Rabbit for dinner? It not only sounds good but it actually was quite a delicious meal as mom frequently cooked the meat during the fall hunting season in central Michigan. Dad and brother would spend a few hours on a brisk Sunday in the “back woods” taking pride in supplying food for the dinner table. A family of seven required a few of the fair game to fill the dinner plates.
Just as she prepared chicken, mom pan-cooked the skinned and gutted animals in a frying pan in a bit of water. The preparation without some type of oil may sound a little odd but once the meat was done the water was ready to be made into mouth pleasing gravy; the natural juices made the gravy exceptionally tasty.
With the typical mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables and browned crescent rolls it was a true home-cooked country meal. Now, as you picked the meat off the bones, you were aware and took heed to the fact that you had a fair chance of biting into a buckshot pellet.
The same went for pheasant, another creature of nature.
Since I was raised on these animals, I don’t remember them having a gamy taste. It was just plain good eatin’, unlike venison, which I could barely keep down. When mom said we were having “steak” for dinner, I learned not to make an assumption and had an immediate mood change when the aroma told me the truth of the meal.
As our Creator intended, sustaining life with the bounties of nature is man’s means to that end. Rabbit is fine, pheasant is too, but squirrel was another cherished item on an autumn menu. As to fattening these little creatures, just let them eat nuts.
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