Today I went to Lantic Bay beach with my Mum and Dad. I got so engrossed in my Dad fishing and the mackerel he caught that I didn't see a big wave coming. The water was %$£*ing freezing and very wet and I have to confess I panicked ever so slightly. My Dad had to drop his fishing rod and rescue me because even though I swam as hard as I could I was still going backwards .... what a Dad! Everything is fine now and I have been dozing on the sofa in front of the TV ever since.
I am now watching my Daddy jump up and down inside the big wheelie bins. All morning he has been whizzing around in the back storage room and me and my Mummy and Lynne have had to duck quite a few times to avoid collision with an assortment of flying objects exiting the aforesaid storage area. I am wondering if my Daddy has got Jack Russell genes too?
When I left Crumplehorn I sold all my fishing gear at auction which I had collected since age 12. I figured if I fancied going fishing again in Canada, I would buy all new gear. Well last September, I took a week off, and decided I would head up to Lake Simcoe in Ontario and do some fishing. I went out and bought all new equipment including a carbon fibre rod, Shimano reel and everything else I would need. As it turned out I got really bad toothache, so I had to cancel the Lake Simcoe trip (Lord Simcoe is buried in Somerset BTW, he was governor of Ontario). After a few days I started to feel better, so went a mile down the road to fish in Lake Ontario. I set up all my gear at the top of the stone embankment. I stepped gingerly down the stones to the waters edge, put my foot on the last stone, slipped and slid gracefully into the water, fully clothed with my rod in hand. I never even made a cast that trip before driving home soaking wet. It took me 30 minutes to strip and clean my new reel and 3 hours to take my mobile phone apart and dry it inside and a further hour to dry all the bits of paper, money and business card in my wallet! I learned quite a few lessons that day, including wearing a life jacket when going near deep water. In Canada you can buy life jackets for Jack Russells to which you can attach a tether, and also has a hooking-out loop :)
I miss mackerel, here are a couple of recipes I cooked at Crumplehorn;
1. Cut through the top fillet down to the bone, and insert slices of lemon. Brush with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put a quarter inch of water in a baking tray and grill the fish one side only for about 25 to 30 minutes until the bottom fillet is cooked and the top is crispy and brown.
2. Stuff with sliced apple, onion and parsley. Brush with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper wrap in foil and cook in the oven for 35 minutes to 45 minutes.
As handsome as I think I would look in a life jacket, I think I'll stick to dry land... I bet that Lake Ontario water was freezing?! Do you have any sausage recipes Uncle Andrew?
Well, when I was at Crumplehorn, I used to do a Cumberland Sausage coil which was pan fried and sat atop a pile of leek mash and was served with onion gravy and vegetables. That is another dish I really miss over here, although I did get a butcher to make me a 10 lb batch of Cumberland Sausage thery were not quite the same as Kittows of Par.
This is a neat recipe.
Crusty Sausage Pepper Bread
1 lb. hot Italian sausage; casings removed 2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese 1/2 cup onions; finely chopped 1/4 cup green bell peppers; seeded, finely chopped 1/4 cup celery; finely chopped 2 jalapeno chilies; seeded, finely chopped mayonnaise 2 loaves frozen bread dough;thawed (each 16 oz. size) 2 Tbsp. butter; melted
Cook sausage in heavy medium skillet over medium high heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove sausage with slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 baking sheets. Combine sausage, cheese, onions, bell peppers, celery and chilies in medium bowl. Roll each dough piece out on lightly floured surface to 9 x 16 inch rectangle. Transfer to prepared sheets. Dab with mayonnaise. Spread half of sausage mixture evenly over each piece of dough, leaving 1/2 inch border. Roll up as for jelly roll starting at one long side. Brush each with butter.
Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Serve warm.
When I fell in the lake it was actually quite warm. They guy who offered to rescue me asked if it was cold and it was something I really hadn't noticed in the excitement, so it must have been quite nice in there. In winter it is covered by 10" of ice!
This is my mate Rocky who comes to visit us a couple of times a year. He has the most ENORMOUS ears and they can only do up .... I've sneaked around many a time, but never seen his ears in any other position. Rocky is very grumpy as he is a rescue dog but we are doing our best to show him that it will all be OK when he makes new friends
On Saturday night my Daddy accidentally knocked over a very LARGE tub of icing sugar. It was quite interesting because immediately after the very impressive atomic mushroom cloud which followed, we all turned into ghosts in the snow .... I've had the all white look for days now and I still leave footprints in the carpet. Did you know that there are apparently 347 parts which make up a Dyson hoover? I know because my Mummy had to take it apart when it started spitting out icing sugar instead of sucking it up. I wish I could reach all my bits ... I do taste quite yummy at the moment.
This morning I had to get up at 6am. I think my Mummy has gone a bit mad ... There were lots of nice men with white vans who came early in the morning and went into the pub kitchen. I'm really not sure they were worth the bother though, because I have not been able detect any sausage smells inspite of the early start. I'm off back to bed!