Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

Think popping a cold one on a hot summer day aboard a boat won’t affect you the same as if you were behind the wheel of car? Think again.

Alcohol has three times the effect on water that it has on dry ground.

Boating Safety Educator, Jack Dyess, says combining alcohol with the movement of a boat on water and the flickering light on the water’s surface makes for a potentially dangerous combination.

Because the constant motion that most of us are not accustomed to on a normal basis…and any changes to our environment, when we add alcohol to it, it’s going to have a greater effect. I think anyone with reasonable intelligence that gives any serious thought to the subject understands that boating and drinking is dangerous.

Operating a boat while intoxicated could result in a fine of up to 2-thousand dollars and up to 180 days in jail. A second conviction and the fine goes up to 4-thousand dollars and up to a year in jail. While third-time offenders get hit with a fine up to 10 grand and up to 10 years in jail. Coming up on tomorrow’s show…

Everyone on the water needs to obey the boating laws…and the only way to know the law is take the boater education class.

That’s our show for today….with support form the Sport Fish Restoration Program…working to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas…

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

When it comes to excuses why people don’t wear life jackets, Boating Safety Educator, Jack Dyess, says he’s heard ‘em all.

They are too uncomfortable, or they are too hot, or they aren’t stylish….

Leave your excuses on shore — life jackets save lives.

Over 95% of the drowning victims are not wearing life jackets. I’ve been in the boating safety business for a long time, I have yet to recover a drowning victim wearing a life jacket.

Life jackets are only required for children under 13 years of age, riding in motorboats under 26 feet in length. But Dyess suggests all family members wear them to encourage water safety practices that last a lifetime.

There are so many different types of life jackets on the market now, including little inflatable belts, the suspenders are inflatable and all of these are automatic so if you fall into the water, they automatically inflate. Most of them have twice the flotation as a normal life jacket and those who wear them forget that they are even wearing the thing.

Pack the life jackets on the boat, but leave the six-pack on shore.

One beer on a boat will affect a person the same as three beers on the ground.

That’s tomorrow…. Learn more about boater safety at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today. With support from the Sport Fish Restoration program working to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas…For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Only a handful of historic lighthouses remain standing; among them — the 155 year old Port Isabel Lighthouse on the Lower Laguna Madre. Perhaps you’ve been there… and as you climbed the spiral staircase to the top… wondered about the people who tread those same steps… more than a hundred years ago.

The lighthouse was used during the Civil War by the Confederate and the Union soldiers back in 1866.

Port Isabel lighthouse keeper, Gabriel Gildinas.

During the war, the light had been removed. The soldiers could use it as a lookout tower. The Confederate soldiers would be stationed upstairs and they would make sure none of the Union soldiers were moving into this area.

Removing the light wasn’t the only modification made to the lighthouse during the Civil War. The handrail was moved to the right of the staircase. Doing so gave occupying forces at the top… an advantage over those climbing the stairs.

The soldiers that would be upstairs, when they’re coming down, they want to be able to use their right hand [to shoot their guns], so if any soldiers [enemy forces] are going up to the top of the lighthouse, they’d be forced to have to use their left hand. It gave the soldiers that were stationed inside the lighthouse an advantage.

Of course, this assumes all soldiers were right handed.

Find a link to more information about the Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historic Site at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger…

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

For most of its 155 year history, the Port Isabel Lighthouse, like a lonely sentry, kept silent watch over ships that ventured into the shallow gulf waters of the lower Laguna Madre. One of sixteen lighthouses serving the state, this renovated structure is evocative of a bygone era; one that continues to capture the imagination of visitors.

A lot of people are fascinated with lighthouses.

Gabriel Gildinas is Port Isabel’s lighthouse keeper.

A lot of the visitors that we have are inland, so seeing a lighthouse is like finding treasure to them. It’s just an unbelievable site that they want to come, they want to experience this. It brings a lot to their imaginations. You just see the children. They’re just unbelievably fascinated with it. They just want to run up the stairs.

New technologies have made the need for lighthouses obsolete. But at one time – they were lifesavers.

Well, in the past, the use of this lighthouse was mainly to help the ships in this area. At the time, this was one of the largest shipping ports in the entire world. The lighthouses, they really don’t serve much of a purpose nowadays because of the GPS- global positioning system, but back in that time, lighthouses were like the GPS. The only way you could navigate and knows what’s in front of you is by knowing there’s a lighthouse right there.

Find a link to more information about the Port Isabel Lighthouse at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Cast iron Dutch ovens have been around a long time.

You may have seen something that your grandmother had –an old pot that she sat on the stove that was black.

Tim Spice is an education and outreach specialist at Parks and Wildlife. The ovens have changed little since great-grandma’s day, except some now come pre-seasoned.

You know, what’s neat is, in the last couple of years, one of the major manufacturers has come out with a pre-seasoned Dutch oven. And I swore as a purist I wouldn’t buy one, and I did get one, and wow – already seasoned – it was fabulous. Jump right in and start cooking.

If you prefer to season it the old fashioned way – use it.

And after you cook a few times it will be season. And what we mean by ‘seasoned’ is, as you cook, micro-layers of carbon build up on the cast iron, and gives it a non-stick quality.

You don’t have to cook alone. There are groups, such as the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society, dedicated to preserving this kind of cookery.

And, you can just do a search on your favorite engine, and you’ll find lots of different things. Some of these groups have ‘dogs’ is what they call them – Dutch oven gatherings – where they get together and they just all cook their favorite food, and have a grand old time.

Find recipes and links to Dutch oven groups at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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RECIPES FROM TIM SPICE

Hello folks. It is easy to get started with Dutch Ovens cooking. Here are some simple and great recipes! You want to cook these over a 350-degree heat. And to determine that, place your hand six-inches over the hot coals and count — one Mississippi…two Mississippi….three Mississippi…. If you can keep your hand over the coals for three seconds, then you have a temperature of 350-degrees. TS

CHICKEN STEW

Heat your Dutch oven over the coals with 1/8 inch of vegetable oil. When it is hot (not smoking), carefully place a cut up chicken in the oil and brown the chicken on both sides. When the chicken is browned cover the chicken with stock, (I use pre-made stock from the grocery).

Dice half an onion, place in the pot with one Bay leaf and some salt and pepper. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Add potatoes, carrots and celery and continue to simmer until the chicken falls off the bone, approximately 45 minutes.

When the chicken is done, you may thicken the stew with flour or cornstarch.

For an added bonus, get some biscuit mix and make dumpling in a plastic baggie. Cut a hole in one corner and squeeze out golf ball sized dough right on the top of the stew. Cover and heat until the dumplings are done in the middle. Add a few more coals to the top for a golden brown dumpling.

NOTE: You can use this same recipe to make beef stew by just substituting beef for the chicken.

COBBLER

Nothing beats a hot cobbler sitting around the campfire!

Start with canned fruit. (Peaches for the traditionalist.) For a 12 inch Dutch, 4 standard size cans will do. I use 2 cans of fruit and two cans of fruit pie filling.

Drain the fruit and reserve the liquid. Place the fruit and a few dabs of butter in the Dutch oven along with brown sugar and cinnamon. (I have a big sweet tooth so I use up to a cup of brown sugar, you may use less or none at all.)

Next, take 1/2 a box of yellow cake mix and place it in a plastic baggie. Mix with the reserved fruit juice and water until it is a little thicker than cake batter. Cut a small hole in one corner and pipe the batter on top of the fruit mixture. Then take a handful of dry mix and sprinkle on top of the cobbler.

Place the Dutch oven on the coals and maintain a 350-degree oven for approximately 45 minutes. If the top is not browning after 30 minutes add more coals to the top.

If the fruit filling is not bubbling gently, add more coals to the bottom. Finally, 5 minutes before the cobbler is done sprinkle with pecans. GUARANTEED TO PLEASE!

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