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Archiver > ILMASSAC > 2003-08 > 1059964514
From: Bill <>
Subject: [ILMASSAC] Little Egypt Heritage, 3 August 2003, Vol 2 #28
Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 22:35:14 -0400
Little Egypt Heritage Articles
Stories of Southern Illinois
(c) Bill Oliver
3 August 2003
Vol 2 Issue: #28
ISBN: pending
Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt,
When I walked into the Genealogy Office on Wednesday morning
last, my friend Gene, asked, "What happened to this week's
article?" I had to answer "fatigue". We had spent the
weekend in the Windy City, Chicago with three grands and one
daughter touring the Field Museum. The dino named "Sue" was
the big attraction, but we did lots of other things also.
When we returned home Sunday evening, there was a house full
of furniture to cram into the living/dining area so a new
carpet could be installed. Monday night the reverse moving
of furniture, by this time it was Wednesday already.
The article which follows was written in Chicago and would
have been ready to mail out if I had had the energy.
This week the catch word is "preservation" because the
family spent the weekend in Chicago Museums and Aquariums.
The main objective was to see and visit "Sue", the dinosaur
at the Chicago Field Museum. Museums preserve our history.
It was crowded, and it was hot, but seven year old grandson
spent several hours observing and departing his knowledge of
huge reptiles and Egyptology, as well as asking more
questions than Carter had "Little Liver Pills". My digital
camera took many pictures for him.
The word, preserve ... preservation, again allowed my mind
to wander, as I remembered the preserves my daughter gives
me each year to spread upon my morning toast. And, this
thought runs ramped exciting my taste buds. Now, I'm not a
King, by any stretch, and strawberry jam is favored over
orange marmalade, but I remember marmalade always being on
Grandma Lester's table.
Then, somewhere in the family there was apple jam, ...
apricot, blackberry, elderberry, cherry, blueberry,
gooseberry, elderberry, loganberry, and even ... grape
jams. Other jam delights were offered in the homes of
friends: passion fruit, and even fig jam. Oh, and I forgot
quince; and, wild plum from those that grew along the
country roadsides in Nuckolls county, Nebraska.
I don't wish to put down marmalade. In my seven decades
there has been offered and enjoyed such marmalades as
orange, grapefruit, tangerine, cumquat, and even lemon.
Golly, rhubarb suddenly popped into my mine, and I'm sure
there are others I'm forgetting, such as mincemeat.
This is opening Pandora's Box [E=MC squared]. Then there is
the family of picked foods. Besides picked beets, there
were pickled cucumbers, sweet and dill pickles, gherkins,
onions, cabbages, green tomatoes, mixed vegetables such as
cauliflower, beans, and carrots. In addition there were
pickled eggs, apples, orange slices, plums, pears and
peaches.
Golly, Molly, how could I forget raisins to spice up the
tastes?
My gastric juices flowing as they are reminds me that my
relatives would work all day and maybe several days doing
all this "preserving" for winter fare. Usually the Grandmas
and their daughters would gather and for the day hands and
tongues were extremely busy. As a boy I would hang around
closely ... not to listen to the chatter, but hoping for the
"taste testing" ... the sampling of the "goings-on".
Everyone of my Aunts and Great Aunts were great cooks.
These family gatherings not only created the preserves we
ate, they were the things that preserved the nuclear and
broader families. And, today in a few dishes that I've
learned to prepare I remind myself of these family
gatherings. However, as much and as hard as I've tried, I
cannot make the biscuits like they did. They were thick and
light, always served warm. They tell me that it was all in
the "lard". Well, I substitute Bisquick.
For one of our daughters who asked what "buckle" in
Blueberry Buckle meant: It is the "archaic" term used to
describe a crisp curl or ripples/crinkles in the top crisp
of the desert. Another way to imagine a crisp curl is to
think of bacon curling in a fry pan.
Well, the canning day was part of the life of our family.
Jars with rubber rings and glass lids and a spring clip to
hold the lid down were sterilized. There also were
lacquered metal discs or ceramic caps with screw bands to
secure the lids. These also had rubber rings to insure good
seals.
The glass jars had to be the type which could withstand
sterilization. I remember the large containers used to do
this and to give the preserves their final "water bath".
There had to be a mesh rack to spare hands from the boiling
water and to keep the jars off the bottom of the pan. Seems
I remember jar tongs to lift then in and out of the hot
water. A thermometer was needed to track the water
temperature. In town we used gas to heat the water, but if
we were in the country visiting Great Grandma Ames or one of
the Great Aunts, wood burning stoves were used for heating
the water.
e-la-di-e-das-di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da.
(May you walk in peace and harmony)
Wado,
Bill
-=-
Other sites worth visiting:
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html
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