Denton Gulch Observations -- 3 |
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Notes from Denton Gulch, late September 2000 It was a dark and starry night, we were discussing the recipes and birds we have experienced on this trip. CatchFly Soup As long as there have been flies, there has been soup. There are many variations of this ancient recipe from gross to obscene. And it varies from area to area based on the type of fly available. This recipe uses the basic generic housefly, DO NOT SUBSTITUTE! (Cabin flies are acceptable.) If you must cheat, use small fast flies. If your fly supply is only fat lazy flies, try SLOWFLY STEW. Use a jar or glass to catch the fastest fly you can. DO NOT SWAT THE FLY! Most of the flavor is lost if the fly is dead or mangled. If you’re lucky, the fly will fly into your stock pot-already containing 6 cups of boiling water, but this is rare and is called LUCKY or VOLUNTEER SOUP. To 6 cups boiling water (preferably Denton Gulch h2o):
1 cup onion roots Simmer one hour. Take jar with fly and invert over liquid so top is touching surface. Steam will rise and the fly will swoon, and fall delicately into the broth. If you listen closely, You can hear the fly say, “Ah, Sweet marjoram! I swoon!” Simmer another hour. Ingest beer, wine or Jack Daniels, or boiled turnip tea. When you are nearly unconscious, serve and enjoy. If this is VOLUNTEER SOUP, start drinking right away. OTHER FLY SOUPS and RECIPES OOPS SOUP: the fly in the soup doesn’t belong there, but why remove it. Also know as Rhetorical Soup. MASSACRE SOUP: thick and succulent with 100s of flies, and tomato and oregano FLY BY NIGHT SOUP: set out ripe onions with fly strips above for the night Cook onions and flystrip (yes, quite edible) and other veggies, or If only with onions sometimes called French Fly Onion Soup. FLYCAKES: protein enhanced pancakes MOTHWING CREPES with FLY TAPENADE: spread mothwings and brush with egg wash, Spread fly tapenade and roll up. Bake 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. A few more birds seen: at Freezeout Lake PONDERING DUCK Perhaps somewhat of a misnomer but its discoverer, David David David Jr., who watched them stick their heads down in the water for long periods and thought the ducks were deep in thought. Fairly common - overall brown duck with brown wing bars and brown striping on the back. Further distinguished by peltiers and partial brown eye ring. The males have brown heads; with brown necks, while the females can be differentiated by their brown necks and brown heads. Both sexes have offwhite butts which are usually the most prominent part of the anatomy visible. DENTON GULCH SITINGS: Bourgeious Owl: call is “Why-yes-my-dear-I-know-exactly-what-you-mean-“ repeated every minute or so. Mourning Fly: this controversial bird is often mistaken for an insect, and often called “Morning Fly”. This diminutive bird is the first to get busy in the morning. True flies are still in a stupor at this time. Alas, people tend to swat them just like flies, so they have become an endangered species. So, just remember, when you start swatting flies indiscriminately before about 9AM, you may be committing a federal offense. Fortunately, Mourning Flies siesta from about 10AM-4AM the next morning. Call is “Oh, woe! Bzzzzzzzit. Urk!”
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