In light of the amazing feedback I got from last week’s recipe post (thank you!!), today’s must read monday isn’t really a novel so much as it is a cookbook filled with delicious recipes and instructions for cleaning fish and game. As much as I would like to think I come up with my recipes on the fly, I have to admit I get the inspiration from all over. That is where Afield: A Chef’s Guide to Cooking and Preparing Wild Game and Fish, by Jesse Griffiths, comes in. Along with dozens of amazing recipes that I am dying to try, there are also a medley of stories at the start of each section that highlight hunts of the chapters’ topic game/fish that keep the book anecdotal. If you’re wondering what to do with all that game in your freezer, or are looking for an excuse to go fishing and catch dinner, Afield is a great place to start!

Happy Monday, all! This week’s Must Read Monday is near and dear to my heart. It’s a book called Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time, written by classically-trained chef Georgia Pellegrini. (Follow the link to see her own website!) This book was a gift from two sweet friends last Christmas, and I did not hesitate to start reading. With a name like “Girl Hunter,” it called right to me, since that’s exactly what I am! And, what do you know? The very first character we meet in the prologue is a farmer named George Hollis. Oh man! I was hooked. Pellegrini got a little bit later start at hunting, but boy did she make up for it. As a trained chef and food lover, working at farm-to-table restaurants in New York and France, she set out on a mission to learn more about exactly where the food she was cooking came from. Reading about her first hunt with Mr. Hollis, we discover that she had never even shot a gun at the onset of her journey. Through adventures both with veteran hunters and on her own over the next several years, she is able to describe herself as “an omnivore who has solved her dilemma,” recognizing the importance of knowing where your food really comes from. Each chapter tells a different story and offers an array of different recipes. I fully agree with her statement that “the pleasures of knowing what occurred on the journey from the field to the table are just as important, because the food tastes so much better that way…” (p.12). Preach!

“Girl Hunter is an evocative account of Pellegrini’s gun-to-table experiences…It’s an unlikely pairing of Nigella Lawson’s culinary skills and Hemingway’s grit.” – Macleans

Happy Monday, all! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I know I sure did! We enjoyed the weekend in the Lowcountry, attending the Wounded Warrior events and spending time with friends and family. Stay tuned for a post on the bbq and concert! But, let’s get down to today’s business, shall we? Our newest must read monday: My Health is Better in November: Thirty-five Stories of Hunting and Fishing in the South, by Havilah Babcock (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1947).

Babcock moved to South Carolina from Virginia after a 1927 visit, having fallen in love with the hunting and fishing of our great state. Who can blame the man?! He became an English professor at the University of South Carolina in 1927 (go Gamecocks!), and ultimately became head of the English department before his retirement in 1964. Babcock was an avid outdoorsman with a particular love for quail hunting, and his unique stories are both humorous and educational. He mentions everything from the timeless look of old-fashioned rail fences around the plantations of the south, to the myriad of bird dogs he hunted with over the years. The chapter titles are enough to make you giggle before you even start reading (“Bass are Dumber than People,” and “Just Cover it With Gravy,” just to name a few). He offers both insight to hunting and fishing, as well as witticisms that make you want to keep reading. One particular piece of advice I enjoyed was his reminder to readers that “bird finding, of course, comes before bird shooting.” (p. 92). Touche, sir. Touche.

My Health is Better in November is sure to entertain all. Enjoy!

Happy Monday, all! I have decided to start a little series within the blog, called “Must Read Mondays,” and today is the inaugural post! For Must Read Mondays, I will mention a different book every week, and all will have a theme similar to the blog. Whether it is hunting, fishing, cooking, or the outdoors in general, these books are sure to entertain you!

For the first Must Read Monday, my choice was obvious- Ramblings of a Lowcountry Game Warden by Ben Moise. Moise, a South Carolina game warden for nearly 25 years, documents many of his most memorable experiences and adventures during his tenure. Readers get an in-depth look at what it takes to be a game warden in our state, from every day experiences with hunters and fishermen, to government regulations of conservation, and even as far as the smuggling of marijuana along the lowcountry’s coast. He really has experienced it all, and Ramblings is an entertaining and insightful read for everyone. Enjoy!

 “Sometimes humorous, sometimes harrowing… this book is for the outdoorsman or anyone who craves the true tales of an alligator-wrestling, drug-cartel-snuffing undercover badass.”—Garden and Gun Magazine