Weekend Lifestyle

I have always liked how newspapers like the Wall Street Journal have a lifestyle section on the weekends.

So I thought I would try my own brief "Lifestyle" post on a lovely Saturday morning.

Food and Beverage

Since we haven't found a good place for our drip coffee maker since moving in to our new house, we've been using this little gem we discovered while in Scotland: an Italian Bialetti single cup coffee maker. It definitely takes longer doing it a cup at a time, but the richness and flavor of the coffee is truly worth it. I highly recommend!

This week featured a 20% off sale at Albertson's for wine, and while the mail-in rebate-eligible offerings were scanter than usual, my wife did manage to pick up a few bottles of Ruta22, an Argentinian Malbec. Retails for $15 (at the grocery store, anyway) and we paid $4.10, an extravagant price for us. But we very much enjoy it as an everyday red wine.

One of our staples for food around here is a pasta dish that changes every time, but never disappoints. We (that's the royal "we") sauté onions, peppers, and sometimes mushrooms (whatever you prefer)and deglaze with a red or white wine or balsamic vinegar. It is best to add all your spices (we like crushed red pepper, Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning, or Costco's No-Salt Seasoning) while sautéing. Add already cooked sausage, rotisserie chicken, or (I should say AND) bacon to the sauté and then top with a cheese of your choice: we prefer goat cheese. Add it to pasta and serve in one large pasta platter for family style dining.

This beautiful, colorful, flavorful dish is an easy throw-together, which is why we've been having it so often. It is something anyone could do in 30 minutes, unlike the usual false advertising of Rachael Ray. Pair it with a good red wine, make sure Edith Piaf is singing on your Pandora station, and decompression and relaxation from even the most hectic day will be yours.

Recreation

I was talking to a couple from Orlando, Florida recently and they were telling me how much of a headache it is going to DisneyWorld. I told them that my requirements for recreation are three: (1) No guards. (2) No gates. And (3) no crowds. If you live in Florida or another urban locale, I'm sorry. You will not find much recreation advice here on Dead Reckoning!

Thursday was stunning weather here under the Big Sky. 60 degrees, sunny, and no wind. There is, of course, only one thing to be done under such circumstances: drop everything and go fly fishing. I caught eleven in about five hours of fishing. Not disappointing, by any stretch.

I certainly cannot tell you my preferred location. I will only say that it involves the Stillwater River, which is quite low at the moment. The water clarity is crystal, and the lower water makes the river extremely navigable to get at holes you couldn't otherwise reach. I had good success running a green Copper John with a Prince Nymph dropper, no added weight. A friend of mine attempted streamers and had no success. We later learned from another fisherman that there is currently a large, hour-long hatch at about 10 o'clock these days with a lot of surface activity. We'd arrived after that, unfortunately. But make a note of it if you plan on hitting the Stillwater!

I caught one brown that was clear "keeper size," (although I did release him) and you should know that this time of year the bigger fish in the Stillwater are quite anemic and thin. He was lengthy, but not very fat.

Entertainment

Baseball kicks off on Monday! My entertainment needs are met for the next seven or eight months now.

If you're a Netflix fan, I recommend Season One of Once Upon a Time. Excellent casting and super clever story lines.

Have a lovely Easter weekend.

He is Risen indeed!