Don't Knock it Till you try It
A Thanksgiving you won't forget.
![Picture](/uploads/6/0/9/5/60954725/editor/img-5811.jpeg?1487662089)
The annual Thanksgiving family reunion is held with great anticipation. Each family is expected to bring their own specialty dish. The preparation of the turkey, however, is the responsibility of the host.
As a younger member of the this 50 year old tradition, I look forward to enjoying the fresh from the garden greens, the made from your own ingredients dirty rice, the different styles of potato salads because its always the first thing to go, homemade turkey dressing, sweet marshmallows on top candy yams, broccoli and cheese rice casserole, seafood rice, collard green with pieces of bacon in the mix, layered macaroni and cheese with bread crumbs sprinkled on top, steaming out the pot corn on the cob, fresh rolled tamales, hot out the oven cornbread and dinner rolls because we all have a preference depending on what kind of day it is. But wait, did I even get started on the meat? We have fall off the bone cut ribs, straight from the grill chicken and brisket, cut into perfection hot links, just killed the day before squirrel dumplings, perfectly seasoned fried fish, and last but not least, already carved for you pulled apart turkey, all drenched in cranberry sauce. I can’t even get started on the dessert table.
Everything in that list sounds delicious and ready for you to eat right? All except one thing. Let me guess what you’re thinking. Squirrel Dumplings. My Pawpaw’s famous Squirrel Dumplings which has to be the desired taste which most family members shy away from. This past Thanksgiving, I got to help him prepare for them for the first time.
As I said, Thanksgiving is an annual tradition that is my mother’s side of the family reunion each year. Countrytowne, Louisiana, is where we literally share love, stories, food, and football for a week of new memories. There are some old faces, new young faces, and there’s always that one you ask “who is that” face, but neither the less they are family once they enter through the door. Unfortunately, there are also faces that we’ll never see again.
My grandfather is one of those old countrymen that watch old westerns and the fishing channel all day, if he’s not outside working in his garden.
For years the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I would watch my grandfather wake up early in the morning before the sun comes up and I would watch him put on his cammo hunting gear, grab his gun, load his pocket with bullets and head out the door before 4:30 am. This time, however, I asked my Pawpaw jokingly the night before if I could go hunting for squirrels with him in the morning. Honestly I wanted him to say no because I am not a morning person and 4 am is his normal time he wakes, and secondly I hadn’t shot a gun before. So when he burst in the room that Tuesday morning telling me to get up, I was so shocked that he let me because I had just went to bed two hours earlier from talking with my cousin all night. How was I going to make it through a morning of shooting little animals in the tree?
Is this legal? How does he get away with this? Where do they stay? Gross.
Well let me just say that my grandfather stays in a small country town in Louisiana where everyone knows everyone and your neighbors stay about ten acres up the dirt road and everyone does their own hunting around that time of year so it isn’t a big deal.
That morning he picked me out some of his cammo gear, I put on two pair of socks and the best hunting shoes that I packed. Lord knows I was not trying to get bit by anything out there in the woods. Once outside he taught me the safety tips of a gun. I was very scared to hold a shot gun in my hand but when a girl is with her grandfather she’s probably the safest place in the world. He taught me how to load it, put the safety on then to actually shoot it before we went deep inside the woods.
We walked as quietly as possible without trying to make a sound, but in the woods the smallest things make the loudest sounds. My Pawpaw told me to stand close, and lean up against the tree so I wouldn’t get tired, and keep my eyes up to the branches, I did just that. I wanted to impress my Pawpaw seeing as though I was the only and youngest girl to ever go hunting with him. Hunting isn’t as easy as you would think. It really is as boring as it looks on television, standing around, eyes wide, looking for objects that are already watching you because you’re in their territory. And when looking for things like squirrels you see them and their whole family far away trying to get away from you but you or your bullets can’t get a clear view of them.
I shot my gun three times and missed my target each time. My Pawpaw shot twice and got both of them. Let’s just say my aim was more than a little off. But for me it wasn’t about if I hit a squirrel or not it was about the experience of spending quality time with my grandfather.
After carrying the squirrels into the kitchen I watched my grandfather, skin, gut, clean, and cut off the heads of one of the squirrels with his bare hands. As for me, I wasn’t doing that well at least not with my bare hands so I grabbed some gloves. By this time my family was up and recording me defame this poor little animal. First you cut off the tail, and make an incision up its back, then, peel the fur from around skin of its body which he calls “dressing him out”. It honestly was one of the worst things I’ve ever done besides ripping off the head and splitting the squirrel open and cutting it down the middle and taking out the shattered bullets out its insides. Cleaning them was the easy part because all you do is get hot water and clean it how you would chicken, and let it soak.
Now that the hard part is over, you begin make the dumplings just like you would if it were any other meat such as chicken but try to get as many bones out as you can, and let the squirrel meat simmer in a large crockpot overnight and add black pepper, pinch of salt, bay leaves, and chicken broth. On the night before he would make the actual dumplings, from flour, baking soda, broth, eggs, with a touch of oil, mix them well until they begin to soften and mix them both in a pot together where would begin out true Thanksgiving feast.
Even though I have never eaten the Pawpaw’s Famous Squirrel Dumplings I truly did enjoy making them. The enjoyable time I had spending with my grandfather since he has gotten older will always be a cherished memory that I will always keep near and dear to my heart.
P.S. I’m sure this isn’t the typical family recipe you may have wanted to hear but this story needed to be told!
As a younger member of the this 50 year old tradition, I look forward to enjoying the fresh from the garden greens, the made from your own ingredients dirty rice, the different styles of potato salads because its always the first thing to go, homemade turkey dressing, sweet marshmallows on top candy yams, broccoli and cheese rice casserole, seafood rice, collard green with pieces of bacon in the mix, layered macaroni and cheese with bread crumbs sprinkled on top, steaming out the pot corn on the cob, fresh rolled tamales, hot out the oven cornbread and dinner rolls because we all have a preference depending on what kind of day it is. But wait, did I even get started on the meat? We have fall off the bone cut ribs, straight from the grill chicken and brisket, cut into perfection hot links, just killed the day before squirrel dumplings, perfectly seasoned fried fish, and last but not least, already carved for you pulled apart turkey, all drenched in cranberry sauce. I can’t even get started on the dessert table.
Everything in that list sounds delicious and ready for you to eat right? All except one thing. Let me guess what you’re thinking. Squirrel Dumplings. My Pawpaw’s famous Squirrel Dumplings which has to be the desired taste which most family members shy away from. This past Thanksgiving, I got to help him prepare for them for the first time.
As I said, Thanksgiving is an annual tradition that is my mother’s side of the family reunion each year. Countrytowne, Louisiana, is where we literally share love, stories, food, and football for a week of new memories. There are some old faces, new young faces, and there’s always that one you ask “who is that” face, but neither the less they are family once they enter through the door. Unfortunately, there are also faces that we’ll never see again.
My grandfather is one of those old countrymen that watch old westerns and the fishing channel all day, if he’s not outside working in his garden.
For years the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I would watch my grandfather wake up early in the morning before the sun comes up and I would watch him put on his cammo hunting gear, grab his gun, load his pocket with bullets and head out the door before 4:30 am. This time, however, I asked my Pawpaw jokingly the night before if I could go hunting for squirrels with him in the morning. Honestly I wanted him to say no because I am not a morning person and 4 am is his normal time he wakes, and secondly I hadn’t shot a gun before. So when he burst in the room that Tuesday morning telling me to get up, I was so shocked that he let me because I had just went to bed two hours earlier from talking with my cousin all night. How was I going to make it through a morning of shooting little animals in the tree?
Is this legal? How does he get away with this? Where do they stay? Gross.
Well let me just say that my grandfather stays in a small country town in Louisiana where everyone knows everyone and your neighbors stay about ten acres up the dirt road and everyone does their own hunting around that time of year so it isn’t a big deal.
That morning he picked me out some of his cammo gear, I put on two pair of socks and the best hunting shoes that I packed. Lord knows I was not trying to get bit by anything out there in the woods. Once outside he taught me the safety tips of a gun. I was very scared to hold a shot gun in my hand but when a girl is with her grandfather she’s probably the safest place in the world. He taught me how to load it, put the safety on then to actually shoot it before we went deep inside the woods.
We walked as quietly as possible without trying to make a sound, but in the woods the smallest things make the loudest sounds. My Pawpaw told me to stand close, and lean up against the tree so I wouldn’t get tired, and keep my eyes up to the branches, I did just that. I wanted to impress my Pawpaw seeing as though I was the only and youngest girl to ever go hunting with him. Hunting isn’t as easy as you would think. It really is as boring as it looks on television, standing around, eyes wide, looking for objects that are already watching you because you’re in their territory. And when looking for things like squirrels you see them and their whole family far away trying to get away from you but you or your bullets can’t get a clear view of them.
I shot my gun three times and missed my target each time. My Pawpaw shot twice and got both of them. Let’s just say my aim was more than a little off. But for me it wasn’t about if I hit a squirrel or not it was about the experience of spending quality time with my grandfather.
After carrying the squirrels into the kitchen I watched my grandfather, skin, gut, clean, and cut off the heads of one of the squirrels with his bare hands. As for me, I wasn’t doing that well at least not with my bare hands so I grabbed some gloves. By this time my family was up and recording me defame this poor little animal. First you cut off the tail, and make an incision up its back, then, peel the fur from around skin of its body which he calls “dressing him out”. It honestly was one of the worst things I’ve ever done besides ripping off the head and splitting the squirrel open and cutting it down the middle and taking out the shattered bullets out its insides. Cleaning them was the easy part because all you do is get hot water and clean it how you would chicken, and let it soak.
Now that the hard part is over, you begin make the dumplings just like you would if it were any other meat such as chicken but try to get as many bones out as you can, and let the squirrel meat simmer in a large crockpot overnight and add black pepper, pinch of salt, bay leaves, and chicken broth. On the night before he would make the actual dumplings, from flour, baking soda, broth, eggs, with a touch of oil, mix them well until they begin to soften and mix them both in a pot together where would begin out true Thanksgiving feast.
Even though I have never eaten the Pawpaw’s Famous Squirrel Dumplings I truly did enjoy making them. The enjoyable time I had spending with my grandfather since he has gotten older will always be a cherished memory that I will always keep near and dear to my heart.
P.S. I’m sure this isn’t the typical family recipe you may have wanted to hear but this story needed to be told!
![Picture](/uploads/6/0/9/5/60954725/published/img-5829_1.jpeg?1487662394)
5-6 SKINNED & CUT UP SQUIRRELS
3-4 QUARTS CHICKEN STOCK
PINCH OF SALT
BLACK PEPPER
1 BAY LEAF
DUMPLINGS
2 CUPS FLOUR
2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER
1 TEASPOON SALT
½ CUP VEGETABLE SHORTENING
½ CUP COLD MILK
ADD THE SQUIRRELS, STOCK, SALT, PEPPER AND BAY LEAF IN LARGE CROCK POT ON HIGH OVERNIGHT.
DUMPLINGS: WHIP THE SALT AND BAKING POWDER INTO THE FLOUR THEN CUT IN THE SHORTENING WITH A FORK UNTIL YOU HAVE A PEA-SIZED BITS MIXED THROUGHOUT THE FLOUR. GRADUALLY STIR IN MILK, A BIT AT A TIME, UNTIL THE MIXTURE FORMS A SMOOTH DOUGH. SPRINKLE THE WORK SURFACE WITH FLOUR AND ROLL OUT THE DOUGH INTO ABOUT 1/8-INCH-THICK SHEET AND COVER WITH CLEAN TOWEL.
REMOVE THE COOKED SQUIRRELS FROM THE POT AND SET THEM ASIDE TO COOL. SKIM OFF ANY DISCOLORED FOAM FROM THE TOP OF THE STOCK. RETURN THE STOCK TO THE HEAT AND BRING TO A LIGHT BOIL.
ONCE THE SQUIRREL TAKE ½ OF THE SQUIRREL MEAT AND PICK THE MEAT FROM THE BONES, KEEP THE OTHER ½ WHOLE, THEN ADD THEM BACK TO THE POT.
UNCOVER THE DUMPLING DOUGH AND USE A PIZZA CUTTER AND CUT IT INTO 1-INCH BY 2-INCH DUMPLINGS. DROP THE DUMPLINGS INTO THE BOILING STOCK AND SIMMER FOR ANOTHER 10 MINUTES UNTIL THEY ARE COOKED THROUGH, STIRRING OCCASIONALLY TO PREVENT STICKING.
3-4 QUARTS CHICKEN STOCK
PINCH OF SALT
BLACK PEPPER
1 BAY LEAF
DUMPLINGS
2 CUPS FLOUR
2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER
1 TEASPOON SALT
½ CUP VEGETABLE SHORTENING
½ CUP COLD MILK
ADD THE SQUIRRELS, STOCK, SALT, PEPPER AND BAY LEAF IN LARGE CROCK POT ON HIGH OVERNIGHT.
DUMPLINGS: WHIP THE SALT AND BAKING POWDER INTO THE FLOUR THEN CUT IN THE SHORTENING WITH A FORK UNTIL YOU HAVE A PEA-SIZED BITS MIXED THROUGHOUT THE FLOUR. GRADUALLY STIR IN MILK, A BIT AT A TIME, UNTIL THE MIXTURE FORMS A SMOOTH DOUGH. SPRINKLE THE WORK SURFACE WITH FLOUR AND ROLL OUT THE DOUGH INTO ABOUT 1/8-INCH-THICK SHEET AND COVER WITH CLEAN TOWEL.
REMOVE THE COOKED SQUIRRELS FROM THE POT AND SET THEM ASIDE TO COOL. SKIM OFF ANY DISCOLORED FOAM FROM THE TOP OF THE STOCK. RETURN THE STOCK TO THE HEAT AND BRING TO A LIGHT BOIL.
ONCE THE SQUIRREL TAKE ½ OF THE SQUIRREL MEAT AND PICK THE MEAT FROM THE BONES, KEEP THE OTHER ½ WHOLE, THEN ADD THEM BACK TO THE POT.
UNCOVER THE DUMPLING DOUGH AND USE A PIZZA CUTTER AND CUT IT INTO 1-INCH BY 2-INCH DUMPLINGS. DROP THE DUMPLINGS INTO THE BOILING STOCK AND SIMMER FOR ANOTHER 10 MINUTES UNTIL THEY ARE COOKED THROUGH, STIRRING OCCASIONALLY TO PREVENT STICKING.