Get Stuffed

A very large young rabbit got out of it's cage, that is about 4 feet above the floor and fell to the floor, and landed on a young duckling, the rabbit survived.

This is a desperate appeal for anyone who knows a painless way to shell and skin chestnuts. One of the desserts I plan for Tuesday needs chestnuts. I have tried boiling them. I have tried baking them. I am a quarter of the way through the chestnuts I need and my thumbnails feel as if I had been to the Gestapo interrogation cellar.
Any way to go except more pain?

How do you prepare the critters? I know a lot of people here just give the crustaceans a good scrub and steam them whole. It scares the hell out of me when I have to pick the crab apart to find that the gills and innards are still intact!

Let us not forget our feline friends. You put down a bowl of chow, the cat approaches then stops to sniff. It turns to give a dirty look then stalks out of the kitchen, giving a disdainful shake of a hind leg as it exits. Life for cats should not be like that but help is at hand.
A newspaper stuffed in our letterbox has some interesting small ads. Between the ad for Barefoot Treeless Saddles (what are they?) and Tarot Reading by Telephone I saw an ad for Holistic Cat Food. Hmmm. Does anybody know…

I love good vietnamese food and generally prefer it to Thai or Chinese so we were quite excited when we saw a new restaurant about to open nearby. " -Modern Vietnamese" said the sign. I've copied the menu below ..... so by Vietnamese they actually mean???
Appetitisers
Char Grilled Prawns on Skewers
Prawn Tost w Plum Sauce
Sang Choy Bow
Fish cake w Sweet Chilli Sauce
Roasted Duck Salad
Rice Paper Roll
Spring Rolls or Vegetarian Spring Rolls
Sate Chicken
Stuffed Chicken Wings
Beef, Chicken, Duck or Lamb: …

The Dogwoman had to brief trainee teachers on behaviour management at a conference at Diamond Island this morning so I thought I'd tag along as I hadn't been to Bicheno for awhile...

We arrived just before dusk on a glorious spring evening after a two hour drive from the metropolis and whilst she was busily bullshitting the assembled attendees I slipped off to the bar to quench a drought driven Friday evening thirst.

Proceeding to dinner that night I started with - Green Tea smoked Quail on a bed…

There was a beef dish that I had on a Tasmanian train that I do not know the name of, but it was quite good. The beef was sliced and looked like it had been preserved and it was served cold. I don't think it was refrigerated, the preservation process probably keeps it from going bad. It was very well marbled with yellow streaks of fat. It almost looked like a beef prosciutto.

Does anyone know what this is? I was too timid and too stupid to enquire as to what it might be. Silly me.

Thanks!

i spent a a marvelous few hours today with anonimo and susan. a wonderful country home with a 180 degree view of pastoral michoacan. first we had national drinks, i'm talking numerous brands of tequila and lesser known potables. lunch was burgundy beef as tender as a mothers heart and as rich as bill gates, accompanied by rosemary potatoes, greenbeans almondine and perfectly highlighted with a beautifully sculpted bread and an antipasto of peppers and onions. my wife contributed an english…

Inside

I tried searching and surprisingly came up with nothing, so sorry if this is a common question...

I studying in Mexico until December at the moment, and will be backpacking around Sth and Central America December to Feb. I'm noticing that at the moment, I'm buying way too much food out. (The fact you can get a full meal of tacos and drink for $5 is one reason) but just wondering of any cheap meals that people cook while they're travelling.

There's the obvious. Toast, cereal etc etc. but I'm…