Hi Dave,

When I did the "truck" garden and had the pushcart I did beets a
couple times. Oddly, the greens sold better than the roots. never did Brussels sprouts or red cabbage. Just leaf lettuce and regular
cabbage. Also had muskmelons, cucumbers, various squash and a
strawberry patch.

A good basic assortment for people. Probably most 50's era Mid-West housewives wouldn't know how to prepare some of the "fancy" vegetables. (G)

You might be surprised. Carlinville (population under 4,000) had an amazing mix of people with European ancestry. While the bulk of the population was of UK, German or Italian descent there were enough of French, Czech, Polish, Greek, etc. ethnicity to give an eclectic mix.

Did they all keep to their own ethnic cooking or did it (d)evolve into
the average American cooking eventually?

smokehouse, tool shed and outhouse. And the other side of the fence

was pasture.

Lots of room for a kid to run wild in.

When I had time to "run wild". Between feeding the cows, slopping
chickens and gathering their eggs, hoeing the weeds in the garden .........

Since ours was just a couple of garden patches, we didn't have all the associated farm chores. No cows or chickens so pulling weeds (by hand)
was the closest we got to farm type work. Also, helping mom prep beans
and such like for canning but she never let us go beyond basic prep
work there. Still, by watching her, then doing some reading, I've been
a very successful canner. My failure to seal rate is probably around .0001% overall.

I helped withb the "putting up". But other than jams and jellies or
the occasional batch of fruit preserves - moslty "sealed" with
paraffin - I've not done any "canning" on my own. The freezer is so
much more handy.

Big advantage of canning is that you're not spending energy to keep it
"put up" Jars can be stowed anywhere and don't need power. Also frees up
the freezer for stocking perishables like meats, breadstuffs and such
like.

address, etc. I use "zero" and may do phonetic letters like "apple", "hairy", etc. Not the same as the military but the same principle.

We hear all kinds of substitutions on the radio, generally from folks who've not had any exposure to the NATO phonetic alphabet (usually in
the military. The NATO alphabet is supposed to be used but some of the older hams will come up with all sorts of variations.

I grew up in the Able Bake Charlie era. Not the Alpha Bravo Charlie
that came later.

My dad was in the former era also so when one of our cats had kittens,
he designated them Able, Baker, Charlie and Dog, figuring they'd all
find homes and new names. First 3 did find home, took mama over for
spaying and she died on the operating table (genetic heart defect, we
found out others in the same line had died young). We needed a cat for
the mousekeeping chores so kept Dog and kept her name.

So long as the meaning is clear. When people ask my sur-name I tell
them "Drum. Like the musical instrument." Bv)= And I'm hard to beat.

Groan. I usually ask (if not in a military context) if the person is familiar with the NATO alphabet. If they respond positively, I'll then
say "Hotel/Alpha/Foxtrot/Foxtrot/Lima/Yankee, first name Romeo/Uniform/Tango/Hotel. Gets their attention. (G) On the phone a lot
of people hear "s" instead of "f" so by using the NATO alphabet, it's clear.

Especially when dealing with a telemarketer or customer "service" rep
for whom English is *not* a firdt languager.

Most of the former don't make it past the call screening program.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

Title: Crispy Pan-Seared Freshwater Drum
Categories: Seafood, Vegetables, Citrus, Herbs
Yield: 4 servings

Looks similar to chicken picotta, which I'm doing for supper tonight.

Michael and I had an on-going battle about the use of capers (which I
can live a long and happpy life without) being a requirement for
piccta. Even after I posted him a recipe from Larousse Gastronomique
(a source he loved to cite/quote) he never gave up. Bv)=

I use them; we both like them in the picotta. The first time (of
several, made by the same cook) we had this, it had capers in it so I
found a close enough to his recipe that had the capers & use that. The
cook that made it the first time(s) we had it is retired from the FDNY.

Title: Chicken Piccata
Categories: Poultry, Citrus, Wine
Yield: 2 Servings

* You can sub bottled capers for the scallions if you must
have capers in your piccata. But they are not necessary.

Skin and bone the breast halves. Butterfly them if extra
thick. Pound to 1/4" - 1/3" thick (I use a heavy rolling
pin and really lean into it).

We mince a good sized clove of garlic and brown it slightly in oilve oil
as the first step in making the sauce.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28


... If you're trying to drive me crazy, you're too late.

--- PPoint 3.01
* Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)