smorgasbord

The only time I’ve had it, the bear was marinated a long time in wine and spices then cooked sauerbrauten style. It was still pretty gamey. Now that I know what parasites these things can carry, I’m glad that it was very thoroughly cooked. Parasites, the gift that keeps on giving.

I look forward to your ‘09 blog.

Lorraine

Diana,

Looks like bear is prepared just like any other large game:

http://www.bowhunts.com/recipe_bear.html

If you want, I’ll ask my relatives if they have any roadkill bear recipes.

Dave

Woo! I hope so. :)

How would you prepare bear, anyway? Other than over a fire like a caveman, I mean? Maybe a fatty flank roasted gently with a dusting of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme–served on a bed of rice with a side of asparagus….

d

Hi,

I gather this means bear is off the diet, even free range ones?

Lorraine

Hi again, Peachy. :D

The vitamins we need to supplement are B-12, iodine, Omega-3 fatty acids, and pantothenic acid. I take daily supplements which cover these needs (and I add glucosamine chondroitin).

Protein is actually very easy to get plenty of on a veggie diet, and the protein from meat is not as good for us. So I read, anyway.

Hi, Mary. :)

I’ve read a bit here and there about the ethics of vegetarianism. They seem well-intentioned and reasonable, but I don’t kid myself that my personal withdrawal from eating chicken, beef or pork will make those animals’ lives any better. (There’s also the environmental concern, I know.) I’m just in it for the health. :)

d

I think I’m good to go with coons, Peachy, but I appreciate the warnings. The cats are all indoor cats. The screens are all on the inside of the windows and the windows are very, very far from the ground, anyway. I’m more afraid that Maxx will have an unfortunate encounter with a coon, rabid or not (he’s current on his rabies shot, of course, but coons are vicious little buggers). There’s an off-chance that a coon will decide to pop into the doggie door (if they get past Maxx), which means they’ll get into the mud room only, but I don’t normally leave food there, anyway. (I have the same concern about foxes, which are capable of scaling the dog fence and exploring, but they concern me a bit less than the coons.)

Garbage may be an issue with the bears, though. Hm. I’m not sure how to improve the situation, though. I already have a large garbage container with a lid. I don’t normally put food in it. So far, so good.

d

Good thing I’m not a big pizza fan, Peachy. :)

I was out cutting some wood around Thanksgiving. Thought of you. Figured you probably had family out of school and/or in town so I didn’t ring you. Worry not, though. There’s lots where that comes from. I’ll be working on it fairly regularly this summer (and probably spring, as time allows). I’ll holler.

d

If you have not yet read “In Defense of Food,” I would recommend it. I don’t recall much mention of the advantages/disadvantages to our health of eating meat, but it has some interesting commentary on the ethics of vegetarianism. If you still want to be a meat-eater after reading it, you will probably want to raise your own meat (and vegetables as well for that matter). Daddy has the copy I loaned him, if you want to borrow it. http://pdblack.twistedpair.net/rsc/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

I have a vague recollection that there are some important nutrients–outside of protein–that come from eating meat which are difficult to get on a veggie diet. Make sure you check your homework in that area before you commit.

Diana–We have bears in this area. Earlier this year we had a small black bear half a block from my house, so I’m not surprised if one went through your yard. Hopefully Max was smart enough to not get too close to Yogi.

During spring and fall the bears will be hungrier. In the former they just woke up, and in the latter it’s a last-ditch effort to fatten up for hibernation. Make sure you keep access to garbage, bird-seed (yes, they’ll eat from feeders), and dog food to a minimum.

The raccoons can be tons of fun. One night I had one slitting open a screen window with his claw. He wanted to come in and munch on the cat food. Another time I had to chase a mother and her kits out of my garage; they had come to feast on the dog’s kibble. And yes, I’ve had them scrabbling on my roof at 3 a.m. Makes for a great night’s sleep. The real down-side, though, is that they can carry rabies. Pls be careful of any wild-eyed, foaming at the mouth ‘coons!

One final welcome warning to our neck o’ the woods: foxes and coyotes. Max looks big enough not to be bothered by them. However, don’t let your cats get out, or Fluffy may not come back.

Other than all that, it’s a pretty quiet and idyllic area.

Just wait until you try to order a pizza Diana. When I do, I have two choices to get it: drive into town twenty minutes one-way and pick it up or meet the delivery guy at 83 and 105. The former results in lukewarm pizza and the later smacks of a drug deal ("Ya got the cash?” “Do you have the merchandise?"). Much easier to pick up a Papa Murphy’s and cook it on my own.

Dang Diana. If I had known you were dining alone T-Day, I would’ve invited you over to have bird with us. I, wrongfully, assumed you’d be with your cousin and his family. Mea culpa.

Dave’s got his roux down. Only piece I’d add is that as your roux gets darker, the speed at which it burns increases exponentially. You really need to keep an eye on a dark roux.

Number 89 is B–I think. I briefly studied Middle English, so I understand some of the verbiage.

If you were a stereotypical blonde Diana, the filling station scene would have been perfect.

Cheers!

Diana,

I think I’ve found your weakness.

“Hey, little girl. Would you like to go for a ride in my car? I have bacon!” (Grin)

Dave

Mmmmmm. Chicken.

Quit that. ;)

d

Diana,

Your bean recipe sounds very much like the chicken chili I’ve been experimenting with, except I omit the beans (my son doesn’t care for them) and add cubed chicken. I haven’t poisoned either of us yet, so I must be doing okay with it.

Dave

Sorry for the neglect, Aunt B’Ann. I haven’t been busy lately, actually, but when I’m not busy, I often have nothing to write about. Feels like it, anyway. I’ve been cleaning house, reading books, and absolutely wasting time playing senseless games on Facebook. It’s been so nice to just goof off with no object other than, well…wasting time for the sake of wasting time. So relaxing. :)

Love you!

d

Diana, I had to giggle to myself when I got to the “slightly dried onion” part. Sometimes I have the same thing, but not normally. If I put part of an onion in the fridge, it usually stays there long enough to have to go into the garbage!

Your dish sounds good! I know your mom often cooked that way, so I’d guess that you inherited that talent from her.

Love you, and am glad you posted again! I check every few days, and had about decided you were too busy.

LOL. :D

We had squirrels in the attic in Alabama, come to think of it. They were noisy critters. Then we got cats in the house and a dog. Although none of them went into the attic, the squirrel activity ceased immediately. Maybe the squirrels could smell them…?

Or maybe the pets made so much noise we could no longer hear the squirrels, come to think of it.

d

Hi,

Menopause because the timing fit and because I didn’t hear any racket. By the time I was awake, all was silent. The only noise we consciously heard in the night was knocking on our front door, only to find no one there. By the time one regains consciousness from a deep sleep, fumbles to find something presentable in which to answer the door, then opens said door, sleep returns slowly, if at all. When we finally discovered a squirrel in the attic (literally not figuratively), using a roof beam on which to crack nuts, the mystery was solved. It does demonstrate how some folk can suspect ghosts. Urban wildlife!

In Canada, we actually have 3 kinds of bears: polar, black and grizzly. Since the closure of the Stanley Park Zoo, we’ve had no polar bears in our neck of the woods but the other two seem to be in good supply and increasing. Want a few?

At the moment, there is an official looking memo from the government wild-life department going around stating the official identification criteria for differentiating black bears from grizzlies. It mentions the visual differences, says bells tend to warn off black bears and that pepper spray is an effective deterrent in a black bear attack. The memo then goes on to mention the appearance of black bear scat. It says grizzly scat is more easily identified because it has bells in it and smells of pepper spray. Any bells in the specimen you found?

All kidding aside, bears are not nice neighbours and it sounds like your rural idyll might require some safety measures. Just what you need, more work.

Cheers,
Lorraine