“Good painting is like good cooking; it can be tasted, but not explained.” -Maurice de Vlaminck

Oh my.  I can hear all the groans out there.  He really doesn’t eat possum does he?  Well…yes he does.  My grandmother really had the art of preparing possum mastered.  She could make it taste like a $20 t-bone.

If you are wondering, I am kind of a hillbilly.  I grew up dining on squirrel, deer, groundhog, raccoon and an occasional opossum.  My dad wasn’t too fond of the other white meat.  Come to think of it he wouldn’t even attempt to partake of a muskrat.  The great thing about these animals was you didn’t have to go to the store and buy them.  The only cost was your hunting license and shell.

My grandmother was the one who basically taught me how to prepare each one of these critters for the dinner table.  Squirrel- usually fried and make gravy from the drippings.  Squirrel and dumplings was my favorite. Raccoon- Boiled until all the grease had found its way out of the carcass.  Then it was either baked with sweet taters and carrots or pulled off the bone and simmered in beer, butter and bbq sauce for a couple of hours.  Groundhog – prepared the same way as the raccoon.  Deer – prepared pretty much the same way as beef.

Possum – Now grandma preferred to boil the possum until all of the grease had been boiled out of it. Then she would would put it in a baking dish and add seasoning, potatoes, carrots and onions and she would bake it until the veggies were done.  I did try deep frying one time and it was quite tasty.

Then one night I had just got finished skinning a possum and had a fire going in my outside cowboy kitchen.  So I decided to cook this possum over an open fire.  There was one thing I didn’t think through very well.  The possum would have to be turned to cook both sides.  Well I hadn’t par boiled this particular critter.  So that meant he was full of high octane possum grease.  As I turned it on the fire the grease began to find its way into the fire below it and  then, then. then….WHOOOOOSH!  The fire came to life.  It had to be like Mount St. Helens erupting. The night was lit up.  Finally the fire calmed down and I was able to finish cooking a fine meal.  Next time I will be prepared.

Well I hope I didn’t gross you all out too bad.  Thanks for taking the time to read it.  Be kind to one another, share the love, God Bless you one and all.  By the way you know why the chicken crossed the road?  To show the possum that it could be done.