Chickens of the Trees...

[writerinmo]

Squirrel season starting soon here in Missouri, anybody have any favorite recipes? It's been way too many years (since I was a kid, and I'm 51 now) that we have had any, and Mom was the one fixin them up back then and never passed on any of her secrets... prices of groceries being what they are I figure on putting meat on the table any way I can, and .22 is still cheap and if I recall, its hard to beat watching the sun come up while your sittin in the middle of a bunch of hickorys and oaks out in the middle of the woods!

 

[anothermiller]

I miss those days too.

Pan fried squirrel then take the grease and make gravy over homemade dinner rolls.Squirrel gravy.Something bout it that was just plain irresistable.

Add some grilled corn on the cob cooked with the husks on...what a feast.

 

[setxn]

Squirrel and dumplings. Even my Grandmaw started using flour tortillas cut in strips instead of scratch made and rolled out.Very quick and really good stuff,I've been thinking about great food we used to have all the time but a lot is lost as the good cooks pass. Me,my wife and youngest daughter try to do some old recipes and try to keep it going, sometimes the food is not quite the same but the good memories more than make up for it.

 

[hburney]

Chicken of the Trees? Down here in Georgia we call them Limb Rats!

 

[writerinmo]

I still do chicken and dumplings from scratch, that's what's for dinner tonight as a matter of fact. I got together my favorite recipes, a bunch from my mom and some other family members and used Lulu.com to make them into a book, sent them out to the family members last Christmas, lol. Got a lot of calls, glad to have Mom's biscuit recipe since she passed two years ago.

I've got a buddy with a little over ten acres of pretty much untouched hickory, oak and cedar, he says he has plenty of "tree rats" and to come down and thin them out anytime. Might make some squirrel tacos... that'd be something different!

 

[Andy Griffith]

Chicken of the Trees? Down here in Georgia we call them Limb Rats!

Yes. My favorite is squirrel gravy and biscuits.
With some mashed taters and peas on the side.

Our season doesn't start until August 15th!
I've always been scared to shoot 'em until 1st. frost anyway.

I *think* I might have a decent squirrel dog found...I'm debating on getting one- always wanted one, but never had one. I'd rather squirrel or rabbit hunt than any other kind of hunting...except hunting in the kitchen for biscuits.

 

[writerinmo]

I never shoot rabbits till first frost, my dad taught me that. I was surprised that the squirrel season starts in spring here, I was just browsing through the website checking on stuff when I saw it.

 

[photocosmo]

My ol' granny made the best squirrel stew i ever had (but i'll eat it baked or fried too). She must not have liked it as much as some of us 'cuz she used to say:
"Eat hearty ... or you'll have it tomorrow!"

 

[G.T. Smith]

Chicken of the Trees? Down here in Georgia we call them Limb Rats!

hburney, I was in Georgia for a while but I never got the recipe for any kind of rat stew, although it don't sound too bad I guess
I like to make egg noodles and throw them and a couple squirrels in the crock pot and let them cook all day.
Watch ya'll call rabbits, giant hairy mice?
Peace,
gordon

 

[redlevel]

Watch ya'll call rabbits?

We always called them "supper."

 

[hburney]

G.T, We mostly call them delicious!!

 

[CajunBass]

I love to squirrel hunt, but have never bothered with the "spring season" here. A lot of people talk about snakes. Well snakes don't bother me a bit, but ticks, and especially chiggers scare me.

I'll wait 'till fall.

 

[writerinmo]

CB, I've dealt with ticks and snakes all my life. Some might call me a "mall ninja" but I've found that suiting back up in my military stuff works well for me. I blouse my BDU pants into my boots, wear a tucked in Tshirt, usually a BDU top weather permitting, and my boonie hat. I give a liberal spray of deep woods Off around my boots and pants legs, around the brim of my hat, and wipe a good bit around me neck at the collar. As far as snakes, I steer clear of downed timber and creek banks, or proceed very carefully if I have to cross.
I have yet to go a spring hunt, I'm not sure if they'll be fat enough to even mess with, but at least it gets me out of the house and into the woods, if nothing else we can come back to his range lane and I can finally shoot my Chinese Type 53 that I've had in the safe for three months without a round through it, and I'm due for another session with my CC pistol as well.

 

[Armyphotog]

Haven't had squirrel since I was a kid. (Was raised poor.) Not interested in eating it again, either. Although, a body can eat almost anything when served with biscuits and gravy. However, Sunday dinner was always fried chicken (the real kind.) Since then, I've never met a dead chicken I didn't like.