Today is Memorial Day. My bother in law, Jim, and his girlfriend Joo came over this morning for breakfast before we all headed over to the cemetery. In-between bites of cinnamon rolls, Jerry and Jim retold one of our favorite stories of their dad, Bob McDaniel, when he got caught outside in a hail storm.
Bob loved to fish. He’d go to the farm pond somewhere in the middle of nowhere miles from any town and with out hardly a tree or shelter in sight. Southern Illinois has miles of flat open farmland. One day when he was out at the farm pond, a storm blew in. Hail as big as softballs came pummeling down! His truck was too far away to run to without getting beaten to death. So he dumped his fish bucket out, ran into the water, hunkered down all the way in the water and put the steel bucket over his head.
BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! (It’s really funny when Jerry and Jim do the “Bams.”)
Bob at the farm pond
He came away completely unscathed, but couldn’t hear nothin’ for 3 days. “WHAT?!!!” Yep, the story always ends with “what?!” I love it. It’s a short story, but it never fails to make us all chuckle.
Bob also served our country during World War II.
We think this was taken right before he was deployed.
He served for a short time in General Patton’s brigade. And actually got to meet him. Kind of. The General was passing by and asked Bob, “Where’s the mess hall?” Bob, pointed in the direction, “That way, sir.” And that was the extent of that.
Bob (left) with his good friend Ralph Snerley.
Bob said he learned a really important lesson in the army. You don’t volunteer for nothin’. His commanding office asked their squad if any of them could drive a V8. Knowing how to drive a truck and thinking spending the day behind the wheel of one was a pretty good gig, Bob raised his hand. “Good,” the officer said, “grab that wheel borrow and get running!” Sure enough, that wheel borrow had 8 spokes and a V shaped handle. Lesson learned.
Bob (right) next to Ralph and his wife Helen.
I’m sure Bob was fishing for bass, not trout. Even though I love to fish, I haven’t done very much of it and when I do, it’s catch and release. I’ve never seen bass laid out on the ice or wrapped in plastic at the grocer. So we’re going to go with trout for our tribute recipe to Bob and his fishing adventure.
Bob past away 8 years before Jerry and I met. I always think of him as a soft spoken big bear of a man with kind eyes and a easy smile. He might have had a temper as a young man, but Jerry swears he doesn’t remember him ever raising his voice. I wish I could have met him. In so many ways, I feel like I do know him because of all the stories we tell over and over. They never get old and they never will.
Dorothy and Bob were married over 50 years. This is how I always think of them.
I wish I could’ve met you, Bob. We love you.
Oven Steamed Trout in Parchment
Ingredients
- 4 6 oz trout filets
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon peel zested
- 1 tablespoon preserved lemon peel minced (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Equipment
- cookie sheet
- mixing bowl
- parchment paper*
- zester knife and cutting board
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375ºF.
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In a bowl combine parsley, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, preserved lemon, salt and pepper and set aside.
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Fold a 12″ x 15″ piece of parchment in half and fold ends (about a 1/2 inch) under three times leaving the long side open.
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Place 1 trout in each “bag” skin side down, equally divide the parsley mixture and sprinkle over the trout.
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Crimp the opening closed and form a tight seal.
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Place the parchment packages on the cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until the fish is flaky.
Recipe Notes
*Brown paper lunch bags work well for this also. Some fancy gourmand stores carry parchment bags too.
These packets can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 4 hours.