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Not a Sweet Little Bunny


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I don't like bunnies. In theory they are cute, but close up they have horrid little sharp claws on their feet that never retract and they really, truly, are not the brightest of creatures.

Nevertheless, I gave in and let my son get a bunny for a pet.

Since the bunny has entered the house, every time I turn around my son has decided to commune with it, as if his room were a barn. Which I believe he would like it to be. The bunny is set free and it does what bunnies do. It pees and poops and chews things.

I have never done so much laundry in my life. For a bunny.

I have never been so appalled at the way my son's room looks (though admittedly I've come close).

Last night I almost electrocuted myself when plugging in a lamp that somehow had gotten unplugged - the bunny had chewed the cord and my hand was on the chewed part. I shrieked, naturally, and did anyone feel bad for me? No, we all felt bad for the bunny, who ran to a corner of his cage and so very cutely hid his head in his furry paws as if the world was being bombed or something. Poor bunny.

So today I am keeping sane by imagining eating the bunny. I like rabbit, as food.

Have you ever eaten a pet? If so, better tell me how it left a scar on your psyche for the rest of all time, so I can avoid letting the bunny chew on his own device of gnawed electrical cord by (heh) "mistake" then having some nice wabbit stew.

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I don't like bunnies. In theory they are cute, but close up they have horrid little sharp claws on their feet that never retract and they really, truly, are not the brightest of creatures.

Oh Karen, TRUE DAT!

I've never eaten the family pet but I have a funny story about rabbit for dinner if you like!

Growing up my husband's sister, Val, had a rabbit as a pet. It was kept in a cage on the back porch most of the time. One day a big storm came through and the cage was blown over and open and the bunny was never seen again.

Fast forward a couple weeks and the family is sitting down for dinner. Everyone loved it and chowed down heartily. At the end of the meal their mother proudly announced that everyone apparently loved rabbit. Val gave it all back right there on the table.

To this day Val swears that their mom fed them her pet and the mother insists that she didn't. :laugh::laugh::laugh:

So, go ahead and fantasize about eating that yummy bunny, but if you act on it, you may scar your poor son for LIFE.

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Since the bunny has entered the house, every time I turn around my son has decided to commune with it, as if his room were a barn. Which I believe he would like it to be. The bunny is set free and it does what bunnies do. It pees and poops and chews things.

Rabbits can quite easily be housetrained. :smile:

So today I am keeping sane by imagining eating the bunny. I like rabbit, as food.

I have eaten (wild) rabbit, which was .... "so, so"? :sad:

.... it left a scar on your psyche for the rest of all time, so I can avoid letting the bunny chew on his own device of gnawed electrical cord by (heh) "mistake" then having some nice wabbit stew.

What's the going rate for psychiatrists vs laundry and light cord costs? :shock:

SB (currently dealing with a dog chewing on wood furniture)(and I DON'T eat dog, even in dreams) :wink:

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Hmm, I've never eaten a pet, but I can remember as a kid being more than happy to tuck into my mum's rabbit pie, despite having a pet rabbit at the time. Maybe it helped that rabbit pie had featured on the dinner table before I ever had a rabbit, so I didn't really associate the two.

My younger brother, however, did connect 'bunny pie' with 'cute little pet bunny' and refused to eat it. All the more for me! :wink:

Oh, and if you didn't know already, you can trim those long, sharp, claws - they are like fingernails, so you just cut the white part, not into the pink. I remember we had a special 'bunny nail clipper' for the purpose (no, I'm not kidding).

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

Virginia Woolf

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My very first childhood memory involves a guinea pig I named Dolly.

Ollantaytambo

gallery_8158_4315_287347.jpg

The cuy or guinea pigs were kept here and most of them tended to stay near the fire. Like with the alpacas getting to know these critters subsequently created some problems with the ability of Michael to enjoy their culinary attributes.

Having encountered the animals once more in adulthood and being now oblivious to their charms, I am okay with this report:

Chinchero

gallery_8158_4315_55890.jpg

Here it is, Eliot :wink: Roasted cuy and potatoes.

The heads were served separately and are considered a particular delicacy...The skin was good though somewhat rubbery rather than crispy as I had hoped. The inside of the servings also contained various offal. The kidneys were particularly good...  Andrew ate his half, but Michael initially refused, eventually relenting to taste it. He did not eat more than that, but was a good sport...

"Viciousness in the kitchen.

The potatoes hiss." --Sylvia Plath

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oooh Pontormo, you know, I've never had something like that put before me to eat. My suburban upbringing cringes but my "foodie" side says I'd try it! There is still the mental factor to get over with some foods.

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we have chickens as pets. they have names. their beautiful eggs (see my icon) are a bonus for us. we don't eat our pets. we do eat chicken, just not OUR chickens. that may be a cop out (or a coop out...) , but that's just us.

our chickens live waaaayy beyond their egg-laying years, in fact, i just laid to rest the oldest chicken i've ever heard of...i had her 9 years, and i got her "used" when i started up with chicken keeping, so who knows how old she actually was. at the point of death, i'm not sure that that would be good eatin', anyhoo!

"Laughter is brightest where food is best."

www.chezcherie.com

Author of The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook ,The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook and The I Love Trader Joe's Around the World Cookbook

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What? Eat the Bunny? No more Easter eggs for you! Don't eat the Bunny. Keep it in a nice big cage unless it's being supervised. My husband is still "emotionally scarred" by his mother chopping the heads off of his pet geese when they got too old. Oh, and probably by eating them in a soup that very night. So sad.

Melissa

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I had a pet bunny growing up. I now eat rabbit as an adult. It's not my rabbit though. I'm certain of it. That makes it OK.

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

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Don't eat the bunny. Your son would never forgive you.

Do you have a yard where the bunny can run around (or its cage be brought outdoors for a change of scene)?

Rabbits can be housetrained. (Not sure if they can be trained not to chew on cords.) And they are a little smarter than most people think. They need activity or they get bored.

We never ate a pet, but we had parakeets when growing up. My mother once tried serving us some small roasted birds. Quail, maybe? My sister and I looked at the platter and ran horrified from the table. Those birds were the size of and reminded us of what our parakeet would look like without his feathers!

P.S. I eat quail nowadays, but still can't look at one without remembering this incident.

Edited by SuzySushi (log)

SuzySushi

"She sells shiso by the seashore."

My eGullet Foodblog: A Tropical Christmas in the Suburbs

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oooh Pontormo, you know, I've never had something like that put before me to eat.  My suburban upbringing cringes but my "foodie" side says I'd try it!  There is still the mental factor to get over with some foods.

I just want to make sure credit goes to John Sconzo for another one of his wonderful reports of travel south of the United States: A Family Trip to Peru.

* * *

A number of bunny dishes were prepared by Kevin72, Hathor & Andrew Fenton, the latter with a protracted Fuddian build-up. I got the impression that it's tough to buy a decent, succulent rabbit that has been bred for human consumption in the United States while European rabbits make superior, tender dishes.

"Viciousness in the kitchen.

The potatoes hiss." --Sylvia Plath

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the oldest chicken i've ever heard of...i had her 9 years, and i got her "used" when i started up with chicken keeping, so who knows how old she actually was.

The Oldest Living Chicken on Record is/was fourteen-years old ! :blink:

And, tying the thread together; Many years ago when Johnny Carson hosted the Tonite Show I saw a guy billed as "The World's Best Animal Trainer".

His title was based on the animals he trained more than what they were trained to do. He had a rabbit and a chicken, two creatures not normally famous for their intelligence or performing abililies. The rabbit "beeped" horns while the chicken danced!

SB (the audience loved them though! :laugh: )

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One day a big storm came through and the cage was blown over and open and the bunny was never seen again.

Ah. Are you sure that your in-laws were not really just outside the kid's windows, one making noises like a storm while throwing around buckets of water while the other did the dirty deed?

It's good that it's too long past to *really* check what the weather was that famous night.

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Fast forward a couple weeks and the family is sitting down for dinner. Everyone loved it and chowed down heartily. At the end of the meal their mother proudly announced that everyone apparently loved rabbit. Val gave it all back right there on the table.

That sounds very similar to what happened to a woman I knew in college. The dining hall was having an America’s Cup Day, and served rabbit. This woman was saying how great the “chicken” was, until she was informed that she was eating rabbit. “You mean I’m eating Thumper?!” Those that were sharing a table with her saw her meal again.

Once, my friend gave me a lobster, and I made the mistake of naming him "Pinchy." During the hot ride home, I was talking to him. "Almost home, Pinchy. Hang in there." By the time it came to cook him, I was more than a little unnerved.

I may have posted this before, but it bears repeating. I was visiting my SIL, who lives on a farm in Italy. Our first full day there, my BIL was giving a tour of the farm. “... And here are the cows. That is Ada, that is Martine, and that’s Lousia. I think yesterday you had Paolina.” Stunned silence. I told him that Paolina was very tasty, while Mr. Duck and I were trying hard not to laugh. When the tour was later related to my SIL, she told us that Paolina was not a very nice cow--she used to kick the person who was milking her, and was just a general nuisance. But when it came time for her to get on the truck to that big barn with the loud whirring noise, she had an air of resignation as if she knew what was happening. Though I didn't see it, Mr. Duck says that the cuts of beef in the freezer were labeled with the name of the cow (Paolina, shank). I'm afraid next time I visit, Ada will be on the menu.

As long as I don't make a personal acquaintance with my meal, I don't have a problem.

Karen C.

"Oh, suddenly life’s fun, suddenly there’s a reason to get up in the morning – it’s called bacon!" - Sookie St. James

Travelogue: Ten days in Tuscany

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My father, as a boy, was given a cute little duckling for Easter one year. After a month or so, the duck became too unwieldy to be a reasonable pet, so my grandfather took it out to the family farm, where it could have a nice duck life.

Cut to Autumn.

A delicious roast duck served up for Thanksgiving. My grandfather cannot resist telling my dad that this was his cute little pet Easter duck. My dad bursts into tears! But, the duck is so delicious, that he cannot stop eating it, tears rolling down his cheeks all the while...

The trick is to make the rabbit that delicious, and your son's psychological scarring will be minimal, as well as providing a humorous family story for the future.

I recommend wrapping it in bacon, then roasting. Mmm-mm, good!

And not at all related to my old pet bunny Snow, the greatest rabbit in the world.

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I may have posted this before, but it bears repeating.  I was visiting my SIL, who lives on a farm in Italy.  Our first full day there, my BIL was giving a tour of the farm.  “... And here are the cows.  That is Ada, that is Martine, and that’s Lousia.  I think yesterday you had Paolina.”  Stunned silence.  I told him that Paolina was very tasty, while Mr. Duck and I were trying hard not to laugh.  When the tour was later related to my SIL, she told us that Paolina was not a very nice cow--she used to kick the person who was milking her, and was just a general nuisance.  But when it came time for her to get on the truck to that big barn with the loud whirring noise, she had an air of resignation as if she knew what was happening.  Though I didn't see it, Mr. Duck says that the cuts of beef in the freezer were labeled with the name of the cow (Paolina, shank).  I'm afraid next time I visit, Ada will be on the menu. 

Ha ha ha! That reminds me of our household's tradition of having either my sister or me name that year's steer (or heifer, as the case may be). I remember Billybubba and Buttercup as being especially tender...

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A delicious roast duck served up for Thanksgiving. My grandfather cannot resist telling my dad that this was his cute little pet Easter duck. My dad bursts into tears! But, the duck is so delicious, that he cannot stop eating it, tears rolling down his cheeks all the while...

Great story, Scottie!

Simpsons fans will recognize this as a case of art imitating life...

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Rabbits can quite easily be housetrained. :smile:

So my son tells me. :wink:

Know any blonde bunny jokes?

(If only there were someone like Cesar for poorly-behaved bunnies. "The Bunny Whisperer".)

..........................................

The rabbit I've eaten was farmed rabbit. Much less gamy than wild, I hear. Seems like such a practical sort of livestock to grow, really. I'm surprised it is not more popular. Delicious.

:smile:

Edited by Carrot Top (log)
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My very first childhood memory involves a guinea pig I named Dolly.
Ollantaytambo

gallery_8158_4315_287347.jpg

The cuy or guinea pigs were kept here and most of them tended to stay near the fire. Like with the alpacas getting to know these critters subsequently created some problems with the ability of Michael to enjoy their culinary attributes.

Having encountered the animals once more in adulthood and being now oblivious to their charms, I am okay with this report:

Chinchero

gallery_8158_4315_55890.jpg

Here it is, Eliot :wink: Roasted cuy and potatoes.

The heads were served separately and are considered a particular delicacy...The skin was good though somewhat rubbery rather than crispy as I had hoped. The inside of the servings also contained various offal. The kidneys were particularly good...  Andrew ate his half, but Michael initially refused, eventually relenting to taste it. He did not eat more than that, but was a good sport...

Dolly? I wonder why you chose that name, Pontormo.

Docsconz' photos are gorgeous. I hadn't seen that thread.

Funny how the shock factor hits one when looking at a whole roasted guinea pig like that, when one is unused to the presentation (I believe that *is* the more traditional presentation, no?). The very stark reality of the food is right there, "in your face" so to speak.

I had a brother-in-law, first generation Peruvian American, who detested the idea of eating guinea pigs. Not because he disliked the flavor, for he had tasted them and had nothing against that, but for social reasons. His mother's family came from the mountains, and were poor. They ate guinea pig. His father's family came from the city and were more well-to-do and better educated. The guinea pig, in his family, was a symbol of a poverty in near family memory that most of them wanted to shed, he and his brothers and sisters. His mother, still loved the idea of the dish. It was hers, her memory, and whether it was "poor" food or not, she loved it.

I think I read somewhere that guinea pig is becoming a dish of more stature in Peru. Culinary travellers have altered the balance perhaps, with the sense of adventure brought to the foods that spark interest for "outsiders".

Rabbit, though. Can't really think of a social context for it, here in the US. Neither poor nor rich food, belongs to no one.

Except for maybe the rare French restaurant that has "lapin" on the menu. :biggrin:

Edited by Carrot Top (log)
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I have never thought of rabbits as pets and have lived in the country most of my life so they are food. The first rabbits I ever had part of raising were "bunnies" that we were given at Easter with the full understanding that they would eventually become dinner.

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I've received a lot of grief from Molto e about those guinea pigs as he had one as a pet when he was a child :laugh: When animals like that (or bunnies) are often kept as pets within a culture, it becomes more difficult to eat them. My youngest son (7y/o) managed to taste the guinea pig, but couldn't bring himself to eat it. He also had a hard time with alpaca after having spent a good part of the morning playing with some. While that is often the case, those living on small farms or even larger ones frequently eat or butcher animals that they have come to know. I am sure that it is difficult to do the first time, but one probably gets used to it, especially if one is somewhat dependent on it. It is no wonder that there is such a strong proscription against eating cats, dogs and horses in the US (and yes, even guinea pigs!).

Thanks for the plug, Pontormo! :smile:

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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Rabbit, though. Can't really think of a social context for it, here in the US. Neither poor nor rich food, belongs to no one.

In rural areas wild rabbits rabbits have traditionally been eaten incidental to being killed in order to protect crops. Farms kids, who often raise show rabbits as 4-H projects, are thus ambivalent about the animals contrasting roles as pet and pest.

The times I've eaten rabbit were in the social context of recreational hunting. While I've never been much of a hunter myself, this having less to do with any moral objections than the fact that being left-handed and right-eyed, I can't hit the broad side of a barn door, I used to enjoy accompanying my friends to their hunting camps.

While grouse or deer were the usual primary targets, a dinner of freshly killed rabbit and/or squirrel stew was in keeping with the overall theme.

The meat would be browned off in bacon grease left over from breakfast, and thrown into a large pot with seasonal vegetables like potatos and carrots from somebody's parent's garden. I remember it as being not too bad. Of course, besides being hungry from a long day afield, we were wont to pair our none-too-elegant repast with plenty of appropriately cheap beer.

I do, however, recall one notably less successful rabbit recipe. Some friends and I were staying at the "Phunny Pharm", (if you have to ask .... :wacko: ), and got the bright idea to combine some rabbit we shot while grouse hunting with the meat from a large snapping turtle we'd caught while fishing the night before to make Tortise and Hare Stew!

Truth be told, we never even found out how it tasted because it smelled to bad we had to haul it out back and dump it into the swamp. Coincidentally, putrid swamp water seemed to be the perfect pairing for Tortise and Hare Stew!

SB (The only thing I ever experienced that stunk so bad in a kitchen was home-made felt! :sad: )

Edited by srhcb (log)
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I never ate a pet but ate a lot of animals that people keep as pet (guinea pig, dog, snake, horse, etc.).

Anyway, I once served rabbit to someone who could not even imagine that people would eat rabbit. I had no idea about this of course.... and to be honest we don't have a lot of food taboos in my family so it was hard for me to understand this kind of disdain in the first place.

So the woman in question eats the rabbit and said it was the best chicken she ever had. :blink: We then tell her that she was eating rabbit but she never believed us... she finished her plate and asked for second... and I bet she still believe that it was chicken no matter how many time we told her it was rabbit.

This was really weird... one would think the bones and taste would help convincing such a person... but no. :huh:

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not really food related, but it's rabbit related!

I just finished watching Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel (survival show) and the guy in the show was dropped off in the Sierra Nevada mountain range to fend for himself until he found civilation. He had to build shelters, find food, build fires, etc etc.

So after a few days of roaming around the woods and eating nothing but a tiny garter snake and some grape leaves he sees this rabbit in a vast meadow. The rabbit is cute, white, and munching on some field grass and some cute yellow flowers. Well the guy creeps up on the rabbit and chucks this huge stick at it from like 15 or so feet and it kills the rabbit instantly breaking it's neck. I'm sure I'm going to hell for this, but after seeing a guy chuck a stick at a rabbit's head I laughed my ass off.

for what it's worth, the rabbit looked awfully delicious as it was spit roasting over a man made fire.

BEARS, BEETS, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
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