ness

I’ve done everything I possibly can. Now we wait.

Just read my posts. Maybe more slowly. 😀 If you still can’t figure out my position, and how I got there, well then it’ll just have to remain a mystery.

Thanks for reading the lines, not between them

Kinda boring food honestly, but the prep may interest some. Vegetable beef soup in the Instant Pot. Turned the rig to saute and browned stew meat. Added diced onion, diced celery, beef broth, tomato juice, tomato paste, rosemary, thyme and Worsh...Worche...Wort...Lee and Perrin's. Set to pressure cook for 35 minutes. Released steam, added carrots and potatoes then pressure cooked for an additional for 15 minutes and released steam. Did't put a stopwatch to it, but including the heat up times this took about 1:15 and yielded fork-tender beef...on a weeknight.

Welcome to the forum. I'd suggest sensible shoes and eye protection.

You make some good points, right in there between your snarky bookends. Not exactly trail-blazing info -- it's all been covered here before -- in this thread or others or about a thousand places elsewhere. Except the part about quarterbacks. For the record -- for you and Marty -- I'm not against kayaks and I'm not knocking what anybody has chosen. As a matter of fact I do think it would be a pretty fun craft to mess around with on the water. There are always pros and cons to everything, and we all know there's never a perfect do-everything-well solution. But I can research and noodle and read and cipher, and make an informed decision for me and my unique set of circumstances without spending ANY time on a fishing kayak. I know what I have already, what I drive (SUV), what space I've got, how many sheckles I've got in the bank, how often I'm likely to use it and a whole bunch of other factors that are unique to me. I mentioned a couple specifics that are important to me, and others I'm sure -- weight and portability. I have watched a friend try to wrestle a Jackson onto some racks above his pickup. It changed me forever. So let the pros and cons speak for themselves. And take my comments as a couple data points, among all the others, that some folks may want to consider.

We’ve got a few of them around my neighborhood in the burbs. They’re cool but kinda weird. They’ll just sit there and look at you sometimes, other times they’re really skittish. I haven’t seen them in months, but I know folks around here see them all the time. Often see them going in or coming out of the storm drains.

I had me some cheesy polenta with sausage at Waffle House the other day.

Has she given you your meds yet? Never mind — I’ll just text her 😄

You’re obviously enjoying your kayaks and you showed us you can catch fish from them. I have not fished from one. I expressed an opinion as to why they’re popular and why a kayak isn’t for me. Nothing personal. My canoe goes on top, not inside.

Didn’t say they didn’t work for fishing. In my earlier post I was mainly addressing why I feel they’ve become popular, and also a little about why I don’t think it’s a good fit for me. I don’t own a truck and never will. Just doesn’t fit my lifestyle. My <50 pound Vagabond is a piece of cake to load onto my SUV, and I just like it as a no-nonsense fishing vessel that carries all the stuff I need. Not interested in overnight trips anymore, and my stream fishing tends toward wading smaller creeks these days. Got a Wenonah tandem for when I want to take somebody with me. Both easily fit in my garage. It just works best for me.

I kinda think the kayaks have become popular because they’re tricked out with cup holders, rod holders, covered storage, nice seats, fishfinder mounts, etc. They appeal to that inner kid in us that wants all the bells and whistles on our crap. They look cool. They’re the new, new thing, and the companies selling them, especially Jackson, have done a great job marketing them. To me, they’re too heavy to be considered and I’ve seen how awkward they are to load. The beauty in a canoe is in its versatility.

Suh-weet! That does look pretty darn high there.

Got the Omaha Steaks filets and twice-baked potatoes for Christmas too from my baby brother. Potatoes were pretty darn good. Plus, I still have a couple rib eyes, a couple chops, more taters a few apple fritters from them too. And, then there's the two big ol' Lou Malnati's deep-dish pizzas from my big sister. It's like people think I like to eat or something.

Wow, those are works of art! Beautiful!

Sorry to hear that, man. How long you got? 😄

Ever consider one of these? Weber Performer Used to have an old three-legged Weber kettle, a Weber bullet and still have a Weber Silver gas grill. Kettle gave up the ghost a few years ago and I didn't replace it, so I ended up using the gas grill more. Convenient to start but, as you know, you give up on flavor. Bullet gave up the ghost and I didn't replace that either -- just didn't use it enough, plus I thought I might eventually go a different direction for smoking. Bought the Weber Performer above and I use it for both smoking and grilling. Not the perfect smoker, but I've learned to use it and have only gotten one complaint about the results. Of course, it's excellent at grilling. I haven't used my gas grill the last two summers.

I very rarely deep fry anything. Will do fillets in a little oil and/or butter or bake. Blacken seasoning or lemon pepper or s&p or dill. Sometimes with a light bread crumb or panko coating, sometimes nekked. Another favorite is to finish with a white wine and caper pan sauce. Remove fish, add a little wine reduce, a squirt of lemon juice, swirl in cold butter, add capers and serve over fish.

I've never done the openers, but know a couple guys who did and they said it was mostly a social thing. I get that. I'd go with the right group of guys for the fun of it. Not sure I'd be out there at the whistle though. More likely making a nice breakfast for the knuckleheads that did go out. Many, many fond memories of family get-togethers at Roaring River in the fall.

There's a creek we don't hear much about. Looks like you guys had a pretty good trip. I haven't been there in many, many years. May need to change that in 2019.

Chicken, zucchini, onion, mushroom stir fry with teriyaki sauce.

I place a pretty big premium on character. I didn’t like them long before they beat us.

Nothing special here tonight. I am not watching the game. No sour grapes, but I’m flat tired of known cheaters Belichick (football AND marriage) and Brady. Not to mention the cocky 30-something Boston ECDBs I deal with at work who just expect this. Then there’s that money-grubbing Kroenke who mostly just married right and doesn’t comprehend the value of loyalty or a fan base. Screw them all. Marie Callender pot pie tonight and I’ll see what’s on the DVR.

I just grabbed a highly-rated recipe off of Allrecipes. We thought they were a bit dry. I thought the batter was a tad thick but I stuck to it, not really having a point of reference. Would love to eat this more often but my system doesn’t allow it.