Comments by Bonnie (Dakona) Farner

I HAD to bookmark the page that tells about cooking with a rawhide bowl! It's THAT good. I still can't believe the details outlined in the research and the photos and instructions were great. I could've told you it wouldn't work over an open fire. I've done enough "primitive" and campfire cooking to know all about the process, which isn't easy to do at all. The right kind of hot rocks in the pot will work everytime especially if you have a lid for the pot. It takes hours to make a good stew using the hot rock method but it works just the same. We use venison tenderloins (cubed), WILD onions or ramps (a wild leak that tastes like garlic), ground nut, pinon nuts if we can get them or hickory nuts, wild sage (white), thistle hearts, sea salt, and cat tail tubers. Oh, and a little wood ashe for flavor. You just can't eat any better than that!

Eric,I don't mind you using my comments at all. Although I forgot one ingredient that I've used to thicken up the stew. I use powdered Sassafrass leaf (like what goes in file gumbo). I have sassafrass growing in my yard and it's easy to come by. After the stew's done (about 4-5 hours later) we wash it down with sassafrass tea sweetened with wild honey. I'm also a wildcrafter and my husband and I collect wild edible and medicinal herbs. We live in a little cabin in the mountains of SE Tenn and love it in the "slow lane". We have a travel trailer (modern junk) which we use to camp in now that our bones have gotten creaky and camped out in the woods for almost 6 months last year. We hunt and fish and basically "live off the land". It's our Cherokee heritage popping out I reckon. I've been cooking wild food for the last 9-10 years. I have some REAL good recipes if you'd like some "primitive" ones. Thanks for your response, Eric, and I still love your homepage!