Bunfectionary

Rhubarb

johnaka — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:54:13 +0000

Tilbert is named for Seattle Tilth, a once great organization that used to simply promote urban gardening and stewardship. Unfortunately, its priorities shifted as it decided to “grow its mission”, and now it has joined the hipster bandwagon of promoting the raising of animals in your yard as meat. And of course, this includes rabbits because some whack job convinced them that rabbits are low cost and low maintenance, needing just leftovers from a garden. No mention of hay, sociability, companionship, or the fact that many domesticated rabbits can’t survive outside.

Needless to say, we stopped our donations not only to the ST, but to the radio show that featured their outreach member.

But one of the good things we learned from them is that one of the best fertilizers is rabbit poop. It not only can go into the compost bin, but it can actually be spread directly on plants. And guess what plant loves bunny poop? Rhubarb.

So we planted a few plants on our roof deck, and fertilize all year with stray pellets. When Food 52 came produced this group of recipes, we had to share it.

In particular, these two caught our eyes.

Rhubarb and Rose Ramos Gin Fizz

Serves 1

2 ounces London dry gin
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce lime juice
2 ounces rhubarb syrup
1 ounce heavy cream
1 or 2 drops rosewater
1 egg white
ice
soda water

Combine all ingredients except ice and soda in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Then add ice to shaker and shake a further 30 seconds. Strain into a tall chilled glass and top up with soda.
To make rhubarb syrup, cut a pound of rhubarb stalks into one-inch pieces, wrap them in cheesecloth, and simmer for a half hour in 2 C water and 1 C sugar. Strain into a glass container with a lid and refrigerate.

Naughty Rhubarb Scones

Serves 12-16 scones

3 stalks rhubarb
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
2/3–3/4 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425.
Slice rhubarb stalks 1/4 ” thick. Toss with 3 tablespoons of the sugar.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl or bowl of food processor.
Cut butter into flour mixture by hand (or whiz with food processor) until butter is the size of small peas.
Blend in 1/4 cup of the sugar.
Blend in sliced rhubarb. (If using the food processor, just pulse — you want the slices left mostly intact.)
Blend in cream until a soft dough forms. (note: you may need to add more than 2/3 cup depending on the weather,etc.)
Transfer dough to floured surface and divide in half. To make triangular scones, flatten into 6-inch disks and cut each circle into 6-8 scones. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
Arrange on ungreased cookie sheet and bake about 20 minutes or until reddish-brown on top.

Find more here

Petfood manufacturers challenged to eat their own petfood

johnaka — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:46:50 +0000

This article made us laugh–we would never eat our own treats for the very basic reason that omnivorous humans can’t eat grass! In the same manner, we should not be feeding our herbivore, especially the grass eating foliovores, human food like dairy, cereal, eggs, yogurt, sugar, and nuts.

Petfood manufacturers challenged to eat their own petfood

At Global Pet Expo in Orlando, Florida, USA, the team at Pet360, online community for pet owners, put representatives from major petfood manufacturers to the test.

The team challenged 12 petfood companies to eat their company’s petfood live on camera as part of its “Eat Your Food” series. The “Eat Your Food” series also allows petfood companies to promote the nutritional benefits of their food.

“For the longest time, the biggest decision regarding petfood was whether to purchase wet or dry,” said Jon Roska Jr., vice president of merchandising at Pet360. “Now-a-days, pet owners are faced with a multitude of decisions, and there are a variety of gourmet options to choose from. We want to give brands the opportunity to prove that their food is the highest quality option for our customers’ pets, and what better way is there to do that than by consuming the food themselves?”

Radish tops for sick bun, radishes for you

johnaka — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:24:22 +0000

When Marbles was sick, we were told by many bunny experts that radish greens would be the first thing she would eat when she could. Sure enough, that is exactly what happened. What were not prepared for was how many radish tops we would purchase, and what we could do with all the radishes.

So we have begun collecting radish recipes since. From the classic appetizer of sliced radishes on good bread with unsalted butter and a sprinkle of sea salt to famed chef Thomas Keller’s recipe for quick pickled radishes, we have embraced this humble vegetable with a bit of heat.

Today’s Wall Street Journal featured more recipes we can’t wait to try. Here is the first on To Try list:

Radish and Fennel Salad

Total Time: 15 minutes Serves: 4

In a large bowl, toss together 8-10 small to medium radishes , thinly shaved, 1 fennel bulb, thinly shaved, ½ tablespoon picked fennel fronds, 4 tablespoons toasted pine nuts, 2 ounces crumbled sheep’s milk fetaand 1½ tablespoons thinly sliced shallot. Season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon lemon zest and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Toss salad with enough dressing to coat. Garnish with extra fennel fronds, feta and pine nuts, if desired.

—Adapted from Jenn Louis of Lincoln and Sunshine Tavern, Portland, Ore.

Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly

johnaka — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:05:29 +0000

The NY Times featured an article today about the effects of organic produce on fruit flies v conventional produce on fruit flies.

When Ria Chhabra, a middle school student near Dallas, heard her parents arguing about the value of organic foods, she was inspired to create a science fair project to try to resolve the debate.

Three years later, Ria’s exploration of fruit flies and organic foods has not only raised some provocative questions about the health benefits of organic eating, it has also earned the 16-year-old top honors in a national science competition, publication in a respected scientific journal and university laboratory privileges normally reserved for graduate students.

Photo Researchers

Courtesy of Ria ChhabraRia Chhabra stands in front of her project.

The research, titled “Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits toDrosophila melanogaster,” tracked the effects of organic and conventional diets on the health of fruit flies. By nearly every measure, including fertility, stress resistance and longevity, flies that fed on organic bananas and potatoes fared better than those who dined on conventionally raised produce.

Read more here.

Frosted Biscotti

johnaka — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:15:25 +0000

Our “frosted” biscotti are now available at Bunny Bytes. Banana Bunny Biscotti is frosted with a puree of carrot, beet, or parsley in our new flower shape. Our testers seem to prefer this shape as it is easier to grab and run–talking to you Tilbert, Flower and Buttercup!

Bunny quilt for our new niece

johnaka — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:39:15 +0000

My friend at Bunny Bytes made this quilt for me to give to my brother and his wife for their first born. The quilt loosely tells a story of a little bunny who after a day of playing, makes mochi (rice cakes) and then watches the moon rise with her parents before drifting to sleep and moon dreams. The rabbit and the moon is a myth found in many cultures. In Japan, the rabbit makes mochi on the moon. In Japanese “rice pounding bunny” is written as ????, which reads “mochi tsuki usagi” and translates literally as “mochi-making rabbit.” Mochi-tsuki is the traditional ceremony/process where mochi is made by pounding rice. The funny thing is that the rabbit actually appears to be in the moon, appearing to make mochi. And the reading of the word for “making” is the same as “moon” (“tsuki”).

(And I have to apologize both to Jenny and to my brother that I had no idea how dusty and furry this was when I took the photos!)

Violet enjoys a flop and face wash.

johnaka — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:44:18 +0000

Violet has this sweet habit of flopping on her side and washing her face. She closes her eyes in contentment. After uprighting herself, she dives in for a cecal pellet snack. In the background, you can hear Tilbert eating breakfast. Click on the photo or here.

Maddie on the news

johnaka — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:41:10 +0000

One of our testers, Maddie, was featured on KOMO news yesterday morning. She appeared twice, first live, and then recorded for later viewing. Her publicist refused the request for two live viewings as Maddie had a busy Easter weekend.

Carrot top pesto for people

johnaka — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:24:55 +0000

Needless to say, we often buy carrots with the frilly green tops just for the bunnies. But we have been making a few dishes over the past few years that use the tops for people. Recently, we came across this recipe on NPR for a pesto.

1 cup lightly packed carrot leaves (stems removed)

6 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 large garlic clove

1/4 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (see below)

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano (directions)

10 yard dash to the box

johnaka — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:57:12 +0000

Tilbert makes his dash to the downstairs litter box after dinner. His white pigeon-toed run always makes me grin.

Tilbert running – Wi-Fi

And, yes, the bunnies chewed those chunks into the rubber floor mat.