Posted on 07/24/2009 3:37:21 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny
Weekly Roundup - Living On Nothing Edition Category: Roundups | Comments(15)
Did you hear about the guy that lives on nothing? No seriously, he lives on zero dollars a day. Meet Daniel Suelo, who lives in a cave outside Moab, Utah. Suelo has no mortgage, no car payment, no debt of any kind. He also has no home, no car, no television, and absolutely no “creature comforts.” But he does have a lot of creatures, as in the mice and bugs that scurry about the cave floor he’s called home for the last three years.
To us, Suelo probably sounds a little extreme. Actually, he probably sounds very extreme. After all, I suspect most of you reading this are doing so under the protection of some sort of man-made shelter, and with some amount of money on your person, and probably a few needs for money, too. And who doesn’t need money unless they have completely unplugged from the grid? Still, it’s an amusing story about a guy who rejects all forms of consumerism as we know it.
The Frugal Roundup
How to Brew Your Own Beer and Maybe Save Some Money. A fantastic introduction to home brewing, something I’ve never done myself, but always been interested in trying. (@Generation X Finance)
Contentment: A Great Financial Principle. If I had to name one required emotion for living a frugal lifestyle it would be contentment. Once you are content with your belongings and your lot in life you can ignore forces attempting to separate you from your money. (@Personal Finance by the Book)
Use Energy Star Appliances to Save On Utility Costs. I enjoyed this post because it included actual numbers, and actual total savings, from someone who upgraded to new, energy star appliances. (@The Digerati Life)
Over-Saving for Retirement? Is it possible to “over-save” for retirement? Yes, I think so. At some point I like the idea of putting some money aside in taxable investments outside of retirement funds, to be accessed prior to traditional retirement age. (@The Simple Dollar)
40 Things to Teach My Kids Before They Leave Home. A great list of both practical and philosophical lessons to teach your kids before they reach the age where they know everything. I think that now happens around 13 years-old. (@My Supercharged Life)
Index Fund Investing Overview. If you are looking for a place to invest with high diversification and relatively low fees (for broader index funds with low turnover), index funds are a great place to start. (@Money Smart Life)
5 Reasons To Line Dry Your Laundry. My wife and I may soon be installing a clothesline in our backyard. In many neighborhoods they are frowned upon - one of the reasons I don’t like living in a neighborhood. I digress. One of our neighbors recently put up a clothesline, and we might just follow his lead. (@Simple Mom)
A Few Others I Enjoyed
* 4 Quick Tips for Getting Out of a Rut * Young and Cash Rich * Embracing Simple Style * First Trading Experience With OptionsHouse * The Exponential Power of Delayed Consumption * How Much Emergency Fund is Enough? * 50 Questions that Will Free Your Mind * Save Money On Car Insurance
This page has several ideas for at home businesses, for crafts and quilts.
History of quilting during the depression, with several nice photos.
NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2010
Release # 10-240
Firm’s Recall Hotline: (888) 202-4320
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
HP Media Contact: (281) 514-6552
HP Expands Recall of Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
Name of Product: Lithium-Ion batteries used in Hewlett-Packard and Compaq notebook computers
Units: About 54,000 (70,000 units were previously recalled in May 2009)
Importer: Hewlett-Packard Co., of Palo Alto, Calif.
Hazard: The recalled lithium-ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers.
Incidents/Injuries: Since the May 2009 recall, HP has received 38 additional reports of batteries that overheated and ruptured resulting in 11 instances of minor personal injury and 31 instances of minor property damage.
Description: The recalled lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are used with various model series of HP and Compaq notebook computers. The chart below includes all notebook model numbers associated with batteries recalled to date. The computer model number is located at the top of the service label on the bottom of the notebook computer. Not all batteries matching the bar codes are being recalled.
Notebook Model and Number
Battery Bar Codes (^ in the code can be any letter or number)
HP Pavilion dv2000, dv2500, dv2700, dv6000, dv6500, dv6700, dx6000, dx6500, dx6700
62940^^AXV^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^, 65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^, 65035^^BGV^^^^
HP Pavilion dv9000, dv9500, dv9700
65033^^B7U^^^^, 65033^^B7V, 65033^^BGU^^^^
Compaq Presario A900 C700, F500, F700, V3000, V3500, V3700, V6000, V6500, V6700
62940^^AXV^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^, 65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^, 65035^^BGV^^^^
HP G6000, G7000
62940^^AXV^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^, 65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^, 65035^^BGV^^^^
HP Compaq 6510b, 6515b, 6710b, 6710s, 6715b, 6715s
65000^^B5V^^^^
HP Compaq 6720s
67059^^V8U^^^^, 67059^^V8V^^^^
Sold at: Computer and electronics stores nationwide, hp.com and hpshopping.com from August 2007 through July 2008 for between $500 and $3,000. The battery packs were also sold separately for between $100 and $160.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should immediately remove the batteries referenced above from their notebook computer and contact HP to determine if their battery is included in this recall (even if the battery was previously checked). Consumers with recalled batteries will receive a free replacement battery. After removing the recalled battery from their notebook computer, consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives. HP recommends that only batteries obtained from HP or an HP authorized reseller be used with HP notebook PCs.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, visit the HP Battery Replacement Program website at http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement or call (888) 202-4320 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.
To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including pictures of the recalled products, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10240.html
Voluntary Recall of HYLENEX Initiated
Fri, 21 May 2010 13:18:00 -0500
Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) announced today that a voluntary recall of all manufactured lots of HYLENEX recombinant (hyaluronidase human injection) has been initiated as a precautionary measure due to instances of particulate matter observed in a limited number of HYLENEX vials during routine stability testing. Baxter is working with the product’s NDA-holder, Halozyme Therapeutics, to investigate the root cause of the issue and appropriately address the situation.
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm213012.htm
May 20, 2010 4:00 A.M.
Melanie Phillips on a World Gone Mad
The British author on Princess Diana, Barack Obama, Israel, and pathological projection.
Melanie Phillips, the British journalist, is author of The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle over God, Truth, and Power. As the title suggests, the book covers a lot of ground. Phillips touches on much of it in an interview with National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez.
KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: What’s notable about the current “apparent mass departure from rationality”?
MELANIE PHILLIPS: What I have found so striking is that, in this supposed age of reason, there is such an implacable refusal, over a wide and disparate range of issues, to acknowledge the authority of factual evidence over opinion, or distinguish truth from propaganda and lies, or differentiate between justice and injustice, victim and victimizer. More than that, this phenomenon is confined to the supposed custodians of reason, the intelligentsia; and some of the most prominent of these often-militant “rationalists” propound assertions that are demonstrably irrational.
snip.
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NmJlYzJjOTIyMjk0YTZjYzE2ZDg0ZmM2ZDlmMDFhZmY=
>>>Reminds me of hubby’s foot pedal powered grindstone, inherited from my grandfather. He uses it frequently to sharpen things around here-axes, scythes, hoes etc.<<<
LOL - I almost addressed that to you too... You were on my mind as I wrote that, but sent it before I added your address...
I have seen foot powered grindstones that were way out of round even - and they still worked fine. The low speed seems to sharpen without affecting the temper of the steel very much. Most have a dribble can which can either be for water or oil as you grind. I have not seen modern gizmos that can put an edge on something like they can.
How is your gardening going? Finally put my tomatoes and peppers in today - I hope the weather is finally settling down, even though last night it was down to 43 degrees. I had held them as long as I could - most all are starting to bloom. 72 tomatoes and 18 peppers. The lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, onions and beets all loving the weather - corn is doing OK (planted a very early short season corn which tolerates cold better than most), but it would like some warmer weather, string beans and lima beans are up but they too are looking for some warmer weather. Still a bit cool for cantaloupe, watermelon, summer squash, cucumbers, etc.
Hope your weather is cooperating.
History of the printed tablecloth and other fabric items, interesting and tempting to start making them...
I see several subjects that interest me, dolls, quilts.......
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/fa75i.htm
VARIOUS VITTLES
by Nancy Honssinger
Harvest in the Ozarks brings not only grains and a bounty of home grown vegetables, but also a variety of delicious fruits. Two types of native wild fruits that have found their way into many Ozarks recipes are persimmons and pawpaws. Persimmons are a small, round, yellow-orange fruit. When they are soft a~ wrinkled and look to be spoiled, their flavor is at its best. Pawpaws, the fruit of another small tree native to the Ozarks, bears a greenish-brown fruit with a banana-like flavor. The pawpaw is not available everywhere, but grows in more temperate climates where its semitropical fruit can flourish. Both of these fruits are best picked late in the fall, preferable after a frost when they are at the peak of flavor.
The following recipes using persimmons and pawpaws are old family recipes from my grandmother, Mrs. Imo Honssinger, and close relatives Mrs. Eula Wilson, and Mrs. Ilene Brown.
PERSIMMON BREAD
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 cup persimmon puree
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
First, make a puree by rubbing persimmon through a sieve or through a food mill. Measure oil in mixing bowl, add sugar and mix well. Then add eggs, persimmon puree, spices sifted with flour and lastly the raisins. Turn into three or four oiled pans, filling each 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake 45 minutes at 350° or until bread tests done.
PERSIMMON CAKE
2 cups chopped nuts
2 cups persimmon pulp
2 Tbs. oil
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 cup milk
2 cups raisins
2 cups sugar
3 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
Mix nuts, raisins, persimmon pulp, sugar, and oil. Sift dry ingredients, add to creamed mixture. Bake in an angel food cake pan that has been greased and floured at 350° for 30 minutes or until done.
PERSIMMON BARS
1/2 cup butter or oleo
2 eggs
1 cup persimmon pulp
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 cup raisins
Mix well in order given and put in 9 x 12 inch greased pan for about 20 minutes or until done. When cooled, frost with Brown Butter Frosting.
FROSTING
Brown 1/4 cup butter in heavy sauce pan until amber colored. Beat in 2 cups sifted powered sugar, 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, .1/8 teaspoons salt and 2 to 3 tablespoons light cream. Blend throughly and spread on cooled bars.
[52]
Here are 2 variations of the popular Persimmon Pudding.
PERSIMMON PUDDING
1 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup persimmon pulp
2 Tbs. melted butter
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. soda
3/4 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 egg yolks beaten
1 cup chopped nuts
Combine and sift together all dry ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients, mix and pour into a baking dish. Bake at moderate temperature (350°) until done.
PERSIMMON PUDDING
1 pt. persimmon pulp
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 Tbs. butter
1 pt. buttermilk
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour
Mix buttermilk, pulp, sugar, egg, and butter. Add spices, soda, baking powder, sifted with flour. Pour into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch greased and floured pan. Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes. Serve with this sauce.
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. flour
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbs. butter
Pinch of salt
Mix in order and cook until clear.
Here is an unusual recipe for Pawpaw Jam.
PAWPAW JAM
Put 3 1/2 cups of pawpaw pulp and 1/2 cups of water in a large pan. Add juice of 1 lemon and 1 box of Surejell or Certo and bring to a boil. Then add 5 1/2 cups sugar and bring to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into sterilized glass jars. Cover with paraffin to seal. Serve with hot buttered biscuits for a real treat.
If you haven’t tried any squash recipes yet you’re in for a treat. Squash, unlike persimmons and paw paws, may be planted in your garden so you can be sure of having them ready for fall cooking. Squash can be fixed many flavorful ways to satisfy anyone’s taste.
SQUASH PIE
2 scant cups of well cooked squash
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sweet cream
2 egg yolks
Cook this together, then add 1/2
tsp. each of allspice, cinnamon, and lemon extract. Add a pinch of salt. Mix and pour in a pan lined with rich pastry. Bake 10 minutes. Put on egg whites which have been beaten and brown.
FRIED SQUASH
2 medium crooked neck squashes(2 lbs.)
1/3 cup French dressing
1 cup cracker meal
2 Tbs. water
1 egg salt and pepper.
Wash squash and cut into 1/4 inch crosswise slices. Marinate 1 hour in French dressing. Beat egg with water. Sprinkle squash slices generously with salt and pepper. Roll in cracker meal, then in beaten egg, and again in cracker meal. Fry slowly in a little fat until golden brown on both sides and tender. Serve with tomato sauce or condensed tomato soup.
HAPPY COOKING!
[53]
Copyright © 1981 BITTERSWEET, INC
MULES “THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD”
Researched by Mike Doolin, Larry Doyle, Vicki Bench and Terry Tyre
Photos by RobertMcKenzie, Stephen Ludwig, and Larry Doyle
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/fa75c.htm
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/wi75d.htm
[FOR YOUR HORSES]
OLD TIME CURES
Compiled by Kathy Hawk
In horse and buggy days horses were depended upon for transportation and many jobs around the farm. If the horse was sick, plowing and essential work could not get done. Therefore, their health was of vital concern. But times were rough and veterinarians were scarce. Farmers had to depend on their own remedies to cure their horse’s ailments, for even when a town happened to have a veterianarian, money was too tight and precious to spend on a horse when a home remedy would do. Many of these remedies are still used today.
An all-purpose ointment, called “White Liniment,” combines 1/4 pint salty meat grease, 1/2 pint turpentine, 1/2 pint kerosene, 1 pint vinegar, 1 pint apple cider, a handful of salt and three or four egg whites. This can be used on cuts, bruises and just about everything.
Kerosene or turpentine, two of the most widely used ingredients in home remedies for horses, are used by themselves on cuts. After using either one of these, put salty meat grease, another common remedy, on the wound to keep the hair around it from turning white.
Another remedy for cuts, especially those from metal, is to apply a mixture of ground golden seal root mixed with lard. The herb pulls out the pus and the lard keeps the wound soft.Pine tar is also good for cuts.
For swellings on the horse’s leg, mix into apple cider vinegar all the salt that will dissolve. Put this mixture on the swelled area. The salt draws out the water.
Another remedy for swelling is to make a wet, hot poultice of dried comfrey mixed with lard. Leave it on for an hour or two. Re-heat the poultice and re-apply. The swelling will soon disappear.
To keep flies away from horses before days of insect repellent, some soaked a rag with coal oil and attached it to the latch string that held the bridle on. Or tie a little bush there. The horse’s movements would swing the bush to scare away the flies.To treat a horse for distemper, burn old leather under his nose. This keeps his nose from clogging and prevents choking.
For heaves (or a cough) pull out the horse’s tongue and smear it with pine tar.
Fistula, a boil-like sore from an ill-fitting collar can ruin a horse. To cure this, put powdered alum on the sore area.
When worked hard, horses would get growths like corns on their hooves.
To rid the horse of these, lift up the hoof and pour spirits of turpentine in it. Then set the turpentine on fire. The heat will heal it and keep the hoof from getting so sore.
To relieve the horse of gas, make him jump logs. If he lies down he will likely die.
If a horse hurts his eye (like hitting a twig), throw table salt in it.
To stop the bleeding from a cut, make a mixture of turpentine and sugar and apply it to the cut.
We have given you these old-time cures for horses just as they were told to us, but like many veterinarians disagree on the worth of modern treatments, so do people disagree on the worth of the home remedies shared with us.
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Copyright © 1981 BITTERSWEET, INC.
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/wi75f.htm
CHRISTMAS GOOSE
Though geese were a common sight on many Ozark farms of the past, they were not used for food as much as for their feathers. It was for those Ozarkians of German descent to appreciate and include goose on their tables. Ella Hough said her mother, Louise Schneider, felt she had not adequately celebrated a holiday or birthday in their home if goose wasn’t the main dish. To keep a steady supply she raised geese every spring. In late fall she would pen them up to fatten on grain so that the first would be ready to dress out by the eleventh of November, Ella’s father’s birthday. When the weather got cold enough, her mother would dress out half a dozen or more geese to hang in the smoke house. Frozen they would keep for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other special occasions.
She prepared the meat in several ways. Sometimes she would slice the breast and fry it like Canadian bacon, boiling the bony parts for soup.
“The liver is nice. Nothing is as nice as goose liver fried in butter,” Ella said. But the most common way of preparing was baking.
And baking a goose is what Pearl Thelma Massey wanted to do for the big Christmas dinner she always has at her house for her husband’s family. Using her nephew’s farm raised goose, and following Ella’s directions for dressing and baking, she added her own years of experience in cooking fowls to serve her Christmas Goose.
[continues with photos and recipes.]
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/wi75g.htm
VARIOUS VITTLES
by Nancy Honssinger
The Ozark housewife’s kitchen would be bustling with activity during the exciting days just before Christmas. Besides preparing the various pies, puddings and cookies for Christmas festivities, there would always be a day set aside for candy making. The kitchen would be bright and alive with children’s laughter as they helped their mother make and sample different kinds of candy for the holidays. For years candy has been a favorite of young and old alike. Here are some recipes I hope will satisfy your sweet tooth.
The first two recipes were found in my grandfather’s old trunk. The rest were handwritten in my grandmother’s old cookbook.
CREAM CANDY
1 cup thick cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Butter the size of a walnut
Cook in a saucepan until the mixture will form a soft ball when dropped in cold water. Stir until cool, flavor to suit your taste.
KARO FUDGE
2 squares of chocolate
1/2 cup milk
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup Karo syrup
2 Tbs. butter
Vanilla
Grate chocolate and stir in milk. Add granulated sugar and Karo syrup. Put over fire and stir in butter when chocolate is melted. Cook slowly. Stir once in awhile. When mixture makes a soft ball in cold water it is done. Flavor with vanilla.
JANUARY THAW
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 cup nuts
Butter the size of a walnut
Put sugar and milk in a saucepan and let it dissolve slowly. Add butter and let boil until it forms a ball when dropped in cold water. Remove from stove and add the chopped nuts and beat well. Pour into a buttered pan and when cooled cut into squares.
PEANUT BRITTLE
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. butter
1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
Put sugar in iron saucepan and let it melt over a moderately hot fire. Add the butter and nuts and immediately pour into a well greased pan. Mark into squares when sufficiently cooled.
MEXICAN CREAM CANDY
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup milk
1 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Nuts
Carmelize 1 cup sugar, stir, add rest of sugar and milk. The carmelized sugar will harden (must be cooked very slowly and stirred to dissolve). Cook until it forms a soft ball, add butter, vanilla and beat. Add nut meats before pouring into pan.
DIVINITY
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup corn syrup 2 egg whites Vanilla
Cook sugar, water and syrup until it forms a soft ball in cold water. Pour half the cooked syrup over the egg whites and beat. Cook the rest of the syrup until it forms a hard ball in cold water. Pour over egg whites and beat then add vanilla.
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Copyright © 1981 BITTERSWEET, INC.
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/wi75j.htm
How to make White Oak baskets, photos and instructions, for cutting the oaks to splitting them and making your basket.
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp76k.htm
Volume III, No. 3, Spring 1976
WILD GREENS
Values of the Roadside
Drawings by Nancy Honssinger
During the first warm days of very early spring, before canning became widespread in the Ozarks, people anxiously combed the fields and streams looking for the first signs of wild greens. After a long winter of their monotonous diet of salt pork, stored potatoes and corn bread, they were very hungry for something fresh. Long before garden lettuce and onions were ready, cow parsley and poke gave a delicious and nutritious change in their menu, as well as serving as a sort of internal spring cleaning agent whether used cooked or in fresh salads.
Chickweed Stellaris media
Wild greens have always been plentiful even in the most remote places. This wild food, besides being nourishing and good tasting, is a food that is completely wasted unless picked. Its harvest does not diminish anything, because proper picking insures that the greens will come right back.
Henbit Lamium amplexicaule
This excellent way to get an extra dish for the table has been almost forgotten in recent years as the knowledge of what to pick and where to pick it has been put on the back shelf. Since it has been easier to run to the store, open a can or take something out of the freezer, not many people take the time anymore to tramp the byways to discover the pleasure of finding little bits of shawnee peeking out of the earth or even recognize the value of the dandelion right in their front lawns.
Yet a few people like Ellen Gibson and Imo Honssinger still believe in the old-time goodness of a mess of greens. They faithfully roam the countryside in the heart of the green season from early spring until mid-summer, looking for a treasured bunch of black leaf lady thumb or a gurgling spring brimming with water cress.
They take their finds home to fix a mess to eat, and if there’s enough left over, maybe can or freeze some for use during winter months when the varieties die down.
The early pioneers turned to the Indians who taught them about greens. This knowledge, added to and handed down, is preserved for today’s amateur to know the good greens from the bad. For instance, the experienced greens pickers know that polk is best picked when it is young and tender, for when it gets good sized and forms a berry, some parts are poisonous, and they know that if it is not picked early, wintercress soon becomes bitter. Many of the plants seen every day could be eaten, but this does not mean to go out and sample something just because it looks good. One must first learn which greens can be picked and which to leave alone, learn when to pick and what parts of the plant are edible.
Though we are writing mostly about the green or leafy portion of the plant, other parts are edible, like the seeds of shepherd’s purse and lamb’s quarter, the stalks of polk and purslane, the roots of clover and chickery, and even the flowers of plants like violets and bluebells.
There are two main classes of greens, those that grow near rivers and streams or on marshy land, then others that grow in fields, pastures, gardens and roadsides. Some of these greens can be found in both types of environments.
[52]
The first section contains the river greens and those that grow near the river.
Watercress Nasturtium officinale
WATERCRESS
Watercress, a member of the mustard family, is one of the most familiar river greens. Many a weary hiker, coming upon a clear running spring filled with tangy watercress, has plucked a handful of the tender leaves to make a tasty sandwich. The growing season for watercress usually lasts from May to October, but if warm weather prevails, it may begin to come in as early as February. Watercress ranges from four to eight inches in height, and grows in mats on the top of the water, its roots reaching down through the water. Besides its snappy flavor which tastes somewhat like a radish, the watercress also contains many important vitamins. In picking this plant take only the leaf and tender stems. Never pull up the whole plant because this can destroy the root system. Mid-spring is the best time to pick this green when its flavor is at its peak. Caution should be taken to pick only the watercress that is growing in a continuously running stream where there is no danger of pollution. Watercress is identified by its smooth shiny leaves, long slender stems and small white flowers. If carefully transplanted in dirt and watered frequently, watercress can be grown as a winter crop, assuring crispness for salads all year long.
Wintercress Barbarea vulgais
WINTERCRESS
Another member of the cress family is wintercress. It can be found from April to June and unlike watercress, wintercress grows in fields or in moist places near streams. This is probably the first of the yellow mustards to bloom. The stem is smooth and the leaves are toothed and deeply incised at their bases. The lower leaves are stalked and larger than the small ones that grow up and down the stem. Those along the upper stem are stalk less and have clasping bases. The bright yellow flowers are dense and cylindrical. Most wintercress blooms from April to June and possibly later. But early cress appears before this. Early cress has more deeply lobed leaves than wintercress and has sharp four-sided pods. Wintercress is full of vitamins, and although it is kin to mustard, it lacks the pungent mustard taste. Wintercress is best after the last frost of spring. Pick the small leaves just after the plant has come up, because the cress becomes bitter early. After cooking this green for a dish, some people like to drink the juice that cooks out of the plant leaves. This is sometimes called pot liquor.
BLACK LEAF LADY THUMB
If you are a novice at picking greens, there is one green you could be certain to identify with no trouble at all—black leaf lady thumb. This riverbank green is not only unmistakable but also plentiful and delicious. Its unusual leaf is about one and a half inches wide and comes to a point at the end. A shadow of an arrow is found in the center of the leaf. When cooked both the stem and the leaves can be used.
COW PARSLEY
Found in early February if the weather is warm is cow parsley. Cow parsley is a long lobed plant looking like a close relative of the watercress. It can be picked until the first of May or until the stalk becomes milky looking. The stems and leaves are good greens and can be picked until they begin to become coarse. Cow parsley is usually found near the river in in marshy locations.
[53]
Curly dock Rumex crispus
DOCK
The dock family is one of the most popular families of greens in the Ozarks. Narrow leaf dock (curly dock) and broad-leaf dock (sour dock) are two favorites. Dock can be found not only on riverbanks, but some of the best bunches are found in ash piles, along roadsides and in other waste places. To be at their tenderest the young leaves should be used when they are a foot or less in length. Tender dock tips are tasty boiled and served like spinach. In fact, many Ozarkers prefer dock to spinach because of its superior taste and greater vitamin content. Sour dock adds a lot of flavor to a mess of mixed greens. Curly dock can be found blooming from June to August. The plant grows almost anywhere and ranges from one to four feet tall. The leaves have curly, crinkly edges. Dock was one of the many native plants used for medicinal purposes. Cleaning the liver was its main value.
Wild lettuce Lactuea canadensis
WILD LETTUCEA
Member of the daisy family, wild lettuce is known for its unusual height which can range from one to eight feet. Wild lettuce can be found growing in meadows, open woods and moist thickets along rivers. Its leaves are blue-green and lobed. The stems are tall—four to nine inches. The smooth leaves may grow from six inches to a foot in length.
The top of the leaf is dark green and the underside is a pale green. The flowers are pale yellow and grow in clusters but are quite insignificant because the unusual height is the most obvious factor. Wild lettuce forms feathery seed clusters during the fruiting season. The leaves are good as a green and in salads.
Chickweed Stellaria media
CHICKWEED
Chickweed is a common pest that has probably at one time or another taken over your yard. There are two types of chickweed—mouse-eared chickweed reaches a height of between one and thirteen inches. Giant chickweed reaches heights from two to twenty-four inches. Both varieties grow from May to October in sun or shade and in lawns, pastures, woods and wet to damp disturbed ground. The small variety of chickweed has small weak, fine hairy stems. On each side of the stem are pairs of elliptic or oblong leaves that are from one-half to two inches long and are pointed on both ends. The small white flowers have deeply notched petals that make a ray-like formation. The leaves and stems can be boiled to make a tasty dish. Chickweed is good mixed with a mess of different greens.
Violet Viola sororia
VIOLETS
Sure to be found growing in small beds near springs or rivers is the vitamin-rich plant, the violet. Violet blossoms range in color, but the blue is the richest in needed vitamins. These small fragile flowers can be found all summer long. Although the flowers are good to eat, most people do not use them in their greens because of their appearance when cooked. The tender leaves and roots, however, can be used as a green. As with all plants, the new tender leaves are the best to use. The root tastes surprisingly like hickory nuts.
[54]
Bluebell Mertensia virginica
BLUEBELL
Another flower used in greens is the bluebell, which grows in moist rich bottom lands. It has a smooth erect stem one to two feet tall and large floppy leaves. The flowers are pink when opening and later blue or lavender. Like the violet the flower can be cooked but is not pretty in the greens. The tender leaves and stems can be used in greens. Both the bluebell and the violet are two of the richest sources of vitamins.
Wild onion Allium species
WILD ONION
The pungent smell of the wild onion seems to fill meadows, thickets and moist wooded slopes near the river during the summer months. Wild onion is easily recognized not only by its smell but by its sharp slender leaves and pale yellow flowers. Its soft grass like leaves are usually shorter than the stem. The bulbs, one of the most important parts of the plant, are small and in short supply. Sweet and palatable, they are an excellent seasoning for a mess of greens. The bulb for cooking is found in the late autumn or early spring.
The next section of greens are those that are located in pastures, fields and along roadsides.
Dandelion Taraxacum officinale
DANDELION
Though many people regard the dandelion as just another pesky weed that takes over yards and gardens, the dandelion is a useful plant. Besides being used to make dandelion wine, it is also a tender green that can be used almost all year round. The dandelion can range from one to twelve inches in height. It grows from April to November on a short stem with large basal leaves that are deeply lobed or saw-toothed. The bright yellow heads of the flowers are about one and a half inches across. The early spring dandelion is the best to pick for a mess of greens, although some of the fall dandelions can be just as tender and good in salads. The leaves of the dandelions that grow in lawns have a stronger flavor than those growing wild. This can be remedied by cooking in several waters. Besides being used as a green, the young sprouts can be used as a potherb, and its dried roots are used as a substitute for coffee. The flowers can be cooked just as the violet and bluebell but are not pretty in a dish of greens. The buds make a dish of their own. Ellen Gibson describes the taste as being quite similar to brussel sprouts. Dandelions grown in the basement during the winter will produce fresh crisp leaves for salads until spring.
Chickory Chicorium intybus
CHICKORY
Chickory, a pretty roadside weed, is not often thought of as a useful plant, but the fried roots of the chickory are used in coffee, and greens can be prepared from the tenderest succulent growth. It is commonly found in fields and along roadsides. It is an erect plant often reaching more than three feet in height and on its upright rigid branches are bright blue flowers. The flowering season lasts from May to October. The lower leaves of this plant are three to six inches long and vary from toothed to lobed, tapering to the long stalks. Those upward along the stem have clasping bases. Some varieties are cultivated either as a leafy green or for the valuable roots.
[55]
Poke Phytolacca americana
POKE
When it comes to trying to pick the most widely known and picked green, it seems poke is the unanimous winner. Otherwise known as pigeonberry, pokeberry or inkberry, poke is a tall branching perennial herb with greenish white flowers and juicy deep purple berries. The plant flourishes in wastelands, roadsides and along fence rows. The stem growing from four to twenty feet high is reddish purple and sturdy. The roots are poisonous to man as are the berries, a favorite of birds. The broad leaves reaching from five to ten inches are scattered along the stem and branches. The leaves may become mottled by a virus carried by insects. In this case the plant must then be cut off below ground level to kill it. The young shoots and tender leaves may be used as greens and can be prepared like asparagus. When picking, choose only the freshest tenderest leaves of the new growth. Be careful when picking after a frost to be sure the leaves haven’t been ruined by the cold. Usually after a frost new pink stems and light green leaves will appear. Feel safe to pick these for they will be undamaged. The freshly growing roots can be dug up, covered with dirt, watered and kept in a warm cellar as a source of new young sprouts throughout the winter. This green can be frozen successfully.
Shepherd’s purse Capsella Bursapastoris
SHEPHERD’S PURSE
One of the most common wayside weeds is shepherd’s purse which grows almost everywhere and with such persistency that it has earned the nickname pickpocket. Its title arose from its small seed pods that were said to resemble small change purses. Shepherd’s purse found in fields, along roadsides and near rivers, blooms from about April to August, and grows from four to twenty-four inches tall. The leaves on the stem are arrow shaped, while those near the root are clustered, incised and toothed. The tender leaves may be used in a mess of greens and the seeds may be used to season soup and other dishes.
Wild Mustard Brassica species
WILD MUSTARD
Another quite popular and bountiful green is the wild mustard. The large, thick and toothed leaves are a deep green in shade. The greens may be harvested when tender. If the leaves are not harvested, the plant stalk becomes strong and unfit to eat. The flowers are bright yellow and grow in clusters. This plant springs up anywhere and grows from spring to late summer.
Red clover Trifolium pratense
RED CLOVER
Red clover which grows from eight inches high and is found in open fields, meadows and lawns can be used in a dish. The tender tooth-edged leaflets are good food used in greens. If you wish, you can also eat the roots and the globular flower heads made up of many flowerets.
Lamb’s Quarter Chenopodium album
LAMB’S QUARTER
One of the most frequently found greens in the garden is lamb’s quarter which appears about when your garden does but has more food value than garden lettuce. All of the tender plant is used for greens. Nicknames for this plant include pigweed and goosefoot.
The seeds may become a nuisance to the farmer if they become mixed with grain seeds, but the seeds are also put to practical use in pancakes.
[56]
Purslane Portulaca oleracea
PURSLANE
Purslane is another often ignored plant. Its reddish purple stem and small fat leaves are familiar to anyone with a garden. The young leaves and stems when cooked make a far better dish than garden spinach. Sometimes called pigweed parsley, this green cooks down rapidly and requires a good mess of other greens to mix with it. After a summer rain, purslane can be found popping up everywhere. The thick fleshy leaves and stems are easy to find. The leaves can also be used raw in a salad and the succulent stems make a good dill pickle. Purslane is a truly versatile plant.
SWISS CHARD
Related to the spinach family is swiss chard, a common garden plant that grows all through the summer. The seeds are sown in the spring. Chard has small woody roots that cannot be eaten. It has large fleshy leaf stems and the large outer green leaves which are harvested as soon as they appear. Later the inner leaves are used. Some varieties have pale yellow leaves. The harvest can continue until frost kills the plant. Chard is an excellent source of vitamins A, B and C.
Garden sorrel Oxalis stricta
GARDEN SORREL
As the garden begins to grow, garden sorrel begins to appear. The leaves have an arrow shaped leaf within itself and are good used with other greens.
SHAWNEE
Shawnee is a very nourishing plant. It cannot be picked when you first begin to pick greens, but comes in later. It cannot be used when the stem becomes milky. It makes an excellent green to mix with others.
Although these are by no means all of the greens that can be found, these are some widely used regional favorites. So sometime when you’re driving home along a country road, hiking in the woods or walking along the riverbank, see if you can spot any of these greens. If you are lucky enough to find some, gather yourself a mess and have a delicious vitamin-filled supper.
[57]
Copyright © 1981 BITTERSWEET, INC.
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp76l.htm
Volume III, No. 3, Spring 1976
Greens Gathering through Generations
by Loma L. Paulson
Greens-gathering, while still enjoyed in the Ozarks, was almost a ritual for my grandparents at the turn of the century. Standing in the log cabin door, Grandfather used to say, “Hear that old bullfrog? There should be sticky thistle growing in the fence rows.”
It was then that the winter sun rays were lengthening, and the lingering snow was melting on the Ozark hills to join the spring stream, where all winter long brown oak leaves were huddled. Now the over-flowing spring sent them gliding away like gondolas. Clusters of watercress, bleached by the covering leaves, quickly started greening up.
Sticky thistle was the first cooking green of spring, and the gathering belonged to Grandfather. Although the season for this particular green was short, he never missed the timing. With a homemade basket and a sharp knife Grandfather followed the rail fence rows in quest of his favorite green.
Grandmother, knowing there would be greens for supper, put a piece of hog jaw to boil, and waited Grandfather’s return. When the basket of greens arrived, she picked them over, and washed them many times in cold water before cooking. She lifted the pork, juicy and tender by this time, out of the broth and put it aside “to set.”
Into the boiling liquid, Grandmother dropped the crisp greens by the handful. The “stickers,” as the tiny white briars were called, disappeared as the greens simmered and stewed on the shiny, black wood stove. And, in the red hot oven, cornpone baked—each little pone bearing the imprint of Grandmother’s fingers.
When all was ready Grandmother drained the greens, mixed in little cubes of the white, fat pork and heaped them into a large bowl.
As everyone enjoyed the greens Grandfather told of what he had seen, “Oaks budding pink, the creek brim full, red cedars turning green and squirrels hopping like popcorn in a hot skillet.”
Grandfather had met spring in the Ozark hills. Most small girls learned to gather greens, and since Mother was busy with little brother and baby sister, it fell to Grandmother to teach me to discern the good, the “just no good,” and the poison greens.
As the days were growing longer and warmer, Grandmother and I set out to find more of the “green sass.” First, we brought home snappy wild lettuce and juicy wild onions. The lettuce was best when wilted with hot bacon fat and vinegar, and “just a mite of sugar,” as Grandmother said. Cleaned and placed in cold water to crispen, the onions looked like small knitting needles. But no one complained of the task of cleaning them so hungry were we all for something fresh and green.
Spring brought many responsibilities, but none concerned Grandmother more than the well being of her little yellow-headed granddaughter always tagging at her heels. Looking at my sun flushed face she’d say, “Not becoming for a lady to be sunburnt and freckled. Fetch me that scrap basket and I’ll make a calico bonnet.”
Starched and airy, this little bonnet with a long tail to cover my neck and wide strings to tie under my chin, certainly defied the Ozark sun. Grandmother also fashioned little mitts from the tops of my worn out, black ribbed stockings. While protecting my hands from sunburn and bramble scratches, the mitts were also hot.
“A little sweating will not hurt anybody,” Grandmother often said. So I consoled myself with the thought that sweating would whiten my hands, and I was that much nearer to becoming a lady.
As spring progressed Grandmother mixed and cooked the young plantin, dandelion, poke, slick thistle, square stem and three kinds of dock. Mixing the greens was most important. She added the curley leaf and the sour narrow leaf docks in good accounts. However, because of its laxative properties, she added the broad-leaf dock with caution.
Wild flowers grew everywhere and were much more to my fancy than assorted greens. Grandmother didn’t hold to picking wild flowers. Nor did she ever gather the marigolds, touch-me-nots and poppies that marched in long rows across her garden. With gentle admonition for my fervor in gathering wild flowers, she finally gave me permission—providing I didn’t disturb the roots.
Late spring gave us lamb’s quarters, wild mustard, sharp tongue grass, wild sage and shepherd’s spray. And, along the creek bank crow’s foot and colt’s foot grew in abundance.
The month of May brought an abundance of sheep sorrel. These little sour, clover-like leaves mixed with wild strawberries made excellent tarts or jam, thus putting greens in the desert class.
Another delightful part of greens-gathering was the awareness of wakening life. The hills and valleys came alive with a moving population—flying bugs and butterflies, hopping frogs, nesting birds, creeping lizards and terrapins.
Each year from the sun-lit valleys and over the hills, spring comes, bringing new life to the Ozark hills in the same way as in Grandfather’s day.
Flowers bloom in profusion of color. And, the same tender, edible greens are there for the taking.
As Grandfather said, “There’s a lot to learn about Almighty God when it’s a-coming spring.”
[58]
Copyright © 1981 BITTERSWEET, INC.
VARIOUS VITTLES
by Nancy Honssinger
Fresh greens can be served in almost any way you want to prepare them whether it be with hard boiled eggs, bacon, beans and cornbread, or other foods. Experience is the best teacher when it comes to mixing greens. Depending on your taste almost any greens are good mixed together. River and upland greens can be mixed together or those that are growing at the same time are good together. Garden sorrel and sour dock, lamb’s quarter and chard, poke and cow parsley are examples of greens that can be mixed.
PREPARING GREENS
Most Ozark cooks prepare their greens by this simple method. Rinse freshly picked greens in several different waters, lifting them out carefully each time to avoid bruising them. Then select the tenderest undamaged leaves and drop them into boiling water. To remove the bitter taste you can boil greens in three different waters, lifting them out each time before adding fresh water. Or you can cook the greens until tender in one salted water in order to retain more vitamin A and C. Stir once in awhile to keep them from packing together.
WILTED DANDELION SALAD
Gather a quantity of dandelion leaves, wash and let soak on a paper towel. Then soak for a few hours in salt water to remove bitter taste. Put in a skillet containing hot ham or bacon fat. Stir the leaves briskly. When they are barely wilted, season with salt and pepper. Serve when leaves are completely wilted.
Also to remove the bitter flavor of the dandelion cover the leaves with boiling water instead of bringing to a boil in cold water.
DANDELION WITH BACON DRESSING
Wash the tender new leaves of the dandelion and then cut the leaves across into several bite sized pieces. Place in a bowl and add a pinch of sugar, salt and a little chopped onion. Cut some bacon into small pieces and brown in a frying pan. When crisp you may, if you wish, add vinegar to the fat (twice as much as there is fat.) When this boils up then pour over the leaves and stir. Garnish with bacon. A combination of greens can be used in this dish.
DANDELION BUDS
Gather a mess of dandelion buds. Rinse thoroughly and cook in a small amount of water until tender. Butter, then serve.
PURSLANE
Prepare diced strips of cold pork, partially fry, then add a mess of purslane and cook. Serve with butter, salt, and pepper.
POKE SHOOTS
Gather the tender young shoots of pokeweed when they reach from four to six inches in length. Pick the leaves from the stalk, wash, and boil in two waters. On the second boiling cook until tender and serve with butter and seasoning in the manner you would fix asparagus.
Although greens can be eaten during their growing season, many people also enjoy greens later in the year, whether it be for use as a laxative or just for good eating. Canning and freezing are two ways to keep greens fresh for use all year around.
CANNING GREENS
Wash tender, freshly picked greens through three or four waters adding salt to the last one. Steam or par boil about ten minutes until wilted then dip out of the water and put hot in jars, covering with boiling water to 1/2 inch from the top. Put one level teaspoon of salt in each quart jar. Wipe off the top of the jar and adjust lids, tighten canning lids then turn back one turn, just enough to loosen it a little. Then boil three hours in a water bath or in a pressure cooker at 10 pounds pressure, quarts for 70 minutes and pints for 60 minutes. Remove from canning bath, tighten the lid and let cool. Tame and wild greens are good canned together such as mustard, swiss chard, lamb’s quarter, narrow dock, and poke.
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FREEZING GREENS
Rinse the freshly picked greens thoroughly in several waters to remove all dirt, checking carefully for any damage to the leaves. Select only the best. Blanch greens in boiling water for two minutes. Drain and cool quickly in cold water before packing in plastic bags and sealing. Freeze immediately. Frozen greens can be kept several months. To prepare put the frozen greens into a small amount of boiling salted water and cook until tender.
[62]
Copyright © 1981 BITTERSWEET, INC.
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp76m.htm
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp76p.htm
SO THEY SAY
Compiled by Jimmy Harrelston
Since Ozark people were mostly farmers, animals played a great part in their life, even in their beliefs.
If you kill a cat, you will have seven years of bad luck.
The left foot of a rabbit killed in a cemetery is considered lucky.
If a duck egg is taken into the house after sunset, the egg will never hatch.
A three colored cat can bring good luck, but most cats don’t.
It will rain when dogs eat grass.
Colts must be weaned when the sign is in the thighs going down.
Don’t castrate cattle when signs are going up. Do it when signs are going down.
Because weather plays such an important part in an agricultural community, it is logical that there are many sayings about the weather, especially rain.
In dry weather all signs fail.
If you see a whirlwind coming toward your house, it is a sign of rain.
A whirlwind going into the sun is a sign of rain.
If the whirlwind goes toward the branch of a stream or any water, it is also a sign of rain.
A dog lying on his back is a sign of rain.
Another rain sign is when a tree turns the bottoms of its leaves up.
Coal burning with a hissing noise means bad weather.
Itching is an everyday thing and most people don’t give it a second thought. But even itching is the basis for some beliefs.
You are going to take in riches if your head itches.
If your nose itches, somebody is coming.
When the itching is on your feet, you’re going to be traveling on different ground.
Since we published the last “So They Say” column, we’ve heard more beliefs concerning illness and children. They just keep popping up.
Sleeping directly in the moonlight will cause you to go crazy.
A leather string tied around the wrist will cure rheumatism.
A dirty sock worn around the neck on going to bed will cure a sore throat.
To cure chicken pox, lie down in a chicken house after the sun goes down and let a black hen fly over you.
Oil rendered from the fat of skunks is good for the croup.
To keep from catching whooping cough, wear a scarlet cloth around your neck when a canary sings cheerfully.
If a child is born in the night, he will never see spirits.
The baby will be a good singer if you crack the first louse found on his head on the bottom of a tin cup.
People who have moles on their feet and hands will have plenty of children.
If two pregnant women sneeze together, they will have girls.
A girl who drops her comb while combing her hair is due to some sort of disappointment.
[69]
Weaving rag rugs, looms, tools, how to and tips.
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/su76g.htm
http://www.webroots.org/library/usanativ/tcpigth0.html
The Cherokee Physician, or Indian Guide to Health, as given by Richard
Foreman, a Cherokee Doctor..., by James W. Mahoney
Published: Asheville, N.C., Edney & Dedman, 1849
Note: Covers body parts and their functions, symptoms and treatment of
diseases, large section on medical herbs and plants, glossary of terms.
First five pages are an index we moved to the end of the book and then
created a table of contents
The Cook’s Decameron; A Study in Taste, Containing Over Two Hundred Recipes For Italian Dishes, by Mrs. W. G. Water
Published: London, W. Heinemann, 1901
Diary, ten days in the life of Marchesa di Sant’Andrea and her meals
THE COOK’S DECAMERON
A STUDY IN TASTE,
CONTAINING OVER TWO HUNDRED RECIPES
FOR ITALIAN DISHES
By
MRS. W. G. WATER
London
W. Heinemann
1901
CONTENTS:
PREFACE
Section 1 - Diary and Menus
PART I. THE COOK’S DECAMERON
PROLOGUE
THE FIRST DAY
THE SECOND DAY
THE THIRD DAY
THE FIFTH DAY
THE SIXTH DAY
THE SEVENTH DAY
THE EIGHTH DAY
THE NINTH DAY
THE TENTH DAY
Section 2
PART II. RECIPES
Section 3
PART II. RECIPES (continued)
http://www.webroots.org/library/usacook/tcdwgw00.html
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