A Father’s Day Treat

So just where does the idea of Father’s Day , Mother’s Day , Friend’s day, Grandparent’s Day and so on come from? Not sure, but what I do know is that they all bring together family and friends, and the bottom line is they all involved food! This Sunday is Father’s day—all of us have one, not that we always admit it either. I am sure that we think of our father, if even only for a minute, on that day. Some of us spend our whole day with them celebrating on the sofa in front of the TV, while Mom makes the meal. Some of us go out to the many different choices of restaurants and, yes, have Dad pay.

In my home my dad actually made the meal. He loved to BBQ and entertain, so we let him. Then we would just hang out. He loved to garden and on that day, if memory serves me, I did some weeding—not the most fun. Then he would lay down on the sofa and watch sports. Well that’s what we did, however I have just been told of another great tradition for Father’s Day. Melissa Schmalenberger is a lawyer/professional organizer who lives right here in Fargo. She writes a blog with other team members at http://melissa-ididit.blogspot.com. We both have a mutual friend, Deanna Sinclair from Detroit Lakes. Deanna shared with Melissa a great story about her husband, and I, well, wanted to share it with you. It is perfect for Father’s Day. This story is from Melissa blogs. Thanks, Melissa, for sharing, and Jim for a great Father’s Day read.

Need a great Father’s Day idea? The fisherman in your life would be so grateful to receive the items listed below in a new cooler. Love the idea of laminating the checklist and placing it taped to the cooler lid. What an easy and creative gift!

Now if you are like my husband, you are now asking yourself “what is a shore lunch?”. My favorite go-to guide for definitions, Wikepedia defines it as: “A Shore Lunch is traditional in Northern USA & Canada. For decades, outdoor enthusiasts have been cooking their catch on the shores of their favorite lake. From the far reaches of remote wilderness points, fishing guides would prepare the freshly caught fish for their guests on open flames along the sandy shorelines.”

The Perfect Shore Lunch
By Jim Sinclair

See the photo of the checklist.

1. Checklist – type it up, laminate it and tape it inside a cooler so you always have it when you go fishing. One thing I’d add to the list would be a potholder – we have long-handled frying pans for cooking over a fire, but a potholder or oven mitt would come in handy.

2. Before heading out for the day: Chop the onions and put in a quart size Ziploc bag; chop the bacon and put in the same bag on top. Put all the spices in another Ziploc bag.

3. Load the cooler with all the food items and beverages. Put the paper plates, paper towels, silverware and utensils, lighter, fish cleaning glove into one of the garbage bags and seal it shut to keep everything dry (or put the beverages/ice in a separate cooler).

4. After you’ve caught your fish, pick out your shore lunch spot. Build a fire and set up a cooking grate or set up your camp stove (we’ve been using the camp stove most of the time because there’s either been a burning ban due to DRY weather or you can’t find decent firewood due to WET weather).

5. Open the beans, leaving the cover on with about ¼” space for steam and start cooking it.

6. Start cooking the bacon. When the bacon is cooked but not crisp, add the onions. Save the Ziploc bag for dirty silverware.

7. When bacon and onions are cooked, pour off excess oil and add drained cans of potatoes.

8. In the second frying pan, start cooking the oil.

9. Filet the fish, pour the box of Fryin’ Magic into one of the garbage bags and coat each of the filets.

10. When the oil is hot (to test it, when it starts boiling, drop an unlit match in it and when it lights, it’s hot enough; if the oil’s not hot the fish will be greasy), drop in the filets and cook to a golden brown.

11. Eat and enjoy. There’s nothing better than eating FRESH walleye cooked outdoors!

12. Clean up the frying pans and put items—including garbage—back in the boat.

13. Relax and take a short nap before heading out to catch more fish.

Hope you enjoyed this, eat well and stay safe. Any questions or comments please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).