Voodoo's Kits munching hay

They are so darn cute, and so friendly! They run right up to the door when they see me. And every time I see them, they are eating, eating, eating. This is them, eating all of mama's hay treat before she has a chance to.

Rabbit Rangoons

3 oz reduced-fat cream cheese

1/8 tsp garlic salt

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp Worcestershire sauce

½ c of cooked rabbit meat (see, I told you to set aside some from last week's recipe)

1 green onion, chopped

14 wonton wrappers

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Stir in rabbit and onion. Place 2 teaspoonfuls in the center of each wonton wrapper. Moisten edges with water; bring corners to center over filling and press edges together to seal. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Lightly spray wontons with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Garnish with chopped green onion and serve warm with sweet/sour dipping sauce.

Voodoo's Kits

These are Voodoo's babies, born on Feb 2nd. They opened their eyes a couple days ago. There is a fawn, blue, black and REW. The REW is the really active, outgoing one, and is the only remaining kit from Vendetta's litter. I guess it thinks it has something to prove. :^)

Here comes the SUN!

I got so excited to see the clear sky and the promise of seeing the sunshine today that I went out on the front porch and took this photo as soon as it started to get light this morning. The sun has shown all day long, and some of the snow has begun to melt. What a beautiful day!

Rabbit Cheddar Soup

1 - 3# rabbit
1/2 c diced onion
1/2 c diced celery
1/4 c butter
1/3 c flour
Salt and pepper to taste
3 c milk
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Simmer rabbit in a large covered pan for about 2 hours. Remove, allow to cool slightly, and take meat from the bones. Measure out 2 cups of meat pieces, and store rest away for another meal. (be sure to save some for next week's recipe - haha)
Save about 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid. Sauté onion and celery in butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Add the milk and cooking broth, and cook and stir until it thickens and is bubbly. Stir in spinach and 2 c rabbit meat and cook until well heated. Stir in the cheese and stir until the cheese has melted. Serve immediately with fresh, crusty bread and butter.

Option: Substitute broccoli florets for the spinach.

Great Hats!

These are some hats that my friend Annette knitted for me from some BFL novelty yarns I had lying around. We traded her knitting skills for my spinning some yarn for her. I LOVE them!
The yarns were made by adding multicolored BFL locks into black or brown yarns while I was plying.

Happy Valentines Day!

My first River City Farmers Market

It went well for a COLD, snowy day with a parking lot like an ice skating rink! I actually sold my first whole/cut up rabbit. There was quite a bit of interest in it, and also the lamb I'll be starting to sell next weekend.
And I sold enough of my little crafts to pay for my space for the season and make me feel like the morning was a success. I've met several of the other vendors, and they seem really nice and welcoming.

Pad Thai Lamb

Peanut Sauce
3/4 c peanut butter
3/4 c orange juice
3 T soy sauce
2 T fish sauce
1 T brown sugar
3 tsp hot sauce (adjust to taste)
1 lime (1/2 tsp zest + juice of whole)

1.5 lb lamb leg steak, cut in strips
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T cooking oil
2-3 dried hot peppers
Rice noodles, prepared according to package directions
1 red pepper, slivered
small bunch cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
finely chopped peanuts

Prepare peanut sauce by combining ingredients in small pan over low heat, just until peanut butter melts and sauce is heated through. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet, add garlic and hot peppers and stir until sizzling. Toss in lamb and saute until meat is no longer pink. Remove hot peppers and discard. Add meat to sauce, then serve over rice noodles. Garnish with red pepper, cilantro, green onion and chopped peanuts.

Sheep in Snow

My friend Anne sent me this picture of her sheep in the recent snowstorm. They eventually got 15 inches. She has 4 BFLs, and a couple natural colored BFL crosses. The head in the doorway on the right side is the ram lamb she got from us earlier this year. McDuff is getting big!

'Til the cows come home

And they did. We normally graze them in the back of the farm - about 300 ft higher and a quarter mile farther back off the road from our house. Chuck was going to go up and get them to feed hay while the grass is buried under about 12 inches of snow and deep drifts, but they beat him to it. They came down through the open gates he left after the first snowstorm, so it was a simple matter of moving them into the small paddock in the lee of the sheep barn. That's Lillian, Meatloaf, Loraleigh, and crazy black cow, getting a drink in the creek.

As February continues to drag on........

..........do you think there is any chance we could make it a little shorter? Like make Feb only 22 days, and add 6 days to September or October? Who do I talk to about this? My state representative?
Seriously, I really think the reason that February only has 28 days is that we'd never make it through if it had 31........

What do rabbits think about?

The obligatory snow pictures......

Taken by poking my nose out the front door. We have 8 inches, with more coming down.

Rabbit Broil

1 3# fryer rabbit, cut into pieces
4-6 slices of bacon (apple smoked is nice)

Marinade:
5 T soy sauce
¼ cup vinegar
3 T safflower oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Place rabbit in marinade in 1 gallon baggie, place in refrigerator for several hours, turning occasionally.

Rub:
4 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
In mortar/pestle, grind into powder. Remove rabbit from marinade and allow to drain, then sprinkle each piece with the powder on both sides. Place under medium-hot broiler for 10 minutes, then turn, cover each piece with a slice of bacon, and broil for an additional 10 minutes.

Or grill outdoors over medium coals.
Serve with steamed, buttered carrots and a mixed greens salad with walnut-raspberry vinegrette. Paul Newman's is great!

More new babies

Vendetta had nine kits this morning. Everybody is clean and dry, and she pulled enough wool to fill a garbage bag! She'd even stuffed her water bowl full. :^) Benz is the sire, so they will be fawns, torts, creams and brokens of these colors. Maybe REW, too.

Voodoo's kits are fine this AM. She was feeding them while I did my chores.

I'll get a picture and add it to this post later.

New baby bunnies

What says spring more than babies? Voodoo had 6(oops, typo - FIVE) very damp, fresh kits this morning when I went into the rabbitry to feed and water. She had not even gotten out of the box and pulled wool to cover them yet. Looks like a variety of colors; Nightshade is the sire. I cleaned out the wet nest, pulled some wool from her ruff, and added more clean dry straw. Mama Voodoo got a handful of hay and some sunflower seed treat to sooth her growly mood.

Spring is coming

Any groundhog out this morning saw his shadow, although now the sky has clouded over. It was 24 degrees, but the moment I stepped outside, the sweet, musty smell of the earth filled the air. I love that smell - its like things are waking up and breathing in the soil. Plus, I smelled 3 skunks this morning on the way to work. Skunks are the true harbingers of spring.

February Sky