The year 2012 was a year of cooking experiments. I decided I was going to cook every food I found intimidating. I can make rosemary bread in my sleep now. The sausage making is coming along. Then there was the oxtail. Yep, I never have to cook that again! Way too many other parts of the animal not so close to its pooper that I want to eat. Let’s not forget the poussin and squab. I wasn’t necessarily intimidated by these little ones, but I had never cooked either. They lay in my deep freeze for months just begging to be served up to someone deserving. Pank and I camped at Edgar Evans State Park in November after all the avid campers had closed shop for the fall. We practically had the park to ourselves and it was magical. The poussin and squab were brined in a coriander rich liquid for a day or so before they were laid on a bed of onions in a Lodge Dutch Oven carefully placed on our campfire. The coals must go on top and bottom or else you won’t get an evenly cooked bird. We sat in the most beautiful surroundings that late, fall afternoon picking at their tiny carcasses. The poussin is nothing more than a very young hen. She was our favorite. The squab? I’m not sure I will eat pigeon again. Of course, dark meat isn’t my favorite. My point to this story is try new things, as often as you can! Not only is it fun, but it creates a sense of accomplishment. Most experts in their field make mistakes daily. Sometimes those mistakes become beautiful masterpieces and others end up in the trash. What will be your next masterpiece?