Allegheny Almanac

Warren Outdoor Expo Well Attended despite snowstorm

Visit this link  to read a story about this year's Warren Outdoor Expo. Click on an image to view full size:

  

 

 

From Left: Fishing Spear: Two hundred years ago there were so many fish around here you could spear them. This 1820 "fishing rod" was on display by the Warren County Historical Society. The spear was forged right here in Irvine, PA. Center: Piper Lindell of Allegheny Outfitters knows exactly where to go for adventure. That's because she has the world's largest map of the Allegheny River Watershed, to be displayed at the new Allegheny Outfitters store to open in March on Pennsylvania Avenue in Warren, PA. Right: Mountain Biking and Racing are the next big thing for our area. Leading the way is Allegheny Cyclery's exhibit at the Warren Outdoor Show.

 

 
 
Above two exhibits by Buckhaven Wildlife Art of Sugar Grove, PA. For more information, visit buckhavenwildlifeart.com. 

 

Hiker's Dreams
 
Allegheny Outfitters unveiled its three-dimensional topography maps of the Allegheny River Watershed at the 2011 Warren Outdoor Expo. Visit AO online for details.

Photos below: "Grizzly Gary" Wert, radio and television personality, fly-tying demonstration, dog sled from Winterfest 2011 to be held next weekend (visit this link for details), artlovers find outdoor themes.

 

Click on any photo to view full-size image. Photos may be downloaded for personal use. Photos copyright 2011 by Chris Lareau. Contact editor for re-use or re-publication.

 

Young visitors to the Warren Outdoor Expo at the Warren Mall on Saturday got a chance to see something they never saw before: a full parking lot. "This is the most people I have seen here in 20 years," one gentleman told another as I walked in early this afternoon. "It's just fabulous," he said.

Attendees got a chance to meet official representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers, the North Country Trail, Trout Unlimited and many,many others. Films, food, and live wild animals filled empty stores that many have not entered in years. The much anticipated event was held Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.. It was a great way to cure cabin fever, in spite of the weather.

Next week outdoor enthusiasts can take their interests to Chapman Lake in nearby Clarendon, PA for a festival of sledding, racing, skiing, snowshoeing, fishing, skating, and lots of food vendors at the Warren County Winterfest. Click here for details. The fun starts Friday with outdoor hockey competitions for all ages.

--Chris Lareau

 

 

Where Hunting Season Never Ends

Warren native and professeur Reg Darling explains the "sacrament" of hunting to non-believers in a highly literate journal that took a lifetime to write. "Hart" is the original name for deer and also stands for "heart" or spirit. "Well" means health. And Hartwell is the central character of the book. Aside from a first-aid manual, this book should be in every hunting camp in the county and perhaps under every hunter's Christmas Tree. The book cover depicts a sacrifice made to coyotes, near Tiona, Pennsylvania.

This stuff actually happened and is probably going on right now and involves characters many local residents will recognize as their neighbors, although the names were changed to protect the author in a roman a clef style. It is important to point out, however, that Hartwell is a real name as is Hartwell Road. More about this later.

 It's 287 pages and takes about 2 months to finish, longer if you read between the lines which is the best part.

If you are a hunter or love someone who is, this book will enrich your life. Not for the squeamish. Darling is also an award-winning artist and frequent contributor to publications like Backcountry Journal, Bowyer's Journal, and Professional Bowhunter Magazine.

Available at Authors Books & Music on Liberty Street in downtown Warren, Amazon.com, or the author's web site. Just google "Hartwell Road" or "Reg Darling."

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But wait, there's more! Readers who purchase this book in the next 24 hours (or the next 5 years, for that matter) get a special bonus--a genuine "coming of age" story about the main character named "Bartleby." The tale is weaved into carefully crafted details of expert hunting techniques every father or mother will want to tell a son or daughter about, saving years of trying to find the right words at the right time.

Read all about how to successfully keep a job you don't really like, losing love, finding love, dealing with incorrigible parents, getting an education, the necessity of grieving no matter how long it takes, coming to mature terms with life-threatening illnesses, proper eulogies, even retirement and much, much more--all of which occurs pretty much right here in this neck of the woods. Whether you believe "coming of age" is something that occurs somewhere around the 21st or the 61st birthday, you're sure to save big money by living vicariously through Bartleby's adventures as he hunts relentlessly for things he prefers to do for very important reasons.

But this is no self-help book. It's an expedition out of the life of quiet desperation most of us live and still wonder how we got turned around in the first place.       

-- Chris Lareau

Swedish pancakes fit for a royal repast

 Illustration by King Gustavus of Sweden, circa 1523 

by Sandi and Vicki Johnson

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This is courtesy of my grandfather Carl Forsberg who made them for us when we were children.

Grandfather Forsberg's Swedish Pancakes

6 eggs
½ cup milk
3 tsp. white sugar
1 tablespoon white flour
½ tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Hand stir and then whip with wire whisk until frothy. Let sit with kitchen towel over bowl for 20 minutes if possible. This batter should be rather thin.

Heat flat low sided pan, preferably iron skillet with small lip
For each pancake prime pan with 1 tsp. butter or 1 tsp oil (must be vegetable oil)

I recommend you put the thin batter in a pouring cup or large measuring cup. For each pancake, pour batter thinly into hot pan; turn down heat slightly so as to never burn butter. If you burn the butter, you must wet down the pan and wipe it out before making the next pancake or the pancake will not taste good.

After pouring batter in to cover entire pan (but very thinly!), push down/flatten edges gentle with rubber spatula; when edges are browning and you can smell the eggs cooking, flip the pancake in one motion. Use large round or large flat spatula. Cook opposite side until brown.

Turn out onto plate. Repeat process until you have used up the batter. It should make approximately six pancakes.

The following are variations to be offered for each batch of pancakes:

1. Pat with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
2. Pat with large spoonful of lingon berries or any good jam or jelly.
3. Pour on a little maple syrup (not too much as pancakes are already sweet)

Roll gentle into soft rolls. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

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We will see how well you can do the flip!

 

Well, it's all in the wrist. Think about using kitchen utensils like, say, scalpels--light in the hand but steady. Make sure you have a wide spatula (although I admit I use a normal one and prefer plastic) and with one motion, slide underneath more than half way and with a wrist turn, flip in one motion.

 

You will need the right pan though. We Swedes have the flat, iron rounded edge omelet pan on hand. If you don't, you can still make them in a regular non stick fry pan. 

 

Sandi Johnson is a professor of English living in Florida. Vicki Johnson is an accomplished journalist, who lives in the northern part of the Allegheny River Watershed, near Jamestown, New York. They are currently collecting family recipes, archival photos and lore for a Swedish cookbook. Article and photography are Copyright 2010 by Sandi & Vicki Johnson. All rights reserved.