel rolls and caramelized some sweet onions to go with the dog. Spicy brown mustard finished the dog! Served with a side salad. (still having issue with phone camera - sorry).

We do cook them first but not fully. They don't typically overcook when prepared. We've not cooked the noodles before and I don't like the way that they get. Never seem to cook well enough for me.

Yesterday made spaghetti meat sauce. Started with 1.5 lbs ground beef and 1 lb italian sausage. Added almost 1/4 cup of dried oregano and another of basil and two tablespoons of dried thyme and garlic powder. Then a teaspoon or two of red pepper flakes. Then added 8 cloves of minced garlic. Diced one green and one red bell pepper and a large sweet onion. Cooked until onions were translucent. Added in three large cans of crushed tomatoes, four cans of tomato sauce, and two cans of tomato paste. Simmered for almost three hours. Had spaghetti when it was done. Wife made four meal sized lasagnas today that went into the freezer. Still have another meals worth of sauce in the fridge.

Tonight did a venison loin roast with montreal seasoning and garlic powder. Medium rare. Roasted new potatoes with provence herbs. Vegetable casserole.

Never made oxtail soup but love braised meats, especially shanks, short ribs, etc. Looks like a good soup in the making Mitch. We have Lodge dutch ovens.

Unlike most of the guys on this forum we are having warm weather here in MD. Decided to try to get my first fish of 2020. I went to the Indian River inlet in Delaware early this morning to catch the tide. I read some reports of a few tautogs and shad being caught in the inlet and dogfish in the surf. Those were my targets. Wind was whipping all day and made it difficult to feel any bites. I soaked a few crabs and drug many darts but nothing but rocks taking my baits in the inlet. Couple of hours past decided to go out on the jetty and try the beach side for dogfish. The algae covered rocks slick as snot. I used some strips of spot as bait. 20 mins holding the rod got a good tug. Not the dogfish but a skate. Once landed it acted weird. The fish stayed clenched and wouldn't flatten out much. Reminded me of the face hugging alien from the movie Alien. Still got a good enough photo for an id. A little skate was my first 2020 fish and a new lifelist fish. Just 11 more needed to meet my goals😀. Oh and I did fall on those slick rocks 😒. May not get to fish by myself if that becomes a habit.

Looks like a gem for sure👍! Glad that he caught the smallie bug on a beautiful creek😀.

My wife makes a great sticky toffee pudding. Looks a lot like @ness delicious pudding photo.

Heard so much about the ribeye of the sky that I would love to hunt and eat sandhills. 😀. I know a guy in SWMO that wants to hunt them too but is often too busy collecting jewelry during waterfowl season.

So did the crickets work well ?!?

Fog over the White River. Redeye bass fishing in Georgia! Lost one, but landed the second Barren Fork wild rainbow! One of my favorite Ozarks rivers - the Current! Hatch! Current river Black River below Johnson Shut-ins Pool teeming with fish like this one below!

@Seth building some great fishing Karma! Thanks for posting this story and for giving your time to help others! Teach a man to fish.....

Good Luck buddy. Looks like a fair amount of opportunities to fish in Illinois that are pretty close to you.