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Squirrel Anyone?


Sthitch

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St John's had squirrel on the menu off and on for years, so this is nothing new - the Mail just wanted an excuse to run the photo.

I grew up in Southern Indiana and we ate squirrel frequently. Squirrel season was eagerly anticipated. Indeed, in those days squirrels were almost never seen in yards or close to humans in any way, for obvious reasons, and I recall with fascination going to college in Ann Arbor and for the first time actually seeing fairly tame ones up close on campus--where I grew up, you never saw them up close--if they were that way, they would have been dinner, if not lunch. Mom had two basic recipes, stewed and fried. I was a stew man, or boy. You could only fry the young ones anyway.

Now, Janet and I actually are certified hillbillies, residing in Western NC as we do, but we haven't had any squirrel yet. I wouldn't mind, but I guarantee she won't ever. In fact, during our last visit my sister had some fun at her expense, taunting her by talking about sucking out the squirrel heads.

And best of all, it truly is a local food. Can't get much more local than that.

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My mom had as her squirrel specialty "squirrel pot pie," which in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition was a stew-type of dish with the meat (chicken was more commonly used), broth, potatoes, carrots, and homemade egg noodles (cut into squares and dried on the counter for at least an hour). She never told me, however, until I was in college, that she actually used squirrel at times to make this. I always thought it was chicken. I never thought to ask what happened to all those squirrels my brother shot...

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I never thought to ask what happened to all those squirrels my brother shot...
Well that just brought a little tear to my eye, your brother must be such a wonderful person to help rid the world of those vile fluffy tailed bastards (I discovered this morning they have been chewing on my cedar hutch as well -- little f'kers).
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A healthy spraying with cayenne pepper and soapy water solution (the soap so it will sort of stick) caused my local rat-with-good-PR to give up chewing the bark off one of my newly planted Marshall Ashes ten years ago when it was a 1" caliper baby. He still squats on my front yard in an old box elder, and he still leaves that Marshall Ash alone. I haven't re-sprayed the thing for the last 8 years...

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