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