Can't Talk Now. Boss Fight.

Captain Holly and his right-paw labbit Goldie, pay homage to the infamous boss fightin' bunny from icanhascheezburger.com. 

Labbit Reads

Theodore reads a rabbit classic: Richard Adams' Watership Down. Pipkin, Clover and Captain Holly are all named after characters in the book. If you'd like to know more about each labbit, click on the link Meet the Labbits! at the top of the page.

Pipkin Goes to Connecticut

Pipkin had to get away from the 14+ inches of snow that fell in southern Vermont yesterday, so his friends Kelly and Jess brought him along to Connecticut, with the promise of above freezing temperatures and a lot less snow. Pipkin listened to NPR and bluegrass on the radio and looked wide-eyed out the window as the snow seemed to melt away the further south they traveled.

And just like that, 160 miles south, Pipkin hopped out of the car in Mystic, CT, to breathe in the Atlantic ocean air and see the grass, however brown it may be.

After they visited Upton Bass in Stonington, Kelly and Jess took Pipkin to someplace called IKEA in New Haven, which labbit did not like at all. The lights, the noise, the people - it was all too much for poor Pipkin. It wasn't until he came upon these friendly store rabbits that he felt at ease. They huddled around him, told him stories and kept him warm until it was time for him to head home. He already misses the new friends he made today, and he hopes they all find good homes.

Yup, It's Still Winter

"Well Pipkin, it looks like it's still winter."
"Sure does, Clover. Wanna go back inside?"
"Yeah! Let's make hot cocoa!"

The snowfall finally slowed to a stop today long enough for the labbits to poke their heads up out of the snow. Their little town in southern Vermont got over 13" of snow today, and there's still a whole lot more winter to go. Stay warm little labbits!

Labbits Like: Black Bean Dip

The labbits quickly nommed their way through last week's Sweet Potato Hummus and wanted to try a new dip. Pipkin whipped up this easy 5 minute Black Bean Dip, and didn't wait for the others to start munching. Click here to print out the recipe.

Black Bean Dip

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can black beans, with liquid reserved
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp EVOO
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin

Instructions:
Heat the beans with their liquid in a small pot over medium heat until just warm.

While the beans are warming, squeeze the juices from one lime. 

 Drain beans (reserving some of the liquid) and place in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally with a spatula.  If you find your dip is too thick for your liking, add liquid reserved from the black beans one tbsp at a time until you get your desired consistency.

Serve with fresh veggies or crackers or tortilla chips!

Yields: About a cup and a half of dip.

How To Tell Girl Labbits From Boy Labbits

How do you tell boy labbits (bucks) from girl labbits (does)? It's simple really. Does like Miss Clover Juneau have longer eyelashes and blow pink bubbles. Bucks like Master Pipkin Townsend don't have visible lashes and blow blue bubbles.  At least, that's the case in this photo.  It is perfectly fine for bucks to blow pink bubbles and for does to blow blue bubbles. And it's okay if bucks have longer lashes and does have shorter ones. So...the best thing to do might be to just politely ask. Please do not pick up the labbits and look for their buck or doe parts. They find it quite rude!

Labbits Like: Beans n' Greens White Cheddar Pasta

Pipkin took the night off kitchen duty so Theodore whipped up his favourite quick and easy dinner: Annie's White Cheddar Shell Pasta with swiss chard, black beans and dark red kidney beans. The labbits love Annie's Homegrown pastas, cereals, snacks and salad dressings because they're made of simple natural and organic ingredients.

Teddy trusts anything that has Bernie's "Rabbit of Approval" rating. It's the labbit equivalent of goods that are "By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen." Also, Bernie's a Dutch Labbit, so Teddy may be a bit biased.*

Click here to print out the recipe below.

Beans n' Greens White Cheddar Pasta Dinner

Ingredients:
1 bunch red swiss chard, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 15 oz can dark red kidney beans
1 15 oz can black beans
2 boxes Annie's Shells and White Cheddar
1/2 cup almond milk/soy milk/rice milk/milk milk
1 Tbsp EVOO
S+P to taste

Instructions:
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Be sure to mix the cheese and milk in a separate bowl before adding it to the pasta.

Finely dice an onion and saute with EVOO on medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
Wash and dry the swiss chard, chop the leaves roughly into 2" pieces. Dice the stems. Add to the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Your pan will be quite full, but the leaves will wilt!

Meanwhile, rinse your beans very well and drain, then add the beans to the onions and swiss chard. Stir, and reduce the heat to medium. Cover with a lid and allow to cook for another 5 minutes or until the swiss chard has softened.

Add the cooked pasta to the veggies and mix! Easy!

Serves: 6 labbits, or 4 very hungry labbits.

*Disclaimer: This dinner was not sponsored by Annie's Homegrown. The labbits are not affiliated with Annie's Homegrown and all opinions are their own.

Pipkin Ponders President's Day

Pipkin has no idea who George Washington is - certainly not a labbit he's ever met. Why is George Washington's birthday celebrated on the third Monday of February instead of his actual birthday? Pipkin doesn't know. How do we celebrate George Washington's birthday? Pipkin isn't sure. Something about banks and postal service and getting a deal on your shopping. Pipkin doesn't know what banks or postal service or shopping are, either. But he does know that his hat is stripey like the flag hanging up on a random tree in the woods. And stripes are awesome.

Labbits Like: Berry Tasty Whole Wheat Muffins

Very berry!

Pipkin gets very excited when friends come to visit, which means he has a hard time sleeping in, even on a Sunday. That's okay - he snuck down to the kitchen and silently made blueberry-raspberry muffins.  They're best when they're warm out of the oven, so hopefully his friends will wake up to the smell of fresh baked goodness. Click here to print out the recipe.

Labbit gathers ingredients while the berries defrost.

Blueberry - Raspberry Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup no-fat plain yogurt
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries

Instructions:
Lightly grease or line a 12 cup muffin pan. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Pipkin prefers lining to greasing, because lining with cups is prettier.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then add eggs, butter, vanilla, yogurt and berries and fold gently together until just evenly mixed; do not overmix. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan until each cup is 3/4 full.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 °F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean of batter. Let the muffins cool in their pan for a few minutes before inverting them onto a wire rack to cool slightly. These are best served warm, but you can store them in an airtight container and gently reheat in the microwave.

Yields: 12 muffins

Little Labbits Can Be Mean

Poor Theodore De Coste! Yesterday's briefing from Captain Holly didn't prepare this happy labbit for these little sh*ts. The five labbitlings lured Teddy into the salad spinner with a banana, then taunted him mercilessly while spinning him around. They might be small, but they sure are mean. Except for that one with the carrot nose. He...really never knows what's going on...

Corpsman Labbit Gives You Sh*t

Tough-as-vinyl Corpsman Labbit Captain Holly might be from the concrete jungles of New York City, but he knows these soft Happy Labbits don't know sh*t about their enemy's sh*t, and the labbit has a thousand enemies. That's a lot of sh*t to know.

Thanks to Lynn Levine and Martha Mitchell's Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Tracking Guide, he can train the labbits to identify enemy prints and scat, and track the movements of the Stinking Thousand.

Labbits Like: Sweet Potato Hummus

Labbits like carrots, but sometimes it's nice to dress 'em up with a little dip. Pipkin got word of a Sweet Potato Hummus recipe from Choosing Raw, a raw food website. (Oddly enough, the recipe calls for cooked potatoes and heated chickpeas. Hmmm...) The pantry did not have curry powder, but there was curry paste, so Pipkin made a note of the substitution in the recipe below.  A variation in the instructions has been made, to allow for your own adjustment to the texture of the hummus. The original recipe can be found at the website above, and the version below can be printed out here.

Don't forget to stir up your tahini if it has separated.

Sweet Potato Hummus 

Ingredients:
2 small or 1 very large sweet potato, cooked, skin removed, and cut into chunks
1 can chickpeas, drained, but with the liquid reserved
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
5 tbsp tahini
1 tsp curry powder (1 tsp of curry paste was substituted. Depending on taste, you could use more!)
1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste
Water
Paprika

Preparation:
Place cooked sweet potatoes in the processor and puree for a minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Pour the chickpeas and their canning liquid into a little pot and get them warm. Drain, reserving the liquid.

Place chickpeas into the processor along with the sesame oil, tahini, curry, salt and pepper. Run the processor. Add a tablespoon of the canning liquid from the beans (it’s got starch in it, which will help make the hummus super delicious) at a time and drizzle it into the processor to help create the perfect texture.

If you run out of liquid but desire a thinner hummus, drizzle in water. Remember to stop now and then to scrape down the sides of the bowl. When the consistency is even, smooth, and thick but not pasty, you’re done.

Sprinkle hummus with paprika, and serve.

Yields: Enough hummus for a labbit to swim in. (About 3 generous cups.)

Mmmm, steamy hot sweet potaters!

 

Labbits Like: Starter Beet Salad

Pipkin creates a simple Beet Salad using beets from Deep Meadow Farm in Westminster VT. This light and sweet salad makes a good side or starter to a hearty meal. Click here to print the recipe.

Side/Starter Beet Salad

Ingredients:
10-12 oz beets
Juice from one freshly squeezed orange
Juice from one freshly squeezed lemon
1-2 Tbsp EVOO
3 stalks of spring onions, choppped
1 head of romaine lettuce
S+P to taste

Instructions:
Wash and peel the beets with a veggie peeler. Grate with the shredding blade in your food processor (if you are so lucky), or grate by hand.

In a large bowl, whisk together the orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss in the beets, then the spring onions. Mix well to distribute the citrus juices.

Chop up a head of romaine lettuce. Wash thoroughly and dry in a salad spinner. (Labbit likes that part.) Create a bed of lettuce leaves, then top with the grated beets.

Serves: at least 4 labbits.

Hint: Keep any beet leftovers separate from the lettuce so the lettuce stays crisp and doesn't get all soggy. These taste great the next day in a wrap with hummus and sprouts and bell peppers. (Recipe to follow!)

Labbit checks out the grated beets

When life gives you lemons...

...and when life gives you oranges...

Spin that lettuce dry! Labbits don't like wet, wimpy lettuce.

Chocolate Labbit

Pipkin got a friend to help him open up his Chinese New Year present...which means sharing of course. Pipkin's Dutch Labbit friend, Theodore De Coste (Ted), sneaks out the Milk Chocolate Bunny (hot-pepper egg ganache with hints of almond and brandy) while Pipkin is busy checking out the bon bon info from the box. Is eating a chocolate bunny a form of cannibalism?

Happy Valentine's Day

Nuzzle, nuzzle. Lotsa love from the labbits.

Labbits Like: Potato Parsnip Soup

The Labbits are lucky to have access to such wonderful local, organic produce from their CSA program through Deep Meadow Farm, in Westminster Vermont. Part of their fabulous 50 lb winter veggie bag included several varieties of potatoes and parsnips.  What better way to stay warm and cozy in winter but with a Potato Parsnip and Carrot Soup? Click here for a printable recipe.

Potato Parsnip and Carrot Soup

Ingredients:
6 cups of veggie broth
1 medium onion, chopped
1 or 2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
2 or 3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 cup ish of peeled, sliced parsnips
1 cup ish of peeled, sliced carrots (adjust ratio according to your tastes)
1 lb potatoes with skin, sliced (you can peel them if you like, but labbits like the nutrition in the skin)
2 tsp dill weed
2 tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
bit of ginger, peeled and sliced (can omit if you like, or use ground ginger)
S+P to taste
4 or 5 sprigs of spring onions, chopped

Instructions:
Put oil in a big pot and saute onions until translucent. Add in a little broth, the veggies and the herbs and saute for a few minutes. Add the veggie broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes and parsnips are tender.

Meat-eating labbit option: While simmering, cook up 6 slices of bacon on medium heat about 10 minutes or to desired crispiness. Drain on a paper towel. Chop into small pieces.

In small batches, puree the soup in a food processor, remembering to take out the bay leaf first!! Puree the entire soup, then serve, garnished with bacon and spring onions on top!

Serves: at least 4 labbits.

Captain Holly attends to the bacon. "Real labbits eat bacon. Smorked bacon."

Potato Parsnip and Carrot Soup, garnished with bacon and chives

Labbit vs. Labbit

Captain Holly, the Corpsman Labbit, takes on Pipkin in a game of Scrabble. "Ieeeeee" indeed. Pipkin's in trouble with this hand.

Literary Labbit

Labbit reads a cautionary tale from David Sedaris' Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk.

Well, What Have We Here?

Pipkin gets something special for Chinese New Year. Whatever it is, (obviously something from L.A. Burdick) he isn't keen on sharing.

For Me? You Shouldn't Have!

Pipkin got a present today, but he might need a little help opening it.

Snow Labbit

Although labbits are made for the snow, Pipkin likes to wear his toque so he stands out.

Raisins For Eyes

 Today, labbit made a snow labbit and used raisins for the eyes.

Labbits Like: Blueberry and Raspberry Grunt

Labbit's friend Matt, whipped up this wonderful Blueberry and Raspberry Grunt dish for Sunday-morning-after-the-storm brunch. Why is it called "Grunt"? We imagine it's because it's the happy sound you make when your face is buried in this dish. It was heavenly, and although the recipe below isn't Matt's (he omits the nutmeg, possibly omits the cinnamon, uses a sugar substitute and uses more fruit than is required, adding raspberries to this version, and he makes it vegan by using vegetable shortening instead of butter), it's a starting point if you want to make it yourself. The recipe is courtesy of The Farmhouse Inn in Canning, Nova Scotia, Canada. Click here for a printable version.

Blueberry Raspberry Grunt

Ingredients:
Sauce:
4 cups wild fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup water

Dumplings:
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp butter or shortening
milk

Garnish:
Whipped Cream (optional)

Instructions:
Heat berries, spices, sugar, lemon juice, and water in a skillet; boil gently until well blended and slightly cooked down. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Cut in butter and add enough milk to make a soft biscuit dough. Drop by spoonfuls into hot berry sauce. Cover tightly with a lid and SIMMER for 15 minutes (no peeking!) The dumplings should be puffed and well cooked through. Transfer cooked dumplings to serving dish. Ladle sauce over top; top with whipped cream.

Serves: 6 happy labbits

Catching Snowflakes On Your Tongue

Burlington, Vermont was hit with a wicked snow storm, the kind with big, fat, wet, heavy snowfall accompanied with lightning...and random snowball fights at the Church St. Marketplace. Labbit couldn't help but stick out his tongue to catch some snowflakes.

Labbits Like: Labbit Shaped Carrot Cake

Pipkin baked a carrot raisin cake spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and topped off with a orange zest cream cheese frosting (and raisins for eyes!). A couple friends from New Jersey moved to Burlington, VT this weekend, and since Matt likes carrot cake with cream cheese frosting...naturally Pipkin had to make a labbit shaped Year of the Labbit cake to welcome him!

Pipkin never uses walnuts because he's allergic to them, but feel free to add in a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and take out a 1/2 cup of the raisins, or 1/4 cup of the raisins and 1/4 of the carrots to compensate. Click here for a printable version of the recipe. Happy Year of the Labbit!

Labbit gathers his ingredients together.

Year of the Labbit Carrot Cake

Ingredients:
Carrot cake:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground sea salt
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large brown eggs
1 cup each of regular and golden raisins
1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots (3 or 4 carrots)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz low fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 unwaxed orange

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan, or use mini bundt pans, bread loaf pans or even line muffin tins and make muffins. Pipkin went with the baking pan so he could turn the cake into a labbit shape.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, beat brown sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs until well-combined.

Add egg mixture to flour mixture and mix well. Stir in raisins, and carrots (and chopped walnuts, if you choose). Mix until evenly distributed.

Pour into prepared pan and bake about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

Frosting:
Beat cream cheese and confectioner's sugar until smooth. Add in the orange zest and mix until evenly distributed. Spread on cooled cake.

Note: If your raisins seem dry, you can soak the raisins for 10-15 minutes in water or rum and drain before adding them to the batter

 Naturally, labbit selects only the best carrots for his carrot cake.

 The "Ferarri" is loaded up and ready to shred.

 The power!!

Good enough to swim in.

 With tooth and claw, labbit zests an orange.

 An outline of a labbit (a rather fat and bunchy labbit) is drawn on newsprint...

 ...then copied onto wax paper and transferred to the cake.

A labbit shape is cut out, and the fallout pieces are used to make up his ears.

Frosting covers the ear seams.