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.

What Vince said! ^^^^ I really love animals but the squirrels have just gotten up too close and personal. Their population is out of control. It's gray squirrels by day and flying squirrels by night. I have not eaten a single strawberry from my 40 plants in two months since the squirrels will snatch the red ones and carefully eat around the green calyces when I'm spying and out of their sight, then drop the calyx like a feather or even in pieces. I work very hard tending my strawberries and don't find feeding the squirrels every last bit of my garden toil the slightest bit amusing. They eat with their mouths full without ever closing them, and fibers and fragments of fruit get spit out all over the place. Cleaning up the deck after a squirrel pig-out is disgusting. When they are done eating the ripe strawberries, they start on the green ones, and eat one bite and then throw the whole strawberry detached, away with their bite and teeth marks. The discarded strawberries stink of squirrel breath, too. The only good squirrel is a dead one. There's compassion and then there's survival of the fittest. Just because the squirrel wins doesn't mean I'm going down without a fight. Strawberries, unlike tomatoes, do not continue to ripen after being picked. Not a whole lot can be done. Squirrels are incredibly cunning and delight in stealing. No, I'm not imagining that! They learn by watching what I tend and stare from a distance. Then I come back and zap. It's eaten. Squirrels have taken a bite or two from my tomatoes, but they haven't yet developed a taste for them. That's why I do tomatoes now and not strawberries so much anymore. PC

Milorganite keeps the rabbits at bay. Each to their own here, I’m using what has worked for me after trying those nasty, expensive sprays. I knew where milorganite came from, not much different than some of the treated manure that goes on some gardens. I suggest anyone who is interested in using Milorganite to do a search on the internet about its use as a repellent. Sherry

^ true I figured that before I made this thread but if can get a large pine nut variety to grow would be even better. local nurseries I'm a bit shocked at prices are like $200 a tree for ~6 foot large variety trees . eBay has various oak starter plants for only like $10 shipped. Albeit only about a foot tall but it should be fine. Eastern white pine also ebay about $10, maybe other pine varieties too, want a dense and tall pine if decide on Pine. Neighbor has a very tall pine maybe I can propigate a cutting with rooting hormone but may be too late in season for that and I read isn't commonly done (at least in terms of oak trees usually not started from a cutting but yes from grafting which I'm not going to get into and would rather buy a $10 oak starter but some Pine starters on ebay for $10 look like simply cuttings taken from a larger tree, EDIT: maybe it's not too difficult to plant pine/oak from cuttings but for $10 I might as well just buy a starter plant especially since I want to plant it ASAP). For the sidewalk, 3 fragrant white flowering trees on the ok list. Maybe a crabapple also on the other side of the driveway. And, near sidewalk but ~4 feet back on front lawn: 2 on each end, something bushy fragrant like korean spice, or something evergreen and dense, but small since powerline on one side and two existing ~30' tall trees on the other side don't want to crowd it too much. And, after removing existing stump, replacing White Birch which was in main front, was about 35 feet tall but had to be felled a few years ago due to rot, it didn't bloom and had been topped a few years prior probably incorrectly plus maybe pruned incorrectly had a hole down the top 2 feet deep with squirrel nest and tons of ants when chopped. I read these verieties are a bit fragile when it comes to pruning etc but it should be ok. I guess it makes seeds etc for wildlife to eat also. Took a while to get the above list situated. Lots to learn about trees... EDIT: ehh, looks like about only a week more until the common deadline of "Fall" planting (eventhough it's only been fall for a couple weeks) so I will probably just plant these in Spring as soon as soil temps are ok, they will be watered too so no worry they will fry. I think now even if mulched may get root frost damage. I can maybe grow stuff from seed too but will probably just buy the plants. I might buy the oak/pine now though for $10 and if dies no biggie buy another in Spring but the sidewalk trees and white paper birch will wait for Spring.