By: Bears Butt
Just a little heads up for tomorrows celebration day! Happy Fathers day to all you fathers out there. I found this video and thought of each and every one of you!
Enjoy!
Bears Butt
Fathers Day 2012
Utah Fishing ReportsJust a little heads up for tomorrows celebration day! Happy Fathers day to all you fathers out there. I found this video and thought of each and every one of you!
Enjoy!
Bears Butt
Fathers Day 2012
A great day today! It’s National Hollerin Contest Day! Now what does it mean? Well, back in its day it was trying to get your neighbors attention across the “holler”. There weren’t any telephones and there certainly was not an internet or cell phones. So in order fer ma ta git the younguns ta come home fer eatin, she would step out onto the back step an holler! You won’t hear that call on this first video, but you will on the next!
Now it seems they have made a National Contest of it. But then, only in the state of North Carolina would they take such a thing so serious and actually have a hollerin contest. This explains quite a bit about some of my North Carolina buddies. I can see old Gattlin standing up on that stage just a yellin his heart out.
And there you have it!
Bears Butt
June 16, 2012
Only for you do I do my research into such things.
Have you ever wondered how they can charge so much for cashew nuts? I love eating them but I rarely get to purchase a can of just cashews. So I buy mixed nuts that have them in it. Why the expense?
First off they are a tropical tree. They need hot, dry areas with plenty of moisture, but not soil that retains the water. They are native to Northern South America but have readily been planted in Portugal and India and are doing well in those countries. Also some countries in Africa.
The cashew tree is not a tall tree and my research found them to grow about 30 ft tall at the tallest, but they spread out over quite an area. The largest cashew tree known to grow covers an area 81,000 square feet! That’s correct, 81,000! That is almost as big as a football field in two directions.
Ok, back on track. Why so expensive? First off is the fact that they must be imported. Cost goes up!
More about the cashew. A single seed (not a nut) grows on the outside of a fruit called the cashew apple! It looks like an apple growing upside down. The seed part grows out the lower end of the fruit. One seed per fruit.
Cashews have to be harvested carefully as they have a coating of a substance very similar to what we know to be on poison ivy. So in order to remove the outer shell from the seed inside the person cracking the shell must wear rubber gloves and long sleeve shirts. The shell can not touch the seed inside either or the seed will get the sticky poison on it and make it un-usable.
The growers and crackers have learned that freezing the pod makes it easier as the poison won’t come off on their skin when dealing with frozen seeds.
So, one seed per fruit plus difficult handling equals Price goes Up!
As with most nuts, the cashews need to be roasted, salted etc to make them more better to eat. So this too makes the price go up.
My research also said trace amounts of the toxic stuff found on the outside shell is also found inside the seed which makes them not a good thing to eat for those allergic to nuts etc.
The oils derived from the cashew seeds are used as medicine for healing the hard and cracked skin of your heel and abscessed teeth. The seeds are dried and pulverized and made into antivenin for snake bites. And the outer hulls are boiled and mixed into paint resins.
So the next time you are enjoying a big old cashew, just think about how it got to you and how the price was determined by someone very determined to make sure you were happy.
Oh and the cashew apple! They make juice out of it and a lot of folks even make wine from the juice! But there is a caution with the wine users. The toxins are still in there and it causes your body not to absorb nutrients from other foods you may eat. Of course you would tend to be a skinny drinker if you drank a lot of it a lot of the time. Would it be worth it? I doubt it. I would like to try some one day. Put that on my bucket list.
Bears Butt
June 15, 2012
During any outdoor day I love to have a snack of Kippers. Little fillets of herring that have been processed and put into little aluminum cans. Eaten on saltine or ritz type crackers is my favorite way to eat them. I think if I had the cans and the time, I could eat 3 or 4 cans of them in one sitting. But usually it’s just one can shared among the number of people hanging out together.
Yummy kippers!
So, to help you understand just how those little fish got put into the cans you are ripping the top off of, I, Bears Butt, has done a little research and bring to you this video I found on You Tube! Enjoy!
After watching this video it gives me a whole lot more faith in the fact that I could put several cases of kippers in my food storage and know that they would still be good to eat, say in, oh, maybe 50 years.
Enjoy!
Bears Butt
June 15, 2012
Heading out to try and find some walleye at Willard Bay. Brother Bob bought a 8 hp Honda 4 stroke outboard and we will be trying it out on the water. It’s one of the quietest motors I think I have ever heard.
Anyway, I hope the Weasel and Bob bring lots of quarters because they are going to need them. I’m rigged and ready!
We should be able to nail some wipers, cats and walleye where I plan on pushing the boat.
More to come later in the day! It’s gonna be a hot one…highs in the mid to upper 80’s!
Bears Butt
June 14, 2012
Got on the water about 7:30 or so and the wind was WAYYY to strong to chance Bob being out in the water. With his tracheotomy tube, just a teaspoon of water getting into it could cause instant death. So we turned around in the marina and anchored for some close in fishing. We did have three or four bites and Bob caught the first fish, a 1/2 pound bluegill. Probably the largest gill I have ever seen. He said it was the largest one he had ever caught. It’s still in there for one of you to catch later.
The wind died down noticeably and we headed out into the main water. Set up the trolling motor and headed down the shore line.
Two of us had worm harness’ on and the Weasel had a new lure on that was guaranteed. Guaranteed for what we will never know. After Bob caught the first Walleye, the guaranteed lure came off and never went back on. I had many strikes but just couldn’t hook them. I did finally manage to bring one to the boat, another nice walleye.
A couple of guys were fishing in a tight circle around a marker they had thrown out and were catching fish like crazy. As we went past them on one of our passes, they yelled out that they had their limits and were heading in, in case we wanted to troll through their honey hole. Of course we wanted to troll through there.
Then they surprised us with a free fish. They had miss counted and had one too many. A nice walleye! I’ll never turn down a nice walleye.
A few passes later through this honey hole the Weasel finally hooked up and pulled in you guessed it, another fine walleye.
We continued to fish for a couple more hours and then it got HOT!!! Besides we had told everyone at home we would be home by 11. We missed that time by almost 3 hours.
A good day on the water and good eats waiting!
Bob is showing us how long the fish are by using his arm. HAHAHA!
P.M. Report
June 14 is National Pop Goes the Weasel day! What a fun day it will be too. I had to look up the meaning of the rhyme and this is what I found.
It had to do with old England, (lots of stuff began in old England) and of course over time, things and their meanings change. Today we think of Pop goes the weasel and we think of a skipping song where we all hold hands and dance around a mulberry bush and sing. Versions of this have us falling backwards at the words, Pop goes the weasel and we all fall down.
Well, here is the real story:
Back in old England there were small towns all over the country and most of the inhabitants of the towns were, well nearly all relatives of each other. Sort of like going camping in large groups, we look around and find that each of us tend to camp near our closest family. Well Old England was much the same. These villages had folks that all knew who was doing what and when and with whom. Now introduce a stranger….OOOOOO….that person must be dealt with immediately, as they can not be up to any good. Distrusted and evil for sure. And so, in order not to let the stranger in on any conversations of theirs they made up words that meant other things. One of those words was “weasel”, which meant “coat or jacket”.
I say there old bloke, fine weasel you have on! Why Thank You my good man, what’s its pop?
What’s its pop? That meant, what is it worth? What will you give me for it?
As we all know about Old England, well current England for that matter, as some traditions never change! I’ll drink to that! There are pubs all over the place and each pub has it’s unique name. One of the more famous pubs is called the “Eagle”. I have not been in the place, but wish I had. Well, folks didn’t have a whole lot of money, sort of like today, but they liked to visit the pub for a drink or two of ale with their buddies and they did it often enough to make sure the pub stayed in business.
They would work hard all day and all week and every night after work would hit the pub and spend their money. Come Monday, the beginning of the new week, they didn’t have enough money to see themselves until the next payday on Friday, so into the pawn shop they would go and pawn their coats (thus Pop goes the Weasel). After payday, they would stop off at the pawn shop and pick up their coat. They had to have it to go to church on Sunday, after all it was their “sunday best” attire and they were proud of having such a fine weasel.
There are many versions of the song Pop Goes the Weasel, but one goes like this:
Up and down the streets of town, in and out of the Eagle
Pretty soon the money is gone
Pop goes the weasel!
——————
Do you get it? Wandering up and down the streets with money in their pocket and of course their main reason for walking the street was to go to the pub, so in they went. Well….you know.
So, over time, an American version was made up, after all no body erected a pub or bar or saloon and called it the Eagle. But the kids still liked the tune and to dance around they had to have a song.
All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel
The monkey stopped to tie his shoe
Pop goes the weasel!
—————-
Let’s analyze this one: First off there is no such thing as a mulberry bush. Mulberry tree yes, bush no. So someone really was thinking outside the box for that one. Secondly, how in the world did a monkey get into the mix in America? Maybe in Africa but not here, so again someone was thinking outside the box big time. Third, monkeys don’t wear shoes so why in the heck would it have to re-tye the shoe lace? WAYYY outside the box. These folks must have been drinking. Eagle? Eagle? And finally fourth, did the weasel run into the back end of the monkey while it was bent over tying it’s shoe? That’s my take on it and so Pop goes the weasel! And the monkey is doing head over heels rolling away from the so called mulberry bush.
Well it’s all meant in fun anyway, so enjoy the day!
Bears Butt
June 14, 2012
Today is Kitchen Klutches Day in America and it reminds me of a story of when I was working for the USDA.
A lady bought some raspberries from me and was going to put them up. (Putting them up means, cook them and put them in bottles for storage).
She had the whole kitchen to herself in the evening after supper and she was working very hard at getting it all done before bedtime.
She had a pressure cooker going and she stepped out of the kitchen for just a second to get some bottles, when KAPOWWIE!!! The lid of the pressure cooker blew off and all of the contents in the pot flew all around the kitchen!
She was very lucky not to have been in there because she would have been badly burned and maybe even worse.
She heard the explosion and came running back into the kitchen to find it a total dripping sticky mess. Raspberries were dripping from the ceiling, running down the walls and all over everything! YUK!
Well, she came to work at her usual time that next morning and told me all about it and how she and her daughter cleaned and cleaned until it was time for her to get ready for work. She got no sleep that night.
I felt really bad for her and I didn’t have any raspberries to pick to give her more. She had gotten the last of the picking for that season.
So, I hope none of you have an experience like that. Enjoy your kitchen klutziness today! This day is for you!
Bears Butt
June 13, 2012
This information has just been released. Everyone who camps needs to know these rules, I would not want any of my friends getting a citation for violating this and for sure I would not want ANYONE accidentally starting a fire.
INTERAGENCY NEWS RELEASEBureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Utah DNR-Division of Forestry, US Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service
News Release
For Immediate Release
June 12, 2012
Contacts:
Bureau of Land Management, Heather O’Hanlon, 801-367-2897
US Forest Service, Kathy Jo Pollock, 801-558-8016
State of Utah DNR/Forestry, Jason Curry, 801-703-0225
Follow us on Twitter @UtahWildfireSalt Lake City, June 14 — Current and forecasted weather conditions coupled with extremely dry conditions and heavy loading of vegetation throughout the State of Utah have created hazardous fire conditions. As a result, all state and federal lands, and all unincorporated private lands, will be under fire restrictions beginning 12:01 a.m. on June 14th, 2012. The restrictions will be in place until the fire hazard subsides.
Fire managers from the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came to the mutual decision on Wednesday.
Each agency has specific restriction orders that may contain different stipulations, but all the orders have in common a prohibition of the following acts:
- Setting, building, maintaining, attending or using open fires of any kind, except campfires built within the facilities provided for them in improved campgrounds, picnic areas or permanently improved places of habitation.
- Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared to mineral soil.
- Discharging, or using any kind of fireworks, tracer ammunition or other pyrotechnic devices.
These restrictions do not apply to lands within incorporated towns and cities; however, each municipality may have similar or more restrictive ordinances. Questions about specific areas should be directed to local authorities.
For more information on the restrictions, please visit http://www.utahfireinfo.gov
On a trip one summer in Montana or Idaho, my memory isn’t very good, we found ourselves in a little, and I mean small, tourist town sort of out of the way. It was hot and I wanted a beer. So into a small restaurant we went to order a beer. The town had a law that prohibited them from serving alcohol unless with an order of food. So we looked the menu over. We were not really hungry, just thirsty.
On the menu was “Fried Dill Pickles”. We had never heard of such a thing and so we asked the waitress about them. She assured us we would like them and so we placed the order along with a cold beer and a glass of wine.
The pickles surprised us! They were a little tangy, crunchy and very good! Of course I salted mine.
So, how do you make them?
Slice some pickles length wise and set aside.
Mix up some egg with milk or buttermilk, a bit of paprika and maybe some garlic salt.
In a bowl, pour in some corn meal, mixed with flour.
One recipe I found on line said to dredge the pickle slices in the egg mix and then into the flour mix. Set on a waxed paper and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so. I don’t know how much difference that would make.
Heat up some peanut oil or whatever oil meets your financial means, in a pan suitable for deep frying.
You know the rest of the routine. Fry until the outside crust is crunchy and brown.
Set aside when done to cool and then serve. Some folks like to dip them in ranch dressing or some concoction they make up. Some Dudes Fry Sauce would be good too.
I hope you try these this summer.
Bears Butt
June 12, 2012
Last evening we celebrated Conners birthday number 11! Congrats to Conner! Let’s go fishin! But wait, he has to go shopping for his birthday gifts! Fishing will have to wait.
Speaking of waiting. After the party, the humming birds came out in full force to get a nightly drink before retiring and so, with one of the guests having never had a humming bird land on her finger we decided that would be a good thing to try and let happen.
Here is the scene. Three fingers placed near the feeder.
Everyone has to hold as still as they can. No quick moves, no heavy breathing. Sort of like turkey hunting.
Each of the contestants did their part and soon the birds were flying all around. At one point I counted 8 birds in the vicinity.
And so we wait. Birds came and went and some came very close to landing but in the time I had to photograph the scene only one did finally land.
This was a near landing. And the ladies finger is the one who had never had one land before. It took a seasoned vet to get a bird to finally perch while eating. Even with wings still flapping you can clearly see “The Eagle Had Landed”!
When I was growing up we had very few humming birds around. At least I did not see many and I’m not sure why. My oldest brother in law actually told us kids that humming birds didn’t have feet. We have proof they actually do have feet!
Give it a try sometime and try not to hurt the delicate little birds. Get yourself a feeder sort of like the one in the picture. Mix sugar water up at a ratio of 1 cup of sugar to 3 cups of water. Heat the mixture to make sure the sugar dissolves totally in the water. Add a couple drops of red food coloring and after the mix is cooled, put it in the feeder and hang it outside. It doesn’t take them long to locate the feeder and when they do, make sure you have extra juice for them to eat as they will drain the feeder in just a couple of days.
Enjoy!
Bears Butt
June 11, 2012