Blather

Cooking for Guys

Live to Camp
Camp to Live

Poetry
and Other Lies

Rabbit Roulade

Rabbit Roulade

We've hosted the Easter Bunny BBQ the day before Easter for decades. Friends and family show up at Bunny Hump Ranch to listen to music, drink beer and eat rabbit. Some times the bonfire burns all night long. The party was canceled this year due to The Contagion. ...

Social Distance Monday

Social Distance Monday

They didn't need me at work Monday, so I did the responsible thing and stayed home and messed with my dugout canoe project. I am just at the beginning stages of burning out the cottonwood log. Using birch bark, pine pitch, dried grass and a ferro rod, I got a fire...

Barley Camp Stew

Barley Camp Stew

Barley makes a hearty, thick base for a stew. It scorches easily, so stir frequently and cook over moderate heat. At camp, we hung the stew pot from a tripod and raised it high above the flames. If you use a Dutch oven, put more coals on top, fewer underneath. Rotate...

Potato Chowder

Potato Chowder

This recipe was a staple for me during my college years. It was cheap, easy and filling. A big pot of it could feed me for a week. I would gather and dry quantities of fairy ring mushrooms (Marasmius oreades) from the little park down the street from my apartment, and...

Lentil Soup

Lentil Soup

I made this soup in the Crockpot. You could simmer this stovetop or over the fire or cook it in a Dutch oven. No matter how you choose to do it, you will end up with a thick, hearty soup.Ingredients bones and fat trimmed from a cut of lamb shoulder or chop 2 cups...

WAAAM Fly-In 2025

WAAAM Fly-In 2025

My friend Russ Noe suggested I help him ferry people around the air show with our sidecars, so I did. We had a lot of fun, met some great people and saw a bunch of interesting machinery. Here is a photo dump. I may add captions later, when I have more time.  ...

A Day In the Woods

A Day In the Woods

We had been hearing rumors of boletes being found at higher elevations, so Amy loaded Michael,  Walter and me into the CrossTrek and we headed north of Trout Lake.                              ...

Good Afternoon

Good Afternoon

        8/29/25 85f (29.4c) 3:00 Clear sky with a  few mosquitoes. Mike, Walter and I made an excursion into the woods to escape the heat and look for mushrooms. It felt a good ten degrees cooler in the forest.          ...

Good Afternoon

Good Afternoon

Amy's  Uncle Joe and Aunt Judy are visiting  from back east. I collected their autographs, then we spent the rest of the day wandering downtown Hood River.                                ...

Good Morning

Good Morning

  8/3/26 6:45 50F (10C) No wind on the ground. The sun has topped the ridge, a red ember glowing through the haze, smearing the canyon with bilious light. The Grasshopper fire is at 31,000 acres. The prevailing wind is expected to be light today, but it has...

Good Morning

Good Morning

  8/2/26 6:15 51F (10.5C) Partially cloudy with a whisper of a breeze. Birds are cheeping on either side of me. They sound like a pair of microwave alarms, nagging me to come get my tea. But I have my tea. It's right here. Good morning.      ...

Good Morning

Good Morning

  8/1/26 6:30 61F (16C) Calm, partly cloudy. The moon has set, the sun is still below the ridge. The Grasshopper fire has grown to above 26,000 acres with zero containment reported. It's probably 15 miles south of here. I haven't seen  any activity, maybe they...

Good Morning

Good Morning

  7/31/26 5:00 55F (12.7C) Calm, clear. The moon, just past full, floats behind the birches. A half-hour later the moon has set and the sky has brightened. There is a slight haze and a tinge of pink around the edges. Yesterday I bought a mower at a yard sale and...