Muskrat Stew a-Brew

The dogs had rustled up a fair sized muskrat outback the crick last week. But the buggers done hid it but good and wouldn’t let on where it was. They slipped up yesterday and I caught them both guilty, taking turns rolling in it full out in the barn yard with all the world watching. With the dogs all perfumed up and satisfied for a bit, I managed to trick them out of their catch by offering them up the swill pot from the kitchen clippings and left-overs.

Mister, I didn't realize it at the time, but the dogs had done a good thing by hidin' that old muskrat: they'd aged him just proper; he was real bloated, tender and swelled up just right for the cookin’. I had me a might bit of trouble rustlin’ up a muskrat sized pot for the cookin’ of it. We even went to the trouble of emptying out the crawdaddy traps down the same crick from where that muskrat come to add to the pot-had us a real seafood stew brewing! Goddamn but if that old Muskrat twernt just in the perfect tender state and did it ever make such a great tasting stew after-all. Some things, I guess, are better with a little age to 'em. I actually layed off on givin' the dogs their bedtime kick that night.