The post that I’ve wanted to write forever, but felt like I might be judged too harshlyAugust 20th, 2007 @ 7:01 am
We were poor when I was growing up. Not only were my parents raising their four kids, they were also raising my dad’s siblings, with no help from anyone. Oh yeah, and my parents both decided to go back to college. All of this equals no money.
When you have this many mouths to feed and no money to buy food, you begin to get a little creative with your food preparations. My mom made powdered milk, baked her own bread, made noodles from scratch and never feed us junk food. Ever. Do I even have to tell you that I never ate at a fast food joint until I could pay for it myself?
While drinking powder milk and baking your own bread isn’t that creative, making noodles from scratch is. But it isn’t the most creative thing my parents did in order to feed us.
That would be reserved for the cages full of rabbits that just appeared one day in our backyard.
If you’re thinking my dad brought home the little furry rabbits for us to play with to take our minds away from the hunger pangs, you’d be dead wrong.
The rabbits were dinner.
That’s right, we raised rabbits in our backyard. We would breed them. We would name them. We would play with them. And then we would eat them. I have no idea when they would die, or how it all happened. We never knew. My dad was very good about keeping that part away from us kids. Seriously, I wonder when that part would happen? Maybe my dad would do it at night while we were in bed. Or at school. No matter when it happened, I’m glad I wasn’t around to witness.
During my younger years, maybe up until 6th grade when my dad got a better job teaching high school and my mom started working as a R.N., we would eat rabbit for dinner. And as much as you don’t want to hear it, the rabbit was good.
Our favorite was rabbit enchiladas.
Of course we didn’t eat rabbit for every meal. Rabbit was reserved for meals like Sunday Dinner. Our freezer was full of ziploc baggies of shredded meat. All my Mom had to do was thaw it out and whip up something fabulous and tasty.
Eventually our relatives found out about our penchant for rabbit meals. Anytime my aunt would be over for dinner she’d ask what the meat on her plate was. Of course we’d be silly and say something like, “don’t worry, it’s only Floppy. You’ll like him.” Even if it wasn’t rabbit meat, we’d always calls it Floppy. Us kids thought that was hilarious, but my aunt probably didn’t. (Although, and I’m just being honest here, we did have a floppy-eared rabbit named Floppy.)
As I recall, the rabbit always tasted good. You know, like chicken, only a little darker. Maybe. It’s been so long I really couldn’t tell you what it tasted like. I just remember that we didn’t hate it. And really, we were happy to have some tasty food in our bellies.
Eventually we stopped raising rabbits. This might have been because we moved into a new house and just didn’t take the rabbit cages with us. The fact that I’ve eating so much rabbit meat never seemed that odd to me. That is until I shared the information with The King and he started to tease me about it. Mostly it’s when we see a cute little bunny rabbit off to the side of the road and he asks me if I’m salivating.
Which I’m not. But whatever.
So tell me, did your mom ever feed you rabbit enchiladas? And if not, was there anyone odd that you did eat when you were growing up?
(Also, please tell me I’m not the only one who has eaten rabbit. Please.)
Back in the Day · Random · They're just my family
Dirka
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Sorry, Isabel, never had rabbit. I have had crocodile… When we were growing up, my mom worked from 4 to midnight and dad was home to cook our dinner. Dad knew how to make about 2 things. Hamburgers and french fries and pancakes. So that’s what I had on a fairly regular basis while my mom was working as a nurse. Clearly not as interesting as rabbit!
Stephanie
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Don’t worry… I had it once when I was 7 years old in Canada… not only did I have rabbit… but they also apparently served me SEAL…
apparently Newfoundlers have something against CUTE
Frema
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:21 pm
I’m a very picky eater. I don’t even like “normal” food like eggs and fish; no way will you catch me for eating rabbit.
But I have to hand it to your parents; they were very creative!
j
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Le lapin? C’est manifique.
But I had to be a much more adventurous older person before I tried it.
Operation Pink Herring
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:28 pm
I’ve never had rabbit, but the whole thing doesn’t seem that weird to me. All meat comes from some animal, it’s just easier to ignore that fact when you buy it in the store! And I’m sure you treated your bunnies much better than commercial farms treat their animals.
Then again, maybe I’m biased since Joel’s family had sheep, goats, and several other types of cute little animals for exactly the same purpose.
super des
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:31 pm
I’ve never eaten rabbit, but I’m a vegetarian. Damn, when we were poor, all we had was top ramen.
motomom
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:32 pm
My husband was raised on a farm and has raised rabbit for food. He claims it tastes like chicken and is more tender.
FunnyGal KAT
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:33 pm
No rabbit for me either. Never even eaten venison (not very adventurous, I guess). But I don’t think it’s much different from eating any other type of meat. It just shortened the process by keeping your meals in the backyard.
jessica
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:33 pm
When we lived in England we had sheep in a pasture in our front yard. Most of them were raised for meat except one, Larry. His mommy didn’t take to him so he was bottle fed and raised as a pet. When i was home from boarding school one weekend we sat down to a lovely dinner of lamb chops. It wasn’t until I was all done eating that my Dad informed that I had just dined on Larry…it took ten years for me to eat Lamb again.
CPA Mom and Soccer Mom Angela
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:35 pm
No, never rabbit. But squirrel a LOT and venison. And one time, Snapping Turtle Stew (after one got caught on my dad’s trout line and he chopped it’s head off in our back yard and it walked around for an hour after, too dumb to know it was dead).
So yeah, I get it.
Still hate to eat all the above though.
SJ
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:41 pm
I’ve never had rabbit, but have had venison. My mom would sneak it into a spaghetti dish, or lasagna or something and tell me it was hamburger so that I would eat it.
If I would have known it was venison, I would have passed.
I remember as a child visiting my aunt who lived on a farm in Vermont that had tons of rabbits. And I presume that they raised them to eat them.
Very smart parents you have.
Liza
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:46 pm
No rabbit, but my dad was *beyond incompetent* in the kitchen when I was a kid. SOOOO old school.
As a result, I remember one night that my mom was away when I was about 9. We ate brown sugar and butter sandwiches for dinner. I think my dad even microwaved them. (My mom got very sick when I was 6 or 7, to which my dad’s solution was to buy her the first microwave on our block. It had a dial timer and an on button.)
Dabney
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:49 pm
We had a similar period of time in my family, but instead of rabbits, my parents fed us a lot of venison that my Dad would get from his hunting buddies.
Carrisa
said,
August 20, 2007 at 6:50 pm
I don’t think I have ever had rabbit. I think I’ve only had venison once. I’ve also never had lamb. I did try fried alligator bites once at a restaurant though.
I’m not judging you though. Rabbit is not that uncommon to eat and your parents were smart to do it that way. Plus it beats the hell out of breeding rats and eating those.
Marilyn
said,
August 20, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Definitely no judging here. Shoot, if I were creative enough, I’d be putting some rabbit cages in our backyard… You gotta do what you gotta do, right?
gorillabuns
said,
August 20, 2007 at 7:32 pm
i have had rabbit plenty of times. my great-grandmother raised them on her farm.
i can’t tell you how many chickens i’ve plucked. though, i had a hard time watching rabbits go off to their pearly gates.
and yes, rabbit tastes like chicken.
Laura
said,
August 20, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Yes we had rabbit when I was growing up although we didn’t eat Sebastian, our Dutch Blue pet rabbit out the back. I think my mom got it from the local farmer. I remember my mom and sister looking rather tentatively at dinner the first time while I chomped hungrily away. You gotta do what you gotta do.
I also ate escargot (my mom felt adventurous one day and they were on sale - we lived in England) and black pudding (aka blood pudding - a British/Irish specialty), which I’ll still eat. I refused to eat kidneys and tripe though.
And then most recently, I had jellyfish as an asian friend’s wedding. What’s odd to one group is totally normal to another.
Cindy
said,
August 20, 2007 at 7:40 pm
No rabbit, but my mom shake n’ baked squirrel once!
Angela
said,
August 20, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Well, I am from Southern Louisiana (really, it’s like it’s own country!) originally, and there were times I’d go over to friends’ houses for dinner and if their dad was a hunter I just wouldn’t ask what it was we were eating. And everything always tasted good! I know for a fact I’ve eaten alligator and squirrel, who knows, there could have been a rabbit tossed in there!
Lisa B
said,
August 20, 2007 at 7:44 pm
This post made me love you all the more! My dad came from a family of 10. As a young kid, he was taught to hunt rabbits, squirrels… And there were plenty of days his mom sent him out to the pastures to hunt. If he didn’t come home with some rabbits or squireels, they didn’t eat.
And growing up, my dad still hunted because we didn’t have alot of money either. (Not junk food at our house either.) We ate alot of rabbit and squirrel growing up. (Rabbit gravy bread… mmmmmm) I kind of miss it. And you’re right. It DOES taste like chicken.
Art Nerd
said,
August 20, 2007 at 7:46 pm
never eaten rabbit, but looking back, we ate an AWFUL lot of pasta growing up. we are not italian in the slightest, but everyone in my grade school tought we were, because i’d eat the leftovers for lunch.
Stephanie
said,
August 20, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Can I just tell you that less than two months ago I has an entire frozen squirrel in my freezer? Don’t judge me, judge the spouse.
Seriously, he killed it with a bow and wanted to get it mounted so bagged it up (several times) and put it in the freezer. There was no eating it thank goodness, but he has eaten it all before when he was younger. I stop at deer. Yeah, everyone else can go ahead call it venison, I call it deer.
Plus since we live right next to a farm we are debating about getting a cow butchered. For enough meat to feed the two of us for at least 6-9 months, we can spend about $200. The completely odd part is the fact that we were talking at dinner about who else we could talk into buying part of the cow so that we didn’t have to eat it all. We narrowed it down to like two or three couples we know.
There are very few people out there that don’t think that is gross or something of the sort to eat animals that are 100% normal. I can’t say that I don’t agree, but I will try it.
Laurel
said,
August 20, 2007 at 7:47 pm
I feel like although many suburban Americans might find the rabbit raising-and-eating odd, it’s been the totally normal eating pattern historically! My dad grew up on a farm and they regularly ate the animals hanging around their house (duh)!
It’s weird how disconnected we have become from our food, right?
heidikins
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:02 pm
We only had meat once a week growing up - but we ate an awful lot of beans.
My mom grew up on a farm with 9 brothers and sisters; and they always butchered the bulls and plucked the chickens and who-knows-what else. When you’re hungry things like that don’t seem to matter as much I guess.
Casey
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:09 pm
I too am from southern Louisiana and to be quite honest - rabbit - kinda tame for around here. But then we don’t all come from places where the people selling shrimp on the side of the road set up right next to the people selling coons on the side of the road! hehe
anna
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:26 pm
We didn’t raise rabbits, but I knew people that did. It doesn’t really seem that different from raising chickens. My husband was just telling me this weekend how they raised goats and drank goat milk growing up. He claims it was disgusting. I think he secretly craves it.
Audrey
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:31 pm
I had rabbit for the first time when I was in Spain. The senora of my host-family that I lived with gave me a plate of white meat and rice and told me what it was in Spanish. I couldn’t remember what “conejo” meant, but she’d always fed me well in the past, so I just trusted her and dug in. And it tasted exactly like chicken that had been seasoned really, really well. About half-way through the meal, I remembered what “conejo” meant, and I asked my senora, complete with hands on either side of my head representing ears, if “conejo” was the little animal with the tall ears. She held up her hand in the way we used to when singing that nursery rhyme about the little rabbit that when hopping through the forest and said “boo-nee? Si.” (Bunny? Yes.)
Honestly, if I had known what it was before I started eating, I may have been more hesitant. But since I didn’t figure it out until I’d already eaten and enjoyed some, I just kept on eating and enjoying. Of course, later that day I was walking in the city and saw some little bunnies for sale at a pet store and felt a little bad for having eaten their cousin. But not so bad that I didn’t gobble up my plate of rice and bunny next time my senora made it!
I heard of someone else in my study abroad program, though, whose senora served her horse meat — apparently not that uncommon of a dish in Spain. I was very happy that the rabbit meat was as adventurous as I had to get.
HollowSquirrel
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:39 pm
dude.
no.
MK
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Hi stranger! I feel so behind on your life and I miss you! I am sorry to diapoint you, but we never ate rabbit. I had one as a pet though. I don;t think that there is anything else creative. We did eat a lot of liver and onions and I though nothing of it.
Jihan
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Yum. If you come and play, I promise to make rabbit. Okay, I’m lying. I won’t make it. But please… can Isabel come out to play sometime SOON!?
Molly
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:53 pm
During my first and second years in college I lived with a girl who raised rabbits. They lived in BFE and raised rabbits for shows, and also ate them constantly. Come to think of it, my friend and I teased her about it bunches. Just like to you, it was so normal, and even tasty, to her.
alyndabear
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:55 pm
*gasps*
I’m keeping my buns away from you, Ms Isabel.
And not THAT kind of buns, either.
My dad’s eaten rabbit before, so I will not judge. I will just inconspicuously check on my rabbits outside for the next few days to be sure, to be sure. Hee.
Abbie
said,
August 20, 2007 at 8:55 pm
No, never eaten rabbit or anything weird, cute story about the King teasing you, that part made me laugh- sorry it made me LOL…c’mon it WAS funny.
janet
said,
August 20, 2007 at 9:00 pm
we never had rabbit, but we did eat a LOT of deer and elk growing up. My dad was a hunter, so we ate whatever he got that year. Elk steaks. Elk burger. I guess it seemed normal to me as a kid?
PixieMegh
said,
August 20, 2007 at 9:33 pm
I’ve never had rabbit, I’m not opposed to it though. I think it’s fine to raise your own meat. My father-in-law did get rabbits to raise to eat at one point. My husband says they never ate them. My guess is my FIL didn’t have the heart to go through with it(or my hubby blocked it out).
His mother now has 3 pet rabbits (fur babies really) and it’s a constant joke that when they “misbehave” we’re having bunny tacos for dinner. We also take pictures of the “feeder” rabbits when we go to the fair to show her. She doesn’t find it funny but we all do.
Nic
said,
August 20, 2007 at 10:32 pm
I’m completely not ooked by rabbit. Dude, I’m way more ashamed at the amount of Chef Boyardee I ate as a kid. Home cooked meals with fresh organic meat? Your mom kicked butt.
Jezer
said,
August 20, 2007 at 11:34 pm
I’m not sure that I’ve ever eaten rabbit, but we ate a lot of deer growing up–my grandmother was an avid deer hunter. Now, the Mr.? He and his family ate squirrel on a regular basis.
moosh in indy.
said,
August 21, 2007 at 12:27 am
No rabbit, but a lot of elk. It just kept showing up. I didn’t like it however, my mom wasn’t capable of doing magic with game meats.
Jenn Bo
said,
August 21, 2007 at 1:45 am
Twice.
My first experience, at my step-second-cousin’s house (they also raised “bunny’s), left me thinking rabbit was awful. My recollection is that it was prepared like baked chicken (on the bone and dry). It could have been that I visited the living rabbits (not the dinner rabbit) about 30 minutes before eating. Plus, I was only about 9.
Years later, I tried rabbit again at the now closed Wild Hare in Menlo Park. I discovered rabbit can be delicious. I suppose when you pay more than $25 for a entree, it better be good!
Still the mental image would give me pause before ordering rabbit again.
Fairly Odd Mother
said,
August 21, 2007 at 1:54 am
No rabbit in my past, but heck, I think it is much better that you ate meat you could identify—we had Spam, Underwood Ham, those orange breaded veal patties, and McDonald’s McNuggets. Egads, they all give me the creeps.
Jeannette
said,
August 21, 2007 at 10:35 am
My dad still grows rabbits, and chickens, and lambs… and we eat all of them and it’s all yummy. I usually don’t feel bad about eating them, maybe I have no heart.
Anyways, one time though, my sister fell all in love with one of the lambs and she called him Quasimodo. But my dad made the mistake of telling her one night: “Hey, it’s Quasimodo you’re eating there”. Needless to say none of us could eat another bite that night!
Hey, I could write a post about this… if only I had a blog
LaLa
said,
August 21, 2007 at 11:14 am
I ate rabbit in France, or maybe Greece in a French restaurant. I have also eaten reindeer, crocodile, kangaroo, frogs legs and pigeon.
Pigeon was a bit… wrong but those little frogs legs were tasty with a bit of garlic and butter.
Your parents did an excellent job raising your family.
Virginia Gal
said,
August 21, 2007 at 1:06 pm
One of the best restaurant meals I have ever eaten was rabbit, so I did know I was eating it, and would eat it again if I knew the restaurant was serving it. But no surprise meats growing up. Just lots of hot dogs and tuna noodle casseroles…
Rachel
said,
August 21, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Hmmm, I’ve never had rabbit (that I am aware of), but i would try it. I’ve had deer mean, which is not uncommon. I’ve also had alligator, which is not uncommon if you live in the south. It’s really tasty. Also, frog legs, mmmmmmm.
dianabanana
said,
August 21, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Oooh, this sounds so terribly awful, but I’m going to say it anyway, because I think it should definitely make you feel better about eating rabbit, since, you know, you did so in a completely non-demented manner.
10ish years ago, my mom asked the family what she should make for Easter dinner. Me, being the complete smart aleck that I am, replied, “rabbit.” My mom, having just as twisted of a sense of humor as I do, loved the idea, so that’s exactly what we had … we ate the EASTER BUNNY for EASTER. Ack.
Amy W
said,
August 21, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Um yes, you are the only one who ate rabbit.
My dinners in the double wide trailer we lived in growing up consisted of Hamber Helper.
Amy W
said,
August 21, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Um yes, you are the only one who ate rabbit.
My dinners in the double wide trailer we lived in growing up consisted of Hambuger Helper.
michelle
said,
August 21, 2007 at 4:10 pm
My cousins ate rabbit, deer, elk. Going to their house was always interesting. Then there was my year in France and Spain, which was a whole new level of interesting. I will never, ever eat brains, though.
May
said,
August 21, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Hooray! Look at me posting on your blog!
Instead of rabbit, we had ground turkey. With everything. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten ground beef in my parents house. And I never saw anything actually FRIED until I went to college. Then I was like, “Ohhhhh, THAT’S how you make french fries….” But life in the ’80s OC isn’t nearly as entertaining as dining on pet rabbits…
PS - Reno SUCKS!
Christar
said,
August 21, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I am such an animal lover, that I’m borderline vegetarian. Ok, not really… but I don’t want to see my food alive before I eat it. Ever. And some meat I can’t eat, it’s a mental block. For instance, I cannot eat dear. I think of Bambi being aline without his mom. When I was in Jr. High, my aunt was dating this hunter dude, and he would contstantly bring over various meats. She made a stew one night and promised me there was no dear meat, but to my dismay I found out after I had eaten half of it, there was dear meat in it. I puked it all up. So I don’t think I could eat bunny rabbits, but I have definitely heard of people eating it, so you’re not alone.
Adria
said,
August 21, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Growing up my best friend ate rabbits. I don’t think they were poor, either, just liked rabbits.
How did I discover this fact? The day I saw bloody meat in a 5 gallon bucket and asked her what it was.
I will never get that picture out of my head.
KARA!
said,
August 22, 2007 at 1:05 am
My dad did raise rabbits to eat in the back yard in cages. Sounds like a similar set up to yours. I avoided the rabbits like the plague because I didn’t want to get attached.
I don’t recall my dad ever serving rabbit when I stayed at his house though.
Kristin
said,
August 22, 2007 at 2:45 am
I’m so late to the party on this, but we totally raised rabbits for dinner. We also had geese, ducks, a goat & a pig. We never ate the goat, but we did eat the pig. We did not live on a farm, either. We lived in the middle of the city!
To this day, Bill makes fun of me “living on a mini-farm” & eating our “pets”.
Durga
said,
August 22, 2007 at 12:44 pm
ppl r encouraged to eat Kangaroo’s here in Aus because (faaaaaaaar frm Sydney) there are many wild Roo’s.
It’s darker chicken like u described the Rabbitt. Though I’m not a big meat eater…I cook it sometimes for missionaries in my Church who are not originally frm Aus. It’s something for them to write home abt I guess.
Anth
said,
August 23, 2007 at 12:28 am
Sorry, never had rabbit.
Dh’s family was very poor when he was growing up (Dad -> teacher in crappy tiny town, Mom -> SAHM) and his mom baked all their bread and did the powdered milk thing. And they went hunting because they like needed to. To this day Dh does not like Beef Stroganoff. He only likes Elk Stroganoff. Gross.
Marriage-101
said,
August 23, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Oh man that picture cracked me up. I’ve had rabbit before, but it wasn’t really a weekly thing. Your parents were very creative!
Parenting Sites 411 » Blog Archive » You Need To Read - August 24
said,
August 24, 2007 at 3:19 pm
[...] “The post I’ve wanted to write forever, but I felt like I might be judged too harshly” by hola, isabel. This post was at the same time funny, honest and insightful. And seriously made me wonder if I shouldn’t start keeping rabbits. [...]
Chas
said,
August 25, 2007 at 3:12 am
Sorry, Isabel, but I have never had rabbit. I have plenty of bunnies that hop around my backyard though, so if you ever get a craving…I’m kidding, of course…who’d drive all the way from Seattle to Chattanooga just for rabbit :). Anyway, I can’t think of anything weird I’ve ever eaten, but my great-grandfather used to eat possum regularly when he was a kid. Yes, I said possum…tell the King that and it’ll probably make Sunday rabbit dinners sound a little more enticing.