What's for dinner? Squirrel

NEW YORK - The New York Times writes about a growing delicacy in England: gray squirrels . Yum.

The trend for squirrel started anew (people have been eating on squirrel for many years, though the dish has never been very popular) with the "Save Our Squirrels" campaign. Patchwork Traditional Food Company started "Save a red, eat a gray!" to get Brits to help the iconic red squirrel by hunting and eating gray squirrels.

The trend has gained some momentum with TV chefs showing how to prepare squirrel dishes, local farmer's markets selling squirrel and restaurants offering squirrel dishes.

First-time cooks may find preparing squirrels to be a bit squeamish. NYT.com offers some tips , including buying frozen squirrel rather than heading out to hunt the little critters. Another tip if you're going to head out and bag your own squirrel - "make sure you have very good aim - squirrels must be shot in the head; a body shot renders them impossible to skin or eat" according to The Times.

Here are some cooking demonstrations from YouTube: Skillet Squirrel or Squirrel Melts (warning: this clip shows a mother and son shooting a squirrel).

And if you think squirrels are cute, friendly little animals, check out these photos of Kung Fu squirrels .