Hasenfeffer (Sour Rabbit Stew) SUBMITTED BY: NXNER "Original German rabbit stew recipe passed down from my great-grandmother who immigrated to US in 1889. This is a lot of work to make but well worth it. It is an acquired taste dish; once hooked, you can't get enough. Serve with fresh mashed potatoes and celery sticks. Use the stock as gravy for mashed potatoes. Always tastes better as leftovers. Hope you enjoy!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PREP TIME 1 Hr COOK TIME 1 Hr 15 Min READY IN 10 Hrs 15 Min INGREDIENTS 2 3/4 cups red wine vinegar 3 cups water 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar 8 whole cloves 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 5 stalks celery, chopped 1 lemon, thinly sliced 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon pickling spice 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 (2 1/2 pound) rabbit, cleaned and cut into pieces 3 tablespoons vegetable oil DIRECTIONS In a large pot, combine the water, white sugar, whole cloves, onion, celery, lemon, cinnamon, ground cloves, salt, pickling spice and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then turn off and allow to cool. Place the rabbit pieces into the mixture to marinate. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread flour out onto a parchment or aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the flour is a light brown color. Remove the rabbit from the marinade and pat dry. Strain the marinade, and discard the solids. Reserve the liquid for later. Heat the oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Coat the chicken with the toasted flour. Place into the hot oil, and cook until browned on both sides. Remove from the pan, and set aside. If there is oil left in the pan, sprinkle enough of the toasted flour over it to absorb the liquid. In a jar with a lid, mix 1/2 cup of the marinade with 1/4 cup of the remaining toasted flour. Close the lid, and shake vigorously until well blended with no lumps. Heat the pan with the rabbit drippings over low heat. Gradually stir in the marinade mixture, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, or until the meat is falling off of the bones. You may remove the bones prior to serving if desired.

Perfectly hardy plants in your zone, they'll be much happier back in the ground than attempting to overwinter them. Just get them replanted as soon as possible and make sure roots are well secured. Mulch if possible. Recognizing that I am in a warmer zone, I've planted or transplanted all manner of hardy plants throughout winter without problems. In zone 7, it is unlikely your soil freezes to any significant degree and that should be the only limiting factor in planting these groundcovers this late in the season.

The old house isn't under contract yet... that's why I'm being hasty about getting them out asap. I don't want any misconceptions. I dug up approx. 30 or so yesterday afternoon. Fortunatly a pretty good amount of labels were still in the ground so I brushed around them until I found the eyes poking out and snatched them up. Everything was going fine at the begining because I started with the most recent gardens but quickly ran out of big enough pots on the older Hostas. Silly me... I forgot Hostas grow out not down, doh! Some of them really took off since I planted them last spring! I also noticed the ones I received from swaps were more rooted out then the purchased plants planted around the same time. (Note to self: participate in more swaps here!) So far so good but I'm not taking all of them. I'll leave the doubles and some of the Tiara's behind, often when I order they throw in the Tiara's as gifts anyways.

Wow, jan, you make me blush! I'm glad you like my gardens and I'm sure that photo selectivity makes them look even better than they really are. I love my gardens but have always thought it was more a beauty as in *the eye of the beholder* more than anything else!! I have much to report but no time just now. We are set to take our grandboys to see the latest 'Winnie the Pooh' movie tonight! I have taken a lot of update pix and it will take me some time to upload them to Photobucket, but don't give up on me! Les--I agree with you, all our dogs are show quality, even if it's our own *show*!! And thank you for your kind thoughts coming my way about our small trauma this summer! north53, please let us know how your hosta fared with the Ash coming down!! I bet your arborist did do a good job, afterall!! Just have to add, tj, (I became off-topic with our dog pic) I agree with you--Standard Poodles should not be presented as foo foo dogs at all. We are amazed at Callie's agility and speed and predatory inclinations! Wow--this is NOT a foo foo or froo froo dog, although she can be quite the prissy, I must say! The froo froo cuts were originally designed to insulate the joints of the dogs as they dove into the cold waters after the duck kills! The shaved down areas were to facilitate fast swimming but the joints needed the protection of the longer coat. I prefer the puppy or lambs' cut myself, but we needed to 'clear' her coat to allow the steel-gray color to begin to be more apparent. They go through a brown or chocolate color stage first, then gradually the 'blue' that becomes their final coloring at about 2 yrs. More later...