They are staying at the same hotel as me.
Cast iron skillet method for cooking rabbit January 25, 2013
This rabbit was raised by Blue Chips Farm Inc of Fountain Inn, SC. And bought by me from a lady with a habd painted sign by the road advertising everything from rabbit and bison to gator meat and bait worms. I do not recall the woman’s name but the place is on Tom Pike Lane in Summerville, SC for anyone who wants to stop by. Since I have been living in the city it has been a long while since I raised any rabbits of my own so my memory was a little rusty on just how to cook one. I decided to go with a simple recipe, just rabbit with some salt and pepper in my trust little cast iron skillet. I started it off on the stove top with a little coconut oil and cooked it just enough to brown a little. From there it went into the oven for about 45 minutes on 350. Note that this isn’t even half of a rabbit since I am cooking for one. The same method could easily be used for more, just use a bigger pan so it isn’t crammed together. Ideally you do not want them touching. You could use this method without the cast iron skillet by starting off in a fry pan and finishing it in a shallow baking dish. I like my cast iron because it is less cleaning for me since it is all in one pan that is incredibly nonstick when propperly seasoned. In fact there is seldom any need to wash the pan, just wipe clean or rinse with warm water. If you do use water DO NOT use soap and DO dry the pan immediately by putting it on a hot burner or in the oven with a dab of seasoning oil. I have found flax seed oil to work even better than the lard I grew up using . Leave it on the heat until the oil is smoking just a little and then pick it up with a hot pad and swirl the oil up onto the sides of the pan. Put the pan back onto the heat for a minute or two and then turn it off. After doing this you should be back to nonstick perfection again. I really recommend just wiping the pan out though. For those of you going ” omg, the germs” trust me, they do not survive being heated up and it hasn’t killed me or even made me sick. Given that this was the standard thing for a long time and before that people cooked on rocks and such I am quite confident that i am doing no harm and maybe even some good by using these methods.
Personal stuff and some updates January 13, 2013
I know a few people following this blog do not know me personally and I do not normally get into personal things here but I feel like I should let you know why I have gone silent for so long both here and on the revivalnatural facebook page. I caught my husband doing some rather inexcusable things involving women and drugs. I’ll spare you the details and myself the typing.
After trying to find a way for us to still be together it became more and more obvious that it was simply time for me to go and so I have. I don’t usually even mention him on here because he has stayed throughly uninvolved with my projects. I thought it was just a lack of interest in gardening, natural building etc. But I guess he had other things to do all along. Silly me, thinking he was just sitting home being lazy.
I am now staying in a travel trailer not far from the Revival project site. It is further from one job and closer to another so hopefully it will all work out. The trailer is inside of a fenced yard and there is a puppy for my dog to play with too. I have electric and today I went and refilled a propane tank so now I can cook without having to go “inside”. The bathroom has been torn out and the condition of the rest of the plumbing is unknown so no running water out here. I can go out and get water from the hose for coffee and cooking. I have to go in to use the toilet for now.
I have some buckets and a drill so I plan to make a composting toilet instead of having to go inside all of the time. I have used an outhouse before and plan to have a composting toilet in my cottage so imo it could be much worse. I plan on a nice composting toilet for the cottage, not a homemade bucket one but who knows, maybe I will decide to keep using a homemade one and save about 1,500. Time will tell. I will try to remember to take pictures of the toilet being built but often I start things with such enthusiasm that I forget all about you folks in blog land.
For now I shower inside but I might do some experimenting with making an outdoor solar heated shower.
I bought some tarps today and plan on fashioning then into some outdoor living space. I also put down some cedar mulch outside the door. I. Am hoping it will help keep sand from being tracked so bad. I know fleas and other bugs usually avoid cedar so hopefully it will help with that as well. The aromatic cedar mulch was nearly twice the price of the cypress blend mulch but if it keeps fleas and other pests away $4.04 is a cheap price to pay. I won’t really know how well it works for wiping off dog feet until morning. When the dew dampens the surface of the sand it clings on and tracks inside really bad. If it works out here my friends will try it for their home as well. They have outdoor carpet by the door now but it isn’t much help, even when cleaned several times a day.
Despite all of the craziness of fighting and moving and trying to work 2 jobs I did get to the property earlier and transplanted the garlic from the great garlic experiment into a raised bed near the ditch.
I also started a worm bin today. It started off as removing damaged leaves from my 2 avocado trees and not wanting to just toss them on the ground or the trash. There is no compost pile here and I always wanted a worm bucket anyway. For now it is just leaves, damp cardboard, this morning’s coffee grounds and some used potting soil. I bought a pack of 30 red worms to start it off and my friend’s son was having a good time finding various worms to stick in there too. They looked like the right kind for worm compost so hopefully they do ok. I know night crawlers like to migrate from place to place and do not like being confined so do not buy them for a worm bucket/pile.
I also started getting things set up to begin planting my spring veggies inside. I had been planning to do this at the home I shared with my hubby and refuse to let him cause a problem that will have a chain effect that could last all year. I will start my baby tomatoes on schedule!
I started reading the book ” Gardening in the South with Don Hastings: Fruits and Vegetables” last night. I am only on page 39 but so far it is very informative. Gardening in Michigan and gardening in South Carolina are two very different things and I am learning a ton. Hopefully this book helps take the edge off the learning curve for me.
My only internet right now is on my phone and I cannot figure out how to make updates on the Revival facebook page. I also do not see how to spell check this so I will read over it and try not to publish anything too crazy. If something slips by please be forgiving. That’s all for now 🙂
Baby assassin August 20, 2012
This baby Assassin Bug is really tiny so it is hard to get a good picture. This picture shows him much larger than life. These eat any insect they can get and were feasting on spider mites here on this passion flower leaf.
Angel July 21, 2012
Lucky little grandog is a little snip of Angel getting a new bone from her grandma (my mother-in-law), Gisel.
Yay for the good guys! July 13, 2012
This is a red assassin bug. When I first noticed him he was eating a housefly. They are a great insect predator to have in your garden. When chemical pesticides are sprayed they kill the good and the bad. Bugs like this actually help your garden all season, instead of a few days.
My BAD dog July 11, 2012
I live in an urban area for the time being and share this roof with my husband, mother-in-law, her 3 cats, and one VERY BAD dog. Now don’t get me wrong. I love my dog, but the fact remains she really is a very bad dog. She is absolutely good for nothing except hogging the bed, guarding me from being kissed by my hubby, and generally being a dog I guess. She barks, eats the cat food, begs at the table(and anywhere else anyone happens to be eating) jumps up on us as well as visitors, gets on the furniture, steals socks, wash cloths, and used hankies, and if all that isn’t bad enough she is also one of those jealous types. When she was younger she kept asking for a puppy, but now that she’s little older and set in her ways I don’t think she would be very nice to a puppy so now I can only have one bad dog instead of two or three. Despite what many would consider faults I love her and would not change her for the world. Her name is Angel. Ironic right? She is curled up around my back right now making me too hot and forcing me into an awkward position but I wouldn’t change a thing. This happy, funny, mischievous little dog (almost 40 pounds) brings me so much joy with her silly games and antics, not to mention her remarkable intellect and problem solving capabilities. I wouldn’t trade her for the world, luckily no one else would want her anyway!
Revival 