VHD Travel Yahtzee

VHD Travel Yahtzee

One of my favorite portable games would have to be Yahtzee, often when camping or traveling I strip down the big box and stuff the dice, a small pencil and some score cards into a zip-lock bag, it is very light but I always thought I could do better. May I introduce to you, the  7g VHD Travel Yahtzee.

VHD Travel Yahtzee Scorecard

All the goodies are housed in a watertight metal pill container, measuring 45mm x 15mm. I tracked down a set 5mm dice and made a pencil from the thick lead of an architects pencil wrapped in electrical tape. I then set about re-designing and stripping back the score sheet to its absolute bare minimum. I'm very happy with the results and can't wait to give it a field test.

VHD Travel Yahtzee Closed

I'd love to hear of anyone else's travel games, what do you take with you and how have you stripped it back?

You can download the scorecard here.

VHD Posters Are Here

Exciting times ahead, the long awaited VHD posters are done. Printed on 11"x 17" (279mm x 432mm) White Vellum Springhill Bristol 67#. A hit of  VHD grey and cream. A very limited run.

$12 each or all 5 for $40, free shipping inside the USA. $10 international shipping.

You can buy them in the VHD Store

A Fragment

Nessmuk

A little Nesmuk gold as summer kicks into full force. This is from his excellent poetry book, "Forest Runes."

“Oh, leave this chase for place or gold, Through legal quips and tangles, Which makes young eyes grow hard and cold, With crowsfeet at the angles.

The miser’s hoard but pays his board, With meager clothes and bedding, While oft he finds a golden road, Exceedingly hard sledding.

Then come, ye dwellers of the town, From shop, and lane, and alley, To where a river sparkles down, A hemlock shaded valley.

Take from your life one week of strife, And add a week of leisure, That memory may some future day, Fall back upon with pleasure.”

— Nessmuk - Forest Runes, 1887

If that doesn't make you want to escape the big smoke and get out into the woods I don't know what will.

First fish of the season

First fish of the season

Here we have it, I pulled in my first fish of the season, an 18" striped bass caught from Casco Bay. 2013 is going to be my "Year of the Fly" - I took a two day fly fishing course at L.L Bean a month ago and I'm now hooked (excuse the pun.) However, on this particular day fly conditions were tricky and this fish was eventually pulled in on my spinning rod with my favourite lure.

L.L Bean button, still upside down

Saltwater fishing is geographically a lot more accessible for me but fly fishing in the sea certainly posses its own unique set of challenges. Rest assured when I pull in my first fish on a fly you will be the first to know and, as tradition dictates I will finally be allowed flip my "L.L.Bean Outdoor Discovery School" button the right way up.

Tea Chronicles Pt.12 – Charles Dudley Warner

Charles Dudley Warner - In the Wilderness, 1878

A charming piece about food and tea in the outdoors, taken from "In the Wilderness" written by  Charles Dudley Warner in 1878. It is a collection of his essays about living in the mountains.

“By the time, twilight falls, the cook has prepared supper. Everything has been cooked in a tin pail and a skillet,—potatoes, tea, pork, mutton, slapjacks. You wonder how everything could have been prepared in so few utensils. When you eat, the wonder ceases: everything might have been cooked in one pail. It is a noble meal; and nobly is it disposed of by these amateur savages, sitting about upon logs and roots of trees. Never were there such potatoes, never beans that seemed to have more of the bean in them, never such curly pork, never trout with more Indian-meal on them, never mutton more distinctly sheepy; and the tea, drunk out of a tin cup, with a lump of maple-sugar dissolved in it,—it is the sort of tea that takes hold, lifts the hair, and disposes the drinker to anecdote and hilariousness. There is no deception about it: it tastes of tannin and spruce and creosote. Everything, in short, has the flavor of the wilderness and a free life. It is idyllic.”

— Charles Dudley Warner - In the Wilderness, 1878

This is one of those scenes that I wish I could jump into. Sitting down after a hard days slog and feasting on what, at the time, is the greatest meal you ever had. "In The Wilderness" is still in print and is also in the public domain for download.

Campfire Curry

Campfire Curry

This is my second attempt at documenting my campfire cookery. The dish is a little ambitious but worth the effort as there is nothing better than curry made from scratch. This particular recipe is loosely based on Pat Chapman's pragmatically named, yet delicious – "Medium Curry, Restaurant Style"  from "The Indian Restaurant Cookbook," published in 1984. Chapman is, in my opinion, one of the leading authors of Indian cookbooks and a champion of the English restaurant style of curry.

Finished Curry

Campfire Curry, Restaurant Style

The beauty of this dish is that all of the more complicated components can be made in advance; the spices can be mixed and a simple onion purée can be made at home before you head out to camp.

Onion Purée

Roughly chop 10 onions, 20 large garlic cloves and 100g of fresh ginger and lightly fry in 300ml of vegetable oil over a light heat. This should take about 15 minutes; they should turn translucent but not brown. Purée the fried mixture and let cool, then fry for another 15 minutes with another 300ml of vegetable oil. This will make 10 cups of purée, which can be frozen for future curries.

Ingredients

1.4 kg skinned chicken cut into 3cm cubes (not just breast, make sure to use some thighs for more flavor) 2 cups of onion purée, brought from home (see above) 2 tbsp. tomato purée

Spices 1, mix this at home 2 tsp. ground cumin 2 tsp. ground coriander 2 tsp. turmeric 2 tsp. chilli powder (or more depending on how hot you like it) 2 tsp. ground ginger 2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. garam masala

Method

This is a baked curry so you will need a Dutch oven and a good bed of coals for a long slow cook. Build the fire big and hot and let it burn down to good cooking coals.

1. Heat your Dutch oven to medium hot, add onion purée and fry until it is hot, add extra oil if you think it is sticking
2. While the onion is frying mix a little water with spice mix 1 to make a paste
3. Add this paste to the heated onions and give it a vigorous stir, making sure it doesn't stick, take it off the heat if it's getting too hot. Cook for a good five minutes - the goal is to remove all the water from the spices
4. Add the chicken and the tomato and mix really well coating all the chicken
5. Put on the Dutch oven lid and bake for 45 minutes at a medium heat (375°F, 190°C). I cannot help giving it a look every 15 minutes but if you feel you have the heat just right then leave it longer. This should be a dry-ish curry but if you feel it is going to burn add a little water.
6. After 45 minutes add the garam masala and cook for another 10 minutes
7. Serve with rice and flat breads.

The curry was spicy and rich, with tender chunks of chicken and enough sauce to mix with the rice. I've tried this dish at home with lamb, which was delicious, but the fire smoke and the outdoor surroundings certainly added new level of flavour to the curry.

The "The Indian Restaurant Cookbook" appears to be out of print now. It's not too hard to come by a second hand copy and is worth snapping up if you find it.

Ten Commandments of Camping

C.B Colby

Penned by the marvelous author and illustrator C. B. Colby these commandments were most likely compiled while he was the Camping Editor of "Outdoor Life Magazine". Simple, sensible, practical and as relevant now as ever.

“1. Thou shalt not arrive or depart a campground with great chaos
2. Thou shalt not despoil any living thing about thee
3. Thou shalt not be slovenly about they tent site
4. Thou shalt not make loud noises after 10 p.m.
5. Thou shalt not let thy pets and children run wild
6. Thou shalt not give advice unless it is sought after
7. Thou shalt not hesitate to give aid if it’s needed
8. Thou shalt not crowd thy neighbor unduly
9. Thou shalt not borrow unless desperate
10. Though shalt not know more about camping than all others”

— C.B Colby

Just in time for some spring camping, are there any others people would like to see on there?

London

London

Yes London. Although I'm a country boy at heart, at times I find myself in the big smoke and to me, there is no other city I would rather be in. A long time ago, when I was fresh faced and bright eyed about the world I spent a few years working hard in London, and it still has a very special place in my heart. I thought I'd try and highlight a few of my absolute favorite destinations in London and prove that there is a ton of VHD fodder to be found in the city.

Rule's Restaurant

Rule's Restaurant Picture By Herry Lawford

If I'm ever asked about places to eat in London my first suggestion is always Rules, London's oldest restaurant. Opened by Thomas Rule in 1798 it has served the finest British cuisine to a captive audience in London's Covent Garden ever since. Imagine, if you will, a wood paneled living room festooned with hunting trophies, oil painting and imperial memorabilia. An ever changing menu of seasonal game, sourced from its own country estate, is prepared by 35 chefs fronted by David Stafford. Dining here you join such prestigious alumni as Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Galsworthy and H.G Wells. Nowhere else will you get such a distinct display of fine British cuisine. I highly recommend the venison cottage pie.

Parks and Trees

A great London Plane in Berkeley Square Gardens

London is truly a city of parks; it has over 25,000 acres of green, all designed to be strolled through and enjoyed. This trip however I came armed, on mission if you will. I had picked up a copy of "Great Trees of London" (yes, there is such a book)  and this great book (published by "The Lonely Planet" in conjunction with "Trees for Cities") took me into new parts of London; to secret squares, nooks and crannies in the hunt for trees of note. There were some amazing specimens but also, unfortunately, one that is no longer there. The St James's Church Catalpa tree on Piccadilly was cut down in 2012 - I just missed it. After it was felled the pieces were carved by artist Clinton Chaloner into the church's nativity. So it still lives on in one form or another, although I would prefer if it still were alive.

Pubs

The Grapes

There are over 7,000 pubs in London, of varying qualities I must admit, but the good ones are real gems. On this trip I naturally visited quite a few but my favorite was The Grapes in Limehouse. This wonderful pub was my lunch spot while I was walking the Thames Path between Greenwich and London Bridge and was well worth the stop. The Grapes opened its doors in 1583 and has played an important part in the history of Limehouse, an area frequented by the likes of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, Francis Bacon, Edward Wolfe and Charles Dickens. It is believed that Dickens even made mention of the pub in “Our Mutual Friend”

“A tavern of dropsical appearance … long settled down into a state of hale infirmity. It had outlasted many a sprucer public house, indeed the whole house impended over the water but seemed to have got into the condition of a faint-hearted diver, who has paused so long on the brink that he will never go in at all.”

— Charles Dickens - Our Mutual Friends, 1864–65

The pub has a friendly, local atmosphere, it smells of old wood and history and I'm glad to say it was bustling when I went in. The bangers and mash were delicious as well as the ales that washed them down, the co-lease holder, Sir Ian McKellen was not around but there was a rather cool Gandalph model in the back parlour overlooking the Thames, along with a complete set of Dickens' work. 

Bookshops

I'm pretty much in my element when surrounded by stacks of old, dusty books. One of my favorite London activities is to simply stroll down Charing Cross Road and duck into all of the amazing book shops. Some are real collector, antique type stores, some are bargain basement places but they all have a nostalgic atmosphere. They also pay heavy dividends if you are willing to put in a little work. Checkout "Quinto & Francis Edwards Bookshop", "Henry Pordes Books"," Any Amount of Books" and, of course, "Foyle's". Foyle's has been selling books for a long time. They stock mainly new books but also have a few second hand, either way they must have exceptional buyers as it's always stocked with a great selection. Their travel section is particularly spectacular.

Markets

A little something picked up from Arcadia

Whatever you're looking for London most likely has a market for it and this trip my destination this time was Spitalfields on a Thursday. In the main, old hall they have an excellent antiques and knick-knacks market. It might not be the biggest market but the quality and selection is exceptional. Be sure to swing by Andrews of Arcadia for all your fishing needs.

And there we have it, this is very much my own, very concise list and may not be for everyone. I have hardly scratched the surface of London itself, I'd love to talk about museums, galleries, monuments and go deeper into pubs, restaurants and history but this is already a monster post, so that might just have to wait for my next visit.

Tips from the Archive #008

Harry Roberts - Movin' Out By, 1975

A tip from Harry Roberts' "Movin' Out" first published in 1975. This is only a thin book but it goes into more detail than most, with exhaustive information about what to look for when choosing each piece of kit, delving into the pros and cons of different stitching and seam constructs and the architecture of pack-frames. Roberts was a freelance photographer and writer spending some time in the 70s as the editor of "Wilderness Camping Magazine", he was also a certified cross country ski instructor and examiner.

Tip 008 – A Novel Insect Repellent

“For those of you who dislike chemicals with strange names, I offer a novel insect repellent technique I learnt from one of my Habitant kin years ago. Take a garlic bud and slice it up into little pieces. Swallow them whole and wait a while–say a couple of hours. Pop a fresh bud about every twelve hours, and the bugs shun you. Perhaps it alters the scent of your perspiration, but if it does, its not noticeable. That’s all right the USDA doesn’t really know why deet works, either.”

— Harry Roberts - Movin' Out, 1975

Interesting stuff, the way I understood it was that bugs were attracted to exhaled breath, which means eating garlic makes some sense. One last bit of foolproof advice, however, is to simply hike with me, I attract mosquitos like no other human, making life very pleasant for everyone else.

Chris Yates – The Lost Diary

Chris Yates talking about his lost diary

UPDATE: The book has been successfully funded so keep an eye out in the coming months!

I have spoken about Mr Yates in past posts - he is one of my favorite fishermen; he is beloved by nearly every British angler as an author, photographer and staunch advocate for vintage fishing gear and methods. Over the last few months, in anticipation for Maine's fishing season, I read a few of his books - each one is a masterpiece. I knew through Yates' reputation and his previous works that I would love these books, but as each one unfolded I became further charmed and impressed by Yates; his philosophies, his love for the outdoors, nature and, of course, tea. All of which resonate with me and my beliefs.

When I came to the end of "Nightwalk", Yates' magical and lyrical book about walking through nighttime British countryside, I was keen to find out what he was up to next. It was in this search that I came across his intended crowd funded next publication. Entitled "The Lost Diaries" the book is exactly that, a  book of his recently rediscovered fishing diaries dating from the 1980s, including "the last days Chris spent fishing at Redmire after his record catch and the early days of the Golden Scale Club." 

How to Fish and On Fishing at Sea

So for my sake, and for the sake of all those that love and cherish nature,  the outdoors and Yates' writing, take a look at this video and perhaps consider donating to this book. Funding is being sourced through unbound.co.uk which is very much like kick-starter. For a minimum donation of GBP10 you will receive a copy of the book and also have your name published in the back.

So far I have read "How to Fish", "Nightwalk" and "On Fishing at Sea " these are still readily available and I cannot speak highly enough of them.