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Jim Casada Outdoors October 2015 Newsletter
Click here to view this newsletter in a .pdf with a white background for easy printing. October Musings: An Apology and Explanation As many of you have noticed, as evidenced through e-mails and a few phone calls, I have not produced a newsletter since May. The explanation for that four-month hiatus is as simple as it is sad. My wife has Alzheimer’s disease. As those of you who have had any close-up contact with the malady through family or friends will know all too well, it is a horrible and devastating disease which presently has no cure. Indeed there are only a few steps to delay or ease its ravages. It takes a toll not only on the person who is afflicted but on everyone close to that individual. In particular, it places a major burden on the primary caregiver. They receive not only the workload associated with care but are often the object of frustration, anger, and other emotions. I’ve been on this roller-coaster ride since Ann was first diagnosed a year ago, but things didn’t really begin to go downhill until shortly after Christmas. In just three-quarters of a year she has gone from a bright, fit, perky personality to someone who finds it extremely difficult to cope with the most basic aspects of daily life. On the flip side of matters—I’ve done more cooking, something I enjoy, than had been the case in years. There’s also been plenty of opportunity for two other favorite pursuits, gardening and reading. But Ann cannot be left alone so time on the water or in the woods, hours I’ve always cherished but now appreciate to a degree far greater than ever before simply because they aren’t available, has pretty much ceased to exist. That’s about as much as I want to say. It’s our problem. Our daughter and her family have been wonderfully supportive and fortunately live close by. My brother and sister-in-law have likewise been most helpful, as have local friends together with folks from the outdoor community. I would ask each of you to try as best you can to understand and accept my explanation of why there hasn’t been a newsletter. I’ll assure you I’m someone with a dedicated work ethic who frets anytime I’m behind with anything, but this has pretty well overwhelmed me. I’ve now managed to get things a bit closer to where I feel I have some control. If things go as I hope, henceforth you’ll be receiving the newsletter monthly as has long been the case. Now, let’s offer a special book for sale and talk about my favorite month of the year.
Jim’s Doings For reasons explained above, I’ve been very much a homebody in recent months. That does not mean, however, that I’ve been totally unproductive. One recent development of note is that every Wednesday I’m offering a pair of recipes and a bit of commentary on the “Sporting Classics Daily” blog under the title “Wild Harvest Wednesdays.” I urge all of you to sign up to get this five-times a week blog with its many interesting pieces of information in the world of sport. I will also begin writing, as of October, a monthly wild game piece for a blog offered by Leica Optics. It will feature recipes, thoughts on care and handling of game, and some narrative material. Since I’m spending more time in the kitchen as the new head chef for the household, that will give me an opportunity to try new game recipes as well as revisiting old ones. In the middle of October I will be attending the annual meeting of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association. This year’s convention, the 51st annual one, is slated for Eufaula, Alabama. I’ll be on hand as the outgoing president of the organization, and that means making speeches, attending meetings, sitting at the head table far more than I would like, and other duties. Mostly though, it’s an opportunity to see old friends, make a few new ones, get my creative batteries recharged in a major way, listen to some wonderful music. The event always concludes with an evening of picking and grinning, and there are some wonderfully talented musicians in the organization’s ranks (rest assured I’m not one of them—when musical talent was passed out in the Casada family, and there’s actually a lot of it, somehow I was under a big wash tub where not so much as a glimmer of genetic light penetrated). An Ode to October How can you not like October? Sure, over most of the country it marks the beginning of a time of temporary death in nature’s endless cycle, but even as that happens experience tells us that rebirth and reawakening lie only five or six months down the road. Meanwhile, think about these hallmarks of a month of magic. I’m describing them in a literary style favored by one of my favorite writers, John Parris. Most of you, unless you happen to live in the mountains of western North Carolina, likely never heard of him. But he was a gifted writer who penned a column, “Roaming the Mountains,” for the Asheville Citizen-Times for decades. In it he captured the ways and wonders of the North Carolina high country, and many of his thousands of columns were subsequently collected in books. All his books had the word mountain in their title. Here, with a tip of the literary hat to John Parris, is my feeble attempt at an ode to October.
October Recipes All of this month’s recipes relate, in one way or another, to foods of the season and things mentioned above. It’s a month for hearty eating and celebration of the harvest. CAN’T FAIL COBBLER Earlier today I picked what was pretty much the last of this year’s fall crop of raspberries. My initial thought had been that they would make a mighty nice companion for a few bowls of cereal, but then, realizing I had an extra mouth to feed since a sitter is coming tomorrow to give me my once-a-week break of four hours to get things like visits to the post office, bank, and grocery store done, I decided on a can’t fail recipe. Right now I’ve got a raspberry cobbler cooking in the oven, and the recipe below will work for any kind of berries and well as apples and peaches.
1 cup sugar Place the sugar, flour, milk and baking powder in a bowl and whisk until smooth. While this is being done, place the stick of butter in a 9 x 9 baking dish and melt it in a 350-degree oven. This also pre-heats the oven for baking. Once the butter melts, pour it into the batter and whisk everything together. Pour the thick liquid back into the baking dish and distribute the fruit evenly atop the batter. Do not mix or stir. Place the baking dish in the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or milk. PERSIMMON PUDDING
Combine all ingredients and beat just until well mixed. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and just beginning to pull away from the sides. Remove from oven and cool slightly before cutting into squares. Serve with whipped cream. ORZO WITH HAZELNUTS As a youngster growing up in the Smokies I spent an incredible amount of time on local trout streams. While my fly fishing was in many ways a single-minded, intense pursuit, I was always sufficiently aware of my surroundings to keep an eye out for edibles. This might be ripe serviceberries in June, blackberries at streamside in July, fox grapes in September, or hazelnut bushes laden with mast. In the case of the latter you had to keep a close eye on things come the onset of autumn, because once squirrels got to working on the nuts they did so until every last one was gone. Usually though I got my share. Here’s one fine way to use the easily cracked nuts (with the right touch you’ll get the whole nut most of the time).
8 ounces orzo Cook orzo according to package directions. Meanwhile, mix softened butter, lemon juice, hazelnuts, and salt and pepper with a fork. Stir desired amount of butter mixture into drained orzo and serve immediately. MY FAVORITE SQUIRREL RECIPE Although she didn’t do much in the way of fancy foods, my mother was a splendid cook. Having been a young woman in the depths of the Depression, she always belonged to the “waste not, want not” school of thinking, whether the subject involved culinary matters or something else. Small game dishes were a regular part of our family diet in the fall and winter, just as trout loomed large on the table during the warmer months. I killed lots of squirrels as a boy, and Mom prepared them in various ways. This recipe, however, was the family favorite.
2 squirrels, dressed and quartered Place dressed squirrel in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Add the baking soda and bring to a boil. Remove meat from the water and rinse squirrel well under running water, rubbing to remove the soda. Return to the rinsed pan and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until tender. Place the squirrel in a baking dish, dot with butter, and bake at 350 degrees until browned and crusty. VENISON STEAK AND POTATOES Appetites seem to kick into overdrive come autumn, or at least mine does. I can come in from a day of hunting famished and consume enough to do a blue-ribbon trencherman proud. Here’s a dish sure to please the hungry meat-and-potatoes guy.
1 pound cubed venison steak Brown venison steaks in olive oil in a skillet and set aside. Combine soup, milk, sour cream and pepper. Stir in thawed potatoes 1/3 cup of cheese, and ½ can of onions. Spoon mixture into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Arrange steaks over the potatoes. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and onions and bake, uncovered, for 5 to 10 minutes longer. Thank you for subscribing to the
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