Freshwater fishing gear

I suppose at some point I need to buy some fishing gear, seeing how I live near the Columbia River and a lot of lakes. I bought a freshwater fishing license (only $22/yr) because when you do, the state tosses in a complimentary annual vehicle use permit (an $11 value). I got it because I needed to buy a vehicle use permit to visit the state-run water access parks. Would love to catch some trout since it costs quite a bit at the supermarket, they are plentiful here, and could probably be fished from shore.

Also, my shellfish and seaweed license permits me to harvest crawfish, among other things. I have yet to actually get out to the coast (it's 2.5 hours away!) but there are lakes nearby with freshwater non-burrowing crawfish.

Mmm.. fresh fish..

Only interested in the following: brown trout, rainbow trout, bluegill, yellow perch, and maybe largemouth bass.

I suppose I'll also have to figure out what gear to get and what locations to visit for clam digging, crab/crawfish/shrimp harvesting. You'd think that the Pacific NW conjures up images of cleaner landscape, but it isn't so. Oregon is much worse in this regard, where none of its rivers and lakes even meet state regulations for clean water. I can't, for example, harvest catfish in the Washington lakes because of agriculture pesticide run-offs. Ewww...

So, gear suggestions? Bait? Line weight? Pole size?

I've fished before, but with other people's gear. If I am to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, I think I need to know how to fish, assuming of course that there are still fish to fish.

Dark chocolate molds

So, I have this flat sheet mould that I used to make the chocolate fish. The mould was from a kit to make soap, but that's a crafty adventure for another post.

Directions to melt chocolate

1. Water-bath / double boiler method

a. chop chocolate into smaller pieces and put it in a heat-proof bowl that fits snugly on top of a saucepan that has been filled with water.

b. Bring the saucepan to a simmer and stir the chocolate until it melts completely (it should look smooth and shiny); be sure to have the stove heat low enough so that the water doesn't boil. Turn off the heat once the chocolate has all melted.

Directions for Tempering Chocolate

The Cooking for Engineers blog has a good explanation of how this is done and why it is different than just melting chocolate.

Filling the mould

Spoon the chocolate into the mould, but don't overfill it. If the chocolate is still warm, you can gently swirl the spoon around in the melted chocolate to fill the detailed parts (like the fish's fins). Tap the mould on the counter to settle the surface of the chocolate as well as release any air bubbles.

Refrigerate the mold for about 30 minutes until the chocolate has set. Invert the mould onto a wax paper or parchment paper and chill it again.

Now then, I need to find a natural way to keep this chocolate from melting at room temperature. They look fine after having set in the refrigerator; but there's not a whole lot I can do with it.

When making bread...

The recipe calls for dried onion as one of the ingredients for curry bread. I don't like onions and don't eat onions, if I can help it. If I swapped that out for powdered garlic, would that still taste ok? Also, it seems that my area had a power surge and the electricity flickered.. resetting the timer for the current loaf (oatmeal bread) in the bread machine. Seeing how it's just in the first kneading stage, I wonder if an extra 10 minutes of kneading will affect how it rises. Hmm.. Making bread at home seems easier than going out to the store to buy, except now I have to go to the store to buy things to eat with the bread.

Garlic in a jar

Sure, garlic in a jar is nothing new. You can get it at the grocery store, peeled, minced, or sitting in some funky liquid like olive oil; but garlic is pretty darn cheap and it only takes a few seconds to prep garlic this way rather than buying some pre-packaged stuff. Want to keep garlic fresh like when you bought it, but live in a climate where your garlic either sprouts like mad in the cupboard, rots in jars in the cupboard, or goes all wonky on you in the fridge? Try this method, then decide what's best for your cooking style. 

Keeping Garlic Fresh 

Take a clean glass jar with a screw-on lid. Take a garlic bulb (or several bulbs if you bought in bulk). Take the outer paper layers off the bulb, the ones that encase the bulb but not the paper that encases the cloves. Break apart the bulb into individual cloves. Put the cloves into the glass jar, screw the lid on, and put the jar in the fridge. That is it. When you need garlic for whatever purpose, simply prepare the garlic cloves as you normally would.

A quotation for early risers

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?" "What's for breakfast?" said Pooh, "What do you say, Piglet?" "I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said. --A.A. Milne, Winne-the-Pooh (1926)