It’s Been a Year…
Nov 21st, 2008 | By Hank Shaw | Category: Uncategorized | Comments | 32 Comments |
It has been a year since I began Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. The anniversary crept up on me, but now that it’s here I have been thinking about where things have gone over the past 365 days.
For the most part, I’ve lived this past year as I would any other year. I hunt, I fish, I forage and grow things as a matter of course; it is part of who I am and how I have chosen to spend my days on this earth. I chose this image you see above not only because it is from Block Island, where the roots of my idiosyncratic quest began, but also because I am still searching.
I come by it honestly. My Dad is 74 and recently went back to work. He tried retiring but fidgeted too much, although he did pick up winemaking, and the ability to professionally repair porcelain for the hell of it. He’s also been a lifelong grower of apples. Dad lived in Cape May, New Jersey, for a time, but Cape May is not a place for apples. He struggled there, as did his apples. Now he’s moved on to Plattsburgh, New York – home of the Winesap apple, one of the world’s finest. He’s still searching, too.
Dad’s is a restless quest. Mum’s is pure curiosity. There is a certain wide-eyed feeling to how Mum looks at the world. She too is fascinated with things she did not know the day before, but hers is more of a wonderment at what God has set out for us to learn — like a cosmic Easter egg hunt. Mum doesn’t search so much as she turns over rocks at random to see what’s underneath.
I am blessed to share a slice of each desire, and this blog has been a way for me to share many of the odd things I’ve learned. Just how do you make your own sausages? Is there really something different about this variety of veggie versus that other variety? If I want to eat wild ducks, how do I go about getting myself some? Hmmm…never seen that fish before: I think I’ll eat it.
I can happily report that I have not yet run out of rocks to turn over, or quests to conquer. I just bought some commercial mushroom-growing kits because I want to eat more mushrooms. Dunno how these will turn out, but we’ll see. And I am delving into the science behind hanging wild game. What, exactly, is going on when a pheasant is hung for days before drawing and plucking?
But I also have a question for you, dear reader: What is it about this space that makes you return? What have I neglected that you yearn to see more of? Is there a stone unturned that needs flipping? A quest you want me to embark on? As we enter Year Two of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, I’m all ears.
Thank you for reading.
Since I’m a newbie to the site I can’t offer up anything right now b/c I still trying to absorb all your previous entries. Which by the way all kick ass. The mere fact that this site is online is a joy to me. It makes me happy knowing that there are others who enjoy the hunt, trying out new and exciting reciepes, and sharing it with friends as much as I do. Thanks for your time and effort, and I look forward to the next year….
Off to sight in at the range for the weekend deer hunt with me lady!
I keep returning because I enjoy the lessons. I have never hunted, but I would like to one day. My hunter friends do so in a way that I don’t find very appealing (lots of booze and lots of driving around looking for things to shoot in & around greater Sacramento). Your blog provides a valuable insight into hunting that I have never had.
I love to cook, but have never had wild game to cook. You offer up some interesting recipes that I hope to cook for myself one day.
I learn a great deal from your blog and hope to continue doing so. Keep up the good work!
Well, I’ve only been reading this site for a few months, since linking over here from the BBQ post over at Elise’s Simply Recipes. I don’t hunt, I don’t fish, I live in an apartment and can’t quite bring myself to get in on the community garden concept, but I love cooking. Honestly, I mostly just read to see where you’re going next, where you’ve been recently, and to a certain extent, to live vicariously through your adventures. I do hope at some point to be out of the apartment lifestyle and be able to get back in to gardening and feeding myself from my own garden, and I would love to get into making my own sausage and curing and smoking my own meats, but I really don’t think my management would appreciate that right now.
Also, I love the variation of the cooking methods you use and the different ethnic styles. I’d have to say one of my favorite posts was the one about learning to cook simple Japanese food.
I’ll jump right in and tell you what caught my eye about this space: it is my kind of thinking. Too many people who I meet have one of two responses to hunting/fishing/eating of game: 1) EWWW! BAMBI! or 2) “you know, you really can’t do it right without such-and-such gun and such-and-such method”. You approach both the hunting and the cooking with a lighthearted and creative nature. The stories are fun and the recipes delicious Every post is easy to read, laugh along with, and relate to. When I found this site, I knew I had found a gem!
Happy Blog Birthday! I always enjoy my visits to your blog. Hope that you enjoy writing it as much as I do reading it.
Just off to research the history of hanging pheasant – having been given the first brace of the season
Happy Blogiversary!
I like reading your blog because I learn a lot about game and hunting from it. It’s a glimpse of a very different world. Of course, the fact that it usually sounds mouthwateringly delicious doesn’t hurt.
I enjoy reading your blog every day to see what critter or other food source you are exploring in order to prepare a mouth watering feast. Your writing style is fun to read. Happy first year! Looking forward to many more years of yummy blogs!
I came here from Serious Eats, because I enjoyed reading your comments. You’re a great writer (and I promise to buy the book). You’re living where I grew up, and I am fascinated by your observations of an area that was once so familiar to me. And my prickly, hunter brother is easier to relate to when I pass on one of your stories.
Congratulations on the anniversary – a glass of red is inclined to the south.
Congrats on the anniversary, Hank!
What keeps me coming back? Well, I sometimes think I’ll try a recipe (I never have… yet… with very few exceptions, I’ve never followed a recipe), and you sometimes give me insight into some new aspect of the cooking I already do.
But really, it’s the connection between taking our own food from the world around us that you bring to the site, and the way you craft the words to describe it. Your site is a joy to read, and that’s not something I get everywhere I go.
So thanks for that, and here’s to the coming years!
I like foraging and I like reading about foraging. You write about it quit well and I hope that next year you’ll continue to provide the same excellent content as you have over the past year. Happy Blogaversary!
i read your blog because the random rocks you turn over are usually pretty different from the ones i find, and so, i always learn something. that, and it’s a fun read.
Congrats, Hank! It’s nice visiting your blog because I know I won’t get the same old cupcake recipe. It’s unique and you have a very strong and knowledgeable “voice”. I also have to keep my eye on Red Sox fans. Red Sox? Come on!! haha
I wish you many many more posts and enjoyment in every one of them
Happy birthday. I’ve found your website very enjoyable and very, very frustrating, as a frustrated (that is, largely unsuccessful) hunter this year.
I’d like to see a recipe for snipe, and I’d like to offer you and NorCalCazadora an invitation to come out and procure some at a friend’s property on the Delta, later in the year (born and raised in Isleton, I am).
I don’t know why I was so surprised to find you’ve been doing this for just a year. Congratulations! I read HAGC because I love your writing voice. I appreciate that you take food seriously without taking it too seriously, if that makes any sense, and without being pedantic. I like that I don’t know what’s going to be posted next. And I like the ethnic inspiration for seasonal ingredients. Many happy returns!
Just a year?! Seems a heckuva lot more seasoned than that. Keep up the good work for another. Here’s to ya!
Thank you all for such kind words! It’s pretty humbling. For those of you who want to learn how to hunt but don’t know where to start, NorCal Cazadora and I are planning to write some basic “here’s what to do” pieces soon.
I am also looking to add a feature linking to sources for people to get some of the stuff I forage, fish and hunt for, for those apartment dwellers in the audience (that’s you, Chris!)
And Josh, I would be REALLY psyched to hunt snipe in the Delta — I have never shot one and have always wanted to cook some. I only hope you are serious, and not talking about a night hunt with a pillowcase and a flashlight…
I wandered over here from Vanilla Garlic. My husband hunts but we usually give away the game. Since you have such great recipes I’ve been trying a few out. We are still not big fans of wild game but your recipes have gone a long way to making it more palatable. Plus your a great read. Thanks for the enlightenment.
Cause ya’ gotta’ keep the chef happy!
An unhappy chef makes for a terrible meal, or worse.
Let’s not forget Julius Caesar and what happened to him when he disappointed his main food man.
But seriously Hank, writing stories like the beautiful musings above about your parents and, by the most proficient finesse with which you wield both kitchen knife and pen.
I believe that we get the best all around here at your site.
Happy anniversary!
Happy Birthday
The thing that makes me keep coming back is that I am really just starting to get into cooking and eating game, and your site is a wealth of information – along with up to date great recipes. You lead a life that speaks volumes to me, and you do it honestly.
You also have a great writing style, which really makes every post a fantastic story.
Hi Hank,
I know that Fiona left a comment earlier but this is why I love coming back to your site (I cannot believe that it is only one year old).
1) You are a great writer, a natural. Period. I love your stuff.
2) Last time I hunted was age 12 with a .22 and like so many other commentators, I live vicariously through your articles.
3) I love the concept of “free meals”. Some day I will cook roadkill or shoot a grey squirrel for the pot.
4) I envy you!
Good luck & good hunting.
Danny
I’m all ears re: your hanging game research. I think that like many people others take interest in, the strength of your content will lie in just being yourself as much as possible. Although that’s way to deep, and I wish I had something more fun to post. Congrats on the one year landmark.
Hank, I already sent you congratulations on Facebook on the day of, but I thought I might also make a public declaration of my appreciation for the excellent recipes and stories that you share with this great blog! Keep up the fantastic work!
I just love hearing someone wax poetic about the nasty bits. And I have a soft spot for you romantic hunter types.
Congratulations on your first year.
What keeps me coming back is the great stories about food and the great pictures. I love to cook, but don’t have your skill. Reading what you write hear makes me think I might be able to learn how to cook like you do.
I keep coming back because your blog is INTERESTING and even if I don’t have game to cook it is inspirational – perhaps I feel like some Greek or some Japanese…but most of all, your writing is wonderful. I agree that the best part is that it is you who we are being friends with – not an anonymous writer.
Hank, Congratulations! A fantastic first year. Keep up the great writing.
Ken
Happy blogday Hank!
Nice site, @Hunter… came here looking to see if you were still around, having noticed your absence at SeriousEats… I’m going to pass your blog link along to my dad (lives in Paradise), because I think he’d really like your thoughts and your approach. Keep up the informative posts… I’ll be visiting again soon!
Because there is always something to learn, especially about game. I have eaten plenty of game before and cooked some, but this is the first year that my husband is hunting (and he is being successful) – it certainly makes me look at things… differently. This is also the first year also we are trying to be really more self-sufficient… My sense if where I am in the world is changing, and I find things in your blog that “resonate” with me.
I am enjoying the more researched recent post too (such as hanging pheasants and why.
Sylvie
http://www.LaughingDuckGardens.com
When I came to this site first it was because I was researching sausage making and I found your awesome recipes. I keep coming back because I am fascinated by your lifestyle, I am in awe, I’d love to do something similar which is practically impossible in (Western) Europe, so I participate second-hand, sort of
I think you have a vast knowledge of stuff which shouldn’t be lost to our or future generations and I am trying to learn – and indulge, too.
I found this site by some pass of good fortune… I so look forward to the RSS posts. You are an excellant writer and the stories with the recipes are…well, of the quality that you could put out a cookbook or two. You remind me of Hugh. ( A little calmer though) Best wishes for many more years to come.
What is it about this space that makes you return?
When I started looking for a house, I dreamed of planting fruit trees, vegetables, etc. I learned about the dripline of walnut trees, sun and shade, soil. But the place I bought is a zero-lot townhome.
I keep coming back because every word reminds me that I can get to the place I want to be – I’m not a good cook, yet; I’m not a gardener, yet; I’m not a hunter, yet. But life can be long, and I still have aspirations. I keep coming back because you inspire me.