WOW!  The scenery out my window is breathtakingly COLD!! 

The children have spent many hours tromping & sledding thru the snow!  I'm glad they get to enjoy the snow even if it means soggy, wet clothes to deal with!!😉

AND it makes hungry children!! Which brings me to my latest 'new' recipe!

Want to try different meat for dinner?  Why not try rabbit?😋

Rabbit...  We've been raising rabbits for several years now & we as a family enjoy this 'other' white meat. 

When Loyd was a young boy he had a 'rabbit farm', complete with a sign!  He literally raised hundreds of rabbits!!  And enjoyed it!

He would raise them & then sell them as meat rabbits.   Then as a teenager he started on a construction crew & no longer had time for rabbits.

Several years ago, we had a young guy here helping us out on the farm & he thought Loyd needed to get in the rabbit business again!

Loyd said, " Maybe when my children are older.."

This young guy kept persisting till Loyd finally said, "Well, if you can find a pair of Flemish Giants (a certain breed of rabbits) at the local small animal sale, I'll buy them."

Loyd told me later, " I'm fairly certain the guy won't be able to find a pair."

Well what do you know, the next month at the sale, our young friend bought a pair!! 😆

I still remember his grin when he drove in with the rabbits!  And his excitement was contagious!

Never mind we had plans to go on vacation the next day!!  Thankfully, the young man offered to take care of them till we got back!😉

And that is how we got into the rabbit raising business!!  🤗

Now we raise quite a few litters per year. 

During the summer the children are in charge of watering them & feeding them.  We keep them in small pens on grass as long as weather permits. 

During the winter we bring them into one of the barns.   As spring approaches we will move them back out on the grass.  

Once we move them out, feel free to let your children look at them.  I'll update you once we have some outside!! 

And while we continue to wait for spring... here is a recipe for you to try!

Rabbit

Ready in 1 hour 50 minutes

Serves 6  people

Recipe from Borntrager Dairy


Ingredients:

• 1 (approx. 4 lbs.) rabbit cut into pieces

• ¾ tsp. ground black pepper

• 6 Tbsp. butter

• 1 Tbsp. honey

• 1½ onion, chopped

• ¾ cup ketchup

• 1½ cloves garlic, chopped

• 2¼ tsp. paprika

• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

• 1½ Tbsp. lemon juice

• 1½ cups water

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Season the rabbit with salt and pepper.

3. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

4. Add the rabbit pieces and brown on all sides.

5. Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish.

6. In a medium bowl, combine the honey,onion, ketchup, garlic,paprika, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and water; pour over rabbit.

7. Bake uncovered for 90 minutes in the preheated oven, basting every 15 min. Check the rabbit at 60 minutes. Meat should be very tender when done.

8. Serve with your favorite potatoes & veggies! Delicious!

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The other evening, I made this recipe & my family said it was the best rabbit they've tasted yet!!😋

Try the recipe & then comment below what your thoughts are on rabbit meat!!😋

Also, we just got back from seeing the OCEAN!!!😎

Getting away from the farm for any length of time is HARD!!  The animals depend on us to be available 24/7...

We are so grateful for friends who enjoy doing our chores for us so we can take a break!!

But even then it takes tons of planning & late nights to have everything stocked in the store & feed ready for the animals so it's as easy as possible for someone else to take over!  

But it was so worth it!!😍

 A dream come true!!

Neither Loyd or I had seen the ocean before!!

And we had enough Amtrack points, we decided to take our whole family on the train all the way to the west coast to see the Ocean!!🚂

I mean to get to enjoy 60+ degrees at the end of February!!  Count me in!!😎

We had so much FUN!

It was great to get away & spend family time together without an agenda!😍

And seeing the OCEAN!  It was magnificent!!  I could have listened to the waves rolling against the rocks for hours!

We were able to go to Sea World one day, which we all thought was a Huge success!  Otherwise, we spent a lot of time at the beach soaking up the sun!!😎

And yes, I got sunburned!😏

And the morning we came home, it was snowing!!  So I put my sandals away and got out my boots before getting off the train!!😥

Surely tho, spring MUST be around the corner!!

As we wait for spring to make an appearance, be sure to try this rabbit recipe & let me know what you think!!

Till next time!

Arlene😍