My wife just found these 'got to be brave to fix' (not to mention, eat) recipes:

Yellowjacket Soup

Hunt for ground dwelling yellowjackets either in the early morning or late afternoon. Gather the whole comb, place the comb over a fire or on the stove with the right side up to loosen the grubs that are not covered. Remove all the uncovered grubs. Place the comb now over the fire (or stove) upside down until the paper like covering parches. Remove the comb from the heat, pick out the yellowjackets and place in the oven to brown. Make the soup by boiling the browned yellowjackets in a pot of water with salt and grease added if you like.

Parched Yellowjackets

Prepare the yellowjackets as for soup, but eat as soon as they are brown.

This is from Cherokee Cooklore, published by, Mary and Goingback Chiltoskey

If anyone's interested, we also have recipes for:

Locust Groundhog Grasshoppers Worms Crawdads, etc.......

-- BH (silentvoice@pobox.com), October 30, 1999

Answers

Yummm. See, there *are* advantages to being veggie!

-- Y2KGardener (gardens@bigisland.net), October 30, 1999.

How the hell do you get the comb, they have to be the nasty-ist bees on earth, next after perhaps that african group, and dont tell me you pull-out the little stingers before you eat them, because if you dont tell me that I wont believe you.

-- Les (yoyo@tolate.com), October 30, 1999.

um, wouldn't you get poisoned? this cannot be for real

-- tox (tox@tox.tox), October 30, 1999.

God, I hope things don't get this bad... And if they do I hope I don't have recipes. :)

-- Gia (laureltree7@hotmail.com), October 30, 1999.

Even better--fry maggots in light oil until crisp. Wonderful when salted. High protein, low fat!

-- (gummy@yummy.dummy), October 30, 1999.

Sorry folks this one is for real, yep my grandpa ate some strange things. Cherokee used what was on the land. FYI the authors of the cookbook are very respected elders. The husband is deceased but Mary is a wonderful person and has done much for the Cherokee nation.

-- angie (halfnhalf@nc.com), October 31, 1999.

Yellow jackets nest underground. You can't get to the comb without digging. Digging by the nest upsets them no end. Wake them up at night and they will make you ever so sorry you did that. Disturb the nest at any time of day and the same applies. Yellowjackets are wasps, not bees. A bee can only sting you once. A yellowjacket can sting you again and again.

Grasshoppers, crickets, and caterpillars are a whole lot easier to deal with.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), October 31, 1999.

I was thinking about the other Yellow Jackets, hehehehe. Dangerous to "cook", but sometimes they can "cook off" in a fire or a "hot" firearm!

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), October 31, 1999.

And you Yanks have the NERVE to criticize British food!

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 31, 1999.

Harvest earthworms from your compost pile. Yum. :-)

-- A (A@AisA.com), October 31, 1999.

A yellow jacket stung me on the arm the other day and my arm swelled up like a fat sausage. The doctor told me to take 3 (over the counter) Benadryl tabs and prepare to sleep, don't plan on driving etc. Next day the swelling was way down.

Wonder what I'd look like if the entire hive had gotten to me? Any way, what appeared to be a bear, dug up the nest and consumed the grubs.

Suggestion: Let the bears eat the grubs then you make soup out of the bear.

-- Mark Hillyard (foster@inreach.com), October 31, 1999.

BH:

I would be interestd in the recipies. Food is food. The email is real.

Don't laugh about it folks, it may be "famine food", but it is still food.

I've eaten (by choice, not dire necessity) ant larvae, termites and grasshoppers. All were good, termites and ants the best. Protein and fats are a critical "choke point" in emergencies.

-- mushroom (mushroom_bs_too_long@yahoo.com), October 31, 1999.

This thread made me think of the things "you really wish you didn't know".

Just read in a book that all animal eyes contain water and in emergencies you can suck the water out.

No way in hell!!

-- dakota (none@thistime.com), October 31, 1999.

I'd love any recipes you can pop me,my address is real.Survival has never been about being happy.In a survival situation,it's good to be an omnivore.eat everything!!

-- zoobie the nutbag (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), October 31, 1999.

Yellow jackets kill. They have quite effectively killed several people in Florida recently. They sting over and over again. News reports here have warned to be very careful not to disturb yellow jacket nests. Too many people have already died. You might have better luck risking eating that poisonous Japanese fish....

-- (normally@ease.notnow), October 31, 1999.

This thread beats the canibal thread! I'll eat grubs if well prepared to survive anytime. In fact I've been wanting to try one of those californian earthworm pizza's for a long time. It's a matter of self-growth, if some culture do eat insects (and find them delicious) they can't be bad for me either.

BH, perhaps you could post more such recipes here? This yellowjacket soup I'll pass, seems too much risks for me.

-- Chris (#$%^&@pond.com), October 31, 1999.

Didn't expect this thread to really go anywhere. For the few that requested more, I put this together. The YellowJacket recipe was quite novel, these are more or less a random selection from the book.

Again, these recipes are from: Cherokee Cooklore, published by, Mary and Goingback Chiltoskey

Hope the formatting comes out OK...

The first two recipes, the wife found somewhere, and have become regulars around here, really good.

DANDELIONS 1-Pick the opened yellow flowers, batter them and deep fry. Very close to fried mushrooms.

2-Pick the flowers before they open, saute in butter and garlic

VIOLET TEA Hand full of the flowers and leaves, our yard is full of these, Steep in a cup of water. Taste good and has medicinal value similiar to 'green tea'. Don't over do it, about 3 cups a day limit. We use it for general 'yucky' feeling, colds, etc.

YELLOWJACKET SOUP-S-Ka-V Oo-Ga-Ma ~ 7 i Hunt for ground-dwelling yellowjackets either in the early morning or in the late afternoon. Gather the whole comb. Place the comb over the fire or on the stove with the right side up to loosen the grubs that are not covered. Remove all the uncovered grubs. Place the comb now over the fire or on the stove upside down until the paper -like covering parches. Remove the comb from the heat, pick out the yellowjackets and place in the oven to brown. Make the soup by boiling the browned yellowjackets in a pot of water with salt and grease added if you like.

PARCHED YELLOWJACKETS Prepare the yellowjackets as for soup but eat as soon as they are brown.

LOCUST-V-L. i ~ Gather the locust (cicada) at night immediately after they have left their shells, wash and fry them in a small amount of grease. Eat these hot or cold. Be sure that you gather the locust before the sun hits them or they will not be good. If you gather them before they split out of their shells they only have to be peeled to be ready to wash and fry.

GROUNDHOG-.Ga-Na ~ 9 e Clean a nice fat groundhog and parboil until tender. Remove from the pot, sprinkle with salt and both black and red pepper and bake before the fire or in the oven until brown.

COON-Gy-LI E ~ Clean a coon, parboil in water with plenty of red pepper added. When tender remove from the pot and add salt and black pepper and bake brown

OPOSSUM~~Oa-~-T1 ~ Clean an opossum and parboil in plain water. Remove from pot and season with salt and pepper before browning. Most people can eat only a small amount of this because it is so greasy.

EGG SOUP-We-GI O~Ga-Ma ~ Y ~ Beat eggs- -chicken or bird- - slightly and pour into boiling water. Season this with salt and grease, meat if you have it. Serve the soup hot with mush.

CORNBREAD SOUP----S7~Lu Ga-Du Oo-Ga-Ma 4M 8$ ~ Slice cold cornbread as thin as possible. Toast both sides before the fire, drop the toasted pieces into boiling water and season with grease and meat if you have it.

MEAT SKIN SOUP Boil meat skins of any kind until they are done, bake or roast until they are brown. Put in water with a little salt and boil until you get a good flavor. Thicken with a little cornmeal, cook until cornmeal is done.

HONEY LOCUST DRINK Gather honey locust beans when they are ripe, strip them in half lengthwise, soak in hot (not boiling) water for a while, strain this through a cloth. Sweeten the strained juice and reheat or let get cold to drink.

OLD FIELD APRICOT DRINK-Oo-Wa-Ga ~ G ~ Gather ripe field apricots (the fruit of the Passion flower) pour hot water over them, squash out the pulp, strain this mixture through a cloth. Drink hot.

PEPPERMINT TEA Gather peppermint- -the kind that grows along the branches. Crush the leaves, pour boiling water over them and serve hot. May be sweetened if desired.

ARTICHOKE~v-G. ~ Gather artichokes, wash off dirt and eat raw with salt.

WATERCRESS Gather, wash, eat raw with salt or with hot grease poured over it.

RAMPS---Wa-S-DI G ~ Parboil young ramps. While they are parboiling fry some meat, put the ramps into the meat grease, add salt and fry until done.

CREASES Pick the plant when it is tender (it is tender most of the time), wash, boil and then fry in grease.

(I added ** These are Creasey Green, grows in your yard, we use them regularly on salads, tastes like raw spinach on salads. Careful if you spray for weeds.

SOCHANI-So-Cha-NI + ~ Pick plants while they are still young, parboil, wash, fry in grease.

WANEGIDUN~Wa~.~Gi~Dun G ~ YS Pick when tender, parboil, fry and serve with eggs and bread or just bread.

CORNMEAL GRAVY Put Some water, milk (if you have it), salt, red pepper in a skillet where meat has been cooked if you have meat, but if you ~ have meat just put it in a clean skillet. Add cornmeal and cook until the meal is done. Elat this by itself or with bread for breakfast or with vegetables if you have Some.

BAKED SQUIRREL Dress a freshly killed squirrel with his skin left on. To do this you singe the fur off in the fire and then scrub the skin with ashes out of the fire. Wash the squirrel good on the inside and the outside. Rub the squirrel in-side and outside with lard. Bake him before the fire or in the oven until he is well brown. Cut the squirrel up and put him in a pot, add a little water and cook until the meat is done. Add a little meal to thicken the gravy and cook until the meal is done.

-- BH (silentvoice@pobox.com), October 31, 1999.

Hey Bullwinkle, we gotta get our A**** up to the Yukon, QUICK!!!

-- spun@lright (mikeymac@uswest.net), October 31, 1999.

Clean an opossum? Dress a squirrel? Um...isn't that stuff illegal?

-- Casey DeFranco (caseyd@silcom.com), October 31, 1999.

Don't forget rosdkill.

-- (freelunch@truck.stop), October 31, 1999.

Casey: "Clean an opossum? Dress a squirrel? Um...isn't that stuff illegal?"

Naw. Only if they're under the age of consent.

McDonald's is sounding better all the time. But, if ya gotta, ya gotta.

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), October 31, 1999.

Tom: Not all yellow jackets nest underground. Used to have a condo of 'em in the poles of our clothesline when I was a kid. We never killed them...The trick was to ignore them, even when they buzzed you. Never show fear and they would leave you alone. If you ever swatted at one you'd have to give up all hope of being outdoors or hanging the rest of the laundry for the day...cause they would hunt you down! They would wait in clusters of three or four by the door you disappeared into.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), October 31, 1999.

Something makes me wonder if this isn't a "wintertime only" recipe. It would make sense that during the winter there would be few "worker bee" yellowjackets to defend the hive and this procedure could be done. And there would certainly be more grubs in the hive, waiting to hatch-out next spring.

But I certainly wouldn't want to consider this trick during warmer weather!

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), October 31, 1999.

You will be put on trial for Crimes Against Rodenthood!!!I will See you Burn!!!Long Live the Rodent Revolution!!!

-- The Squirrel King (StillNuts@upina.Tree), November 01, 1999.

What about "smoking" the yellowjackets, to calm them down? It works with honeybees.

The owner of the hives puts on protective clothing and starts a "smudge" (rotted wood burning slowly, producing a lot of smoke) and puts into a metal can (with pump mechanism). Owner then "smokes" the outside of the hive and then lifts individual screens & "smokes" them too. The "smoke" or smuding of the bees is supposed to make them non- aggressive and puts them to sleep.

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), November 01, 1999.