Dear Families,
When you read this it will be too late for Thanksgiving menu plans but it is never too late to think about eating and eating kosher. Here is something I just had to pass on from www.thejewniverse.com — The Top 10 Surprisingly Kosher Animals — and Delicious Ways to Eat Them by Abby Sher:

• 10. Canada geese are the second-largest honking waterfowl in North America, and they often take over the cornfields and playgrounds. Yet these birds can be a backyard-to-table coup if you have the right ingredients. Canada goose in Sweet Chili Sauce may be just the delicacy for you.
• 9. Doves and pigeons (aka “squab”) are lean, plentiful dark meat birds, which you may see hanging out on electric lines or neighborhood trees.
• 8. While most flying insects are forbidden from consumption, Leviticus 11:21-22 specifies that locusts are available for chomping. Add a little flour and seasoning, fry them up, and you have a crunchy home-grown snack. (Just take off the heads first to avoid shrieking dinner guests.)
• 7. Often found off the coast of Florida with Bubbe and Zayde, the jewfish is from the grouper family and can grow up to 700 pounds. There are several theories about how it got its name and whether it’s derogatory toward Jews. But whatever you feel about its nomenclature, there’s no denying it makes a scrumptious coconut jewfish entrée.
• 6. And while you’re looking in the fish-with-scales family, the monkey-faced eel has been called “ugly as sin” with a somber face that looks out soulfully from the rocks of Monterey Bay, but it’s also very tasty in a fish gumbo with a side of kasha varnishkes.
• 5. And last but not least, the shibuta has made many appearances in the Talmud, and has a unique pork-like taste to it. According to ancient texts, a salted head of shibuta boiled in beer is not only delicious but can possibly cure jaundice.
• 4. OK’d by Leviticus, Deuteronomy and the Orthodox Union, bison are not only the national mammal of the United States, they also make a very lean, tender brisket roast.
• 3. As long as you’re in the market for cud-chewers with cloven hooves, there are also tasty recipe ideas for elk (chipotle chocolate chili!).
• 2. Bighorn sheep (stew!), or
• 1. Moose (meatballs!)

So now that you have a new list you can try to add a little something to your dinner table! Plus add a new website of interesting Jewish articles to your daily reading — thejewniverse.com is filled with lots of strange and interesting facts!
Shalom … from the Shabbat Lady,
Laura Seymour is director of Camping Services at the Aaron Family Jewish Community Center.