rps

I love the fact that Beaver, and to a certain extent, TR, are becoming smallmouth lakes.

Red wine braised short ribs and beans.

As of now, I am a tentative attend.

Lately I have been fixing out f the norm meals. That means I have been posting more often. Spinach, feta, and date stuffed pork tenderloin with a farro bake and beans.

Spanish white anchovies with salad.

Tikka masala.

Well done!

Snowy morning here. Decided to make bread. I also have chicken thighs in a yogurt marinade, headed for tikka masala.

Works just as well for clams. https://www.ozarkrevenge.com/2017/03/walleye-chowder.html

Spaghetti Alla Carterria - spaghetti with mushrooms and tuna A Roman dish that is close friends with puttanesca Good Stuff.

Biryani flavors with left over chicken breast.

Baked chicken spaghetti casserole tonight. Pan sauteed broccoli rabe on the side.

I used a dark duck stock to make a bacon and mushroom risotto tonight. A little salad on the side.

One of my favorite marinades is 1/3 soy sauce, 1/3 dry white wine, 1/3 orange juice with sriracha and what ever other spices are appropriate for the meat. BTW, this is great as a brush on for salmon.

Bravo!

Good advice. As it happens, we tested both Friday, before we went to my sister's, and yesterday morning, before the daughter came over. We plan to test again today or tomorrow.

Wife felt poorly today. Nasty first day of a cold. I took some homemade chicken stock from the freezer and added onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, peas, orzo pasta plus herbs and spices. Homemade chicken noodle soup. She looks better already.

Merry Christmas to all!

The mini's are about 2 inches diameter. The dinner size are a tad over 4 inches.

For my sister's Christmas eve, I was tasked with making horse doovers. The first item was mini crab cakes. Since I was making them, I made two for us for dinner tonight. The sauce under the cakes and beans is a saffron aioli.

Made a pizza tonight. You have all seen too many of my pictures of pizza. This was the salad. Blanched asparagus, chilled and garnished with EVOO, salt and pepper, and balsamic.

Good comment and questions. Micro-guides reduce the weight at the end of the rod. That means the rod feels lighter and more natural. A spiral wrap for casting rods changes the stress on the rod and enables fewer wraps, again reducing stress and increasing the natural feel of the blank. I use Recoil titanium guides. They do not break and they do not wear out. Their only negative is that braid sings as you retrieve. Think of it this way. Medieval swords had a big honking knob at the butt to make the blade feel lighter. Made correctly, you can throw a Ned on a baitcaster. Made correctly you can troll a wiggle wart at 26 feet and feel the bite. Made correctly, you can match a G. Loomis for about 66 to 75% of the cost. I am hesitant about tying fly rods. I have never done that. Casting or spinning rods - I can make what you want at the top end performance for less than $200 +/-. BTW, what reel you will buy or intend to use is part of the equation. When you try out a rod at Bass Pro, the reel they have on the rod makes a difference. The same is true for custom rods. Someday soon, you will decide whether to go in that direction. Or not. If you decide to try, message me or post for the experts here to comment. I have found OA to be one of the few places worth visiting to learn.

Old school spline method. Put the butt on a hard smooth floor. About 10 inches down from the tip, hold the blank on a V of two fingers. Use the other hand to depress the blank into a slight U. Roll the blank with your fingers and feel for the point where the blank stiffens before slacking again to a curve. That is the spline. If you want a faster action, that spline goes to the top of the rod. If you want a slower action, the spline goes to the bottom. What you do not want is the spline on the left or right side. That way leads to poorly aimed/executed casts.

Yes. Please.