Happy New Year

Here's to a prosperous New Year, with good trips in good territory with good folks to share the experience in the year to come. Hope you all are able to get out there.

Happy Holidays, and quail

Happy Holidays!

Hope you all are keeping well and spending some time with friends and family. A and I dashed down to south Texas to be with my folks and family, dashing back up to NM for work this upcoming week. With the New Year holiday, it'll be a short one and, weather permitting, we hope to get out for quail. There are a few blues around. Earlier this year...

Click on that picture above and check out the left hand side of the road.

Rolling up- see em in the bar ditch? More visible when enlarged.

Here is a laggard. These birds were pretty tame, safe on private land. Coveys that get hunted tend to flush away from the truck and hit the ground running.

With a bit of the grass on the range, Booker earns his keep finding the fallen birds. Though he loves any sort of bird hunting quail aren't his favorite. Fortunately, we came by a tank that held ducks and he got to do some proper Chessie work.

A dropped a drake Redhead. Not a great snapshot, but I ran out of space on the memory card and managed to not record half a dozen that, no doubt, would be better.

Maybe we'll get some snow- the blue quail will hold a little better than and the dog likes the cold.

3 thousand words

Actually, just a teaser. A and I managed to front-load our fall just a bit. More later.

Leucistic dusky grouse

The blue grouse I grew up with has fallen prey to the splitters (yes, yes, I've heard- DNA, distinct geographical populations, etc. etc.), and now is the dusky grouse.

Recently, A and I were up in the north central mountains of NM looking for edible mushrooms when we came across a leucistic grouse, of the now dusky variety, part of a family group or covey.

Ghost bird:

A normally colored member of the covey:

What a cool variation. I hope the white bird makes it through the season and is able to pass those genes along.

Bounty

Slow on blogging, but A and I have been getting out into the country a bit lately and I should try to catch up.

Firstly, a little while ago some friends tipped us off that the bolete mushrooms were flushing in Northern NM, so we headed up to our old stomping grounds for a quick overnighter in the back of the truck, hoping to replenish our supply. Success!

We found enough boletus barrowsii to fill our winter supply jar.

Soups, stews, and sauces will all benefit for the next year or so. We managed to dry a few more than fit in the jar, but didn't quite load up.

 Shortly thereafter, we made a day trip to our nearby mountains for elderberries, hitting it just a bit early. Nonetheless, we secured a good supply of this necessary component for a favorite jelly. We also found a couple of the largest examples of the cauliflower mushroom that we've yet come across. Sparassis radicata or Sparassis crispa, most sources relate that radicata is the western variant. Regardless, these were prime and delicious.

Our friend Jeff introduced us to a really nice technique for cauliflower mushroom, that being to saute it fairly slowly in butter until tender and then keep going until it browns a little and crisps up- an excellent side dish to almost anything, but particularly game meat.

Next, we went to our first organized mycological foray, this one by the NM Mycological Society- an interesting group of folks with a lot of expertise to share. This year's foray was based in Las Vegas, NM, and we stayed in the great old Plaza Hotel. A bit ragged around the edges after over a hundred years of operation, our room was quiet and very reasonably priced. Just around the town square we found a brew pub and a restaurant next door that served the hottest green chile I've had in a long time, some of the most typical northern New Mexican food we've found in years. Combined with lovely weather (cool and rainy) and some relatively new country to explore, it was a great weekend.

Last, for the Labor Day holiday weekend we headed back up north, to look for mushrooms again and perhaps take advantage of opening day of bird season. The first day was absolutely chilly at 9,000 feet of elevation, a welcome change after a long summer.

Since hunting didn't start until September 1st, we spent the first couple of days picking currants and mushrooms, checking out country and scouting around. Band Tailed Pigeons were loafing in some spruce and fir along one ridge each of those days, but strong winds apparently pushed them elsewhere once the season opened. Big birds, they'd come bombing out of the tops of the spruce on the steep hillside and, if we had gotten into them, the shooting would have been really tough. We also looked around for grouse, seeing them before the season but having no luck on opening day. Perhaps later in the year.

Mushrooming was more successful. The king boletes were pretty scarce, but we found nice stands of chanterelles, our first encounter with that prized edible in NM.

Back home, we tried a cream of mushroom soup as suggested by Hank Shaw. It was good, but we're still a bit ambiguous about the shrooms, not having found the best flavors to go with them and spoiled to the aforementioned king boletes and cauliflowers. Further experimentation is assured by several packages of chanterelles sauteed in butter and squirreled away in the freezer.

Also for later in the fall is the wild red currant jelly we put up from the prolific ribes encountered in the high country (A has keyed them out as ribes montigenum).

A couple of hours of picking (and pricking) resulted in a nice batch of currants.

Which in turn became a slightly tart jelly.

If our big game hunts go well, I foresee a Cumberland sauce in the future. Otherwise, it will just have to be buttermilk biscuits with red currant jelly.

Here's hoping the season is proceeding as well for all of you all!

beetles with taste

When A and I first arrived down in southern NM and got a house, we planted fruit trees right away. Even if you're not sure you'll be in a place long, if you get fruit trees in the ground you might get a crop before you know it and, in the Land of Entrapment, it's never wise to predict moving on. Consequently, we put in two cherries, an apricot, and a peach. One of the cherries and the apricot promptly died and the other cherry tree gave up last spring, but the dwarf peach has carried on and this year we've actually been getting a decent batch of peaches off of it.

Alas, despite netting to avoid the depredations of birds and red squirrels, we're still sharing way too much in the way of peach flesh.

The culprits?

Based upon one miscreant caught in the act from this picking, at least some of them are click beetles.

Regardless of the losses, we're pretty happy that our tree is producing in its fourth year. Not enough fruit to can or even freeze, but enough for sliced peaches in the morning or over homemade vanilla ice cream. Peaches, like tomatoes, are one of those fruits that are best ripened all the way on the vine and then eaten fresh. I don't think I've ever purchased a decent peach in a grocery store. Next year, if it looks like we'll get peaches again we'll look at some control so we don't have to share quite as much with them.

interface, part 2

Last year we had cat and squirrel through the glass. Come the new year, the parties have stepped up their game a bit:

Getting up into the tree, the cat can't quite keep up with the tree rat.

So, he takes his metaphorical ball and goes home (look on the right side of the trunk, one cat-height above Tommy's back).

 Rematch?

Pollen

Ragweed, kochia, grass, creasote bush, or elm, all take second seat to juniper, which fills the eyes with tears and the air with sneezes come this time of year in the Southwest.

That isn't dust, it's pollen knocked loose by a thrown stone and a small portion of what that tree is producing right not. The occasional 70 degree day in February doesn't come without a price.

Are you gonna eat that?

Turkey vulture trying to face a ferruginous hawk off of his kill, just outside of town:

Not much more detail in the photo available, as this is a crop from a long shot. The birds were on private land, preventing a closer approach.
A's photo.

Happy New Year

A happy and prosperous 2014 to all y'all- tight lines, smooth swings, a favorable breeze, steady hold and a smooth release...

an answer from the 'net

A couple of years (well, apparently 4 years) ago, Booker and I came across an unusual duck and I speculated on these pages that it was a bird in eclipse plumage, or perhaps a hybrid. A number of folks commented and offered informed opinions or guesses as to what exactly we had, but no definitive answer was forthcoming.

Recently, flipping through some outdoor wish book or another, I became aware that Greenhead Gear™ is making a "hybrid  black duck decoy".

Looks just about the same to me:

Once again, the internet answers all questions (a Google Image Search for "hybrid black duck" further suggests that the bird we got was indeed just that).

Urban wildlife interface

Moose and squirrel?

No, cat and squirrel.

Endless entertainment for both parties,

 although the cat swears he's going to gut the tree rat.

Celebrating Independence Day

and wishing you all a happy 4th of July

(Watermelon, too, is a Chesapeake Heritage Food)

Not entirely moribund

Apologies for the long absence. A and I have been getting out some, but work still consumes enough time and attention that any opportunity to tramp about is rare and prized enough that I seldom get around to writing about it. Turkey season passed without us getting out for a hunt and  we barely chased ducks, hardly pausing to put a little forkhorned buck in the freezer.

The fall is looking good, though. A did very well in the draw for big game licenses, lucking into a hard-to-draw cow elk hunt for mid-November, a first choice deer hunt in late October, and, most amazingly, a pronghorn rifle hunt for early October. I rode her coattails for deer and pronghorn, any tag I sought on my own (we split up to increase odds) went to someone else. Nonetheless, we're looking forward to good work, lots of hunts, and lots of meat this fall. Stock and sausage and shanks and steaks ..... In addition, we're looking at another run up to the Great Land to chase cohos, another highlight.

I'll revise the blogroll a bit, while infrequent posting is not cause for dropping a blog (I hope!) some folks seem to have left the web and others have shifted venue.

In the meantime, courtesy of a couple of days hard work the garden is in, if not up much, and we're hoping for some rain. The last two years, SE New Mexico has seen less precipitation than it will get in one normal year. So far this year, locally we've only had one measurable rainfall. 97 degrees F outside right now and  the dog is threatening to move to Montana.

Trophy Shot

We were very much meat hunting this year, looking for the first buck (or first two bucks) we could get to. An obliging fork horn is now in the freezer, all except for the bits and bobs that were ground into sausage, of which I'll write a bit more in the future.

Supply

We could really use some decent summer rains. Two years' stock of porcini is just about used up, the last of the edulis went into risotto and only a few barrowsii remain:

Celebrating Independence Day

Well, one good way might be to barbecue. Outdoors, fire (only in a grill, plenty of other fire in the SW), beer, food- something any of those who fought for the nation's independence and ideals would likely be in favor of.

Perhaps ribs- here are country style ribs and a couple of racks of spareribs, rubbed with Mexican oregano, black pepper, salt, sweet paprika, powdered chipotle, red pepper flakes, allspice, and a pinch each of cinnamon and cumin. After spending most of the day in the rub, they came out of the refrigerator to get up to room temperature and went onto a slow fire with some chunks of oak and pecan on top.

Indirect heat only.



After two hours and change, we started brushing the ribs with barbecue sauce that we stirred up while the ribs were seasoning:






Recipe:



This is a good one if you like a sauce that it more acidic and tart, rather than sweet. The black coffee and the lime juice account for the acidic note. Another hour on the heat with frequent brushings of sauce made for a nice glaze and gave the meat enough time to break down and get tender. Not bad, even if I'm saying so myself.



As for us, in full disclosure those ribs are from last week. We've spent this past weekend alternating between goofing off and working. Up to Santa Fe for a wine festival and dinner with friends at a nice restaurant, then down to Abq. to do some things with a house that is, with any luck at all, nearly completely sold.

From Santa Fe the view of the Jemez Range was spectacular. From the mesas way down toward Cochiti and nearly as far south as Santa Ana, plumes of smoke ranging from small to darned big stretched all the way up to Santa Clara lands. The whole east side of that country is burning, one place or another. Not the fireworks anyone is looking for.

Driving south, though, we passed through some pretty good storms. It looks like the summer thundershowers are coming in, at least up in the mid and northern parts of the state. With any luck they'll knock down those fires pretty soon. Would that they work their way south, too.

Happy 4th!

"At length my dear Marquis..."

"...I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, and under the shadow of my own Vine and my own Fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments...."
George Washington, Letter to Marquis de LaFayette, February 1, 1784



Already a private citizen, I'm a long way from retirement so this quote is mostly an excuse to show off our burgeoning figs, for which we have high hopes in this warmer clime. I first read the portion of Washinton's letter where he expressed his desire to return to Mount Vernon years ago and, for some reason, the bit about "my own vine and my own fig tree" has always stuck. No grapes planted, though. Melons, eggplant, green beans, black eye peas, squash, okra, tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, dill, basil, thyme oregano, tarragon, artichokes, currants, serviceberries, cherries, and peaches, yes, but grapes no, at least not yet.

not dead yet

Three months is a longer hiatus than I intended or wanted. Duck season has come & gone, quail is nearly over, and we've only been out a couple of times for short days. More on those soon.

In the meantime, the new job is good, but challenging and very time consuming.
It requires many twelve hour and longer days full of last minute developments and has led to the neglect of family, friends, the dog, guns, the blog, reading, finishing up the move and all sorts of other things. As I settle in a bit more, that time pressure will ease, I hope. In the meantime, sporadic blogging should commence.

If you really need the reference, it's here.

There'll Be Some Changes Made

I'm not too big on putting a whole bunch of personal information on the blog. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but the personal stuff (except as it applies to hunting, fishing, tramping about, cooking, reading, and so forth) isn't really relevant.

In any event, by way of explanation as to why my already sparse blogging is going to get even lighter and the context of SFA is going to change a bit; A and I are moving, transitioning from high desert to the boundary of the Southern Great Plains and the Northern Chihuahuan Desert. The reason for the move is a job, of course. I've been out of work for a stretch and hey, you go where the work is. Although headed for flatlands, we'll still be in NM and have a bit of elevation, along with living within sight of mountains (though, being NM, that can still be a good part of a day's drive away).

So, our duck hunting has been delayed a bit and, once it starts, it'll probably be on smaller waters and perhaps playa lakes. I anticipate good quail hunting.

I've had a good time the last thirty years in Albuquerque. Even though the city has grown so continuously that a lot of the fun stuff is further out or harder to take advantage of, you have to love the open space and the variety of outdoor adventures only a couple hours away.

For those visiting Abq., I'll offer a few suggestions that might not be found in guidebooks.

First, the best breakfast in town is carne adovada and eggs at the K & I Diner on South Broadway. I'm a big fan of carne adovada and try it almost everywhere, at least once. If it isn't best at the K&I, it's darned close. Plus, their coffee is pretty good.

Next, the best live music venue in the area is the Santa Fe Brewing Company. Located on the south end of Santa Fe, it's a forty-five minute drive from Albuquerque and they offer good beer made on location, good food, and host a lot of good shows, particularly during the summer and if you like Americana. If you're spending a couple of days in this area, check out their schedule to see if you can catch a show. While there, buy a growler of their Chicken Killer. Smooth, malty, dark-ish. Good beer and, at 10% alcohol the bartender will warn you to be sure to "drink it all in one place".

NM has a wine industry and many of the wines are pricey if good. One exception is Gruet sparkling wine. The blanc de noirs is a great food or sipping sparkler at any price, let alone the $11-15 you find it for retail. Their winery is located along a freeway frontage road here in town. Not exactly scenic (and the grapes are grown 200 miles south) but worth stopping in for a taste.

If it's cold, or if you have a cold, or just feel like warming right up, stop by a Bob's Burgers and get a large chile cheese fries (green). Bob's has the hottest green chile of any of the burger joints and the combination of yellow cheese, salty fries, and hot chile will soothe your throat, clear your sinuses, and bring a sweat to your brow to break that fever (if sick, otherwise, it just tastes real good).

Best gun store in town for used, antique, or really interesting is Ron Peterson's.

Northern New Mexican food in a dark bar- you can always get fideos, quelites or carnitas at Charlie's Back Door. The food isn't always great, but it's usually good and the menu is unique in this city.

Best baguette in town, and probably the state, is at Le Paris up on Eubank.

All this is purely one guy's opinion, of course, and a semi-native at that. Thinking about this stuff, I'm struck by what's no longer around town: best fish taco place-gone, best bar for live music-gone, best Vietnamese food by a mile-gone, best fly shop-changed much for the worse, best grower's market- isn't a really good one anymore; best video store-gone, the big used bookstore-gone, the bookstore that held lots of author readings-gone. Guess it is time to check out a new scene.

P.s. Title reference here.