BilletHead

Thanks Ronnie, Check these out. Been catching on all models. Single hook, treble hook, one prop, two props of no prop at all. Those fish love them. Keeping the color simple like a shad, who doesn't like a shad? BilletHead

That right there is a memory. Congrads grandpa! BilletHead

Caught a nice hybrid this morning and decided to invite him to dinner. The sides filleted off gave us two nice slabs of meat. Each side is split up to five sections each. These we slid into a zip lock bag with olive oil and fresh chopped rosemary this sits as the grill heats up and the sides are prepared. Time to hit the hot grill, Cook until approximately half the fillet pieces turn from translucent to opaque then flip, This will go quick as it takes no time to cook fish even though the shoulder pieces were an inch and a half thick. Time to plate up as the sides of baked beans and slaw with home mixed dressing were done. While eating the blackberry cobbler with our garden berries was cooking, The BilletHead's eat real well!

It's quite a rush, To get up at 3:30 AM to head to your favorite fishing spot to be where you want to be at day break. Eat your cereal, drink your coffee on the road to not waste time. Watching the side of the road for deer ready to step in the road. Caffeine taking effect helping reaction time. It's quite a rush, To be running the boat and it is so dark all you can see is the reflection of a hint of starlight and horizon starting to lighten the water. Only way you know where the bank is the reflection stops. No fog this morning but the past two days fog made this run worse. Knowing the way by counting the places where you turn and trying to remember each log that is in its place of rest. It's quite a rush, To have counted the last turn and know you are about to be at your place of choice, you listen and peer into the approaching daylight for sounds of fish and water being torn up.. You drop your anchor and wait, more watching and listening trying to have patience waiting for your quarry. Having your wife who happens to be your best friend by your side. It's quite a rush to see shad being blown out of the water and flushed onto the bank by it's prey. Hearing gulps and slurping as the shad are being devoured. You shake as you try to strip out fly line so that you can cast. In your rush to do so you tangle line in the bottom of the boat. You must hurry because these very few blitzes of fury will only last seconds or may never happen at all or happen only once during a trip. You commit to the cast, put the popper on the spot. The fish hit and my blow your popper out of the water three times before he gets it to the point he has decided to eat it. When he does chaos ensues. The fish makes a lightning run, you excess fly line slips through your fingers sometimes burning as it does. You hope and pray there isn't any unruly coils to impede the fish run. As the slack hits the reel in a snap the drag kicks in and begins to whine. The fish makes a run away and then toward you. I can tell you this happens so fast the line goes slack., you can't reel fast enough to keep the line tight and again you hope the hook barb has driven it's way deep enough to hold tight. You fight until you and the fish are spent, It's quite a rush to have your net man, oops NET LADY scoop up the beast you have just won the battle with and as you admire your catch and well fought battle you temporary forget the days of no shad, no shad means no predators to fish after. The early mornings, the evenings you went to bed at 7:30 PM to get much needed rest. The money you spend in gas for your ride on the pavement and water. It's quite a rush, to have fooled this fish on a balsa popper you carved, sanded, painted and created, It's quite a rush to thank your maker for the morning you have just had. By 8:00 it's all over and you both have missed another opportunity to hook one. Then before it just got started you are on your way back to the ramp, truck and trailer and on your way home as folks are just launching for their day on the water. They ask did you have any luck? We respond we had a wonderful morning. Have you been running lines is their next question? No we just went for a long boat ride to see the sun rise. They look at you like your nuts. Perhaps we are a bit off kilter for what we do? BilletHead PS we don't keep many hybrids as we like to have another chance to catch them, todays fish was an exception as he was invited to dinner

Yowza Mr. Tippet7, BilletHead

So you saying I need to thaw out some walleye? Well done Scott, BilletHead

After an early morning rise, 3:30 AM a cup of homemade granola cereal, big giant cup of coffee on the way to the boat ramp. 49 degrees here this morning. Long pants and a jacket needed for the boat ride. Water temp 79 and with the air temp it created quite a fog. Not much snacking while fishing just some sunflower seeds and flavored water. What's this got to do with food? Were getting there. On the way back to the ramp I ask the Mrs. What do you want me to cook for you today? As usual she replies whatever you want dear. I say what about duck, yes that will work. So after a quick mow of the lawn as the duck thaws hunger is really sitting in. Pick some garden peppers and some rosemary. Start the charcoal as the Mrs. starts frying potato's with rosemary and onions. Charcoal ready on goes the duck and the Mrs. puts some cubanells, hot banana and chili peppers on the gas grill, Time to plate up and chow down with a cold shiner bock, BilletHead

Ness we have pixwell and another type mixed. Not wild. Even the wild variety will ripen and turn purplish. We have some wild ones at the edge of the yard I munch on when they ripen up. I just always remember grandma and mom picking them more green. My dad always wanted a tart/ sweet pie or cobbler. BilletHead

Nice mess of berries. I should let a batch ripen some next season to get a different look from our pies and preserves. Do the Midwest twisting gooseberry USA, BilletHead

Thanks gentlemen, Ness it is slightly sweet with a hard to notice heat when eaten raw. Really good on salad. Cooked on a grill they go to the more sweeter side. We grill them a lot by coating with olive oil and toss on the gas grill and turn often. The skin is thin and no need for stripping it off to eat. We also do a bunch of assorted peppers in the smoker during high harvest then vacuum seal for use in the off season. The smoked peppers go well in chili, on eggs, enchiladas etc. BilletHead

looking good Scott! Everything we like on that grill. Really enjoy the grilled fish. We do thick fillets of hybrid, coat with olive oil and rosemary. BilletHead

Thanks RPS means a lot to get an approval from you chef, BilletHead

Came over on a boat and then naturalized citizen goose although never he never went to Canada! ha! BilletHead

Along slender banana-shaped pepper that is considered to be a sweet pepper, despite having a mild to moderate spicy heat. Ranging in color from green to yellow or red, this pepper has a glossy outer skin that is smooth and firm in texture. Also known as Italian frying pepper, this pepper is mildly hot and very similar to an Anaheim pepper. Cabanelle peppers are often used in casseroles, salads, pizzas, and as a pepper to be stuffed with a savory filling. They are a good substitute for Poblano peppers. BilletHead

Halved a half dozen cubanelle peppers fresh from the garden. Mixed Italian goose sausage, bread crumbs,egg,flat leaf parsley and salt and pepper. Used pasta sauce and put a layer into a baking dish. Stuffed pepper halves with meat mixture and single layer on sauce. Top with more sauce and shredded mozzarella. Bake in oven at 350 covered for 45 min. Uncover and put under broiler until cheese toasts some. Plate up and feast! BilletHead

picked a half dozen cubanells, What did we do with them? Recipe thread tells the story, BilletHead

Consider it done from the BilletHead household.

Dang Budman that sounds yummy! Here a couple of photos of the cubanells Right now I have two on one plant that are six inches long. Others slightly smaller. Could pick these two but want enough to stuff so as to make a pig of myself, BilletHead

Ahh what a picture Ness, you should work at the food network. The Ness twist! I like that. You bet we will be doing that move next season. Garden still looking good here. Have almost a gallon on the monster blackberries. One in the middle row. Pick a good hand full every day. Drop them in a ziplock in the freezer. They are adding up well for the first season. Mrs. Billethead picked and ate our first husky cherry red cherry tomato today. She said it was good. Cubanelle peppers coming on like gangbusters as are other peppers. I googled up a bunch of recipes for the cubanells. Soon I will be stuffing them with goodies inside before cooking and then stuffing my face with them. Had four tubs of broccoli which did well. After yanking them up we replanted the tubs with baby romaine lettuce. The package said you could plant it spring, summer and fall producing a crop all season long. We will see if that is a fact though ? BilletHead

Oh My that looks delightful. Thanks for the look see. BilletHead

Have a great Summer Duane! Keep us informed even if it is like rubbing dirt in our faces. Take care buddy, BilletHead

Funny how animals pattern us. We have a phoebe nesting on our downspout. Did not notice until the parents had began sitting. Did not have the heart to tear it down. So the parents follow me around too getting the bugs I stir up mowing. Still have the tick infested doe, the one with the heavy infested ear that sags. When she shows up the phoebes are waiting on the fence. They dart over and grab deer fly's that buzz her head, once and a while they grab a tick off her ear. Deer doesn't get upset just has a puzzled look like what was that? BilletHead

Thanks for the heads up Leonard and Gavin. I hit one of my patches this afternoon and found some small ones, very small but with the drought we have had and no chants for two seasons they were a welcome sight. Maybe with some more rain another bloom will produce larger ones BilletHead

All I can tell you Jason is once you get dirt under your fingernails and taste real fresh veggies you're hooked. Jealous you have a tomato ready ours are a long way off and Tho1mas a pepper, excellent. We have a bunch of peppers coming on and one cubanelle three inches and growing each day. Been picking broccoli after planting for the first time. Have not cooked any yet it doesn't last that long. Eating it as it gets picked raw. Better than any we have ever bought in stores or farmers market. Ness we have some wild black raspberries out front up and down the road. Very flavorful but small. Our new blackberry patch is so neat. Last Spring, that is last Spring before this one I made a row of thorn less berries from Gurneys Five plants. Then another two rows of five plants each of a different variety that Mrs. BilletHead got from one of her coworkers on either side of original row. Fence posts on each end of the rows and then a section of a cattle panel, big zip ties attach them between posts. All last Summer I wove the small vines back and forth in and out the panels. Biggest vine about the same size as the Mrs. little finger. Lots of berries on all these plants in a year! But the amazing thing is the new canes that came up from the ground. Larger diameter than my thumb and I just measured the tallest one, 8'10" long. These just sprouted from the ground this Spring. Holy mackerel I hope this patch doesn't get away from me. I do know I clip the vines that produced this season next Winter. The Gurneys berries are huge and are getting ripe now. Pretty flavorful for tame berries too. Other variety will be a later harvest. Here are a couple pictures, These are mulched with some rotten hay and some thick layers of yard leaves. BilletHead

Well nesting might be on the downward trend as we had a low of two to three for a while. Now back up to fifteen or so early morning and again late evenings. Rainy days there are here all day. Now that butterflies are getting thick they have to share feeders some, BilletHead