It seems that thick beef short ribs are wildly en vogue for those with smokers and in this ‘Good Eats’ post, I’d like to make the case for the less often talked about, center cut beef back ribs, as I find them to be so excellent tasting and they can be quite a bit cheaper, especially when buying several racks to feed family and friends.

Years ago, I was in our local Publix grocery store and found center cut beef back ribs packaged in large individual racks.  They were on sale, and depending on their weight, were priced at $6.00 to $8.00 a rack.  I was unfamiliar with smoking beef ribs but thought that they would be worth a try. 

With fall comes “apple season” and if you’re looking for something tasty, try your hand at making a Souffléed Apple Pancake for breakfast.  It’ll likely be a big hit with the entire family.

This is also a good time to break out your favorite cast iron pan (the Smithey No. 10 is perfect for this) and we’ve started baking ours in the Traeger Pro 575 with great results.

The choice of what type of apple can vary to your own liking.  We tend to use hard fleshed and tart apples with Pink Ladies as our preference and in this case, Jonagold.

It’s never good when you pull text message from your wife while you’re on the pointy end of a skiff in Florida asking, “Who do I need to call to tow the Element?”.  Dammit.    

I had sensed this coming for awhile.  When shifting out of third gear every now and then, it just didn’t feel right.  There was a hard to describe thud feel and I figured that the transmission was showing it’s age as we neared 300,000 miles.  It finally died and now wouldn’t come out of second gear. 

A tow truck ride and mechanic diagnosis later, we needed to decide what to do next.  The transmission was gone.  We were looking at $2,500 for a new transmission, $1,700 for a used transmission, or maybe it was time to let it go.

Walk away from our Element that was at the doorstep of 300,000 miles?  We just … Read the rest

One definite change that has happened in my own fly fishing over the past few years, is that I’d rather look for native bass than try to find a trout where they might not even supposed to be.  There is just something about these localized bass and panfish species and the places they call home.

There’s a growing awareness and interest in these “Native Sons” and it’s been neat to see other anglers and in this case, an artist, highlight these very special and lesser known fishes.

Hank Hershey of Hank’s Fish Art has taken a deep dive into ‘Micropterus‘ and is working his way through the lineup with a series of bass portraits which are a lot of fun and highlight their subtle and not so differences of war paint and fin flare.
 

Hank wrote…  “I’ve recently launched a series of Micropterus illustrations … Read the rest

An arowana might be one of the crucial expensive fish to purchase on the earth. The Asian arowana comprises several styles of freshwater fish within the genus Scleropages. Some sources differentiate these varieties into multiplespecies, whereas others take into account the totally different strains to belong to a single species, Scleropages formosus. They have a number of other common names, including Asian bonytongue, Dragon fish, and numerous names particular to completely different varieties. Another good channel is an area known as Depot Pond. Situated on the west aspect of the river, at the higher Batavia Dam, it also produces nice catches of panfish, particularly crappie. Water high quality is a essential consideration for ensuring the health and longevity of aquarium fish. Nevertheless, water high quality will not be depending on the scale of the container, but fairly on management and husbandry. Bettas favor calm water as shown by analysis using … Read the rest

Many youngsters are fascinated with pets especially with fish. Generally, no fish needs to be stored in a tank smaller than 10 gallons. Nevertheless, a single betta can live in a 5-gallon tank—but extra is always higher. Most municipal faucet water comprises chlorine and chloramine, which is able to kill fish, so you must deal with tap water correctly with a water conditioner earlier than adding it to an aquarium. As soon as a tank is fully arrange with a properly working filter (bettas favor low-flow settings), substrate, and decorations, the water must be cycled for a number of weeks earlier than fish are added. Testing kits may also help decide when the tank is completed biking. This may enable time for beneficial micro organism to grow, that are essential for breaking down poisonous ammonia as soon as fish are added to the tank. These micro organism convert fish waste … Read the rest