It's been a tough month. Late in January I began to feel ill, coughing, with a pain in my side and high fevers. I muscled through it, as I had a hunting trip in Arizona to do with my friend Randy Newberg. But when I got back, the cough
got worse. Nevertheless, I went to Sioux Falls, SD for Pheasant Fest, which was the debut of my new cookbook Pheasant, Quail,
Cottontail. The day before that event, I cooked all day for a Pheasants Forever fundraiser... and that kicked me over the edge. I spent the next day in a Sioux Falls Emergency Room. I couldn't breathe, my side hurt like someone kicked me in the ribs, and I was running fevers well over 103F. Thank God for Holly, who was with me. She helped
me cope, and manned the booth we had to sell the new book. Upon my return, we all thought I had Valley Fever, a nasty fungal lung infection that can last months, and, in a few cases, be life-threatening. But a few days later, the blood test came up negative. It looked like straight-up pneumonia. Most of February I spent in bed, coughing and sweating out fevers. As we get into March, I am still not over it, although finally I can say I am on the mend. I have to say, this has shaken me. There was a moment where cancer was a legit possibility, and even with "just" pneumonia I've been
left weakened physically. But, as they say in theater, the show must go on.
I will be back on the road next week, this time to Missouri.
Tuesday, I'll be at the Anita Gorman Center in Kansas City talking about getting the most out of your small game;
I'll have copies of my books there for sale, too. This is a free event, so you can just show up.
Thursday is down in Cape Girardeau at Celebrations
Restaurant for a book dinner; that one is close to sold out, but if you call them at 573-334-8330 you might be able to get one of the last spots. Friday and Saturday I will be in Columbia, first at Logboat Brewing for a book signing and beer party, then at the annual conference of the Missouri chapter of Quail Forever. You can just show up at Logboat, but the QF conference has a fee. I am hoping I hold up OK on this trip. I am far from 100%, but I am trying to take care of myself.
Wish me luck! After that, it's a pretty busy schedule. You can follow it here, and chances are I will be
near you at some point this year.
Many of you have received your copy of Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail by now, or will soon. (If you haven't you can buy one on Amazon or order it at your
local bookstore.) 100,000 thank yous for your support! My request: I'd be super grateful if, once you've read the book, you could post a review to Amazon. Believe it or not, reviews really drive sales on Amazon -- the more a book gets, the more Amazon's computer bots say, "hey, this is a great book, we're going to feature it!" Thanks in advance for doing this -- it really helps me out!
March is a swing month. For the most part, hunting is over, although there is still some snow goose hunting to do, and at the end of the month turkey seasons are starting up.
Fishing is the same. Ice fishing is
largely over in most places, and the "good" seasons haven't started yet. Trout is the name of the game in the South, and mackerel in the Northeast -- that huge fishery historically starts in North Carolina at some point in March, and heads north from there.
Here in the Pacific, you have the remnants of crab season, mussel season is winding down, but there are some good clam tides coming at the end of
March. Sturgeon can be caught, and at the end of the month, the striped bass will begin their spring run.
Here are a few early spring dishes to make at home: |
I am on the road a lot, often in wild places in search of fish, game or wild edible plants and mushrooms. If you want to keep up with what I am chasing at the moment -- and this will give you a good,
real-time indicator of what's in season where I happen to be -- follow me on Instagram. My handle there is @huntgathercook Instagram is
often the only social media account I update when I am out and about. I am of course also on Twitter as @hank_shaw and Facebook as/huntgathercook as well. Day in and day out, however, most of my online interaction is in a Facebook forum I run called Hunt Gather Cook. It's a closed site, so I have to let you in, but just let me know you are a newsletter subscriber when you answer the entry questions and yer in. Hope to see you there! |
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Spring trout seasons are opening, and I love nothing better than split whole trout. dusted in some kind of flour or fine cornmeal, then fried in butter or lard with some fresh spring vegetable. |
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Stinging nettles are the first spring green of the year in most places, and they are a wonderful tonic after months of eating heavy stews and braises. This is me going full nettle: Nettle in the pasta, nettle in the ravioli filling. You can use many other greens here if you want, even store-bought spinach. |
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Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail is the most comprehensive, lushly photographed and illustrated cookbook covering upland birds and small game ever produced. At 336 pages, with more than 100 color photos and 125 recipes for everything from pheasants, quail, rabbits and grouse to woodcock, hares, squirrels, partridges - you name
it! What's more, every purchase helps habitat: I am donating a portion of the proceeds of every book sold to Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever to restore, maintain and expand habitat for all upland birds. |
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