By David Draper

On Tuesday, I will join the masses of post-holiday travelers subjected to the whims of the TSA, the airline industry and the remnants of a blizzard. I’m still surprised people, including myself, pay for this privilege, but until we get personal jetpacks or bullet trains, it remains the quickest way between points A and B most of the time.

In this column from The Atlantic, Corky White takes up the familiar complaint regarding the food, or lack thereof, airlines subject their passengers to:

“... on this very plane on which I sit on my way to Tokyo, there is a slab of this horrendous stuff on my black plastic tray, trying to hide under an equally doubtful pile of stuffing mix. It is punky pinky white inside, bouncy, uniform, and—the telltale sign that we're all going to the demnition bow-wows—it's moist. No actual chicken breast served in economy class is moist inside: the shreds are dry and overcooked. The shriveled hard green peas next to it were by contrast consolingly "natural." I held the chicken up on my plastic fork to investigate it as a steward came by. "Is there anything wrong?"

By David Draper

Despite the lack of sunlight that makes me moody (or so people tell me), December is probably my favorite month. Waterfowl seasons are typically reaching their peak, the hordes of opening-day pheasant hunters are gone, and I have the whole month to hunt deer with a muzzleloader. Throw in Christmas and New Year’s Eve, along with my birthday, and I have plenty of reasons to celebrate this time of year.

And celebrate I did this past weekend. Saturday I went goose hunting with a couple of friends. That afternoon, a long nap was in order followed by a birthday dinner with T_Rebel. On Sunday, I slept in and after, plucking the geese along with two pheasants I had hanging from earlier in the week, I went deer hunting.

By David Draper

I’m not sure how it happened, but somewhere along the way I became the guy shopping for gifts the week before Christmas. So it stands to reason, I’m also the guy who gets his wish list to Santa late. Which maybe explains the lump of coal I find in my stocking every year. I mean, it couldn’t be because I’m naughty or anything. Right?

So, with just over a week left to get your shopping done, here’s a list of gift ideas for the Wild Chef in your life. Some I have and highly recommend, and others I would love to find under my tree on December 25:

By Colin Kearns

I don’t know about you, but I love Italian food. So when chef Mark Leslie offered to share a few of his wilder and fishier recipes from his new cookbook, Beyond the Pasta, with The Wild Chef, I jumped at the chance. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sharing recipes from his book. Today’s recipe calls for trout, and it looks delicious enough to make me wish I could call it a day and go fishing.

Along with the recipes, Leslie also donated two copies of his book to give away. Here’s how you can win: Every Friday on The Wild Chef we publish an edition of “Food Photo Friday.” We always welcome shots from readers, and this week we’ll send a copy of Beyond the Pasta to the two readers who send the most delicious-looking photos. (E-mail your shots to fswildchef@gmail.com). We’ll announce the winners on Friday afternoon. Good luck!