Early Winter days were used for hunting and butchering. Few minded the long winter evenings. Although young and old were kept busy at some task in front of the fire, children told riddles, tongue twisters and sang hymns and ballads, while corn was popped and apples roasted in the hot ashes.
Sorghum Popcorn Balls
Bring sorghum to a boil. Continue cooking and stirring until it will spin a thread. Pour popcorn into a bowl and add sorghum. Stir well to coat an form into balls.
In The Late winter, fires burned under big kettles in the sugar camp night and day, while the sap from maple trees boiled down into maple syrup. A special treat for the children who helped was the delicious candy made by pouring syrup on the snow to harden or into pans to be stirred into creamy sugar.
Cold Stone Maple Candy
Boil maple syrup (commercially canned or bottled pure maple syrup may be substituted) until it makes a hair or runs a thread. Pour into bowls and place on a cold surface such as a flat stone or rock. Once syrup has cooled but is still barely warm, beat it until it changes from a honey brown to a creamy tan. Pour into greased, small molds or onto a buttered plate and let set before cutting.
Maple-Syrup-On-the-Snow
Take raw syrup from a maple tree, boil until it spins a thread. Take outside and pour over clean snow.
Check out this tutorial by Girls Guide to Guns and Butter on making maple-taffy-the pioneer-treat. Looks like delicious fun!!
Parched Corn
Melt bacon grease in a iron skillet. Add enough shelled, dried sweet corn to cover bottom of skillet. Place over hot fire, cover and after it first starts to parch, shake skillet so it won’t burn. After popping sound stops, it is ready. Salt to taste. The secret of good parched corn is to use corn picked after field corn has been harvested.
Fredrick G. Lorenz
Life was difficult as a pioneer in Indiana, however, fun times were enjoyed along with the hard labor.
Have a God Filled Day
Shirley
2 comments:
Wow - such cool ideas! I love it - loved the idea of roasting apples in the ashes. Thank you for your sweet comment today, it means a lot :) xoxo
Hey Shirley. You know, I've never heard of most of those. How neat is that syrup and snow candy! Thanks for coming over and entering the Purex giveaway. And you were so sweet to leave me all those kind comments abou MIL and photo album. Like Kristin says above. It really does mean alot!
OOO's...Tracy :)
P.S. Come back over to the Purex giveaway and leave a separate comment that you follow so that you get counted for more than one entry. I would want to short you.
Have a fun weekend!
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