Katerine's attempt wasRe: SC - I CHALLENGE YOU...

[LrdRas@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/6/00 1:21:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
Black_Jade at bigpond.com writes:

<< I recommend a *REALLY* small knife.  Tanning the hide could be a problem,
 and I just don't know if it's feasible to have the head stuffed and mounted
 over the fireplace. >>

Knives are not involved at all.

Insects like lobster is best cooked alive or fresh frozen. Like seafood they 
deteriorate rapidly when dead so live cooking is best. Pre-chilling more 
active species is recommended. The cleaning procedure is not any more 
unappetizing than cleaning and butchering larger animals. But unlike those 
animals, you usually have to do it yourself.

Cleaning and preparation varies with insect species. For instance, mealworms 
are purged by some people although in reality there is little or no need for 
doing so since meal bran is a healthy food and that is what they eat. Purging 
is done by putting a piece of apple in the newspaper wrapping they arrive in. 
In a couple of days you will not have to worry about purging or the newspaper 
which by then is consumed.  This is NOT recommended because mealworms  can 
turn into cannibals and you risk  having your meal  eat itself. :-) Toss the 
worms in a colander to remove any debris. Dump onto wax paper so they can't 
crawl away too fast. Pick out and discard any dead worms. Any cast skins and 
other debris remaining. Rinse in a colander. Put in plastic ziploc bags and 
freeze.

Bees are the easiest to clean. Simply freeze them rinse in COLD water to 
avoid stings. Drain. Pour onto paper towels. pat dry. They are then ready for 
packaging and refreezing or for use in recipes 1 cp. of bees weighs about 1/5 
of a pound.

Bee brood is prepared by putting the comb into boiling water until the wax 
melts. The wax rises to the surface and the brood sinks to the bottom. Remove 
the wax and strain. Package for freezing or use immediately.

The above information was taken from 'Entertaining With Insects' as decried 
in a previous post with my additional preparation notes added.

Ras