Prairie Girls

                         Callie Mae

C ourageous and confident

A dventurous and ambitious

L oveable and light-hearted

L ikeable and lively

I ndustrious and intelligent

E nthusiastic and empathetic

M ature and motivated

A ble and admirable

E nergetic and endearing

              The Exoduster 

PLEASE NOTE THIS BLOG CHANGES THE FIRST AND THIRD WEEKS OF EACH MONTH.

Prairie Girls

Callie Mae

 

After Pappy died my brothers, Will and Tom, left for Kansas on their own. Granny didn’t think she could make the trip, so I stayed with her on Mr. Sullivan’s land. As long as one of us cooked, we could keep our cabin. Granny taught me all she knew about cooking; I was getting pretty good. Because she was now sick most of the time, I worked in Granny’s place.

I came from the big house one evening and found Granny had passed away while I was gone. She had told me earlier if something happened to her I was to live with some of Pappy’s friends on the plantation. She had made the arrangements. Although my heart was broken over Granny dying, I didn’t want to live with another family. I needed to make a plan. Only what would that plan be? I’ll tell you more about it later.

Grandma’s Cooking

by Judy

Like Callie’s granny, my grandma was a good cook. She never owned a cookbook, and I never saw a recipe card in her house. Grandma had seven sisters, and they shared recipes written on the backs of envelopes or whatever pieces of scrap paper were available. She didn’t use a measuring cup either. Yet she baked cakes, that if entered, would have won first place at the county fair.She was a hard cook to follow.

I finally managed to make potato salad which tasted like Grandma’s. I, too, made it by guessing how much of each ingredient and going by looks and taste. A little dab of each ingredient was added until when I tasted it, I felt as if Grandma was standing at her counter, and I was sitting at her kitchen table telling her what happened at school that day. Recently one of my daughters called and said she, too, had made Grandma’s potato salad. “Hurry,” I said. “Write down the ingredients and proportions.”

Fifteen years after Grandma’s death I sat in my mother’s kitchen and ate warm peanut butter cookies as they came out of the oven.  One bite and I was back in Grandma’s kitchen. “I want that recipe,” I said.

“Oh, it’s not written down anywhere,” my mother answered. I got her a pencil and a recipe card.

Historical Fact

 

The Mighty Mississippi

The Mississippi was the main artery into the middle region of the United States and opened up the West for exploration and future settlement. The steamboat provided the means to navigate the mighty river for cargo exportation and passenger travel. It also solved the problem of going upstream which had been difficult for barges to do. The North during the Civil War understood the importance of controlling the river and preventing supplies and soldiers from reaching the Confederacy.

The major competition for river travel was the construction of the transcontinental rail system. Once the central part of the United States was settled, westward expansion went beyond the Mississippi, the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Water transportation remained the cheapest method for moving products until the widespread use of railroads became the major means of transportation for the growing industrialization of America.

The following includes sites for information of the Mississippi River and steamboat travel.

www.nps.gov/miss/riverfacts.htm
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/steamboats_of_the_Mississippi
www.steamboattimes.com/the_mississippi_river_system.html
www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/summer/bridge.html

 

 

 

Ham and Side Dishes

Prairie Recipes

By Collette

Growing up in the South, Callie Mae would have eaten pork often. Since the owner of the plantation had a smoke house he allowed his employees to use, they might have followed the recipe below to cure their hams.

Recipe for Curing Hams

6 gallons of spring water                                     3 ounces of saltpeter

4 ½ pounds of fine salt                                        1 quart dark molasses

3 pounds brown sugar                                         1 ounce saleratus

4 ½ pounds of coarse salt                                    100 pounds of hams

Mix all ingredients except hams. Bring to a boil; skim. Let stand until cold. Pack hams in clean barrel; pour sugar mixture over hams. Let hams remain for four weeks. Repack, putting top hams at bottom; let remain for two weeks longer. Remove hams; hang and smoke.

 Once the ham was cured and smoked it might have been prepared from this 250 year old recipe.

 Country Ham

1 15 pound country ham                                      2 tablespoons whole cloves

6 medium onions                                                 1 teaspoon mustard
3 ½ cups packed brown sugar                             1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups blackberry wine                                        1 teaspoon allspice
3 bay leaves                                                          pepper to taste

Soak ham overnight in enough water to cover; scrub to remove mold. Place ham, skin side down, in large roaster; cover with cold water. Add onions, 3 cups brown sugar, wine, bay leaves and whole cloves; cover. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer for 25 minutes per pound; cool in water. Remove skin; cut off excess fat. Place ham in water in which cooked; let stand overnight. Drain; place, fat side up, in roaster. Score fat. Mix remaining sugar with remaining ingredients and small amount of additional wine; rub on ham. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or until brown.

 A side dish for Callie Mae’s ham might have been turnips from this old recipe.

 Turnip Casserole

12 turnips                                                   3 slices of bread, toasted & crumbled

½ pound bacon, chopped                           ¼ cup melted butter or bacon fat
1 green pepper, chopped                            2 tablespoon chopped onion tops
1 clove garlic, finely chopped                     2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 egg yolks, beaten                                     salt & pepper to taste
2 onions, chopped

Pare turnips; place in kettle in boiling water. Cook until tender; drain. Mash. Sauté bacon in skillet until lightly browned; stir in onions, peppers, and garlic. Cook over low heat, stirring until tender; add turnips. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Combine egg yolks, bread crumbs and butter; mix well. Stir in onion tops, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture into bacon mixture in skillet; mix thoroughly. Pour into greased casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Yield: 10-12 servings.

Storyteller's Corner

 

The End of Steamboat Travel

Although I have ridden steamboats located on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, the most interesting sight to me was a steamboat, abandoned on a “bone pile” in Alaska. My husband and I traveled to our 49^th state several years ago and followed the same trail used by the gold miners. The last big strike for gold drew men and women from all over the world hoping to strike it rich in the Yukon from 1896-1899. We followed the trail 30,000-40,000 prospectors used. Either walking or using mules, each packed and carted nearly a ton of the supplies required by the Canadian government for a year’s survival in the Klondike.

The “bone yard” was what was left of the nearly 300 vessels built in the lower 48 states and steamed up the Yukon River or disassembled, carried cross-country and reassembled for use. The terrain 100 years after the fact was still rugged and a testament to the gold seekers’ tenacity. Once the rush was over, population and towns disappeared, and the riverboats were left to decay on banks or scuttled in the rivers.

It was the last hurrah for these paddle-wheelers in Alaska. Now all that’s left are those along the Mississippi serving as tourist attractions or as casinos for those interested in continuing the sport of gambling on a river boat much like it was done 150 years ago.

Up the Family Tree

Let’s Go Swimming
by Judy

“Mom, have you seen my swimsuit?” my older daughter called from her room.
 “No, maybe it’s still in the car from last week. Did you bring it in the house?” I asked.

“Uh, well, maybe, I’ll check,” she answered on her way to the garage.

She soon returned. Her outstretched arm held a beach towel neatly rolled around her hot, damp swimsuit. It didn’t take long for mildew and mustiness to overcome chlorine. 

As a young mother I spent many afternoons at the pool with my children. Preparing for the outing was not easy. Eventually, though, we had the beach balls, toy boats, towels, air mattresses, bags of chips, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (not a good choice by the way), the water jug and paper cups gathered. We were ready for a fun afternoon at the pool. Usually we made a trip to the house for keys to the car. After a final trip back into the house for one or more children to use the bathroom, we were on our way.

A highlight of the afternoon was the fifteen minute lifeguard break.
“Mom, I don’t like this kind of chips. Can I have Nachos from the concession stand?”

“Mom, it was an accident, it really was. I didn’t mean to tip the water jug over. We could get pop from the concession stand.”

Until my children could swim I encouraged them to stay in the “kiddie” pool. My youngest was not always happy in the “kiddie” pool.

“Can I go to the big pool, please?”

“No,” I answered. “You can barely touch the bottom at the shallow end.”  I was at the best part of my book and didn’t want to watch him in the big pool.

“Mom, there’s something brown in the kiddie pool,” my younger son said.

“Sure, go ahead, play in the big pool for a while,” I said.

After an afternoon at the pool, the children were exhausted. They were happy with sandwiches for dinner. They were content to watch television, and they were ready to go to bed early. Once the children were older they were involved in summer ball, and there weren’t as many fun afternoons at the pool.

Still, there is nothing quite like jumping into a swimming pool on a hot, summer day…or so I am told. I spent afternoon after afternoon sweating by the side of the pool as each of my children jumped in time after time. Yet, I seldom got in the water. Instead, I stained page after page of book after book with sun screen as I occasionally glanced toward the water.

And now?  Well, yes, each of my children can outswim me.