All posts by Michael Patrick McCarty

From Backyard To Table: Cookery & Culinary Preparations, The Backyard Pigeon

A Face Only a Mother Could Love…A Squab Is

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A young squab pigeon, sitting in a nest box.

 

A squab is an unfledged, immature pigeon.

Once easily found and gathered in the wildlands of times past, they have been a reliable source of animal protein throughout the course of human history. Pigeons were without a doubt the first domesticated poultry, preceding even the chicken, as is more commonly thought. Once domesticated, they became a favorite menu item for every culture and society throughout the world.

Most squab grown for commercial or backyard harvest weigh one pound or less, and present a perfect serving portion for one person. Since squab are harvested at 24-28 days old and hence have never flown, they are extremely tender when properly prepared.

A succulent, dark-meated bird, squab has a full-bodied flavor with an accent of the wild, without being too rich like a duck can sometimes be. Delicate and moist when cooked, it is considered a preeminent ingredient in cuisines as diverse as French, Moroccan, or Cantonese. They offer a taste and texture truly unlike any other bird.

A favorite of homesteaders and homegrown epicures, they can be easily raised and harvested, providing a welcome source of meat throughout the year.

Food Freedom!

Michael Patrick McCarty

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Also, please follow us at https://steemit.com/homesteading/@huntbook/a-face-only-a-mother-could-love-a-squab-is

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https://throughahunterseyes.com/

 

dimitrisvetsikas1969 / Pixabay
The Backyard Pigeon

Ode To The Pigeon

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Antique Painting of a Pigeon at a nest box by William Holman Hunt
A Marvelous Bird

 

I really can’t tell you exactly why, but pigeons have always fascinated me. Common may they be, but I never tire of watching them do their normal pigeon things. I love to see them on the wing, too.

Call me a pigeon fancier, I suppose. I raised them for several years, and one of the highlights of my day was always that first visit in the morning to feed them and to see how they fared through the night. They never failed to brighten my day.

I don’t have a flock right now, but I can tell you that there are some birds in my near future.

They seem such a necessary part of the backyard, or homestead, once you have experienced the joys of the pigeon.

Some insight into the nature of the bird can be gained by examining the definition and the origin of the word.

PIGEON

  1. Any of various birds of the widely distributed family Columbidae, characteristically having plump bodies, small heads, and short legs, especially the rock dove or any of its domesticated varieties.

Word Origins
early 13c., from O.Fr. pijon “young dove,” probably from V.L. *pibionem, dissimilation from L.L. pipionem “squab, young chirping bird” (3c.), acc. of L. pipio “chirping bird,” from pipire “to peep, chirp,” of imitative origin. Modern spelling is from later Fr. pigeon. Replaced culver (O.E. culufre, from V.L. *columbra, from L. columbula) and native dove.

If you have any doubt as to the character of the bird, I have always liked this excerpt that I found in “Home Cookbook Of Wild Meat and Game”, by Bradford Angier.

“The modern city pigeon is a descendant of the rock pigeon that in the Old World dwelled among the cliffs and crevices above the caves in which early man built his first fires. He has been with us since our emergence from the ice ages and has adapted as readily as ourselves to the artificial canyons of man’s first walled towns. He has known the Grecian palaces and the metropolises of Byzantium. His cold flat feet, adapted to high and precarious walking, have sauntered in the temples of vanished gods as readily as in Boston’s old North Station”.

Think about that, next time you contemplate a pigeon.

But then again, perhaps you already have…

Painting by William Holman Hunt

Please visit us at https://thebackyardprovider.com/
and follow me on steemit at https://steemit.com/@huntbook

Michael Patrick McCarty

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A Good Picture, Or Three, Mike's Road - Take The Other

Hold On, Hang On! Some Perspective On What It Means To Never Give Up!

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A Rocky Mountain Goat Clings Precariously to the side of a vertical mountain cliff, while searching for a mineral lick.
Hold On, Hang On! Some Perspective On What It Means To Never Give Up!

 

“Hold on to what is good, even if it’s a handful of earth. Hold on to what you believe, even if it’s a tree that stands by itself. Hold on to what you must do, even if it’s a long way from here. Hold on to your life, even if it’s easier to let go. Hold on to my hand, even if someday I’ll be gone away from you”.

— A Pueblo Indian Prayer

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As many of you know, a mountain goat can perform some miraculous feats while living their everyday lives in the extreme and mostly vertical world of their home habitats. For them, every step can require unwavering courage in the face of uncertainty and ultimate disaster.

Sometimes…that’s exactly what it feels like to be a seeker of truth, and a prepper…

Somehow, for better or worse, this photo looks much too much like the road I’m on…

You?
Michael Patrick McCarty
Mike's Road - Take The Other

Health Care, And The Altar of The Black Robe

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March 8, 2017

Obamacare is dead, dead, dead…almost!

 

What Lies Ahead

 

The Altar of The Black Robe…

By Michael Patrick McCarty

July 4, 2012

A lawyer I am not, but I do not require the skill of a legal sage to determine that the recent Obamacare decision has rocked the Tree of Liberty in this once great, united, United States of America. The so-called “Supreme Court” has delivered a devious blow, and I can feel the treacherous poison of that dastardly deed drill deep in her anchoring roots.

I have long since lost patience with all aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In fact, I’m angry, and I don’t like that. I’m even angrier because I know that I should not have to be angry. The “Act” was unconstitutional when it was rammed down our throats without our approval. It was unconstitutional when it was sent to the Supreme Court for consideration, and it’s still unconstitutional today, no matter what they say. Even I know that.

Obamacare was put into effect with blunt force trauma, like a doctor performing intricate brain surgery with a long-handled shovel and you could try here to get out this quickly. The procedure cracked the skull and killed the patient with the first big swing, as surely as a surgically placed bullet from the gun of a skilled assassin. In this case the assassin wore a black rope, and his gun was a black ink pen held behind a tall bench in the highest court of the land. Get More Information about gun usage as that can help you in not committing any of the crimes.

We may never know the true motivations of the man who ultimately decided the fate of Obamacare. That may be between him and whatever god and judgements he may suffer. We do know that it is a complete and utter sham, and not even a good one at that. It is a gift from the dark side, delivered in full sunlight by a new world order as old as time itself, with a mission to create chaos out of the natural order of all good things.

Countries, like men, are the products of countless decisions which impact the makeup of the collective body, and soul. The soul can grow angry, which can make the body very sick. It does not wish to muck about the putrid innards of an angry and rageful man. Nor does it wish to live within the confines of a country so tragically damaged, and fatally diseased.

My level of anger is indescribable. A bucket of cold water in the face of it would not blunt it. It burns as hot as the primordial ember of the first man, who left the trees in search of god and human destiny. That first spark has not gone out. Forever on It waits, to burn out the eternal sickness for once, and for all. It was created just for that. It is part of my soul, and of your’s, and it will burn even brighter long after the body is gone.

 

Time Will Be The Judge

Continue reading Health Care, And The Altar of The Black Robe →

Sacred Ways of Seeing

“Go Forward With Courage”

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Pocono Chief White Eagle Quote. Gull Flying into Fog
Gull Flying Into The Rising Mists

 

“When you are in doubt, be still, and wait; when doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage. So long as mists envelope you, be still; be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists — as it surely will. Then act with courage”.

 

Pocono Chief White Eagle

Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

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