How to Meow in Yiddish

 

A Fine Squatchy Winter Solstice Dinner 

Hey Meowsters, this is Ramona. I bet you wonder what it was that I was cooking for Ralph the other day while he shooed that goofy girl out of the woods.

It’s natural to wonder, since until recently we Forest People did not cook our food. But it’s also natural to change with the times, and it is quite possible to learn from each other. So, now I often do cook. I have a few pans and some implements. I have a pretty good knife that Thaga gave me for my birthday one year also. I’m not trying to outdo Julia Child. (come to think of it she was a little Sqatchy herself!)

I wonder what you people have learned from us!

I have a little hearth near the front of the cave, so the smoke draws outside, you know? Over the top of the circle of stones I have a metal grill Ralph picked up somewhere. I never know where he gets this stuff. 

Now, earlier that same day he caught a rabbit. OK. That’s a start. So, I grabbed Twigg and a basket, yep, I have one, and set out to look for mushrooms. Twigg kind of rides on my back hanging on to my hair. I had to venture out of the deep forest for those, but I found a couple of good handfuls near the highway. I hope we didn’t cause heart failure for anyone if they saw us. 

I wanted an onion. But they don’t grow in the woods and all the local gardens were asleep for the winter. Salt and pepper and some thyme and garlic powder would have to do. I would have liked a couple of tomatoes too, but fat chance of that.

While Ralph was out snooping around the forest, I dealt with that rabbit. When I was done with it, it looked like this. Neat huh? 

I had a little bacon, don’t ask. So, the first thing I did was to chop it up fine and throw a few more pieces of branches on the fire. The fire is always burning if I have anything to do with it, and I generally do!

I put my large iron pot on the grill and dumped in the bacon and we’re off! I just about wept for the lack of an onion. It’s just not right I tell you! After that I browned the bunny in the bacon fat, salted and peppered and garlicked it, threw in some thyme that had been growing in a pot outside the cave, and let it go for a while.

While it was cooking, I snuggled with Twigg and fed him.

Next, I tossed in those mushrooms and a little water just to juicy it up a little. I let the fire die down, put the lid on the pan and figured that soon his hungry self would arrive, and he did.

He seemed remarkably pleased with himself for some reason too! It’s sort of horrible when he grins and giggles like that. You know? Aw, but a girl can't help but love him.

A past example!