How to cook squirrel

The cabin has limitations when it comes to the kitchen. The refrigerator is reasonably new and, though small and with a major frosting problem, works well. The stove, an ancient 3-burner model from a time before even numbers came to define symmetry, appeared rock solid. I bought a propane tank and the necessary hose and connectors to run to the copper pipe out back. I then used the old soapy water method of testing a gas connection and found that my outside pipe had a leak. Unwilling to take the same risks with propane that I will with electricity and fire, I stopped there and made a call to the local gas company.

While I awaited their response, I considered the value of this little stove with its shelves instead of an oven, and examined a substitute in the attic above the garage. The much newer, if conformist, model offered 4 burners and an oven, as well as access to the burners beneath the cover to remove any debris. So far, I hadn't been able to crack the old one without power tools to clean out at least the leaves, paper and possibly mouse debris inside. Of course, the new one had to come down a flight of narrow stairs, then the hill to our place. I figured, correctly, that I could shimmy the reasonably light oven to the top of the stairs and then slide it down on its back. While this invited potential contention for a Darwin award, particularly if I chose to do it alone so as to avoid naysayers and those who promise yet fail to deliver actual help, I managed it, rather painlessly. I even discovered a sharp alternative to the wheelbarrow for the ride down the hill, a convenient trailer for the tractor mower.


Once outside, I cleaned the new stove from top to bottom, then made the swap, again moving both stoves in a kind of awkward wobbling shamble, avoiding scratching up the kitchen floor or damaging either appliance. I had worked up the courage to give the propane another shot but due to a height difference in the two stoves, I can't connect the new one with the same pipe, at least not without cutting and refitting the pipe connectors, a task that requires another tool I don't own. So, I'm awaiting another call back from the propane company, hoping I can convince their agent to hook me up even if I might be breaking a code or two with my setup of a barbecue propane tank wedged between cinderblocks outside.


In the meanwhile, for the past month we've made do with a Cuisinart Griddler, a toaster oven, a crock pot, a fire pit

(which we've only gotten to use twice with all the rain, the first time a painfully long ordeal where I learned that I needed fire and not just coals to cook given the height of the built-in grill, and the second time going much more smoothly and efficiently though still with some pain since I burned myself), and this handy camp stove.


If we make the leap to 4 burners and an oven, it might not even feel rugged anymore. But the lady promises baked goods, so I'm willing to risk it.