Of Herbs and Roast Mutton, The Labor Day Adventure. Or....Plan C...

Wish I was a bit closer to Prentice Cooper WMA. It is just a bit of a pain to drive up the mountain for me and I'm not that familiar with where to go for the stuff I like.

The cooked meal in the skillet looked delicious. I have to give you a big ++ for that one!

It has been dry. I was in Cades Cove yesterday wandering around close to the Loop Road. Wildlife was scarce. Saw one yearling black bear and only three deer (buck and two does). Yeah, I made the run up to "the largest knife store" even though it was way out of my way. The traffic even after Labor Day (and prior to the Autumn leaf rush) made me remember why I usually don't drive through there (Pigeon Forge TN).
 
22-rimfire said:
Wish I was a bit closer to Prentice Cooper WMA. It is just a bit of a pain to drive up the mountain for me and I'm not that familiar with where to go for the stuff I like.

The cooked meal in the skillet looked delicious. I have to give you a big ++ for that one!

It has been dry. I was in Cades Cove yesterday wandering around close to the Loop Road. Wildlife was scarce. Saw one yearling black bear and only three deer (buck and two does). Yeah, I made the run up to "the largest knife store" even though it was way out of my way. The traffic even after Labor Day (and prior to the Autumn leaf rush) made me remember why I usually don't drive through there (Pigeon Forge TN).
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TDOT just re-paved the road across the mountain, so it;s a lot nicer now :)

Thanks man. Commercial fishing and trapping in my younger days gave me lots of experience at cooking in skillets over an open fire :D

I love Cades Cove. Lol, it was interesting the last time I was there. I came out of the woods from doing some wildlife photography, carrying nothing but a walking stick, a small knife, and with about 2K in camera equipment around my neck...and a Park Ranger thought I might have been "poaching ginseng". So they needed to search my truck. I had been up in the mountains north of Gatlinburg for a couple of weeks working on articles for different magazines. So explaining the four RMJ tomahawks, and several ziplok baggies of various wild plants and tinder materials was fun. But none of it was anything I had illegally poached, so they finally let me go about two hours later, and even pointed me to the best area to get bear pics :)
 
That right there my friend, is what I call living.

I wouldn't swap that for $300.00 meal at a five star restaurant.

Kerry makes some fine cheeses
 
LostViking said:
That right there my friend, is what I call living.

I wouldn't swap that for $300.00 meal at a five star restaurant.

Kerry makes some fine cheeses
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Me either, and I've prep-cooked in a few three and four start restaurants over the years. Yeah, I liked this, now I want to try one minus the whiskey :D


WILLIAM.M said:
Another EXCELLENT set of photos and trip Report

Bravo my friend!!!
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Thanks Doc, glad you enjoyed the post!
 
Great camp cooking :):thumbup:! It’s since sometimes I don’t do a proper one and start to miss it a bit! Amazing picture of the Nature as well, as usual from you! Beautiful shots of the vulture :thumbup:. Also liked your knife. Thanks for posting! We have Labour Day on May 1st here and roasted lamb (cooked in different ways) it’s also a rather popular dish in many of our Regions. I like it a bit more on the “well done” side, though :).
 
Herlock, IIRC ,in Sardinia the traditional method for roasting lamb was to rub with lard, rosemary and garlic ? That certainly would work .
 
Herlock said:
Great camp cooking :):thumbup:! It’s since sometimes I don’t do a proper one and start to miss it a bit! Amazing picture of the Nature as well, as usual from you! Beautiful shots of the vulture :thumbup:. Also liked your knife. Thanks for posting! We have Labour Day on May 1st here and roasted lamb (cooked in different ways) it’s also a rather popular dish in many of our Regions. I like it a bit more on the “well done” side, though :).
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I always enjoy your threads, and you have posted some fantastic looking foods! The lamb didn't look near as pink to my eyes as it did to the camera :)
 
Cool post. I see Turkey Vultures up here now and then. I filmed some months back floating around. I forgot all about it until I saw your post. I had a cherry tree and a walnut tree in my back yard as a kid in southern Ontario. I remember the stench as those outer husks would start to crack open on the walnuts.
 
I must have missed this earlier on - you're a good man, MW and I really like the Turkey Vulture shots.

Doc
 
Sorry guys, I didn't notice this post had more activity on it sorry. I've taken on some new projects and new students and have been pretty busy.


upnorth said:
Cool post. I see Turkey Vultures up here now and then. I filmed some months back floating around. I forgot all about it until I saw your post. I had a cherry tree and a walnut tree in my back yard as a kid in southern Ontario. I remember the stench as those outer husks would start to crack open on the walnuts.
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We have quite a few turkey vultures here, black vultures too. I like to sit on the bluffs and watch them fly by and ride the thermals. I've never had a black walnut tree in my yard, I always raid the wild ones in the woods. When they fall and the outer husks soften I do a sort of scooting stomp on them that smashes the husk and rolls the inner nut out. Then I take those home to dry, leaving the husks in the woods :)

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You still get stained hands if you don't wear gloves, but not as bad :)

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Rockywolf said:
Good post. Love the food, the pics, and the knife. Tell me about the frying pan.
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Thanks man :) It's an old "Cold Handle" pan I picked up at a local antique store. Pretty cool little pan, nice and light and works great for a fire.


DOC-CANADA said:
I must have missed this earlier on - you're a good man, MW and I really like the Turkey Vulture shots.

Doc
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Thanks Doc, animals I get along with, it's with people that I usually run into issues :)
 
You're a great man, Brian. Excellent thread and pics and of course, helping a hungry creature in need, can't beat it, man. I think she recognized a kind soul when she saw one. :thumbup:
 
Quiet said:
You're a great man, Brian. Excellent thread and pics and of course, helping a hungry creature in need, can't beat it, man. I think she recognized a kind soul when she saw one. :thumbup:
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Thanks man, I'm glad you enjoyed the post. I just don't have it in me to let anything go hungry if I have a way to fix it. I may not look like it these days...but I know how it feels to be truly hungry. It's not a good feeling, particularly if children are involved as well. The day that sealed the fate of my previous marriage, though there were several issues, was the day she actually cussed me out for spending our date money buying food for a couple and their two children who were broken down in an Ace Hardware parking lot. They had been there a while when I stopped in to pick up some plumbing parts. He thought he had a wiring issue. As it turned out he needed a new starter. I gave him a ride to the auto parts store and back. As I was getting back in my truck, I heard the little girl say "mommy I'm hungry." and then mom replied "I know baby, me too, but I'm sorry honey, but we just spent all we can afford on the new starter, we'll barely make it home as is now. If we spend anymore we won't have the gas to make it home." I stopped and walked over to the Wendy's next door, bought 4 double cheeseburger meals, and gave those and the last $50 I had on me to the mother, and said I hope you make it home. When I got home my ex was all dressed and ready to go, and I said sorry, and told her what I had done. She literally cussed me out for over an hour. My current wife of the last thirteen years, would be more apt to cuss me out if I had opted for the date rather than helping a family in need. I think I got it right this time :)
 
Awesome post.
Beautiful pics of nature, great food (cheddar with wiskey sounds amazing)... nice knife, warm fire...
Makes me realise its been too lomg since I did an overnighter.
Thanks for sharing.
 
Mist, I was digging though my nature library and pulled out "Fall Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains" by Oscar Gupton and Fred Swope (1987). Noticed it is primarily a book with pictures and explanations on the fruit of various trees, shrubs, and plants rather than your typical wildflower book. You tend to be interested in this topic. It also mentions eatability of these items. Not a bad book. One I really never paid much attention to. For info, I used to buy every state wildflower book/field guide as I ran into them years ago. I developed a pretty good assortment of reference materials.
 
Vultures are gone now but an eagle stopped to say hello as I worked to finish firewood stacking. Some years an eagle will be watching from the other side of the river and every time I step out the door he will call !! I wonder how much of it is " it's me and this is my territory "

Frying pan -I'm sure they still make those pans or similar ones . One of the new BF members Is CampingSurvival.com .He's got aluminum, stainless steel and titanium pans . As a kid at home we always had a nice steel pan used always to fry our eggs !
 
HSC /// said:
once again I say, man you are living right :-)
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Thanks man, I try :)


knoefz said:
Awesome post.
Beautiful pics of nature, great food (cheddar with wiskey sounds amazing)... nice knife, warm fire...
Makes me realise its been too lomg since I did an overnighter.
Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you. That cheese is one that is awesome in small bits, but not one I want to use for meals lol


22-rimfire said:
Mist, I was digging though my nature library and pulled out "Fall Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains" by Oscar Gupton and Fred Swope (1987). Noticed it is primarily a book with pictures and explanations on the fruit of various trees, shrubs, and plants rather than your typical wildflower book. You tend to be interested in this topic. It also mentions eatability of these items. Not a bad book. One I really never paid much attention to. For info, I used to buy every state wildflower book/field guide as I ran into them years ago. I developed a pretty good assortment of reference materials.
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Thanks for the info man, I'll pick up a copy. Could be handy this spring. I'll be going back up into the smokies to see how bad some of my favorite areas were damaged by the recent forest fires.


mete said:
Vultures are gone now but an eagle stopped to say hello as I worked to finish firewood stacking. Some years an eagle will be watching from the other side of the river and every time I step out the door he will call !! I wonder how much of it is " it's me and this is my territory "

Frying pan -I'm sure they still make those pans or similar ones . One of the new BF members Is CampingSurvival.com .He's got aluminum, stainless steel and titanium pans . As a kid at home we always had a nice steel pan used always to fry our eggs !
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Not sure how the Eagles do, we don't have many if any in this area. The hawks like to light in a tall tree and call out to see if they can cause a rabbit of mouse to jump and give away their position. I used to like aluminum for the weight, but aluminum is getting some pretty bad things associated with it's uses, so I have switched to steel. I'd love to find a light pan like this in a stainless steel. Found one a little while back with a folding handle that I like. I just have to decide if I like it $100 worth :)
 
If you spent a good bit of time with wildlife you may see some weird things !! I was just told by a fellow who had to stop for a turkey who was crossing the road -- then behind the turkey a vulture following it !!
 
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