Pie Hole Wild, Crazy

I know someone asked what recipe we used for the rabbits. First I should explain how I came by two wild rabbits. My dad shot one, the other my cousin and I tag-teamed: First he shot it, then I shot it, then he said it was dead, and I said that it wasn't, so I got ready to shoot it again and it tried to squirt by me, so I stepped on it and fell over and my cousing grabbed it out from under my boot and killed it. He gave me the bunny saying I was the one who actually stopped it. I suspect he didn't feel like cleaning a rabbit.

So we cooked them tonight with this recipe and it was pretty darn good. If you use internet reviews to help you decide what to buy or cook, this recipe is a gem.

The first review was short and to the point but totally f-ing useless:

"Sorry, I can't bring myself to eat a bunny!"

Well thanks buddy that really helped me decide. At least say, "You shouldn't eat bunnies." But oh, yeah, they were already dead by the time I read the reviews so it would have been wasteful to follow your advice and not eat them. Also, they were so tasty that I could bring myself to eat another one right now.

Then:

"I made this with chicken and it was great. My husband had it for breakfast the morning after, he liked it so much. " 

If you change the main ingredient, it isn't the same recipe. Review invalid. Thanks again. 

Then Wendi whined in:

"This was too much work (cutting the rabbits up was painful for my tired old hands)."

Wendi really wanted a TV dinner.

Wendi follows up:

"As a follow up to my previous review, my husband took the left-over rabbit, boned it and mixed it with some cream of mushroom soup (leaving out the left-over sauce from the night before), onions, garlic and left-over asparagus. He served that over spicy rice ... that was a keeper!"

I was wrong, she really wanted a casserole. Her husband should have a show on FoodTV. Did she post her new recipe in the comments of every recipe for rabbit on Epicurious?

Then Steveate reviews a different recipe, but mixes in some snark:

"I cut the recipe in half, added some mushrooms with the onions and garlic, omitted the butter and it was delicious. A keeper for sure. Wendi from AZ, get a clue. Ask your butcher to cut the rabbit in pieces."

Do you think Wendi smacked her head and thought, "Oh! It would taste better if I didn't have hand cramps while I was eating it."

I am sure the Council of Organic Rabbit Producers really appreciated this free commericial from A Cook in Nyack:

"This was very good-exactly as written. I don't understand some people's objections to eating rabbit; it's a strangely American hypocrisy. Rabbit is extremely low in fat and I have found it easy to obtain organic rabbit without all the garbage they pump into battery hens. Do you not eat pork because of Wilber (Charlotte's Web) or Elsie the Cow? They were pretty cute, too."

What the hell does Elsie the Cow have to do with whether or not I eat pork? I need a parenthetical reminder of who Wilbur is, but you need to be reminded that something with "Cow" in its name isn't a pig?

Maybe it is time for a site that just reviews reviews. Or MST3K for internet reviews. I will get started building a pair of smartass robots immediately.

If you are in a dark corner of the blogosphere and haven't yet seen this, go check it out. This is so much sausage and bacon that even I would probably have a salad with it, that is if there was blue cheese on the salad. 

Better Than Seeing a New Bird

This Sunday, we saw a strange bird feeding at our little backyard buffet. It looked like a cardinal in build, even had the crest, but, it was pale yellow with wing and tail tips transitioning through pink to red at the very ends. Try as I might, I could not find it in a book, nor on the net, until it occurred to me to google things like "bird mutant" and "Cardinal color variant".

Most likely, it was indeed a cardinal, but one with leucism. It could have been a metabolic disorder as well, since the carotenoids that are the precursors of the pigment must be culled from their food. This is the picture I found that is closest to what we saw, although ours was yellowish where this one is pretty white. (Sorry for linking to the photo but it is copyrighted.)Birds with this disorder can appear albino even, though albinism is a distinct phenomenon arising from just the loss of melanin.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have one of these guys running around our yard a lot too. These are a color variant of grey squirrels which I almost never see around here in their grey state. Last week, we had a fox squirrel, out goth blacky and a red squirrel in the yard all at once.

Toddler Tips: How to Play with Daddy in the Snow

Toddler Tips

E.M. Schek

I decided to start a new feature here called Toddler Tips. From time to time I will offer seasonal tips to you other toddlers out there.

Today:

How to Play with Daddy in the Snow

The secret to enjoying the snow with Daddy is recognizing that Daddy actually enjoys the snow more than you. Sure,  you have to appear enthusiastic, but you will have the most fun if you remain bossy but on the edge of the primary action. If your Daddy calls you Benito or Napoleon, you know you are being bossy enough.

First, give Daddy an assignment.

Example: "Daddy make da fort as high as Daddy. No, now."

Next, let him get a good start and remain observant as though you may jump in and help at any moment. Example: "Why makin' a snow block Daddy? Why? Why not do it? Why packin' it in?"

Let him work until he is a little sweaty and down one layer of clothing. Now that he is concentrating on the assignment, you can start to enjoy yourself. Example: When Daddy bends over to fill the block maker, sock him in the bum with a big blob of snow. If he falls for it again, put it down his pants.

With the direct physical assault, he will probably now attempt to keep you in view and at a distance, this is your chance to widen the distance to set him up. Example: Run toward the road announcing that you need to shovel the street, but don't take your shovel. Daddy will break into an awkward run, trying to be quick but not let you know he is alarmed. Practice running backwards in the middle of the night so you can maintain your speed while still observing Daddy's face. 

Now that he is on the move and far from the project, this is your chance to erode his progress.

Example: Announce you have forgotten your shovel and charge back up the driveway. Daddy will pause to catch his breath as you head toward apparent safety. Grab your shovel and take two layers of bricks off of the fort. If you want to break his spirit, announce that you did it because of a concern about the quality of those last two layers and say something about waiting for Mommy to build you a fort. If you are cute enough, laugh a little at him.

Now, tomorrow the snow is going to be good and packy because it is warming up, so daddies will want to go play. Practice that backward running tonight and visualize your plan.

Bonus tip for a day of packing snow: Getting Daddy in trouble with Mommy. Sorry this might not be appropriate or all that useful for the readers who are little girls but....Get daddy building a snowman and when he has to go over to the fresh snow in the side yard in order to make a grass-free head for the snowman, give the snow man a nice yellow suit. If you have enough "ink", sign your work. Daddy will pretend to be annoyed while he pats you on the head and Mommy will be really annoyed, mostly with Daddy. 

Happy Birthday Cake Mama

Appy birday cake Mama. 

Appy Birday Cake to You

Woe Woe Woe, da boat

Woe Woe Woe

Found a pnut and bumabee

squished da beeeee

cacked it open

Appy birday cake to mama

I love my mommy.

-Ellis

I know he is going to be ok

This weekend, Ellis's G-Ma Lise was up and drew Ellis this lovely dog picture on his dry erase easel. (Actually, even Lise had to admit the dog looked a little bit inbred.) After they left, Ellis was looking at it and decided it wasn't quite finished yet.

Now, you might think that the black blob and streak on the dogs bum was merely coincidental. But, as he was doing this, he was saying, plainly, "Doggie gotta go poop." I guess I know what people mean when they say their children make them see the world in a whole new way. I think every image I see tomorrow, on the internet or in a magazine, I am going to think, "How could I poop-grafitti that."

Extra! Extra! Amazing toddler runs first 3 minute mile on an eliptical machine

By the end of this little jaunt on the the elliptical, I think Ellis had used it more than me this year. 

Ass-Deep on an Average Size Toddler

This is how most of Ann Arbor spent yesterday. Ellis didn't get much snow off of the driveway, but he did move a lot of snow.









Sadly, his shovel broke in the next round of shoveling, so I have to get him a better one. Today we build a snow fort, if we can get good blocks.

here, at least, is an album

Well, here is an album at least.

I am going over there now to put some labels on things.

This little piggy....made a pig of himself

I promise some xmas stories and more pics in the albums this week.

Must get him some skates

Go over here to see some cute videos of Ellis and his G-ma.

So much has happened over the last 10 days. Hopefully, pictures and stories can go up this week.