ISSUE #3: SMALL ADVENTURES, SMALLER BASS
It has almost become a cliché in the business world now, but Ted Turner said: “Bite off more than you can chew, and then chew like hell.” There are dozens of renditions of this quote.
I generally agree with this in business. I vehemently disagree with this when it comes to outdoor adventures with little kids. Last week, I took Finn on a 5+ mile backpacking trip. He loved it so much that on his “All About Me” poster for his preschool class, he included pictures from our trip.
Finn’s “All About Me” poster for preschool.
But that trip kicked his butt. I’ve talked to a few dads who wondered why, when their kids became teenagers, they didn’t want to go on 50-miler backpacking trips. It’s probably because they didn’t get bite-sized trips to learn to chew on when they were little. So that’s what we did this week. A small sub-1-mile trek to fish for some bass at a local state park. And it was awesome!
FOOD
Linguine alle Vongole
I’ve been in a seafood mood, and I wanted to try cooking some clams, so I settled on clam pasta. Or linguine alle vongole, as the Italians say. It was delizioso! Let’s jump right into it:
Ingredients:
1 pound linguine noodles (usually 1 box)
¼ cup olive oil
2.5 pounds of littleneck clams (You could probably use clams of choice, this is just what I could find in Heber. More clams would have been better, but the store only had 2.5 lbs in stock.)
2 6.5 oz cans of chopped clams, drained, but save the juice!
¾ cup dry white wine (I used an Italian Pinot Grigio from the local liquor store; it was around $12. I know very little about wines, but the guy at the store said this one was decent)
4 anchovy fillets (I used olive oil-cured anchovies from a jar)
1 small red pepper (or more if you want more heat)
15 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
12 stems from flat leaf Italian parsley, retain the rest of the parsley and chop
½ stick of butter, cut into small cubes
Pasta water from cooking the linguine
Method:
Get a large pot of water boiling. Don’t add much salt to the water, this dish is salty enough at the end.
Heat a stainless steel pan (or any pan you have big enough to hold everything), then add your oil. Add the garlic, parsley stems, and anchovies, and mix until the anchovies are basically dissolved and the garlic is super fragrant and brown-ish (don’t burn the garlic!). Then add the hot pepper and cook for another 30 seconds.
Add clams to the pan, then pour the wine over. If your pan is large, add about a cup of water so there is enough liquid to steam the clams. Put over high heat and cover the pan to let the clams steam. Clams will pop wide open when they are cooked. I ended up having to add a bit more water and steam a little longer to get mine to open, and one never opened. Throw away the ones that don’t open.
While the clams are steaming, cook the linguine. Take out 2 minutes shy of your desired tenderness and save the pasta water.
Once the clams are done steaming, remove the clams and scrape the meat out of the shells. Turn down the heat to medium and add the clam juice from the cans, some parsley, 1 cup of your pasta water, and your almost-cooked pasta. Stir to coat and finish cooking your pasta. The starchy pasta water should thicken the sauce in the pan, add pasta water until it is at your desired consistency (I ended up adding about 1.5 additional cups after the first cup).
Once the pasta is at your desired tenderness, add your cooked clams, the canned clams, and the butter. Stir to make an emulsion with the butter and the liquid in the pan. It should coat the noodles and clams nicely. Pull out the parsley stems as you serve it.
Enjoy!
A few tips if you make it:
Find a good YouTube video about cleaning clams and testing if they’re alive before cooking. You don’t want to eat a dead clam!
The live clams are a bit pricey. I paid about $8 per pound for these, and would have wanted at least twice as many clams. But I didn’t want to spend $50 on clams. You could simply use all canned clams for this and it would still be great. A can costs around $3.
If you aren’t a wine person, which I’m not, ask the clerk at the liquor store (if you’re in Utah) or wherever you’re buying it which dry white wine they like to pair with clams. The guy at mine told me Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio, so I rolled with it.
I was a little nervous when I cracked open that first can of clams and caught the smell. But as I cooked the dish, the smell became amazing, and it turned out great. I ate way too much of it and don’t want pasta for a few weeks. Finn ate most of his bowl using the clam shell as a spoon and liked it but didn’t love it. I will make it again, and will definitely make it for guests in the near future.
It took only about 30 minutes start to finish, and I spent about $40 on groceries. An Italian restaurant near me serves this dish for $26, so making a whole pan for $40 feels like a good value to me!
8.5/10
ADVENTURE
Nice Bass
Deer Creek State Park is only a few minutes from my house and has amazing fishing. There is an island with a big hill a few hundred feet from the shore, and with the water level so low right now, we decided to hike over to fish where I always see boats throwing in. We got to the parking lot at 6:15 and set off. I had Finn carry his own snacks and water, and loaded his backpack up a little bit heavier than usual so he starts to get used to carrying a bit more weight on these easier trips.
We crested the hill and started down the other side, only to find a 10 foot cliff between us and the rocky beach below. The backside of the island is a lot more sheer than the front side, and the dirt is really soft and crumbly, so climbing back up and over was not ideal.
My bad for not scoping out the landing before taking Finn up there. We managed to follow the cliff around a bit more until we found a place that had sturdy enough rocks and dirt to get down to the beach. I like asking Finn which way he thinks we should go, or which rock looks the sturdiest to put his foot on. You can literally see the confidence growing in his face while you watch him reason through his decisions. Building some outdoorsman intuition in kids at a young age is essential, in my opinion.
After about 30 minutes of “hiking” we finally got to the beach to fish as a slight rain started over the lake. First things first, I whipped out my camp stove and made up some hot chocolate. I recently bought a new camp pot/pan set and forgot that the cups it came with are metal. Bad idea for hot chocolate.
We fished for about 2 hours and ended up catching 4 smallmouth bass with 5-6 other bites that I didn’t land. This was the first time I’ve ever targeted bass, and they are super fun to catch. I thought the first one I hooked was going to be a monster with how hard it was fighting, but it was just a little guy. I was using a small spinner, next time I’ll use a bigger swim bait to try to get some bigger fish on.
As I was unhooking one of the fish, a huge bald eagle landed on the cliff about 100 feet from me and just stared at me for about 30 seconds. Nature is unreal sometimes and I can’t believe that I get to live in such a beautiful place where I can freely explore!
After the last fish, we packed up our stuff and headed back. We decided not to traverse the hill again so we followed the beach back. With the water level so low, you get to walk where water is almost always covering, so you see some cool stuff. I picked up 3 new fishing lures that were snagged in rocks, and Finn picked up a dozen little shells to pack home to show mom.
All in, we were about 3 hours on this adventure and back home by 9:30am. As far as Finn knows, this was a big adventure, and he has talked about it all week. It’s all about stacking these types of experiences as we build up for bigger and better trips in the future!
We’ll do this same trip periodically to keep catching fish, especially while the water is still low. The fishing from the other end of the island is way better than the shores by the parking lots. I have a few setups I want to try to catch some bigger rainbow trout from the shore as well as more bass, so if anyone wants to come with me next time, let’s go!
10/10, the perfect kid trip.
FIELD NOTES
My wife’s favorite color is yellow, and while Finn was peeing the other day he yelled “look mom, its your favorite color!” If a kid can ruin something, they will.
I’ve enjoyed cooking with a variety of wines recently. This week I also made wine-poached peaches, zabaglione, and have used red wine to braise beef several times in the past. They add a rich flavor that I haven’t been able to replicate.
I entered the lottery to hike the Wave in December and wanted to try the Rim to Rim to Rim Grand Canyon trip in January. I did not get selected for the Wave and the Grand Canyon lottery was canceled due to flash floods this last week wiping out all the campsites. Maybe February will be open. Anyone want to do that one with me?
Finn is pumped about winter camping this year. We’ll do a snowcaving trip, but I also want to try a hot tent. I’m trying to find somewhere that rents them before I commit to buying one, so if you know of one, let me know!
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Feed The Enthusiasm
Anyone who has ever had a single conversation with my son knows he loves big trucks (see the tanker on his poster above, he would have put 10 on there if we let him). When we drive around, he spots every semi truck, tanker, dump truck, pickup truck, gooseneck trailer, bumper trailer, box truck, delivery truck, tow truck, and on and on and on. Originally, it was a little annoying when he would yell “Dad, look at that dump truck” for the hundredth time (they are everywhere around Heber, Utah). But, I realized that it was something that made him genuinely excited, so who am I to squash that? So now my wife and I nerd out with him every time a tanker drives by, or a semi pulls up next to us at a stoplight. Our car rides are all-out truck-a-thons. He loves it, and so do we now. It kills me to think about him losing that enthusiasm, so I’m doing everything I can to keep it burning for as long as I can.
Last December on a snowy day, I turned on an episode of the Outdoor Boys on YouTube, and Finn was hooked. We watched them fish, camp, hike, and explore, and Finn wanted to do everything that they do. He originally called them the “Camping Guys” and now he calls me and him the “Camping Guys.” Since then, I’ve taken him on dozens of fishing trips and hikes. They’ve been small, but his tolerance is building, and so is his enthusiasm for each trip we plan. What can beat having shared enthusiasm with your kids? Nothing.
Unbridled enthusiasm has got to be one of the greatest joys of childhood. Seems like most adults, including me, either try to hide their enthusiasm for stuff or simply are not enthusiastic about anything anymore. What a shame! Let’s change that.
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
Next week, the whole family is joining our adventure. We’re going to hike about 2 miles up a hidden little trail in the National Forest that borders Heber and string up some hammocks and have a picnic while the dogs explore and play in the mud. I usually take the dogs to get muddy before they need a bath anyways. They love it, and they need a bath anyways!
For food next week, I’m keeping it simple by cooking up some steaks and potatoes with a peppercorn sauce. A staple meal in any man’s repertoire. I recently went to an event that had a private chef make food for the attendees. He cooked the potatoes in duck fat and it was amazing, so I’m giving it a shot.
I have at least a hundred recipes that I’m eager to try and share, but if you have anything specific you think I should make, send it my way!
Adventure on,
Thomas Ditton
