Creek Running North

Surrounded by the hurricane,
Of fight and fear and die,
Here I sit on sunny day,
Safely in the eye.

grass is green and lush
ears twitch, many smells and sights
lucky me, good bun

KNIGHT:  They’re nervous, sire.
ARTHUR:  Then we’d best leave them here and carry on on foot.  Dis-mount!
TIM:  Behold the cave of Kyre Banorg!
ARTHUR:  Right!  Keep me covered.
KNIGHT:  What with?
ARTHUR:  Just keep me covered.
TIM:  Too late!
ARTHUR:  What?
TIM:  There he is!
ARTHUR:  Where?
TIM:  There!
ARTHUR:  What, behind the rabbit?
TIM:  It is the rabbit!
ARTHUR:  You silly sod!  You got us all worked up!
TIM:  Well, that’s no ordinary rabbit.  That’s the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on.
ROBIN:  You tit!  I soiled my armor I was so scared!
TIM:  Look, that rabbit’s got a vicious streak a mile wide, it’s a killer!
KNIGHT:  Get stuffed!
TIM:  It’ll do you a trick, mate!
KNIGHT:  Oh, yeah?
ROBIN:  You mangy Scot git!
TIM:  I’m warning you!
ROBIN:  What’s he do, nibble your bum?
TIM:  He’s got huge, sharp-- he can leap about-- look at the bones!
ARTHUR:  Go on, Boris.  Chop his head off!
BORIS:  Right!  Silly little bleeder.  One rabbit stew comin’ right up!
TIM:  Look!
BORIS:  Aaaugh!
ARTHUR:  Jesus Christ!
TIM:  I warned you!
ROBIN:  I peed again!
TIM:  I warned you!  But did you listen to me?  Oh, no, you knew it all, didn’t you?  Oh, it’s just a harmless little bunny, isn’t it?  Well, it’s always the same, I always--
ARTHUR:  Oh, shut up!
TIM:  --But do they listen to me?--
ARTHUR:  Right!
TIM:  -Oh, no--
KNIGHTS:  Charge!
KNIGHTS:  Aaaaugh!  Aaaugh! etc.
KNIGHTS:  Run away!  Run away!
TIM:  Haw haw haw.  Haw haw haw.  Haw haw.
ARTHUR:  Right.  How many did we lose?
KNIGHT:  Gawain.
KNIGHT:  Hector.
ARTHUR:  And Boris.  That’s five.
GALAHAD:  Three, sir.
ARTHUR:  Three.  Three.  And we’d better not risk another frontal assault, that rabbit’s dynamite.
ROBIN:  Would it help to confuse it if we run away more?
ARTHUR:  Oh, shut up and go and change your armor.
GALAHAD:  Let us taunt it!  It may become so cross that it will make a mistake.
ARTHUR:  Like what?
GALAHAD:  Well,....
ARTHUR:  Have we got bows?
KNIGHT:  No.
LAUNCELOT:  We have the Holy Hand Grenade.
ARTHUR:  Yes, of course!  The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!  ‘Tis one of the sacred relics Brother Maynard carries with him! 
Brother Maynard! Bring up the Holy Hand Grenade!

INGREDIENTS

* 2 3/4 cups red wine vinegar
* 3 cups water
* 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
* 8 whole cloves
* 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
* 5 stalks celery, chopped
* 1 lemon, thinly sliced
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 1 teaspoon pickling spice
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 (2 1/2 pound) rabbit, cleaned and cut into pieces
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot, combine the water, white sugar, whole cloves, onion, celery, lemon, cinnamon, ground cloves, salt, pickling spice and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then turn off and allow to cool. Place the rabbit pieces into the mixture to marinate. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread flour out onto a parchment or aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the flour is a light brown color.
3. Remove the rabbit from the marinade and pat dry. Strain the marinade, and discard the solids. Reserve the liquid for later.
4. Heat the oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Coat the chicken with the toasted flour. Place into the hot oil, and cook until browned on both sides. Remove from the pan, and set aside. If there is oil left in the pan, sprinkle enough of the toasted flour over it to absorb the liquid.
5. In a jar with a lid, mix 1/2 cup of the marinade with 1/4 cup of the remaining toasted flour. Close the lid, and shake vigorously until well blended with no lumps. Heat the pan with the rabbit drippings over low heat. Gradually stir in the marinade mixture, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.
6. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, or until the meat is falling off of the bones. You may remove the bones prior to serving if desired.

Ahem.

No pun intended, Hasenfeffer: That was tasteless.

Well, Hank, it’s like this. You talk about pet rabbits in public long enough, eventually some shining wit* will inevitably come along and make an incredibly original joke about rabbits being a food animal.

I’d get more upset, but then Sherwood would pipe up to remind me about a couple conversations we had a few years back about his pet chickens.

Still, I have to agree that it was rather a disappointing first comment. To think of all the smart lurkers who hesitate to comment because they’re intimidated (unjustifiably!), and then ol’ Hasenfeffer comes along with “heh heh heh heh: cook your bunny heh heh” as his first effort. A pity, really.

* note: not a Spoonerism**
** joke stolen from Michele Gale-Sinex

No pun intended, Hasenfeffer: That was tasteless.

Also misspelled.

Each blade of grass is nicely defined. Good photographic work, there, at least it looks that way to my untrained eye.

What is it about pet rabbits that makes people do that?  If they’re not sharing a recipe, they’re telling some horrible story about the rabbit they tortured as a child.