A Bunny From Bunnings

If you live in the Antipodes, you will know about Bunnings, a huge DIY chain. Ten years ago, they made a failed attempt to rebrand the UK Homebase Stores as Bunnings . 

If you are in the UK have pre-schoolers in the family, you may have watched "Bluey and Bingo take a trip to Hammerbarn", where Hammerbarn is a DIY store in Brisbane Australia, based on a real Bunnings store. This excellent episode was pulled from Australian TV, after Bunnings started selling merchandise based on the episode! However, your UK 4 year old need not be deprived, as it is still available on iPlayer and YouTube. 
But although we no longer have Bunnings DIY here in England, we do have the Norfolk firm of Bunnings, an excellent fishmonger based a few miles south of our village. They supply fish, wild meat and game to a number of Norfolk Stores, they will deliver it to your door, or you can find the man-with-the-van at the market. Last Friday I stopped to buy kipper fillets for breakfast - just a little more expensive than the supermarkets, but infinitely more flavour.  And the guy had fresh rabbits for sale. Bob used to eat rabbit a lot in his youth - his Mum cooked it, and it was often served in his college dining room. It is not a meat I have often cooked. In the 80s my colleague raved about the frozen Chinese rabbit meat on sale in Sainsburys - but I did not want to eat something that had travelled halfway round the world. Bunnings rabbits are all local, from Norfolk. Mine cost £3.50, oven ready.

Bob deftly jointed it when I got home, and it went in the slow cooker with onions, carrots, and potatoes - plus salt, pepper, thyme and juniper berries - and some chicken stock. It was a delicious meal and served us for two days.

The first day we had toast, the second day some homegrown chard. The remainder was blitzed with the leftover stock to make a rich, thick soup which made four generous portions to eat with chunks of homemade bread. That's four meals, each for two, adding in cost of bread and veg, I reckon the total cost was about £6. 

I think that's pretty good value for money. 

And now you can enjoy Bluey as she visits the other Bunnings!