Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Quail Hunt !

Not for the squeamish or uptight vegetarians.

A recent evening at dusk, my cat Quilty brought a freshly killed quail. I call her Quilty because of her patchwork coloring. She is small and dainty, and a good hunter.  There is a steady population of about 30 quail at our place, so their reproduction keeps up with the predators.



I picked it up and yanked a few feathers...they came out readily. In a few seconds, the entire bird was plucked, so I decided to eat it myself.. Sorry Quilty, eat your dry food!



Then I cut off the head and hung it in the sink to drain the blood

… plucked the pin feathers and cut off the wing tips


Next I gutted the little birdy and rinsed it well. The crop contents are in the upper left: green rye grass grains. Note the little birdy's head and new feather crest! It was a youngster.

I rinsed the body well, patted it dry and sprinkled it with salt, pepper and olive oil. I put a little sprig of rosemary, a bit of garlic and a piece of bay leaf in the cavity. When I went back outside, Quilty was meowing over the pile of pulled feathers.  Maybe she'd  wanted it all for herself.  The next day, I wrapped it in bacon secured with toothpicks and roasted it. It was a bit tough and very tasty.


Friday, June 11, 2010

Ann Harding

Laura's Miscellaneous Musings has a nice post today about a new bio of Ann Harding, one of my favourite actresses and a great beauty.  I'm not stealing Laura's thunder, so before you follow this link to Laura's post please look at these beautiful pictures of Ann Harding. Click to enlarge. Enjoy.



Another lovely photo.  I think this is from Double Harness