"trash" fish for dinner

as i've mentioned time and again, my dad thinks pikes really aren't for human comsuption. i've tried to prove him wrong earlier and i wish he would have been at the shack yesterday for dinner to have some of this...pan fried (in butter) pike tails with mustardy butter and green salad







the dish started yesterday morning at the cottage (we drove there on saturday after work) when mom and dad got back from checking the nets







there had been a nice size pike in the nets, my dad would have thrown it back to the lake if we weren't at the cottage. could be the fact that they get so much fish from the lake that pike just isn't that tasty, don't know. we were happy to get this for dinner.







dad was nice enough to even filee the pike for us. not that i couldn't do it, i just wouldn't want my dad watching me do it...the dog was curiously watching the procedure







but then again, he did get to play with the head and the bones (a decision i regret since he wasn't smelling very nice in the car on the way back home)







mustardy butter was made with a blob of butter, grainy dijon mustard and minced dill. change the dill to parsley/tarragon/thyme and this goes with ebverything.







and add some lemon peel, lemon always goes nice with fish.







dad, you really ought to try this once!







i was happy to have brought my red jacket to the cottage. the moose hunting season started a few weeks back, the season for birds (black and hazel grouse, and such) ends in a few days. there were shots somewhere in the vicinity, and had we had the shotgun with us, we would have got 2 black grouses as well. that is, if certain someone would have had the heart to shoot them. i don't think he would have, so, really, we wouldn't have had any...







it seems my mom left some lingonberries for other to pick







could be my photographic skills, or lack of, that the fall colors seem to bleak away







the dog then...where do i start. he snuck away on saturday night (i want to point out that i wasn't the one who left the door unlocked). anyways, the dog just pushed the door open and went on his (merry) way. next morning we found him sleeping at the door of the bigger house (as in we sleep in the smaller).

there is no other place we can let him run free (and that can happen only in autumn and winter, he'd do too much damage to the nesting birds in spring and summer) so him spending the night out wasn't that dnagerous. however, on sunday night we made sure to lock the door, the dog still tried pushing it open and was rather disappointed when he noticed that he would have to spend the night indoors.

the dog got to run all he wanted, one thing he didn't want was to get in the car to come home. but he's been asleep practically ever since we left the cottage yesterday afternoon...