All About Pocket Knives

FRJ wrote:I know I'll probably be put in a post hole and stoned for asking this but wouldn't a windshield be a big asset on a trip like that?

Ha!! No, I've always preferred bugs in my teeth, for the last 40 yrs. Hard core.

I have a jar of sorghum syrup that must be twenty years old. Still good.

Even if it "goes to sugar" as my uncle used to say, just needs to be heated and it goes back to syrup.

This jar has never done that.

I really should just start eating buttered biscuits and sorghum for breakfast until this is all gone.

Load a few biscuits with real butter, pour some sorghum (saugum) syrup onto your plate and before the butter has completely melted, scrape it out of the biscuits and into the sorghum, mix it all up then sop it up with biscuit halves.

Really, for a Southern Boy, can it get any better'n at?

We've been using Mrs B's frozen biscuits. They come in different sizes.

Charlie Noyes

I know I'll probably be put in a post hole and stoned for asking this but what is Sorghum?

FRJ wrote:I know I'll probably be put in a post hole and stoned for asking this but what is Sorghum?

Let me Google that for you!

http://www.farmflavor.com/at-home/shopp ... s-sorghum/

Actually looked at it in Wikipedia. Some how connected to sugar cane.

Shouldn't some one tell Jerry his is in a paint can?

haha...!! yes, they should. But! it's handcrafted AND aged in a bourbon barrel. Can't say that about any paint I know of.

Sorghum.....red top Cain.....hay grazer. Last week finished putting up 5200 acres of it into silage to feed cattle.

77 -- Don't you ever squeeze & cook any or don't you have the equipment to do that?

I was in Birmingham Alabama about 15 years ago and 2-3 blocks from where I was working there was an old hardware store that sold Sorghum in Quart "paint cans". Good stuff.

There is some sorghum grown around for cow feed but we don't remember any one grinding it for syrup. We have mostly cane syrup in Florida and quite often the makers put it in "metal syrup cans" which must be "paint cans" without labels . One of our friends makes syrup and he puts his cane syrup in the glass canning/Mason jars. Sometimes the cane syrup will crystalize and as was mentioned before, it can be reheated to liquefy it.
Personally I like nothin' better for breakfast than a big stack of Miss Joy's pancakes, topped with a fried egg with a runny yoke, seasoned with black pepper and covered with some good cane syrup. Of course there must also be a link or patty of some good sausage on the plate, pork or venison !
Sadly these breakfasts usually only occur when we have a house full of company . Thanksgiving ain't far off .
Treefarmer

I really don't know which particular type of sugar cane is used to make sorghum.

It's always been pronounced "saugum" with a short "a" in my family. Kind of like "sausage".

It's akin to molasses, but not really.

It, for sure, is not the same as ribbon cane syrup. That nasty Ala-Ga ribbon cane syrup is not worth eating.

The twenty plus year old syrup I have came in a quart paint can and was labeled "Lassie Pure Sorghum Syrup". It was made in Northeast Alabama.

I put it in a Mason jar, one of the old ones with a glass lid, a rubber ring and a heavy wire bail for secure closure.

Used to be a place on Sand Mountain, outside of Pisgah that made great sorghum. They were called Raccoon Mountain Syrup Company and they put theirs up in stoneware jugs with a cork closure. I still have one of those jugs around here somewhere.

They got into some kind of Federal difficulty and ceased to exist. I think they were putting out more than just syrup. Hard to do business from Federal Prison.

I've never put it on pancakes. I think it a bit too strong for that, but dearly love it with biscuits. Don't know why I have eaten this jar I have. Probably should get to it.

Charlie

I've lived with it all my life and still don't know anything about it. We used the two words interchangeably and often together. In fact, when I was about three years old, we lived on Orville Orr’s place on Cane Creek. Across the road and west just a little, Sap Imboden had a Sorghum mill and made what we called sorghum molasses. I don't know if he was squeezing sugar cane or Sorghum grass. I remember Dad saying that the lighter the color of molasses was, the better the quality was.

Found this online.
"Molasses vs. Sorghum

Molasses and Sorghum - What is the difference? At Grandma’s Pantry,
customers often ask this question. Here is some information that might help to answer
this question (along with a delicious recipe).
The sorghum plant, which is a type of grass, was introduced into the United States
from Africa in the early part of the 17th century. Sorghum syrup is a natural sweetener
made by processing the juice that is extracted from the sorghum plant. Special milling
equipment extracts the juice from the crushed stalks, and evaporating pans with heating
units steam off the excess water leaving syrup. Sorghum syrup is produced primarily in
the United States and is used as a substitute for sugar. It tends to have a thinner
consistency and a slightly more sour taste than does molasses. Sorghum contains
vitamins and minerals and is a good source of phosphorus, magnesium, thiamin and
omega 6 fatty acids.
Molasses was also introduced to the United States during the 17th century when
traders started transporting it from the Caribbean to New England where much of it was
made into rum. Molasses was the most popular sweetener until the late 19th century
because it was more affordable than sugar. Molasses is the by-product of processing
sugar cane into sugar. The sugar cane plant is stripped of its leaves and the juice is
extracted from the cane by crushing or mashing. The juice is boiled to concentrate it,
which produces crystallization of the sugar. The result of the first boiling and removal of
the sugar crystals is called “first molasses” (mild) and is the sweetest tasting. “Second
molasses” (dark) is created from a second boiling and removal of sugar crystals.
“Blackstrap” is the result of a third boiling of the syrup. The darker molasses is
considered bittersweet. Sulfured molasses is made from young sugar cane - sulfur dioxide
is added as a preservative. Unsulfured molasses is made from mature sugar cane which
does not require a preservative. Molasses contains significant amounts of vitamins and
minerals and is a good source of calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron.
Sorghum and molasses may be stored on the shelf for up to 2 years. Once they are
opened, they can be stored up to a year, if properly stored in the refrigerator to retard
mold growth. If mold growth does appear, the syrups should be discarded. If the syrups
crystallize, it does not cause any harm and the syrups can be liquefied by placing them in
a larger container of hot water until melted.
Sorghum and molasses are old-fashioned sweeteners - many people have grown up
using them. Molasses is the sweetener generally preferred for cooking and baking, while
sorghum is popular as a syrup."

treefarmer wrote:There is some sorghum grown around for cow feed but we don't remember any one grinding it for syrup. We have mostly cane syrup in Florida and quite often the makers put it in "metal syrup cans" which must be "paint cans" without labels . One of our friends makes syrup and he puts his cane syrup in the glass canning/Mason jars. Sometimes the cane syrup will crystalize and as was mentioned before, it can be reheated to liquefy it.
Personally I like nothin' better for breakfast than a big stack of Miss Joy's pancakes, topped with a fried egg with a runny yoke, seasoned with black pepper and covered with some good cane syrup. Of course there must also be a link or patty of some good sausage on the plate, pork or venison !
Sadly these breakfasts usually only occur when we have a house full of company . Thanksgiving ain't far off .
Treefarmer

...........tf, you have done "flung a 'cravin' on me!!!!!!................ .........................

That's interesting history jerryd. It's always been cow feed to me. We chop the plant into small pieces and pack it with a big tractor by driving over it. Cover it with plastic. Let set and ferment for 21 days and it is ready to feed. Very palatable.

Wooden hand carved duck decoys. Wheather simple or more advanced I enjoy decoys.

Those are beautiful, especially the center picture with the green!
Treefarmer

Thanks Treefarmer. The blueheaded one was intended to be used and is very simple. But there is something about duck shapes that I find relaxing.

Garry, those are marvelous.

Thanks Jerry, glad you like them.

There are impressively expensive decoys worth thousands of dollars; but I am fortunate in finding that even primatiive decoys with little or no paint have appeal for me. Thinking about it I guess I am drawn by the shape. Its like that term sometimes used with knives, flow.
Don't ask me to define flow but when a knife has it I find it obvious and it makes the knife extra special. So I suppose I actually like ducks because, to me, they have flow.

Nice decoys. Esthetically comforting, I agree.

For supper last evening, I had three hot buttered biscuits and sorghum syrup from my twenty year old supply.

It was as good as the day I bought it. Wonder why it does not ferment?

Charlie

Got the wood supply stacked. Though we have other means of heating the house I am assured that the wood burning stove does a fine job of keeping the entire house "toasty" including the 2nd floor.

Looks like you're are ready for the cool weather. That's a fine stack of wood, QS, what kind is it?
Treefarmer

The wood is walnut.

Our Grandsons coming to see us last Saturday morning.
We had Biscuits with fresh Cane Syrup

Larry

What a lovely evocative photo of the grandkids coming to see their grandparents. You've got a good eye.

....that needs to be framed!!!!!.......... ...........