New Bunneh News

Pipkin hopes Domo will share The Pooh Bear (VT honey and cinnamon sugar) crepe with him at Skinny Pancake

You'll have to pardon the labbits' absence of late. The Chinese Year of the Labbit is over, but there have been many requests to continue the documentation of Pipkin and his friends' labbity adventures and for the labbits to keep posting recipes to nommy vegetarian dishes. Lately, the labbits have been terribly confused by the odd weather in southern VT. It's been unseasonably warm and the labbits are out playing but it's all very muddy and brown and not too picturesque. HOWEVER...

Exciting news! The labbits haven't traveled much lately, having hunkered down even for this mild past winter, but Clover is happy to announce she will soon be traveling south and enjoying some sand and sun and surf. She will likely take one of the munko whales along, since they are desperate for the ocean.

Pipkin will also be traveling to San Francisco soon. He's hoping to stop in on his vinyl cousins at Kidrobot San Francisco, and maybe, just maybe, he can meet his maker, Frank Kozik, or at least visit the studio. Paws and whiskers crossed! Pip's BFF Domo will of course be his chosen travel companion.

For now, the labbits (and Domo) are doing what they do best: fattening their bodies with delicious food, like crepes at Skinny Pancake. Domo is, of course, still hitting the caffeine pretty hard. There's just no stopping him.

This is how Domo likes his caffeine served up: in the biggest, baddest bowl available.

Too Cute To Eat

Pipkin never understood why some humans would eat cows and chickens and pigs but wouldn't eat animals that are deemed cute, like labbits and kittens. Not that he minds, he'd rather you didn't eat him. But one day he came upon this giant carrot and this humongous broccoli and thought that they were just too cute and plushie to eat. Never any harm in making new friends so...may as well join 'em. Who knew being in a cart full of carrots could be so cozy?

Labbit Travels: Ottawa, ON

Pipkin, on the advice of his mau5 friend Joel, went to visit Ottawa, ON in February, during their annual 3 week long winter festival Winterlude, or Bal de Neige. Apologies for the late post, but it took a while for these photos to develop. And by develop, Pipkin means finding the black cord thing that connects the camera to the computer to upload photos.

Not that there were many photos to develop. In fact, there were only two, and you're looking at them right now. Sadly, Vermont wasn't the only place to experience unseasonably warm weather. Even though Pipkin traveled farther north, it had been warm enough in Ottawa to melt all the ice sculptures and the Snowflake Kingdom. Even the famed Rideau Canal, with its promise of 17 km of uniterrupted skating, was sadly not frozen.

The best place to eat a Beavertail, a tasty fried puff pastry with lemon juice and cinnamon sugar, is right on the Rideau Canal after a day of skating. Unfortunately with the canal not being frozen and all, the hut had nothing to float on, so Pipkin had to settle for the Beavertails hut in the Byward Market.

Apparently every other tourist in town had the same thought and Pipkin had to stand in a long queue to get his own Beavertail. At least the crowd (and Pipkin's toque) kept Pipkin warm while he waited. And it's all worth it, because Beavertails are so, so tasty!

Mystery Guest!

Late this evening Clover heard a knock at the door. When she opened the door she only found this crate. It had some ominous warnings.

She couldn't understand why there'd be a warning to not feed the labbit. After all, what harm would come from feeding a sweet, innocent labbit? How could a little white labbit survive barred up in a crate without any food?

She quickly opened the box and heard shuffling in the darkest corners of the crate. "Little labbit," she asked.  "Won't you come out?"

Silence.

"I'll bring you a carrot," she offered. She hopped away and returned with a carrot, and suddenly there was movement. Then...

...a pile of bones and sneakered feet came tumbling out of the crate. And climbing over them came this furry green labbit! Apparently feeding him turns him from a cute, fluffy white labbit into this green, mischievous grinning labbit.

He even seems to have lost his charming moustache with his diet. Other than his hue, he looked to be in good health (fat and bunchy, as a bunny should be) and he did seem rather happy to be free from his crate.

In any case, Clover told the little green labbit that the color of his fur didn't matter to her or their warren, so she invited him to stay, and he said yes!

The labbits, of course, are eager to feed this little guy, but he better get rid of all those bones. Labbits are vegetarian!

Labbits Like: Date Squares

Mmmmm, date squares! Vanilla-y creamy dates sandwiched in an oatmeal multi grain crust. Yum. This makes about two dozen date square, perfect for bringing to a party or sell at a bake sale. Print and share the recipe here.

Date Square with 5 Grain Crust

Ingredients:
3 cups dried, pitted dates
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup Bob's Red Mill 5 Grain cereal
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation:

Place the dates and water in a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the dates are soft and have absorbed most of the water (about 5 - 10 minutes). 


Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Let cool to room temperature and then puree in your food processor until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter (or use a non stick cooking spray) an 8 x 11 inch (20 x 28 cm) or a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of your food processor, place the oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon. Pulse to combine. Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the base of the prepared pan. 

Spread the dates evenly over the oatmeal crust. Sprinkle the remaining dough evenly over the top of the dates. Bake for about 30 - 40 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool. Once the squares have cooled, cover the pan with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator at least one hour or until firm enough to cut easily into squares.

These will keep, covered, in the refrigerator up to a week.

Yields: 20 - 24 squares

Recipe: Adapted from Rose Carrarini, "Breakfast Lunch Tea"