The Observation Deck

Donald Farris wrote:Hi,
Mike Huckabee brags in this video clip about frying squirrels in popcorn poppers during college. See: http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Huckabee_We_used_to_fry_squirrels_0116.html

How sick is this guy?

Does Lakewood have a law protecting our squirrels from hungry hicks?

Donald, I Googled "Squirrel recipes" Results 1 - 10 of about 373,000 for Squirrel recipes.

Funny thing about about our food perceptions. Talk about eating squirrel or rabbit and many just go "EEEWWWW". You might not touch boar, but have no problem with a pork chop...Grouse or pheasant are out, but turkey and chicken are okay. Wouldn't touch venison or elk, but dig into that steak.

I've eaten lots of game....some good, some not. My Grandfather used to hunt rabbit and we usually had some "jugged" rabbit at Thanksgiving. I've had some really excellent venison pot roast (Ohio venison is superior...corn fed...as opposed to the acorn fed Pa. deer) and superb boar and various fowl (gotta watch for those pesky pellets...you could break a tooth!) Elk jerky....yum! Of course nobody even blinks at eating a nice fat walleye, but that's game too.

Seems that from a "green" standpoint, it is much more ecologically sound for us carnivores to eat meat that forages. You pay extra for that "free range chicken"...why not a REAL free range duck or quail?

So....I've got absolutely no problem with someone who eats game, be it a squirrel, rabbit, moose or deer. I also don't turn up my nose at the the idea that strikes me as "supermarket snobbery" ("if it isn't in a Styrofoam tray, neatly wrapped in saran, it's somehow inferior").

As to Tracy's post.....well, the idea of actually electing as president someone who seeks to create a theocracy....well, that IS a little hard to stomach!

Jeff

Hi,
Perhaps I do need to bring up protecting Lakewood squirrels from "creative carnivores" with our City Council.

When was the last time you fried a popper full of squirrels, Chef? Please don't try to make this behavior sound normal. How do you feel about hanging "mangy" dogs?

PS. I never knew a popcorn popper was such a universal cooking tool. Maybe, a cook book (sans squirrel recipes) is long overdue.

Please don't try to make this behavior sound normal.

I've eaten lots of game....some good, some not. My Grandfather used to hunt rabbit and we usually had some "jugged" rabbit at Thanksgiving. I've had some really excellent venison pot roast (Ohio venison is superior...corn fed...as opposed to the acorn fed Pa. deer) and superb boar and various fowl (gotta watch for those pesky pellets...you could break a tooth!) Elk jerky....yum! Of course nobody even blinks at eating a nice fat walleye, but that's game too.

The only strange things that I eat are jellyfish and 1,000 year old eggs.

Don

Every college student from the 70's knew how to prepare a meal in a popcorn popper. Using a popcorn popper and a hot pot I used to make a pretty good spaghetti dinner, even beef Stroganoff. Don't find anything unusual in that. And, I suppose that if you liked french fries or battered fish you might fry those up in a popcorn popper as well. I had friends who did Burgers, hot dogs and one who even made fried chicken.

Me thinks your gripe is about WHAT this good ol' boy was cooking, not so much as HOW he was cooking it. Last time I looked, it was legal to hunt squirrel (within the parameters of laws regulating hunting). Don't think the same can be said of dogs...mangy or not. Would you have the same issue if this guy was using his popcorn popper to make vegetable soup? Or how about if he was spit roasting a squirrel (or a deer) over a fire?

Any cookbooks that once existed for college dorm residents involving the use of popcorn poppers have surely disappeared with the wholesale use of dorm room microwaves.

So Don, in short, I find this guy's culinary actions defensible. I can't say the same of his politics.

Jeff

P.S. Action by Council isn't needed. Our furry little friends are all safe within our municipal boundaries where hunting isn't permitted.....and that even includes the corn fed varmint that raided my garden.....

Hi,

Would you have the same issue if this guy was using his popcorn popper to make vegetable soup?

No. I am just surprised by the versatility of this cooking utensil.

I find this guy's culinary actions defensible. I can't say the same of his politics.

I find both appalling. I'm not opposed to survivalists eating captured game when required. I don't think life on a college campus requires it.

Regarding his politics, latest insane comment made by Huckabee is:

"Well, I don’t think that’s a radical view to say we’re going to affirm marriage. I think the radical view is to say that we’re going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal."

(See: Huckabee Directly Equates Homosexuality With Bestiality )

Gee, I think it is insulting for him to equate gays with polygamy and pedophilia and bestiality.

Fellows--- Good Friends--

We have here two threads, culinary and political.

But-- I am intrigued by the culinary.

Let me propose this--------------

We get a popcorn popper, buy some agreed upon game and---

Cook It and eat it.

We then report back on our impressions.

We might report our impressions in time for the LO Bowling Party this Sunday.

Stan Austin--- City Council Reporter

Stan Austin wrote:Fellows--- Good Friends--

We have here two threads, culinary and political.

But-- I am intrigued by the culinary.

Let me propose this--------------

We get a popcorn popper, buy some agreed upon game and---

Cook It and eat it.

We then report back on our impressions.

We might report our impressions in time for the LO Bowling Party this Sunday.

Stan Austin--- City Council Reporter

I will try to trap a squirrel and have it ready by Sunday. Does anyone have an old school popcorn popper?

I find both appalling. I'm not opposed to survivalists eating captured game when required. I don't think life on a college campus requires it.

Don....your Vegan bias is showing....

Eating game (including caught fish) is not limited to survivalists to avoid starvation....

As to the college campus issue.....well, according to my daughters in college the food plan menus are so awful, they ARE starving, so it probably is required.....

Jeff

http://www.psyeta.org/hia/vol8/tgap.html

http://primatology.net/2007/04/04/shoul ... an-rights/

As PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk has said, “When it comes to pain, love, joy, loneliness, and fear, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. Each one values his or her life and fights the knife.â€Â

Stephen Eisel wrote:Does anyone have an old school popcorn popper?

Use it all the time.

Popper + blob of Crisco + 1/4 cup corn + 1/2 cup sugar = the best popcorn.

Wow does that sound fantastic - going to try it tonight. (Joe's recipe not squirrel)

Ryan Salo wrote:Wow does that sound fantastic - going to try it tonight. (Joe's recipe not squirrel)

You have to have the old style popper. Get the Crisco nice and hot, dump in the sugar and popcorn. Just stir slow but fast enough to keep the sugar from burning.

The burning monkey likes squirrel popcorn.