Outdoorsman Goes Italian

Adam and I met in 2008 at one the most famous college bars in the nation.

Harry’s Chocolate Shop is everything there is to love about a college town bar: long time presence on campus, full of history and even myths. The place is timeless playing the same tunes, serving the same cocktails and the bartenders still remember your name… and drink. And for alumni, it holds a special place in their heart.

Harry’s tagline claim’s that it is “Home To the Great Indoorsman.”

Well, little did I know on that November night, surrounded by indoorsmen (and women!), I met a great outdoorsman.

Adam first went hunting before he reached double digits, fishing before he was in kindergarten and was hooked from the start. (No pun intended.)

Today, he spends any weekend he can in the late fall rising early to head out to the woods to hunt deer in solitude or to hunt ducks and geese with a handful of other guys. And, fortunately for me, any shopping I do is completely justified by his once a year gun purchase.

But, even with my suburban upbringing, Adam wasn’t the first outdoorsman in my life.

When I was in grade school, my Uncle Norm was single and lived close to our home. So, we all hung out often. He came to games, Holidays, and saw us off for school dances. There was no doubt about it: Uncle Norm was a cool uncle.

With Norm and my munchkin of a little brother in 2001. Braces and hair straighteners are a good things.

If out to ice cream, he let my sister and I order adult sized scoops. Which, at ten, was so cool. At 16, he let me drive his very cool convertible while he rode shot gun. He taught me how to eat sushi and would buy me the expensive brands I so needed in order to be cool for my Birthday.

All things my Mom and Dad didn’t do.

But, in addition to being cool, my uncle was also a big outdoorsman. For as long as I can remember, my Uncle Norm has loved to fish, owned and trained his own hunting dogs and even would string shot gun shell Christmas lights up during the Holiday’s.

It was with Uncle Norm that I first caught a fish, first shot a BB-Gun, first shot a real gun and went hunting.

Again, all things my Mom and Dad didn’t do.

So naturally, Norm and Adam were instantly buds and these days they try to line up a hunt every time they are together. On our most recent visit to their new home, I tagged along a pheasant hunt with my little sister, her boyfriend, and Norm’s wife, Emma.

Oh, and Otto, his nearly two year old hunting dog.

Photo by my Aunt Emma

As hunting goes, at least for me- a chatty, indoor kind of girl- Pheasant hunting is actually pretty fun. You get to walk around in the woods and you don’t have to worry about being quiet. I joked with my Chi-Town native sister who was a little nervous about the hunt, that it’s just cardio while carrying around a large, ten pound weight. I left out the part that the “weight” could potentially be dangerous… I think she appreciated that.

This day wound up being a really nice, winter day, full of sunshine and blue skies. We all had fun, laughing and cheering Otto on. And, we did pretty well, bringing home a handful of birds.

Another great photo by Aunt Emma

Like raising our own chickens and even growing our own food, hunting an animal and taking it’s life doesn’t go without a prayer. And, both Adam and Norm are great at ensuring anything they hunt isn’t in vain but rather is used to nourish and sustain our bodies.

Uncle Norm always creates amazing recipes with the wild game he hunts from a smoked trout dip that I used to always request for my Birthday to Moose-chetta, a spin on bruchetta using you guessed it- Moose! Adam and I are also getting pretty good at creating new wild game recipes for things he typically brings home like duck and venison.

For Valentine’s day this year, Adam and I decided to make pheasant ravioli, inspired by my uncle’s own pheasant ravioli. We busted out the pasta maker and had a great evening rolling pasta sheets and creating our own filling using the pheasants from our late January hunt.

The filling has a light, but creamy taste and texture thanks to the combination of white wine and Parmesan cheese. Topped with our own homemade sauce from last summer’s tomatoes making it a great meal knowing that we touched every part of it.