Pending Grand Champion Somerhill Oleander

Oleander was BOB in both shows today in Wilminton, OH

Judge Mike Adams evaluating her for Best in Show.  He eventually
selected the Tan, but mentioned her along with the Mini Rex and Florida White
as the top rabbits in the show.

Thanks for the pictures, Annette. :^)

Beautiful sunset

One benefit of coming home from work at sunset is
getting to see how beautiful it is.

Parmesan Rabbit

1 Rabbit
1/2 c Bread crumbs
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 Egg
Salt and pepper
1/4 lb Butter
1/2 c Tomato juice

Cut rabbit into 6 serving pieces. In a bowl, mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together. In another bowl, beat a egg with salt and pepper.

Roll pieces of meat in crumbs, then in the beaten egg and then again in crumb mixture. Fry in butter over medium heat for 30 minutes. Add tomato juice and cook for another hour over very low heat.

Somerhill Baton Rouge

She is a black tort Satin Angora.  I love the interaction
 of black and red on her mask.  She is so striking!

Christmas presents

I found this print of a painting by an artist in the UK, and ordered it. 
Chuck had it matted and framed for me.  Isn't she gorgeous!

These are Chuck's new camp moccasins from LL Bean.  The pair he was
wearing were at least 25 years old. 

Luke 2:10-11   And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.




 

Lamb with Spinach (dilli Ka Saag Gosht)

8 T Vegetable oil
1/4 tsp Black peppercorns
6 Whole cloves
2 Bay leaves
6 Cardamom pods
2 Medium onions finely chopped
6 Garlic cloves chopped
1 Inch cube of ginger chopped
2 lb Cubed lamb
2 tsp Ground cumin seeds
1 tsp Coriander seeds
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 tsp Salt
5 T Plain yogurt well beaten
2 lb Fresh spinach chopped
1/4 tsp Garam masala


Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium-high flame. When hot, put in the peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, and cardamom pods. Stir for a second. Now put in the onions, garlic and ginger. Stir and fry until the onions develop brown specks. Now add the meat, ground cumin, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, and 1q/2 of the salt. Stir and fry for a minute. Add 1 tablespoon of the yogurt. Stir and fry for a minute. Keep doing this until all yogurt has been incorporated. The meat should also have a slightly browned look. Add the spinach and the remaining salt. Stir to mix. Keep stirring and cooking until the spinach wilts completely. Cover tightly and simmer on low heat for about 1 hour or until meat is tender. Remove the lid and add the garam masala. Turn the heat to medium. Stir and cook another 5 minutes until most of the water in the spinach disappears and you have a thick, green sauce. Remove the whole spices and serve.

Remodeling the rabbitry

I have stacking cages for the rabbits, and for quite some time, I've not used the bottom cage because its hard to reach the back of cage to clean it. It also is hard to lift the rabbit out of the cage safely, and young kits are impossible to capture if they go to the back corner to hide. The top cage is also a problem for the same reasons. After talking and considering several ideas, we've decided on building a frame of 2x4s and stacking 2 cages on it. This raises the cages to the optimum height for me to reach both rabbits.

This shows the frame Chuck made that supports my 2 French Angora bucks, Hi-Jinx (cream) and Nightshade (black) I am also replacing the floors of the cages and some of the legs and tray slides.

New baby bunny pictures

The Satin Angoras.  These are from Macgiver and Maybelline, and are all chocolate agoutis.
 I think there are 3 bucks and 3 does.  3 of the bucks, and 2 does are reserved.  
I've got my eye on the big, high rufus buck with dark grey underwool. 

The next 3 pictures are the French Angora babies from Hi-Jinx and Ti Kita.
Here are the REW buck and doe - both spoken for.

These are the cream buck and doe.  The buck (left) is blue-based cream,
and the doe(right) is lilac-based cream.  I may keep the buck.
The doe is spoken for.

This is the blue tort buck, and lilac tort doe. 
The buck is spoken for, the doe I may keep.

Honey Roasted Rabbit

1 medium rabbit, cut into 6 pieces
1 c Orange juice
1/2 tsp Freshly-ground black pepper
2 tsp Ground fennel
1 tsp Saffron threads; crumbled
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 tsp Coarse sea salt
2 T Lemon juice
1/4 c Honey

Garnish:
Lemon edges
1 md Onion; thinly sliced,, soaked 30 minutes in ice water

Place the rabbit pieces in a large deep nonreactive bowl. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, reduce the orange juice to half a cup. In a small bowl, combine the pepper, fennel, saffron, cayenne, and salt. Add the reduced orange juice and the lemon juice, whisk together, and let stand for 10 or 15 minutes. Add the honey and mix together. Pour this mixture over the rabbit pieces, toss so that each one is evenly coated, and let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour, loosely covered. Toss the pieces every 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the rabbit from the marinade and place on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast the rabbit for 20 to 25 minutes, until done through with no trace of pink remaining. Baste once with the marinade halfway through the cooking time, then again when you remove the rabbit from the oven. Place the rabbit pieces on a platter and surround them with wedges of lemon. Drain the onion slices briefly on paper towels, separate them into rings and scatter them over the top.

Believe it or not, this is a second Redtail juvenile

This one came into the office just a few minutes ago.  We checked it over, and decided to try to release it.  Joe took it outside, gave it a toss into the air, and off it soared.   It had been found along the side of a road, so probably just got the wind knocked out of it hitting a car.
Wonder what injured animal #3 will be - don't things come in threes?

Another wild thing that needs our help

This immature Redtail Hawk came to the office today with a broken leg.  It had been injured long enough that the leg had started to heal crooked.  Likely it has not eaten for some time, and that is why it could be captured.  Joe will take it to the rehab center in Licking county.  Hope they will be able to help it return to the wild.

Tipsy Shanks of Lamb

2 lamb shanks
3 Peeled halved cloves garlic
1 sliced Carrot
1/4 c Chopped onion
2 T Gin
1 Sprig rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary
1 Sprig or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Pepper to taste
1/4 c Water
1/4 c Madeira
4-6 new potatoes
4-6 small onions
1/2 c White wine

Add all the ingredients except madeira, potatoes, and onions to a heavy casserole, or a dutch oven. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Turn meat; add madeira and spoon juices over meat. Continue to simmer for 1 hour, basting meat periodically. Add the onions and new potatoes; continue to cook until done. Done is when a fork pierces the potatoes easily; approximately 30 minutes.

Brandied Rabbit in Mustard Sauce

1 md Rabbit, cut into 6 pieces
1 T Olive oil
1 T Butter or margarine
1 med Onion, cut in quarters
Whole cloves
Parsley, thyme, basil
Salt to taste
Brandy
4 T Whipping cream
1.5 T Grainy coarse Dijon Mustard


Heat olive oil and butter or margarine in large skillet until bubbly. Add meat pieces and saute on all sides until browned. While browning, press whole cloves into onion chunks (generously). Add chunks to skillet in between meat pieces; add other herbs. Sprinkle with salt. Generously 'slosh' brandy over top (at least 1/2 cup). Cover. Cook over medium to low heat about 30 minutes or until meat is cooked through. Remove meat pieces from pan and keep warm. Discard onion chunks & cloves. Increase heat to medium high. Add cream and mustard; cook, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Return meat to pan and coat on all sides with sauce. Serve at once.

One of the new Dickens scenes in downtown Cambridge.
This is the likeness of our local newspaper's main photographer, Mike Neilson.

A close-up of his face.  This REALLY looks
like Mike!