It's fairly common knowledge at my workplace that I'm a shooter. From time to time I will get questions from coworkers about guns or shooting, and sometimes even about buying firearms. Last week a coworker expressed interest in going to the range. I'm happy to oblige any new shooter, so we're tentatively going to be heading out this weekend. The forecast calls for 104 degrees, so the plan is to head out early to avoid the heat of the day.
In other news, while Michael works on the custom rig I requested for the LCP, I figured that I really ought to get that pesky recall service thing out of the way. I would have done it sooner, but the LCP is my everywhere gun. If I'm going somewhere where I can't carry, I won't strap on the OWB pancake for the Hi-Power - that setup is nigh-impossible to unload discretely in a parking lot. But the LCP can drop in the pocket with an Uncle Mike's pocket holster (or soon-to-come OWB clipper rig) and get secured in the truck in a matter of a couple seconds. Having nothing to stand in for the LCP in this capacity, I've put off the recall service.
Well, along came someone at work selling a NAA Guardian .380 at a good price, so I jumped on it. I had the opportunity to try one out a few years back, and was quite surprised with the accuracy of such a small gun. The NAA was on my list of prospective pocket guns for a long time until I bought the LCP. What I didn't realize was that NAA produced a version to cater to California's ridiculous regulations, and installed an integral "lock" on those guns. My newly-purchased NAA happened to be one of these.
If you know me, then you're probably aware that I'm not a fan of unnecessary potential points of failure in firearms. Fortunately, this turned out to be a tack-on solution, and was easy enough to remove without affecting the functionality of any other systems. I appear to be the only one in the history of the internet who thought it would be a good idea to put up a guide for this procedure, as my search for such information returned nothing. Look for a guide on removing the Integral Locking System from the NAA Guardian here in the near future. I'll also be putting the pistol through reliability testing and should have a review soon with my general observations and photos.
I haven't done a food post in some time, so I'll be putting one together in the near future. A comment on my last post from Jim (flier389) over at Granddad's Corner got me over to his blog, which got me thinking about foods of years past, and those that remind me of my childhood. I thought it would be a fitting subject for an upcoming post.
Anyhow, there's a preview of things to come. See you then.
Tampilkan postingan dengan label food. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label food. Tampilkan semua postingan
Selasa, 23 Agustus 2011
Senin, 20 April 2009
Where I've Been and Some Commentary
Via several folks on my blogroll, I have this nifty "where I've been" map generator.
First: States in the U.S.:
visited 34 states (68%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or jurisdische veraling duits?
And secondlly, Where I've been in the world:
visited 6 states (2.66%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Best time to visit Nakano
... Not nearly as extensive as my travels in the U.S., with the Asian countries from my early years growing up as an Air Force brat. Canada, however, was done via an extended road trip on a shoestring budget during my early 20s. Lots of great experiences during that trip, and much of the western US states from the first map were covered during that trip.
Some places I'd like to go:
Germany - The homeland of my ancestors. I can trace my family back to the 1790's in the Oldenburg area - the generation that left the Old Country. It appears that most folks with my family name in Germany still reside in that general vicinity. With some genealogy work, I'm hoping to find some very distant relatives and meet them. Fortunately, my last name is relatively rare. Every person I've encountered with it in the U.S. can trace their roots back to the same family in the midwest that I come from. Hopefully, the same is true in Germany. Acquiring a working knowledge of German is one of the things I want to do before this trip.
Switzerland - Renowned for its rifle shooting and marksmanship among the common population. Yes, I know they have skiing and good food, but the shooting is what draws me. My wish is to visit a hundreds-of-years-old rifle range, and do some target practice with a K31 (the first rifle I ever fired).
Thailand - This one is for the food, beautiful landscape, and culture. I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I'm a Capsaicin nut. Spicy food is the cat's meow for me. Thai Chiles are among my favorite peppers - lots of heat and good flavor. Thailand has beautiful mountains, monestaries, and people. I have no desire to visit the tourist trap areas along the coast. When I travel, I seek a route where I will encounter people as they really are, not a manufactured image for me to consume. A bicycle tour is a possibility here.
Belize - At one point long ago, I made preliminary plans for a road trip to Belize via Mexico. Now, such a plan would be foolish, to say the least. Mexico has become a very dangerous place to be a foreigner these days, especially away from resort towns. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of visiting Belize, but I fear there's no place to go anymore where I wouldn't get the tourist treatment. Still, it remains on the list, in case an opportunity falls in my lap some day.
Iceland - Its stark beauty and wilderness have been a draw to me for a long time. The prospect of backpacking through that kind of country has an entrancing quality about it.
Alaska - Yes, it's on my map of places I've been. My time there was limited to passing through as a toddler on the way stateside from Asia. There is a stamp on my old passport to prove it, but I have no memory of it. Alaska draws me for a variety of reasons. It is perhaps the only place that surpasses Texas in the qualities I value for living. Rugged self-reliance, a frontier spirit, and respect for the liberties and rights of men. The gun laws (or lack of) are icing on the cake. As I have alluded to in previous posts, I have made preliminary plans for a backpacking trip through the Alaskan wilderness. Specifically, it's my desire to travel across a large portion of the state, backpacking through Gates of The Arctic National Park and rafting the entire length of the Noatak River within the Noatak National Preserve. The Alaskan wilderness has the same kind of draw for me as Iceland. Being in a place where very few bother to venture is a desire that is simply part of my being. Visiting a remote corner of the world where people simply do not go to on a whim has some sort of profound value for me which I cannot explain - and the state is full of those kinds of places. Alaska is also a place I would be proud to call home.
Antarctica - Again, the remote, seldom-traveled road holds its appeal for me here. At one point in my life, I considered applying to work at McMurdo station in a technical capacity. The place is desolate and beautiful. Few people ever make the journey to Antarctica. Other life priorities prevented me from sending in the applications and making a serious run at it, so Antarctica will probably never be on my "Where I've Been" list. I'd still like to go if the opportunity ever presented itself.
First: States in the U.S.:
visited 34 states (68%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or jurisdische veraling duits?
And secondlly, Where I've been in the world:
visited 6 states (2.66%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Best time to visit Nakano
... Not nearly as extensive as my travels in the U.S., with the Asian countries from my early years growing up as an Air Force brat. Canada, however, was done via an extended road trip on a shoestring budget during my early 20s. Lots of great experiences during that trip, and much of the western US states from the first map were covered during that trip.
Some places I'd like to go:
Germany - The homeland of my ancestors. I can trace my family back to the 1790's in the Oldenburg area - the generation that left the Old Country. It appears that most folks with my family name in Germany still reside in that general vicinity. With some genealogy work, I'm hoping to find some very distant relatives and meet them. Fortunately, my last name is relatively rare. Every person I've encountered with it in the U.S. can trace their roots back to the same family in the midwest that I come from. Hopefully, the same is true in Germany. Acquiring a working knowledge of German is one of the things I want to do before this trip.
Switzerland - Renowned for its rifle shooting and marksmanship among the common population. Yes, I know they have skiing and good food, but the shooting is what draws me. My wish is to visit a hundreds-of-years-old rifle range, and do some target practice with a K31 (the first rifle I ever fired).
Thailand - This one is for the food, beautiful landscape, and culture. I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I'm a Capsaicin nut. Spicy food is the cat's meow for me. Thai Chiles are among my favorite peppers - lots of heat and good flavor. Thailand has beautiful mountains, monestaries, and people. I have no desire to visit the tourist trap areas along the coast. When I travel, I seek a route where I will encounter people as they really are, not a manufactured image for me to consume. A bicycle tour is a possibility here.
Belize - At one point long ago, I made preliminary plans for a road trip to Belize via Mexico. Now, such a plan would be foolish, to say the least. Mexico has become a very dangerous place to be a foreigner these days, especially away from resort towns. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of visiting Belize, but I fear there's no place to go anymore where I wouldn't get the tourist treatment. Still, it remains on the list, in case an opportunity falls in my lap some day.
Iceland - Its stark beauty and wilderness have been a draw to me for a long time. The prospect of backpacking through that kind of country has an entrancing quality about it.
Alaska - Yes, it's on my map of places I've been. My time there was limited to passing through as a toddler on the way stateside from Asia. There is a stamp on my old passport to prove it, but I have no memory of it. Alaska draws me for a variety of reasons. It is perhaps the only place that surpasses Texas in the qualities I value for living. Rugged self-reliance, a frontier spirit, and respect for the liberties and rights of men. The gun laws (or lack of) are icing on the cake. As I have alluded to in previous posts, I have made preliminary plans for a backpacking trip through the Alaskan wilderness. Specifically, it's my desire to travel across a large portion of the state, backpacking through Gates of The Arctic National Park and rafting the entire length of the Noatak River within the Noatak National Preserve. The Alaskan wilderness has the same kind of draw for me as Iceland. Being in a place where very few bother to venture is a desire that is simply part of my being. Visiting a remote corner of the world where people simply do not go to on a whim has some sort of profound value for me which I cannot explain - and the state is full of those kinds of places. Alaska is also a place I would be proud to call home.
Antarctica - Again, the remote, seldom-traveled road holds its appeal for me here. At one point in my life, I considered applying to work at McMurdo station in a technical capacity. The place is desolate and beautiful. Few people ever make the journey to Antarctica. Other life priorities prevented me from sending in the applications and making a serious run at it, so Antarctica will probably never be on my "Where I've Been" list. I'd still like to go if the opportunity ever presented itself.
Rabu, 11 Februari 2009
A Most Delicious Game
Talking on #gunblogger_conspiracy the other day, we got on the topic of venison recipes. I mentioned that I had some great success with chicken fried venison. I figured this to be a relatively simple recipe and not really outstanding. Judging from the remarks in the channel, apparently no one was familiar with the preparation process I use.
I actually learned the basics of my hand breading techniques during my short stint in the fast food industry, and have refined my process through my years of bachelor cooking. This particular recipe was an instant hit with my girlfriend, who is quite the picky eater, and was put off by the thought of eating game meat before she knew me.
I use whatever pieces of meat I have on-hand. The prep for this post was done with shoulder and front leg meat. The reason this recipe is a good for these pieces of meat is because you can work with small parts. These parts of the deer tend to have a lot of tendon and connective tissues that need to be stripped out of the meat for cooking. Keep in mind that the finished product will be around 3 times the length and width of the original piece of meat (and much thicker). My fryer is relatively small, so I can't make the Texas-sized pieces I'd like to.
This recipe should work for pan-frying as well, though you may have to adjust cooking time a bit.
Chicken Fried Venison
Ingredients:
1/2 pound of venison, divided into pieces.
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 generous pinch of rubbed sage
Preparation:
Heat your fryer to 350 degrees Farenheit.
Before starting, it is important to wash your hands and clean your fingernails well. This breading method is improved by getting the coating on your hands and then rubbing off the stuck batter back into the flour mix as you work. This will create more "crispies".
Venison pieces should be around 3-4 inches in diameter, though this can be adjusted more or less, depending on how big you want to make your steaks. Tenderize the venison pieces thin and flat with a tenderizing mallet.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the milk and egg using a fork or whisk.
In another medium-large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, and sage - mixed loosely to make sure spices are spread throughout the flour.
Take a tenderized steak and coat it thoroughly in eggwash. Transfer it to the flour coating bowl and place it in the center. Pile flour from around it on top, and push the flour downward into the steak with your fist or heel of your hand. Flip and press flour in again. Repeat the eggwash/flour process.
Place the steak in the fryer for around 5 minutes, turning over after 3 minutes. The steaks should be lightly browned when ready. Remove steak and drain oil off, then place on a napkin-covered plate to remove excess oil.
Serve with cream gravy and your choice of vegetables.
Recipe serves 3-4.
I actually learned the basics of my hand breading techniques during my short stint in the fast food industry, and have refined my process through my years of bachelor cooking. This particular recipe was an instant hit with my girlfriend, who is quite the picky eater, and was put off by the thought of eating game meat before she knew me.
I use whatever pieces of meat I have on-hand. The prep for this post was done with shoulder and front leg meat. The reason this recipe is a good for these pieces of meat is because you can work with small parts. These parts of the deer tend to have a lot of tendon and connective tissues that need to be stripped out of the meat for cooking. Keep in mind that the finished product will be around 3 times the length and width of the original piece of meat (and much thicker). My fryer is relatively small, so I can't make the Texas-sized pieces I'd like to.
This recipe should work for pan-frying as well, though you may have to adjust cooking time a bit.
Chicken Fried Venison
Ingredients:
1/2 pound of venison, divided into pieces.
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 generous pinch of rubbed sage
Preparation:
Heat your fryer to 350 degrees Farenheit.
Before starting, it is important to wash your hands and clean your fingernails well. This breading method is improved by getting the coating on your hands and then rubbing off the stuck batter back into the flour mix as you work. This will create more "crispies".
Venison pieces should be around 3-4 inches in diameter, though this can be adjusted more or less, depending on how big you want to make your steaks. Tenderize the venison pieces thin and flat with a tenderizing mallet.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the milk and egg using a fork or whisk.
In another medium-large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, and sage - mixed loosely to make sure spices are spread throughout the flour.
Take a tenderized steak and coat it thoroughly in eggwash. Transfer it to the flour coating bowl and place it in the center. Pile flour from around it on top, and push the flour downward into the steak with your fist or heel of your hand. Flip and press flour in again. Repeat the eggwash/flour process.
Place the steak in the fryer for around 5 minutes, turning over after 3 minutes. The steaks should be lightly browned when ready. Remove steak and drain oil off, then place on a napkin-covered plate to remove excess oil.
Serve with cream gravy and your choice of vegetables.
Recipe serves 3-4.
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