Fishing Memories

    Guest Post by: IronCooker

Fishing is different for a lot of people. Some fish for a living with big boats on lakes or ocean fishing everything from tuna to lobster & shrimp; while others simply enjoy an afternoon out on a back woods pond watching a loon slowly swim across a lake. Bluegill fishing in evenings is a fun sport and are very good eating too.

I can remember growing up in northern Michigan where we would dig worms in our barnyard every spring so we could go fishing down by a creek about a half mile away. Mosquitoes & black flies so thick you couldn’t see through some of them but we were kids & it was some of the best times I can remember. One time we came home with a huge snapping turtle.  I could go on forever with this story but more interesting than this is the story I was reading that reminded me of our turtle that hot summer night.  I found a recipe for turtle called Turtle Sauce Piquant that caught my eye & reminded me of that huge snapping turtle us boys came dragging home to grandma.

She cooked that swamp monster up in a big cast iron kettle & made soup out of it. I sure would have liked to have tried this recipe back then. So if you are fond of turtles like I have always been, follow this link. From the bayous of Louisiana; you will enjoy this tasty treat. 

 Iron Cooker

CrawFish, CrawDad or CrayFish

Guest Post by: Iron Cooker

Anyone that reads our blog knows that we try to connect with others that have posted more recent stories & bring our readers the most updated news we can. This morning we were doing our best to connect with friends across this country when a conversation on crawdads came to be a topic of the morning. We do love fishing here in my home state of Michigan; we trap & catch some crayfish to boil but if you really want to know how a good crawfish boil is done you have to go where it is done right.

 

 In the state of Louisiana they do not take this lightly you know. Well don't take my word for it just look at this recipe for crawfish etouffee that they say it’s the way their mom did it.

 
They raise them on farms and harvest their catch from sometime in January & continue till late April or may. With Louisiana leading the nation producing over 90% of the country’s domestic crop of crawdads you know they have to know what they are doing when it comes to putting on a fish or crawdad boil. I don’t know about you folks but this just makes my mouth water when I read these articles on a good cookout with good friends to share with. If you are planning a crawdad cookout or a fish fry you are going to want a good kettle to cook them in. We have a great selection of 10 quart enamel coated Dutch ovens or seasoned cast iron kettles to choose from. Leave a comment and tell us your experiences you have with seafood cookouts! 

Posted by  Iron Cooker

CrawFish Boil "A Cajun Tradition"

The Aroma of CrawFish Boil fills the air as my brother Mitch and his son 

Jake along with the help of Troy Vidrine remove the first batch from the boiling pot.  It's a Louisiana tradition to boil CrawFish at this time of year, mainly because you can't get em' any other time.  The Boiling Rig being used is a commercial one of course but you can do smaller batches with amazing results using smaller pots like the ones found here at IronCooker.   

Enjoy your outdoor cooking and don't forget to stock up on our 
 Camp Dog Cajun Seasoning!

Preparation for a Hunting Trip

 Guest post written by: IronCooker 

     With springtime on its way into our lives we are all thinking about warm summer days. It’s a time of year that we all get excited about after a long winter. Where we live it is snow and ice 5 months out of a year and other months we are getting ready for winter.  On my way home from a trip to our local store this morning I spotted 5 deer standing in a field and it made me think of a post on deer hunting huntography. 

Yes I know you are thinking what the heck is this guy talking about; working on preparation for a hunting trip this time of year? If you are a sportsman or sportswoman that enjoys being outdoors as much as we do then you owe it to yourself to check out this story and follow links to these great ideas.  It’s a good place to read and leave your comments on issues you find.  

We enjoy hunting & fishing all over this country so we want to bring you some of our experiences as well. Share your hunting experiences, from snow covered back roads in Wisconsin to a hot dry Arizona desert. We want to hear what you pack into your camp, what kind of tents & cookware you use. We are fond of our cast iron frying pans & Dutch ovens when it comes to camping, and oh yeah we never leave home without our Camp Dog Cajun Seasonings in our cooking supplies.  

You might be thinking more of fishing this time of year, in fact just yesterday I was reading a post that my friend posted on his site. www.campdogcajunseasoning.blogspot.  I was looking for a fried fish recipe but was pleasantly surprised to see that he came up with another great recipe using his fish fry mix for chicken instead.

We are here to share our stories and ideas like this recipe. You will find a lot more of these great stories and recipes with ways to prepare for your next hunting trip, so come on in to read and share your ideas with us.

Kentucky Camping trip

This is a Guest Post by my friend IronCooker

Boonesborough, Kentucky

 Kentucky Camping trip

We all have our memories of great summer camping trips that come to mind when we look out our windows to see this snow covered landscape. We have Cast iron skillets hanging on hooks, with Dutch ovens sitting on shelves & a tripod in a corner waiting for our next adventure. 

 One memory that will always come to mind is a trip we made to Kentucky last fall. We packed our camper with anticipation of our trip. Everything we could think of was going to be taken on this trip because we were going to be staying at Boonesborough State park. What an adventure this was & one you will not want to miss out on if cast iron cookware & outdoor adventures are as much an interest to you as it is for us. When we arrived there was a welcome that was almost like coming home; People sharing ideas & cookware recipes for everyone that wanted to listen to their stories. Our campfire was burning bright with orange flames while we prepared Jambalaya in one of our largest Dutch ovens. 

 There are several versions of Jambalaya as you know these changes from one family to another. We make it special with an addition of a special Cajun seasoning that we purchase from Camp Dog Cajun Seasonings. We use a little more of this than some people in our Jambalaya but you can adjust to your taste. From experience at our campsite is that almost everyone asked for a second helping of this when they visited our camp.
We also picked up some pork tenderloins at a local market for this evening that we are preparing with camp dog mild Cajun seasoning as a rub. 

You cannot believe how this fills a campground with a smell of pine, Cajun spices & cooked chicken, pork & lots of burnt marshmallow. Now folks tell me that this doesn’t get you in a mood for a cookout? We had everyone in our side of this campground coming over to see what was going on at our site.. Some brought their chairs back to sit and tell about their Old Dutch oven that was handed down from generations before, some wanted to know where we bought our new heavy built tripod. This was our memorable experience that we wanted to share with you. Be sure to get out in this great outdoors & make memories like this one of your own. We would like to hear from you & hear what experiences you have had. Leave your comments so we can share your ideas too!

Boiled Crawfish

It's that time of year in south Louisiana! Oh they smell so good, can't wait to get me some.