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Friday, July 26, 2013

The Minnesota Book Of Skills


 
 
 
Minnesotans are a highly skilled bunch, whether pursuing traditional activities like wild ricing and pickling, or tastefully displaying taxidermy, or selecting the right fishing bait. Skills particularly appropriate to Minnesota— such as creating seed art or baking a Bundt cake—may be fully on display at the state fair, a prime opportunity to join with neighbors in celebrating our many talents.
Best of all, Minnesotans are eager to share their skills with newcomers or the newly inspired, and for The Minnesota Book of Skills many freely offered their expertise in conversations with author Chris Niskanen. Get the inside scoop from Joe Hautman, who has won four federal duck stamp contests. Learn to sing like a voyageur from Francois Fouquerel, dean of the French Voyageur program at the Concordia Language Village. Grow and harvest your own wheat with Dave and Florence Minar.

 The Minnesota Book of Skills brings to life the basic know-how that makes us uniquely Minnesotan. Seasonal tips like how to gracefully exit a ski lift mingle with skills your grandparents knew well, such as what to forage for while on a hike. How soon is too soon to bring a child to the Boundary Waters or set her up on hockey skates? The answers are here. Maybe you’ll never carve an ice sculpture or build your own coffin—but isn’t it comforting to know that one handy book offers just the guidance you’ll need?


Out of the authors 187 item skills set described in the book here are Troutbirders Top Ten personally practiced  list.  And Bottom Ten never tried  or least successful.

Top Ten:


1   Tick Identification and Extraction.    2.  Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness camping skill set.  3 When Nature Calls.  4 Catch, Fillet and Fry a Walleyed Pike.  5   Use A Chainsaw.  6   Build and Cook Over A Campfire.  7   Upland Game and Waterfowl Hunting.   8   Plant and Tend a Native Wildflower Garden.   9   Basic Birding.

Bottom Ten:    1 Grow Wheat and Grind Flour.   2   Sauna Etiquette   3.  Home Pickling   4.  Tasteful Taxidermy.   5  Making Homemade Sausage    6  Identifying Lake Superior Agates   7   Field Dressing A Deer.   8.   Waterskiing.     9   Backing Up A Trailer.   10.  Building My Own Coffin

8 comments:

David Oliver said...

I probably need to buy this book just for number 1. There are several more things I would either like to know or know more about. Sure sounds like a handy reference to have in the house.

Jo's World said...

What a swell book, Troutbirder! I need a copy of this. I must say I would add the following: Knitting wool socks and mittens, learning sourdough baking,coping with being snowed in for several days. Maybe more, there is just a lotta stuff to know when you live in Minniesnowda!

Cheers,
Jo

Ms Sparrow said...

When I saw the title of the book, I thought it might be a sequel to Howard Mohr's "How to Talk Minnesotan". Still, it sounds like a very useful book to have.

amanda said...

This sounds like a great book, that I would like to have!
I've got the sauna etiquette down.. growing up Finnish, I memorized my grandparents plaque of "sauna rules." :)
I could've used this guide, when my husband was in Montana last fall, and one of our boys arrowed a deer the opening weekend of archery season - I had to not only oversee the field dressing - but process the whole thing & get it in the freezer too.
I've never water skied, either. :)
Thanks for bringing this book to my attention!

Montanagirl said...

Sounds like a worthwhile read!

Anvilcloud said...

Hmmm ... the last one in the bottom 10 ... hmmm ...

Veronica Wald said...

Having a good Finnish-style sauna followed by a naked leap into a cold lake is one of life's greatest experiences, hope you get a chance to do it sometime :-)

Far Side of Fifty said...

I wonder what it says about Sauna etiquette. I probably fail the etiquette part. I make some good pickles and I never did learn to back up a trailer:)