Two Weekend Whatsits

[frogpatch]

KC you are as close as anyone is going to get. It is a fishing line drier. In the old days fishing line was basically just string. After fishing in salt water it had to be removed from the reel, washed in fresh water and dried. Reels did not hold 300 yards of line like they do today. The little eye is for tying the end before you crank. It displays well with the hold wood fishing pole a posted a while back a wooden gaff and an old lure which I found last week. I might dry pappardelle or tagliatelle on it.

The other thing I am told is a saw blade sharpening bench. You place the blade in the clamp, step down on the peddle so it does not move and then take a file to the teeth. It does not appear that you can do a a double bucking aw on there just a bow saw or hand saw blade. It could also hold a circular saw blade well too. I would have sworn that Mart has one of those.

[mart]

`Fraid not Frogpatch,, !!  Although my Dad sharpened all his sawblades !! Just not with that item !!  I just paint them occasionally,, I try not to use them !!  But I certainly know how !!

[greenacres]

I just read "In the Heart of the Sea". This is the true story about "Moby Dick". The real story took place in Nantucket. Any kind of fishing in those days seemed really scary.
The ships were at sea for 2 to 3 years. The crew would get in tiny boats and have to stab the whale. Crazy! I can't imagine having to dry your lines after you've been fishing all day. This is probably for leisure fishing?

[frogpatch]

Those were whaling ships Greenacres. The blubber of the whale was rendered down to oil to use for lamp light. Where my fathers family was from near Sandy Hook NJ, fishing, clamming and crabbing was how a man helped feed his family. It was free protein for those who had the skill and cheap protein for those who could barter or buy. Fishing was catching back then and the idea was to get a chum slick out, get you bait in the slick and yank the fish out of the water. Even as a kid in the 50s I would sit on the dock on the Shrewsbury River next to the drawbridge and use a 9 foot bamboo pole with a line tied to the end and a spearing hooked under a bobber. I would catch and yank small bluefish referred to as snappers, locally. I still fish for them in late summer as they are absolutely delicious when pan fried. The also make great fluke bait.
Red clam chowder is a product of this region too, although food experts will argue that point. I researched it through old newspaper articles and found proof going back to the 1870s plus the stories passed down from my Grandmother. Read my article on why it is New Jersey and not Manhattan clam chowder. I have my family recipe on there too. http://garycunnane.hubpages.com/hub/New-Jersey-Not-Manhattan-Clam-Chowder

[Rauville]

I don’t know…If that device is actually a saw vise / bench;  it would be a cumbersome task to sharpen a saw blade. Since a file only cuts on the push stroke, you would be trying to work from one side to the other. Any saw vise I've seen always holds the blade parallel to the axis of the bench. Like I said, I don’t know.
I could see it being used as harness makers vise for clamping leather while being stitched, with the surrounding tray holding awls, needles and thread.
 

[greenacres]

We use to catch flounder at the Jersey Shore. "Door Mats" we called them. We would use "Ugly" sticks. The was excellent. It's new. It explained that there was a lot of oil in the heads of the whales. They killed so many whales that they had to sail further and further out to uncharted waters. They came across a rogue whale that was 85 feet that intentionally rammed their boat twice and sank it in open water. They were lost at sea for 90 days.

[bigwull]

seeing as how we,ve diversified from...weekend wotsits....and are now on fishy tales....my favourite... is cullen skink....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/jan/05/how-to-cook-perfect-cullen-skink

[greenacres]

Sounds good. Have you made it?

[bigwull]

Sounds good. Have you made it?

yes many times....in fact we had it last night.....you,ll probably know it better as chowder..yum,yum....

[mart]

That's an interesting article Frogpatch !! I would try it but its kind of difficult to get fresh clams here in NE Texas !! 
Have to look at Bigwull`s recipe tomorrow,,too tired to wait on it tonight !!

[frogpatch]

You would need to go the Dallas area. Maybe Whole Foods if you have one. You can substitute canned with the juice. I am going to go read Wullies post now.

[frogpatch]

Bigwull. That sounds awesome. I am going to be hard pressed to find a smoked Haddock here, but they do bring in Haddock that I could smoke myself. I have to try this. My search begins.

[KC]

Having been raised near the ocean...it resembled the fishing line dryers/winders...but I wouldn't tell the size of this.  The eye bolt was the tell-tale for me that it was for line or twine!!!

As for the Cullen Skink (I like that...not a normal/everyday name)...I was raised up making this with the leftover smoked fish heads...thus always called by us Smokey Fish Head Chowder!  We would also add in some grated carrot - the sweetness of the carrot would balance out the flavors!  Not enough to be tasted as carrot...but enough to mellow the flavors and add visual interest!

Yepper Mart, Central Market or an asian market would have the clams.

I grew up clamming in Florida.  We would float buckets in innertubes...walk barefoot in the ocean  in usually knee high to waist high water and scrape the ocean floor with a garden rake (looks like a curved pitchfork).  Sounds like scraping rock when you hit one...pry it up and float it!  Nothing like fresh, homemade Clam Chowder, Fried Clams and Fresh Conch Steaks and Conch Chowder!   YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYY YYYYY!  I'm sure laws prohit/limit alot of this now!!!

[frogpatch]

KC. Same techniques different region. They use the tube float method here too. I remember walking the mud flats and the pisser (soft) clams would squirt, giving away thier location, and we would rake them up. After they were steamed we would hold them by the long neck and dip them in butter. Unfortunately I developed a food allergy to them when I got older. I can still eat the other ones raw though. Go figure. We will be going crabbing soon. Do not know what to expect after Sandy

I love conch chowder and conch fritters. I first had it in the Bahamas. I lived on the west coast of Florida between 2004 and 2010 and the shrimp were fresh and still had the heads on. I would cook them in the shell in a ton of butter, garlic and spices and serve them with crusty bread. Peel and eat and dunk the bread. To die for. Fortunately I can get the gulf shrimp here now. No fresh grouper or stone crabs though. I also caught snook and redfish wading in the bay. Delicious!

[KC]

Now I am hungry for seafooooooooooooddd dddddddd! 

So sorry you developed the allergy.

When I was at the farmer's market in Shreveport this past weekend they were selling Shrimp Tamales, Crawfish Tamales, Crab Tamales and Black bean tamales.  Only problem...they were sold out when I went to buy some!!!!!!  Man.....I was bummed!!!!!!!  Those with a thick Chowder-like sauce on it would be amazing!!!!