Tom, this is so interesting. Our early ancestors didnt have anything over you did they LOL..You have lived such a colorful life I just love reading your posts :) Thanks Cris Atwater CA On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 1:42 AM, Thomas E. Lassek <[email protected]>wrote: > 1. Sugar was extremely expensive for early Nebraska pioneers, so they > substituted what they could, when they could. A thrifty substitution came > from a common product all grew and used - the lowly corn cob. After the corn > {Maize} was eaten, the cobs (sometimes cut up and smashed) were boiled to > extract remaining sugars. Bigger operations cut up the stalk as well. After > 30 minutes or so boiling, the cobs and stalk pieces were removed and the > water continued to be boiled and tasted until a suitable "sugar water" was > obtained. Experience provided the boiling cutoff. > > 2. In early spring, a small wooden pipe was pounded into the South side of > Birch, and of course Maple trees. "Spring Tonic Water", about a gallon a day > was harvested from the Birch which was usually consumed as quickly as > possible while it is cold. Both Maple and Birch were boiled down towards a > strong sugar liquid, and there were some who kept both in this fashion to > pour over their food, pancakes and such. > > When in Alaska, I had several birch on my property and would always prepare > 3 of them for the tonic water which is truly magnificent. I used a 1/4 > copper pipe stub with a notch to hang an empty 1 gallon plastic milk jug > from. When the water stopped flowing, I removed the copper stub and filled > the hole with a piece of birch twig which I pounded in. By the end of > summer, the bark grew back to almost cover the hole. > > In the spring of one year, I tapped at least 10 Birch trees and decided to > make Birch Syrup. I can tell you that it takes a tremendous amount of tonic > water to produce only a small bottle of syrup, and it's not an economical > venture if you use anything other than wood to boil the big pot. It also > takes a tremendous amount of time to keep the process running smoothly, and > since I had to work at the time, I stopped it after one pint jar. > > I went to the dairy people in Fairbanks and bought new 1 gallon milk jugs > plus caps for 10 cents each, capped and sold them to the local "Trading > Post" near my home for $2.00 each, $20.00 a day, and he sold them for $4.00 > each. I greatly expanded the operation and made lots of nickels over a 4 > year period until everyone realized that they could get their own tonic > water for nothing. In the end all I had left was a box of 4 inch 1/4 inch > copper pipe pieces which I sold as salvage for 55 cents a pound. > > Tom > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Life may not be the party we hoped for.. But while we're here we might as well dance !