My Man's Man

Who's taking care of the baby? - Superdad!

I'm in Istanbul (for work) right now. One of the things that always amazes me is the number of people that ask "who's taking care of the baby?" Frank, of course!

Taking care of two kids and working full time is tough but Frank does a great job. The kids get to eat a few more hot dogs than when I'm home. (Not because I cook them any thing else but because I don't like hot dogs so Frank doesn't cook them when I'm home.) They have to get up earlier in the morning and the youngest spends an hour or two more in day care than normal. But all in all I think Frank does an excellent job and they enjoy their guy time.

So now why doesn't anybody ask, when Frank is hunting, "who's cooking??"

Fishing in South Dakota

Fishing in South Dakota

We just got back from a week in South Dakota. It was a very busy week of relaxing. We got to go fishing just about every day.

One of my favorite places to fish is by the dam in Flandreau, South Dakota. It's beautiful. You can sit in the shade, enjoy the breeze, watch giant carp jump in the middle of the river - or watch them try not to fall over the dam.

One kiddo got to see lots of  fish, "FISH! NEMO!" and the other one caught a couple.

I chatted with my 91 year old grandmother - who is still upset we were throwing the fish back in the water!

And no one got too wet - although we did get a frantic wave and holler from a guy across the river when our 7 year old decided to see if he could actually catch a fish falling over the dam.

It was a good time. (Although I am looking forward to the days when I can go back to reading my book and Frank can enjoy just fishing. I am now a pro at untangling fishing line.)

Backpacking with a baby

There's an excellent article on backpacking with babies on CNN.  While it's got some good advice, let me tell you, that woman is a super-woman. She carries a 28 pound toddler and a 30 pound pack! When we went backpacking with Caleb, I carried Caleb and a few emergency supplies like water, food and diapers. Chase (the dog) carried a few things and Frank carried everything else! And we were both beat when we got to the top.

We're thinking about taking both the kids  (almost 8 and almost 2) and finding a place where we can hike in just a mile or two. That way Frank and I can do  a couple of round trips if necessary.

How to get your non-cooking girlfriend to cook

Frank does all the cooking at our house. He's good at it, he enjoys it and he thinks it's important. (I think eating meals as a family is important but I'm usually willing to settle for mac and cheese rather than expend the effort for pasta puttanesca.)

Frank put on an excellent Mother's Day weekend. Saturday morning he made breakfast burritos, then  Saturday night he made "whatever I wanted" for Mother's Day. I requested Pasta Puttanesca which we had with a glass of wine. Then Sunday morning he asked what I wanted for breakfast and when I suggested left over breakfast burritos, he decided that he had to cook something fancy for lunch, because not cooking on Mother's Day would be just wrong! So we had the very delicious Middle Eastern Chicken Pot with couscous.

Now here's the kicker. Since I raved about the chicken pot, Frank has informed me that it's really easy, takes less than 30 minutes, he recorded a tv show explaining how to do it and sent me the recipe. Hmm. Think there's a message here? If I decide to try it, I'll let you know if my rendition of the recipe compares to Frank's or not.

Moosesghetti: spaghetti with mosse meat

As heard on twitter from alizasherman:

Just finished a plateful of Moosesghetti. Yes, spaghetti with moose meat. Hey, we live in Alaska.

Elk to get birth control

If you follow Frank's blog you know how he feels about their current plans to pay wildlife officials to slaughter elk in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Well, they've decided to add a new strategy.  They are going to implant some of the female elk with birth control.  I think that's a good, if long term solution, to some of the elk problems that Estes Park has.  It won't make as much money for the state as allowing hunters to harvest some of them, but it might be more palatable to more people, if a lot more expensive for Colorado.  (Letting hunters hunt would be more palatable than paying wild life officials to slaughter them and would bring in lots of revenue.)

Do you know why beavers are nocturnal?

Maybe you know beavers are nocturnal, but did you know that they haven't always been nocturnal? Until they were extensively hunted and trapped, beavers were mostly active during the day.  They switched to the night time to stay alive and even now that they are not hunted so extensively, they remain nocturnal animals.  But beavers really see better during the day.

I think that's absolutely amazing.  We changed the way an entire species lives.  Even now that they don't have to be nocturnal, they remain changed.

I learned this at the Denver Museum of Science and Nature today.  I actually learned a few other things as well.  It was an interesting day.  Caleb learned that it's really fun to run around a museum and stare at people. 

Best present: windshield wiper blades

Believe me, windshield wiper blades make a great present!  After a tough time driving in the snow yesterday, Frank went out and bought some Bosch ICON wiper blades.  Every time we used them today (which was about 36 times more than we needed to) he would grin and look over at me and go "yeah!" 

I just wish I'd gotten them for his birthday.  He loves them!

Game meat. I'm not trying to talk you into it. Really.

I was wondering today why more people don't eat game meat.   For background:

• We eat a lot of game meat: antelope, deer, elk, and pheasant.  I don't think I've left anything out.  Oh, we traded for some wild hog too.  And we had some moose.  And dove.  The duck and geese always go to somebody else.  And we always have freshly caught fish in the summer. (Fish tacos, yumm.)
• I'm not a picky eater and I've never had any issues with eating game meat.  I didn't realize what a big deal it was that Frank cooked moose steaks the first time I came over for dinner until much later.  (One exception: I think it's really sad how little food you get out of a dove.  Maybe a dove isn't as big or as smart as a deer but I guess I'm a little hung up on a life is a life and it's kind of sad that 2-3 doves give their lives so you can have an appetizer.  So I tried to enjoy it as much as possible!)
• I would never try to talk anyone into eating game meat.  Why?  Why bother?
• I would vehemently argue that eating game meat is not bad.
  • Not bad for the environment. The Division of Wildlife carefully controls animal population numbers and doles out hunting licenses accordingly.  Anyone who has ever been to Estes Park knows we have too many elk! Plus hunting license fees go to pay for all sorts of good wildlife and nature type things.
  • Not bad for you.  Game meat is very low in fat and free of hormones.  (I have to admit that after reading Fast Food Nation, I'm more than a little afraid of the hormones in my beef, chicken and pork.  They really do put them in.  You can ask my dad.)
  • Not bad for your tastebuds.  Just cook it right.  Ask Frank for advice or follow this blog.  Our favorite cookbook is Amazing Venison Recipes.

I think the main reasons people don't eat game meat are these but let me know if I've missed yours!

• "It doesn't taste good."  Then it wasn't cooked right or it was a bad piece of meat.  In the past five years I've only had one or two meals that I didn't like because of the game meat.  I'd invite you over to dinner but I'd have to ask Frank first ... People at work keep oohing and aahing over my leftovers for lunch and Frank says there are fights over his leftovers if he decides to go out to lunch.  I've been trying to talk him into going into the hot lunch catering business ... In the meantime, you can get a copy of our favorite cookbook, Amazing Venison Recipes.
• "It's bambi!"  Have you ever seen a baby calf?  Or piglet?  Or chick?  They are pretty darn cute too! (If you're a vegetarian, I understand.  Otherwise, I don't get it.)
• "It was free."  Let's see - you are ok with keeping a calf in a small crowded space for a year and then killing it but not with letting a deer roam free for a couple of years and then killing it?
• "It's expensive."  If you don't hunt, it's definitely expensive.

One reason often given to eat game meat that is not really true is "it's cheaper."  If we added up all of Frank's hunting costs and the cost of processing meat, it's not cheaper for us.  Maybe if we processed it ourselves it would be but then you'd have to figure in the time and days off work to process it.

So why don't you eat game meat?  Or if you do, what's the most common reason you hear from those that don't?

Hunters get a bad rap on CSI

Hunters get a bad rap on TV and in the movies. Often they are portrayed as drunk red necks that like to kill things and often accidentally shoot themselves and others.  In real life hunters are usually very conscientious and to most people's surprise, they really love and respect the wildlife they hunt. 

So hunters were pretty upset when this week's CSI NY assumed that a murderer was a hunter because a tick was found at the crime scene.  Personally, I thought it was very poor detective work to immediately leap to the conclusion that only hunters got ticks.