NOTE: Having accepted years earlier that I'm created an omnivore, country living afforded the opportunity to be less hypocritical and aliented from sources of sustenance. As a consequence, I studied and learned to procure, butcher, and prepare for storage and eating a variety of domestic and wild animals from opposum to goose and nearly all in between. The concrete connection with life and survival actually increased my reverence and deference to the lifeforms that have fed us historically and the consciousness of my heritage. There are, for instance, very old photographs of men and women, including my grandmother as a teenager, of my family fishing and holding proudly long, full stringers of fresh-caught and hefty fishes. I'm sure that wild game was plentiful on their ample acreages and know that cattle were raised for dairy staples and beef. This country, or any other, was not settled and expanded by the timid or squeamish in locating, targeting or trapping, and securing for the table staples from a natural environment with which earlier peoples needed to interact successfully. Killing was not wanton or for pleasure as herds were carefully culled by those with courage, fortitude and multiple skills in manual labor, hunting and husbandry, and medical attention for the ailing of all species.

The standard backwoods joke about hogs is that, "The only part of a pig that can't be eaten is the squeal." From sousse to cured ham hocks for bean flavoring recipes involving the various parts have been passed down orally and by demonstration over generations. It's also important to remember that in country talk "dressing a deer" does not mean accoutering it in the latest fashion style but butchering it correctly.

• Here's a recipe for fixing a common country critter thanks to Steve in Alabama. "I won the Wild Game supper at our Church Association and the judges said it was the Best Deer Meat they had ever had. Then I broke the news to them. Most went back for seconds. Don't look past this one, it is the real deal. Tastes like duck, good duck."

  Baked Coon --
  Take 5 pounds coon and put it into a 1 gallon ziplock bag. Add meat tenderizer, Dales Sauce, and 2 cups diet coke. Let it stay in the bag for 8 hours at least and then transfer the carcass to the stock pot. Add one gallon of water, 1 stick of butter, 1 tsp. garlic, and salt to taste. After cooking one to one-and-a-half hours remove and let cool and remove bones. Chop up 10 pieces of bacon, one small onion, and salt to taste. Let bacon pieces fry until almost done and then add the coon meat. After cooking for 10 minutes serve with wild rice.

• Probably a lot of people don't know that some of our country critters -- for instance, the groundhog and opossum -- are not only plentiful but, as historic tablefare, edible and good-tasting.
  Baked Groundhog or Opossum
  You'll need: one young groundhog or opossum, a large onion, a large apple, tblspn. vinegar, cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper.
  Skin and cut up like you would a chicken. Soak in salt water overnight. Boil with onion, apple and vinegar until tender. (Depends on age, but it can be stored in the refrigerator when cooked until you're ready to bake it.) When done, roll pieces in a mixture (equal portions) of cornmeal and flour, salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (longer if it's been refrigerated). VARIATION: Or cover with bottled barbecue sauce. NOTE: Very young groundhogs can be fried in flour without having to be parboiled first.)

  (Recipe courtesy of David Rhodes in the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank's cookbook, "The Greater Shenandoah Valley's Finest Recipes")

• The following recipe is a pre-publication excerpt from a forthcoming book by John Traister, a prolific area writer, which reproduces his family's authentic Valley cooking.
  Squirrel meat was usually the first wild game that appeared on Grandma's table in the fall. The meat was frequently fried (like fried chicken), but occasionally we'd get an old tough male with "drivers" as long as your thumb. This variety always went into either squirrel broth or a pot pie.
  You'll need 1 squirrel, 1/4 cup pearl barley, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 3 sprigs parsley, 2 whole cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup diced carrot, 1/4 cup chopped celery, 1/4 cup chopped turnip. Dress squirrel in the usual manner; cut up into five or six pieces. Place meat in a large bowl. Prepare a solution of heavily-salted water (enough to completely cover all meat), and pour over squirrel. Make sure all meat is covered with the brine solution. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let squirrel meat soak in refrigerator until all blood spots are drawn from the mean (usually overnight). Remove squirrel from brine solution, and pat dry with paper towels before proceeding.
  In a 4-quart Dutch over, combine the squirrel meat, barley, salt, parsley, cloves, bay leaf, and 5 cups of water. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered until meat is tender and is easily removed from the bones. Remove pieces of meat from the broth. Let cool for a few minutes and then remove meat from bones; discard bones. Cut meat into small pieces and return to the broth. Add vegetables and cook broth another 30 minutes. Before serving, remove bay leaf and cloves. Serves four.

• This easy recipe creates tender game meat without parboiling. You'll need at least two squirrels or one rabbit per two adults. Fried Squirrel or Rabbit -- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Quarter legs from back. Dip pieces into egg, then into bread crumbs. Fry in hot oil until browned, approximately one minute each side. Remove from skillet and set on paper towel until oil has drained off. Place game pieces on rack in roasting pan and bake approximately one-and-a-half hours until tender. (Recipe courtesy of William R. Stewart (josborne@dp.net) of Fayette City, PA.)

• If you're a hunter or lucky enough to know one, the season's in for fresh game meats. Fried Deer Steak or Chops -- The meat should be cut 1/4 inch thick. Use deer jerky mix according to directions for the pounds of meat to be cooked(or use Italian dressing). Marinate 12 hours turning once. Flour and fry in hot oil two minutes for rare, three minutes for medium, and four minutes for well done. (Recipe courtesy of William R. Stewart (josborne@dp.net) of Fayette City, PA.)

• Duck Pot -- You'll need one duck (or chicken, if no duck is available), four apples, ten small potatoes, one bay leaf, three shakes of ready-mixed mild, sweet mustard sauce, one tin of creamed mushroom soup, two cloves, salt to taste. If your duck is a proper splay-footed wild duck, you are advised to drive over it a few times to soften it. A plump young duck (or chicken) is far more suitable. Cut the fowl into portions and brown it in the pot. Pack the pealed potatoes in a layer over the duck, followed by a layer of apples. Mix the other ingredients with the mushroom soup and pour over the contents of the pot. Simmer for 40 minutes and serve. (This recipe for a South African meal, traditionally cooked in an iron pot over glowing embers, was sent in by Walshie at jjwes@iafrica.com.)

• Fresh-Caught Frogs' Legs

  An increasingly esoteric country sport and skill is gigging frogs at night, discerning location by sound and dim sight, for the equally rare heritage methodologies of preparing and cooking frogs' legs, a rural as well as cosmopolitan delicacy. In my Shenandoah Valley explorations and enactments of old-timey ways in life and values, I engaged in this near-lost tradition several times. The first warning is of swarming bugs in the humid and heavy air that enjoy flying into eyes, ears and noses particularly. The second is to find and aim the equivalent of medieval spear at the largest amphibians to ensure an ample measure of meat for devouring later from each leg. Thirdly, be sure to have lemon juice available for spritzing over the final produce before enjoying it all at the table.

  At home with the bounty catch of one or two per person, cut legs off bodies with a large, sharp kitchen cleaver in one stroke if possible and discard unusable parts. Cats delight in this kind of fresh produce and it's also good, like fish bone leftovers, for gardens if buried deeply enough to compose slowly. Skin legs and allow to rest overnight refrigerated in a large bowl of cold water to clean and clear out any impurities. Drain, run under cold running water and roll in seasoned flour or bread crumbs. Fry in large pan of hot oil to a depth of half an inch or so until browned and serve with lemon juice and wedges. Enjoy! -- jh

  Pickled Pigs Feet

  After buchering, split pigs feet in half lengthwise and clean thoroughly under cold running water after burning off any hairs that may reside on them initially. Place in a large heavy pot and cover with water, bringing it to a boil over medium-high heat before simmering until tender for about one and a half hours. From time to time remove any foam created and stir the pigs feet. Use a slotted spoon to pick pigs feet out of the stew and clean under hot water to rid them of dangling fat and scum. Return feet to the pot and cover with vinegar, adding one chopped onion, two bay leaves, a teaspoon full of peppercorns, one tablespoon of mustard and coriander seeds evenly, one-quarter teaspoon of cloves and slices of ginger root. Then remove feet again. Bring liquid by itself to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for about 30 more minutes before adding pigs feet again into the mixture. Bring to a boil again, turn off heat and let sit for a minute or two. With a slotted spoon, remove feet again and place into sterilized and suitably thick glass jars. Pour vinegar mixture into each to cover feet, seal and refrigerate for up to a week before eating.

• Venison Tenderloin

  Cut meat removed from either side of the deer backbone in serving-size pieces and marinate loins overnight in equal parts of Worchestershire sauce and red wine to cover. Seasoning with pepper, garlic and thyme is a welcome addition also. Drain and sear in butter melted to cover the bottom of a large frying pan, preferably a heavy iron skillet, then add a little more red wine and simmer briefly. Dissolving a teaspoon or so of cornstarch in a little additional wine and adding that to the sauce will create a light and tasty gravy. Add salt, if desired, to taste.