Steffie Goes Fishin’ @StoryADayMay

Recipe follows today’s Story A Day May offering.

Steffie Goes Fishin’

It surprised people who didn’t know her well (and very few knew her well) that Steffie loved fishing. She often spent time on rivers and lakes and even out on the ocean,dropping lines and hauling in supper.

Unlike many hobby fishermen, she didn’t hand her catch over to somebody else to clean. Nobody could cut and dismember a fish like Steffie, if “dismember” was the word she wanted in relation to something without limbs.

Didn’t matter. She was almost on vacation.

She parked in the lot at the head of the hiking trails, but jogged along the edge of the highway and down Dr. Gilly’s gravel drive. As her surveillance had led her to expect at this time of day, he was at the end of his dock, the remains of a six-pack at his side, fly-casting.

As she slipped up behind him, he hauled in a beautiful trout, close to twenty inches, tip to tail.

He still hadn’t noticed her when he bent to pull up his empty stringer.

First fish of the day? At this hour? According to Steffie’s watch, it was 15:30. According to the remains of Dr. Gilly’s six-pack, it was 4 o’beer. He’s as poor a fisherman as he is a citizen. Pretty fair scientist, though. Pity.

She grabbed the fish in one gloved hand and, with the other, shoved Dr. Gilly’s temple into the edge of the dock’s piling.

“Oh, how sad!” she murmured, tossing the fish back to the safety of the water. “He was drinking while he fished and then had a perfect storm of accidents.” She wrapped his fishing line around his legs, carefully jamming the lure (store-bought — Steffie tied her own flies) into the handle of Dr. Gilly’s tackle-box. She rolled the late doctor off the dock, letting his weight pull the tackle-box after him, watching the weight of the tackle-box pull him, in its turn, to the depths of the lake.

Job well done, she mentally clocked herself out, returned to her car, and hit the road to her own lakeside cabin. Tonight, she would unpack and settle in. Tomorrow morning, she would fish!

THE END

This is not what Steffie cooked, because this is cod.

I have some frozen cod, so I made foil packets. Is that still A Thing? For a while, cooking food in foil packets was A Thing. It’s kind of like roasting and kind of like steaming, both at the same time. Infuses all the flavors together, style ‘o fing.

ANYWAY, into my packet, I put a chunk of frozen cod, a green onion, lemon pepper, salt, and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Sealed that up together and baked it in the toaster oven at 425F (about 218C) for 40 minutes (about .66 hours). There was lots of liquid inside, which I poured over the rice and mushrooms, with the fish on top.

Delicious!

I’m posting today at Fatal Foodies about another rice-and-mushroom dish, this one vegetarian.

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Wrap something up.

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Steffie Goes Fishin’ @StoryADayMay

  1. Dan Antion

    May 12, 2020 at 8:20am

    Whoever said “a bad day of fishing is still a good day” hadn’t met Steffie. Nicely done.

    As for the foil packet, I never understand why things that work go out of style. I guess it’s because someone invented the fish-steamer, yet another appliance to pile in the bin. “With the RonCo fish steamer, you can steam fish, Brussels Sprouts, kumquats, crab legs and so much more. Plus, buy it today and we’ll send you a second fish steamer absolutely free (just pay shipping and handling).

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  2. joey

    October 25, 2020 at 6:49pm

    I love Steffie, and I love almost no murderous persons 😉
    I still cook in foils, too. I think it will forever be a Thing. “Potatoes with whatever in foil” is always a hit!

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