Home cooking

Whew, I made it; 19 minutes late, but I’m here. I was rushing around this morning trying to get the garbage out, the mail for the former owners of my house hung on the door for them to pickup later, and the cat litter changed all before my short drive into work, where I’m expected today at 7:00 AM.

It’s dark until 6:35 AM these days, so it makes it hard to get out of bed. But get out of bed we must. And make it to work on time we must. It’s not the time to be getting fired.

Although the end of last week may have been the low point of the “global economic crisis,” who really knows. It’s a house of cards. I plan to hold on to my job. But the owner is looking to sell (good luck in this market!), and we barely cover payroll some months, so it may not be up to me and my stellar work performance. I might not have a say in whether or not I have a job 1, 2, or 6 months from now.

I’m not panicking. But I am looking at ways to, as Ellie says, “live small.”

One easy way is to spend less on food. Check out how my boyfriend’s brother and nephew are beating the economic crunch:

His brother is actually a chef, so you know that little squirrel will be finger-licking good.

I think he might opt for squirrel cacciatore (I mean he is Italian), squirrels in cream sauce, or perhaps just simple roast squirrel.

But what about those of us who don’t live in the wilds of Arizona? What about us city folk?

It turns out we do have options. Here are two of the best: rats and pigeons.

I mean pigeons? Maybe they even deserve it:

And the recipes out there sound amazing: Moroccan style roast pigeon stuffed with couscous, roast pigeon and goose liver on truffle potatoes, braised pigeons with crushed wheat stuffing.

And rats? Well you don’t even need a gun, just a trap or two.


Here’s a rat recipe from West Africa, where rat meat comprises a large part of the locally produced meat.

Stewed Cane Rat
Skin and eviscerate the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato purée, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.

Bon appetit!