Hi -

Welcome to Wild Bites #6 from Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, a brief biweekly newsletter designed to make you smarter about your wild food. We'll also tell you what we're up to right now - a taste of what's to come on our website, podcast, YouTube, or To The Bone.

 ~ Hank (the chef) and Holly (the photographer)

1. What's Hot Now

2. Smart Take: Sushi Balls

Here's a revelation: You can make sushi without having to master the skills of a seasoned sushi chef!

Hank has been diving deep into Sonoko Sakai's "Japanese Home Cooking" these days, and the book is a fascinating glimpse into a world most Americans don't see. For most of us, restaurants dictate what we know about Japanese cuisine, and Japanese home cooking can be quite different.

This week, he tried his hand at sushi balls, which involves many of the same ingredients as the sushi you buy at restaurants, but a simpler assembly that uses plastic wrap. It was a great use for the yellowtail he brought home from that Southern California fishing trip a few weeks back, and a treat to enjoy quality sushi at home-cooking prices.

About that link: We don't earn a commission if you buy that book using that link, but if you begin your purchase from smile.amazon.com, your favorite charity can get a cut of the sale. We recommend choosing a conservation organization that supports habitat where you live.

3. What We're Up To

Hank has been baking! He doesn't do a lot of that, which helps us keep our weight down here at HAGC HQ. When he does bake, it's never sickly sweet, and it's usually a response to whatever's coming ripe at home or out in the wild.

The fig bread in the photo below is his attempt to use the figs ripening in our front yard before the bugs discover them. It's a bummer when you cut into a fragrant, plump fig only to see a bug running out of it, and a bigger bummer to find half a bug in the fig you just bit into.

Hank has a whole page full of dessert and sweets recipes on the website, though this fig bread isn't online just yet - coming soon!

Holly was stung by her inability to keep up with friend Jim Millensifer on a prairie chicken hunt in Kansas last fall, so she's been training hard for a grouse hunt we're planning with Jim next month in Colorado and Wyoming.

Half of the regimen involves hill routines on a local trail, but the other half involves high-altitude hiking in the Sierra Nevada, where ... SHE KEEPS FINDING MORELS. It's way too late for morels. So she is giddy. Perpetually. Hank has reacted to the abundance by launching some Hanksperiments. (You can see earlier Hanksperiments in our brief 2017 series of mostly short videos on YouTube that give you a peek into the weirdness and hilarity that is our home).

We're sure you're sick of hearing about morels, but you can read more about Holly's mortifying failure with Jim, pet peeves on the trail, and very utilitarian approach to fitness in "Fitness Is a Shotgun Is a Camera Is a Computer," a free post on To The Bone.

4. For California Wingshooters 

We're both obsessed with wingshooting, but as organized as Holly is, she has a hard time remembering all the season dates and limits for all the birds in California. So she designed this visual calendar that puts literally 25+ pages of California regulations for upland and waterfowl shotgun seasons into a single, easy-to-read poster. She threw in rabbits and squirrels too, because why not?

If you or someone you know is a wingshooter in California, check it out - you can buy a copy for $5. It's a PDF that you can store on a mobile device so you can find answers in the field, even without cell signal - just zoom to see the details you need. Or, print it and stick it on a wall in your home or hunting club. Learn more about what's included here, or click the button below. 

5. Aaaand Season 3 is a wrap!

Hank's third season of the Hunt Gather Talk podcast is now complete, with 20 episodes diving into useful and fascinating details about everything seafood, from ike jime to farmed vs. wild to fish parasites to fish intelligence. His noteworthy array of guests included Les Stroud, Andrew Zimmern, Valentine Thomas, Chef Josh Niland, and Tommy the Fishmonger.

If you've never listened, rest assured these ~70-minute episodes won't waste your time with a bunch of idle chit-chat - you'll come away smarter about topics you love, and excited to get out there and try new ideas, even if it's just how to be a better customer on a guided fishing trip.

Hank's already starting to think about where Season 4 will take him, but in the meantime, we'd like to thank our Season 3 sponsors, Filson and E-Fish - yep, only two, because he sticks to companies whose products he uses and recommends - as well as all the generous listeners who supported Hunt Gather Talk with a donation.

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