Camping and Snakes

[bach2yoga]

We're going camping Memorial Day weekend, and I was surfing for "camp cooking"recipes that looked promising. I found one that I thought you might enjoy, Jeff! :lol:

Renee

BARBECUED RATTLESNAKE
Northwest River Park - Chesapeake, VA

We have rattlesnake barbecues here for the park staff every once in a while! Our park is 763 acres and is filled with many trails for horseback riding and hiking. We also have fishing, canoeing and row boating, along with an amphitheater for our campers' enjoyment.

INGREDIENTS
1 rattlesnake, freshly skinned, head removed, 4' or longer. Barbecue sauce. Salt & pepper to taste.

DIRECTIONS
Cut snake into 4-6 in. sections. Marinate snake in barbecue sauce several hours. Wrap sections in tinfoil and barbecue over charcoal for 45 minutes. To keep meat from drying out, baste with barbecue sauce every 10 min.

 

[JeffD]

Sounds great, Renee! Hey, maybe we can organize a get together with those seniors from that senior community where a road will go through prime snake habitat. We could all get in our cars and spread out a bit to increase the chance of getting a roadkill special. Then we could bring the snakes back to the senior community and use the recipe you posted! We'd just need something to go with the snake barbeque.

Seriously, there's a campfire recipe I've used a long time ago which I got from the MORE WITH LESS COOK BOOK, from Menonites (sp?) in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country. I thought I saw my MORE WITH LESS COOK BOOK recently, and maybe I could dig up the book and look up the recipe. At least that's where I think I got the recipe from. Anyway, if I remember correctly, you get some large cabbage leaves, fill them with cut up potatoes, cheese, and various vegetable. You can put anything in them -- onions, peppers, carrots. Just throw in a hodgepodge of anything you have around and it would probably work. Once you wrap the filling in the cabbage leaves, wrap aluminum foil around the leaves and place it on hot embers of a fire. I don't remember how long it takes to cook. It's a simple way to have a meal with everything combined in one dish.

 

[Ben Ruset]

I have eaten Shark, Ostrich, and Kangaroo. I have sampled Caviar, and even tried Sushi. I think I am pretty open minded when it comes to trying new foods.

That said, I would NEVER eat a snake. That just enters into the realm of gross, much like Frogs Legs and snails. Yuck!

 

[bach2yoga]

How about Pine Barrens treefrog frog legs? Simmered slowly in white wine and lemon in a dutch oven over a campfire of Atlantic White Cedars that we cut down ourselves. And don't forget a salad, composed of greens from threatened and endangered plants. We could top it with arethusa petals to make it asthetically pleasing. And of course, cranberry and blueberry cobbler for desert. Any other menu suggestions?

:wink:


Renee

 

[bach2yoga]

I have eaten Shark, Ostrich, and Kangaroo. I have sampled Caviar, and even tried Sushi. I think I am pretty open minded when it comes to trying new foods.

That said, I would NEVER eat a snake. That just enters into the realm of gross, much like Frogs Legs and snails. Yuck!

Ha!

I've had shark, alligator, caviar and sushi, conch, eel, octopus and frog legs as well. (Which actually weren't that bad!) Escargot, though...nah....don't think so! May as well chomp on a slug, and they sceeve me.

I could probably handle snake if it were necessary. And bear, too. But I sure wouldn't go out of my way to try either of them.

I have a friend who was a missionary's kid in Ecuador. He's an American citizen, but experienced extreme culture shock when he came to an American college. That said, when he went to Mexico on spring break and they stopped at the open market, he and his brother split up and met at the end of the day, both of them with a 5 lb. bag of ants for a snack!

Renee

 

[JeffD]

Yuk Ants!

I know you were suggesting eating frogs legs and greens from endangered plants tongue-and-cheek, Renee, but seriously, even if I had the taste for frogs legs, I wouldn't even consider eating one unless they were more plentiful in the Pine Barrens (although they aren't hanging on by a thread now) nor would I make a salad from an endangered plant, unless it was an emergency. The blueberry cobbler sounds good though. Both the blueberry and the cranberry industry could use a shot in the arm.

BTW, recently, Rush made a good point by saying that to help the forest, cut down trees that can be used. When a market for wood is created, landownwers/managers have an incentive to grow more trees. Land costs money, as does lving and running a business, unless one is a Disney Ecologist who believes in money trees, the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, etc.

 

[bach2yoga]

Yuk Ants!

I know you were suggesting eating frogs legs and greens from endangered plants tongue-and-cheek, Renee, but seriously, even if I had the taste for frogs legs, I wouldn't even consider eating one unless they were more plentiful in the Pine Barrens (although they aren't hanging on by a thread now) nor would I make a salad from an endangered plant, unless it was an emergency. The blueberry cobbler sounds good though. Both the blueberry and the cranberry industry could use a shot in the arm.

BTW, recently, Rush made a good point by saying that to help the forest, cut down trees that can be used. When a market for wood is created, landownwers/managers have an incentive to grow more trees. Land costs money, as does lving and running a business, unless one is a Disney Ecologist who believes in money trees, the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, etc.

HUH??? :shock: There's no Santa? No Easter Bunny? No money trees??? I'm crushed...especially about the money trees! :cry: Where have I been?

Seriously, I was *most assuredly* teasing about the PB treefrogs and endangered plant salad. But I agree, the cobbler sounds delicious, topped with vanilla ice cream. :roll:

Renee