WEBVTT - Ep. 313: This Country Life - Spam, Onions, Grits, and Butter

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to this Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves

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<v Speaker 1>from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to stay a while as I share

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<v Speaker 1>my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life is presented

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<v Speaker 1>by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you

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<v Speaker 1>the best outdoor podcast the airwaves have to offer. All right, friends,

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<v Speaker 1>grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some

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<v Speaker 1>stories to share, spam onions, grits and butter. I find

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<v Speaker 1>it very gratifying to see folks make it at home

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<v Speaker 1>what they used to buy at the store. I've always

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<v Speaker 1>said that life is cyclical, and eventually we go back

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<v Speaker 1>to where we started. Radio was first, then movies, TV,

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<v Speaker 1>and now podcasts are like video all over again. Watching

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<v Speaker 1>a podcast is like when radio turned into television. But

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<v Speaker 1>media isn't our focus today. It's homemade groceries, one of

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<v Speaker 1>my favorite subjects.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm going to.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell you all about some things my brother Tim does.

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<v Speaker 1>But first I'm going to tell you a story. This

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<v Speaker 1>story comes from our friend Avery Settler Check, an aspiring

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<v Speaker 1>actor living in New York City. Avery is a native

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<v Speaker 1>of Jacksonville, Florida, and was blessed with a grandfather to

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<v Speaker 1>make some fond memories with this story. Speaks of food,

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<v Speaker 1>and food is kind of our theme today, sowing Avery's

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<v Speaker 1>words and my voice.

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<v Speaker 2>Here we go.

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<v Speaker 1>As a young boy, I spent much of my time

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<v Speaker 1>with my papa. My mom, a recent widow, nurse and

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<v Speaker 1>mother of three, could certainly used the help, and her

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<v Speaker 1>dad was one of the many people to answer that call.

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<v Speaker 1>He was an iron worker, a barber, a gospel singer,

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<v Speaker 1>a TV cameraman, and even an aerial photographer. He had

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<v Speaker 1>more jobs than a job fair and was retired by

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<v Speaker 1>the time I popped up, so he had plenty of

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<v Speaker 1>time and stories to share with me. Papa taught me

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<v Speaker 1>all of the cool things in life, like flea markets

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<v Speaker 1>and action movies and painting your own initials on all

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<v Speaker 1>you tools. Well of all the things he and I

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<v Speaker 1>did together, hunting was by far my favor. Each fall,

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<v Speaker 1>we'd pack up his camper, haul it up to the

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<v Speaker 1>club and set up shop. Then throughout the season he

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<v Speaker 1>would pick me up on Friday and take me to

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<v Speaker 1>the club where we would run dogs on Saturday before

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<v Speaker 1>I tailored it back for church on Sunday morning. I

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<v Speaker 1>loved every second of it. Riding on the toolbox, talking

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<v Speaker 1>on the c B, and holding my four ten in

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<v Speaker 1>anticipation of that big buck I just knew was coming

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<v Speaker 1>my way. But most of all, I love spending time

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<v Speaker 1>with him in the woods. However much I loved everything

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<v Speaker 1>else about these trips. Our crowd jewel was always food,

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<v Speaker 1>specifically our snacks while we.

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<v Speaker 2>Were out in the woods.

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<v Speaker 1>Papa loved food, especially anything fried and salted, and as

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<v Speaker 1>a growing boy, so did I. We would stop at

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<v Speaker 1>the only gas station for miles, and while we filled

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<v Speaker 1>up on ice for the weekend, we'd get an order

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<v Speaker 1>of three potato wedges. Now we only got three because

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<v Speaker 1>he swore they'd swell up in your stomach. I still

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<v Speaker 1>wonder if that's true. When we were hunting, though, we

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<v Speaker 1>were just about always eating, And I'm not sure if

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<v Speaker 1>that's the way the other guys did it, but that's

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<v Speaker 1>how we did. Before the dogs were even barking, we'd

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<v Speaker 1>break into the viany sausages and peanut butter and crackers

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<v Speaker 1>and free doos, not to mention the coveted you Hoo

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<v Speaker 1>cans that would be faulted with a bologna sandwich for

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<v Speaker 1>lunch and a cookout for dinner, and that's how it

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<v Speaker 1>went for us. As much as we loved hunting and

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<v Speaker 1>took it seriously, the opportunity to eat a snack and

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<v Speaker 1>talk was the main event. One day, Papa and I

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<v Speaker 1>had the rare occurrence of hunting and a stand together

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<v Speaker 1>running dogs was the perfect high energy version of hunting

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<v Speaker 1>I needed as a kid, lots of commotion and movement,

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<v Speaker 1>no major need for being total quiet. Hunting up in

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<v Speaker 1>a stand meant that I, as a hyperactive eight year old,

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<v Speaker 1>had to be completely still and quiet for multiple hours.

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<v Speaker 1>It's this exact reason that on this day my grandfather

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<v Speaker 1>and I sat in what we called the condo stand.

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<v Speaker 1>The condo stand was a completely boxed instructure, high off

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<v Speaker 1>the ground with the drawstringed wooden flat windows and bolted

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<v Speaker 1>and swivel chairs, perfect for a kid and this disabled grandfather.

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<v Speaker 1>As always, Papa brought a knapsack of snacks and with

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<v Speaker 1>the first hour or so we tried to be good,

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<v Speaker 1>but the wind was whipping and we were cold and bored.

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<v Speaker 1>To better enjoy the moment, my Papa declared chow time.

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<v Speaker 1>On this day, I, ever, his provisions were running a

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<v Speaker 1>little low and from the bag he procured a sleeve

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<v Speaker 1>of saltine crackers, a can of spam, an onion, and

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<v Speaker 1>a bottle of hot sauce. Now I had never had spam.

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<v Speaker 1>I was a fan of veiny sausages, and I looked

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<v Speaker 1>at him with a look that said.

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<v Speaker 2>Papa, what is this about?

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<v Speaker 1>He looked back at me, equally dumbfounded with the options

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<v Speaker 1>we had, and shrugged his shoulders with a mischievous wealth,

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<v Speaker 1>we might as well and smile with a fancy flourish.

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<v Speaker 1>He opened that can of spam and began to prepare

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<v Speaker 1>our olders with his pocket knife. He peeled back the

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<v Speaker 1>onion and began cutting small pieces to lay on what he'd.

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<v Speaker 2>Created before us.

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<v Speaker 1>He topped that cracker off with spam, onion, and tabasco,

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<v Speaker 1>and with a slightly worried look he had to be

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<v Speaker 1>wanting to try. He got one and we toasted the

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<v Speaker 1>two together and then set them down the hatch. Then

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<v Speaker 1>the strangest thing happened, to our surprise and delight, it

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<v Speaker 1>was good. It was like a Michelin star restaurant in

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<v Speaker 1>our very own hunting stand. We started laughing out loud together,

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<v Speaker 1>not caring a liqu about the hunt, and eventually ate

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<v Speaker 1>the whole can of spam.

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<v Speaker 2>One cracker at a time.

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<v Speaker 1>We laughed the whole way home, and for weeks laughed

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<v Speaker 1>recounting that story to others. Over the years, we laughed

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<v Speaker 1>about that day, saying, man, we must have been starving

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<v Speaker 1>or something. As I grew up, Papa's health got worse,

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<v Speaker 1>and although we still spend lots of time together, we

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<v Speaker 1>weren't able to hunt anymore. Now I'm an adult, living

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<v Speaker 1>worlds away in New York City, pursuing my dreams, and

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<v Speaker 1>I think back on those days. Often I were spent

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<v Speaker 1>with my grandfather in the woods, eating food, swapping stories,

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<v Speaker 1>and sometimes hunting a deer. There, my grandfather taught me

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<v Speaker 1>about life. I asked him things I was too afraid

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<v Speaker 1>to ask my mom, and I learned how a man

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<v Speaker 1>should view the world. But most importantly, I had someone

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<v Speaker 1>to listen to me, someone who told me he was

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<v Speaker 1>proud of me and let me know how much he

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<v Speaker 1>enjoyed spending time with me and how much he loved me.

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<v Speaker 1>My grandfather has to mention now, and it can be

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<v Speaker 1>difficult to have conversations because he will always ask me

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<v Speaker 1>things like where do you live? Repeatedly? But one thing

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<v Speaker 1>he always remembers with ease is our hunting trips. If

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<v Speaker 1>I bring up the spam to him, a big smile

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<v Speaker 1>lights across his face and he says, boy.

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<v Speaker 2>We sure were hungryuldn't we?

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<v Speaker 1>And according to Avery Settler check of New York City,

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<v Speaker 1>that's just how that happened.

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<v Speaker 2>Avery.

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<v Speaker 1>I appreciate you sending in that story. I liked it

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<v Speaker 1>from the first time I read it, and I've been

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<v Speaker 1>saving it for just the right time. That's a story

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<v Speaker 1>that fills my heart thinking about y'all filling your bellies

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<v Speaker 1>with a spam and onion cracker. Thanks buddy. We were

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<v Speaker 1>having breakfast at Joe's Diner and sheared in Arkansas, just

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<v Speaker 1>me and my brother Tim. It's a spot that's about

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<v Speaker 1>halfway between where each of us live and the spot

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<v Speaker 1>closest to that point where a man can get a

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<v Speaker 1>platter of eggs, sausage, biscuits, gravy, and a bowl of

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<v Speaker 1>grits that'll fill your crawl well enough so that your

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<v Speaker 1>next meal will be called supper. The waitress calls us honey,

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<v Speaker 1>laughs at our dumb jokes, and keeps the coffee smoking

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<v Speaker 1>hot while we entertain ourselves with whatever the meeting has

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<v Speaker 1>been called for normally just an excuse to share a

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<v Speaker 1>mail together and laugh. We were having an in depth

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<v Speaker 1>discussion on timeless topics that are important to us and

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<v Speaker 1>should be important to everyone that cares about the quality

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<v Speaker 1>of their lives and the pursuit of happiness in America,

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<v Speaker 1>and that topic was grits. Historians agree that folks have

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<v Speaker 1>been grinding corn as long as eighty seven hundred years

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<v Speaker 1>before the reason we have Christmas. The evidence comes from

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<v Speaker 1>Central America and Native American tribes in the southeastern portion

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<v Speaker 1>of this nation that were grinding corn down to a

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<v Speaker 1>coarse powder that we now call cornmeal. Contrary to the

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<v Speaker 1>beliefs of a few folks from New Jersey who were

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<v Speaker 1>blatantly lied to by an Arkansas duck guide over thirty

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<v Speaker 1>years ago, there's no such thing as grit fields or

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<v Speaker 1>grit bushes.

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<v Speaker 2>If that reference is to.

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<v Speaker 1>O'bsecure for you slipped back to episode one seventy three

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<v Speaker 1>of This Country Life entitled Grits, Rhinos, Monkeys and Ducks.

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<v Speaker 2>That shit is clear, that right up.

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<v Speaker 1>But grits have been a staple in our diets forever.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't remember a time when they weren't available at

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<v Speaker 1>home or just about every place. We just worthy of

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<v Speaker 1>sitting down to have a meal that served breakfast. The

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<v Speaker 1>waitress brought out our food a company by two bowls

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<v Speaker 1>of grits that were still bubbling hot from the stove,

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<v Speaker 1>and we looked at one another and Simon tanously said,

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<v Speaker 1>they'll thick it up in a minute.

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<v Speaker 2>To eat their own.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's customary and our family to eat grits with

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<v Speaker 1>a fork and running grits they just won't fill the bill.

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<v Speaker 1>So while we waited on the grits to thicken, we

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<v Speaker 1>dove into our breakfast. In our conversation, I need to

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<v Speaker 1>bring you some of the grits I've been making. Hold

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<v Speaker 1>on there, Timmy, you've been making your own grits. Oh yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>butter too. And for the next hour we talked about

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<v Speaker 1>all this stuff he was doing at home that was

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<v Speaker 1>better than going to the store. And it opened up

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<v Speaker 1>a whole new list of questions I had for how

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<v Speaker 1>he was doing it now obviously to everyone now, even

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<v Speaker 1>the duck hunters. New Jersey grits are made from ground corn,

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<v Speaker 1>but not just any corn. There are six major types

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<v Speaker 1>of corn grown in the US. Dent corn is primarily

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<v Speaker 1>used for livestock, feed, fuel, and corn starch. Podcorn is

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<v Speaker 1>a wild variety and the corn that modern day corn

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<v Speaker 1>was derived from. Sweet corn is what we mostly eat

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<v Speaker 1>when it's prepared on the cob, and flour corn for

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<v Speaker 1>making corn flour, pop corns for popping, and flint corn,

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<v Speaker 1>which is what works best for making grits, homney, and

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<v Speaker 1>corn meal. But before the corn police issue warrant from

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<v Speaker 1>my wrist, what I just stated is that the exact

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<v Speaker 1>law of the land, there are just the major types

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<v Speaker 1>of corn, and there are varieties within those types that

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<v Speaker 1>cross over for each type of use. Tim's favorite corn

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<v Speaker 1>to us to make his corn meal and grits is

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<v Speaker 1>a variety called butcher red, which is a dent corn

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<v Speaker 1>that has a beautiful, deep red color. Some even refer

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<v Speaker 1>to it as bloody butcher red, regardless of what you

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<v Speaker 1>call it. He showed me a picture after picture of

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<v Speaker 1>the process he uses and the gristville.

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<v Speaker 2>He does it with.

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<v Speaker 1>It's an electric stone grinder he bought off the anterwebs,

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<v Speaker 1>and when he first told me he bought it online,

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<v Speaker 1>I thought that kind of took some of the nostalgia

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<v Speaker 1>out of it. But I quickly realized that the Google

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<v Speaker 1>search of today is no different really than posting up

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<v Speaker 1>in the country store and asking the propriety for something

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<v Speaker 1>they didn't have, but they could order it for you.

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<v Speaker 1>Tim's raising his own corn too, from seed to cob.

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<v Speaker 1>It keeps him busy, and what could be more rewarding

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<v Speaker 1>than growing your own corn bread? I dare say nothing,

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<v Speaker 1>but as good as those grits were that had finally

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<v Speaker 1>cooled to the point of a few degrees south of

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<v Speaker 1>molten lava, Tim said, the grits he made it home

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<v Speaker 1>were ten times better, and it turns out they're better

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<v Speaker 1>for you. Consuming fresh stone ground corn in any form

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<v Speaker 1>preserves the vitamins and minerals and the nutrients that are

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<v Speaker 1>lost over time to degradation. Here's the process that Tim

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<v Speaker 1>uses now. Once he picks the corn, he drives it

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<v Speaker 1>out for about a month. There are several ways to

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<v Speaker 1>do that, from just hanging the corn in the shuck

0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:28.720
<v Speaker 1>out in the sun, to removing the shucks and drying

0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.480
<v Speaker 1>the cobs in a controlled environment, which is what he does.

0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:34.240
<v Speaker 1>He said he can keep the bugs out of it

0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.680
<v Speaker 1>and allow for proper drying without the chance of it

0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:41.920
<v Speaker 1>getting mulled. By using his designated corn drying room. Corn

0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.079
<v Speaker 1>drying room. You built a corn drying room, now, dummy,

0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:47.360
<v Speaker 1>I keep it in the guests bedroom with the ceiling

0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.360
<v Speaker 1>fans set on Hurricane I put all the cobs in

0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.839
<v Speaker 1>the laundry basket and stir them around every few days

0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:54.520
<v Speaker 1>so I know that they're all getting there.

0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:56.760
<v Speaker 2>Ah okay, I got you.

0:13:56.840 --> 0:14:01.439
<v Speaker 1>Now, after about four weeks of pamper in the guest's bedroom,

0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.240
<v Speaker 1>he'll take the corn that's sufficiently dried and run it

0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:08.040
<v Speaker 1>through a corn sheller. Now his is an old, antiquated

0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:11.120
<v Speaker 1>handpired apparatus that he has mounted on a wooden box

0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:14.520
<v Speaker 1>to catch the colonels once the sheller removed it. It's

0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.439
<v Speaker 1>pretty sporty to watch for anyone that's ever wondered how

0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:20.360
<v Speaker 1>that process works, and you can see it demonstrated about

0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:23.800
<v Speaker 1>a million times on the University of YouTube just by

0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:27.200
<v Speaker 1>searching it up. The cob is fed down through the

0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.600
<v Speaker 1>top and a gear that was exposed teeth knocks the

0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.000
<v Speaker 1>kernels off and fall into the bottom of the box,

0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:35.800
<v Speaker 1>while the cob is eventually turned and run out the

0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:40.720
<v Speaker 1>back to fall on the outside. Mister Lester E. Denison,

0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.960
<v Speaker 1>the Connecticut got the first patent on a corn sheller

0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:48.880
<v Speaker 1>in August of eighteen thirty nine. The one Tim has

0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:52.240
<v Speaker 1>is a David Bradley brand. It's made out of cast

0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:56.280
<v Speaker 1>iron and was manufactured from around nineteen hundred to nineteen

0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:59.920
<v Speaker 1>forty nine. Series and Roebuck bought the company in nineteen

0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:03.400
<v Speaker 1>ten and eventually started churning out garden tractors instead of

0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:07.160
<v Speaker 1>corn shellers. You can find them on the internet, yard

0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.120
<v Speaker 1>cells and flea markets in perfect working order. Should you

0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.920
<v Speaker 1>decide to grow, dry and grind your own corn, now,

0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.120
<v Speaker 1>if garden is your limiting factor, you can buy corn

0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:19.800
<v Speaker 1>that's ready to grind that someone else has already drived

0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:24.000
<v Speaker 1>and removed from the cob by the sack full. Now,

0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.160
<v Speaker 1>if you're wondering what the yield is, Tim said that

0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.400
<v Speaker 1>he averaged about four cobs to the pound of shelled corn.

0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.480
<v Speaker 1>His gristmeal is electric and has two options for making

0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.600
<v Speaker 1>the cornmeal. The wheels that grind the corn are called burrs,

0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:41.480
<v Speaker 1>and he has stone burrs and steel birds. Stone birds

0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:44.520
<v Speaker 1>are said to be slower because they aren't uniformly smooth

0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:48.680
<v Speaker 1>like poly steel is, and most commercially ground corn is

0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:52.200
<v Speaker 1>done with steel birds because it's faster, more efficient, and

0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:57.960
<v Speaker 1>can produce a finer grind. Traditionally, stone ground corn retains

0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:00.720
<v Speaker 1>the nutrients of flavor, and the steel burs may literally

0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.680
<v Speaker 1>squeeze it plumb out of it. And after adjusting the

0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:08.160
<v Speaker 1>space between the birds and multiple trips between them, Tim

0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:12.320
<v Speaker 1>finally got his setting that he prefers. But the ground

0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:15.920
<v Speaker 1>corn is still not one hundred percent uniform, and what

0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.520
<v Speaker 1>he did next was pretty cool. Took an old tea

0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:22.120
<v Speaker 1>strainer and poured the ground corn in it and shook

0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:25.440
<v Speaker 1>it back and forth, sifting the smaller grind into another

0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:29.640
<v Speaker 1>container while keeping the larger ones in the strainer. The

0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:32.160
<v Speaker 1>small ones he uses for his corn meal and the

0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:35.960
<v Speaker 1>larger one he uses for grits. Tim said that when

0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:38.120
<v Speaker 1>he makes corn bread from that corn meal and takes

0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:40.280
<v Speaker 1>it out of the oven, it has a blue or

0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.840
<v Speaker 1>a purplish tint. I looked that up when I got home.

0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:46.560
<v Speaker 1>It's not that I don't trust my brother, It's just that,

0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.520
<v Speaker 1>like President Reagan said, good policy to have is to

0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:56.400
<v Speaker 1>trust but verify. It turns out he wasn't kidding. Turning

0:16:56.440 --> 0:17:02.720
<v Speaker 1>purpleness from the presidence of what's called anthos, which changed

0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:06.560
<v Speaker 1>color with heat. Now what's an antho cyan? And I'm

0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.360
<v Speaker 1>glad you asked. It's just the pigment that causes colors

0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.240
<v Speaker 1>to be colors, and in this case it's what makes

0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:18.960
<v Speaker 1>butcher red corn. Red grits are just bowled corn until

0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:21.639
<v Speaker 1>you add salt, black, pepper, and butter. I could do

0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.120
<v Speaker 1>without pepper if I had to, I wouldn't like it,

0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:26.720
<v Speaker 1>and the more peppers are better for me. But the

0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:31.520
<v Speaker 1>other two, man, they are mandatory. Not letting Tim's comment

0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.199
<v Speaker 1>of my making my own butter, slip asked him what

0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:37.040
<v Speaker 1>critter he was milking to churn since he didn't have

0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:41.360
<v Speaker 1>a cow. He ignored that question and showed me a picture.

0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:45.560
<v Speaker 1>It was a nineteen fifties Jim Dandy electric churn that

0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:49.200
<v Speaker 1>he bought at an online auction. I don't know what

0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:52.399
<v Speaker 1>I'd ever seen one. I've seen regular churns, and I

0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:56.359
<v Speaker 1>even participated in the churning with my maternal great grandmother,

0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:03.600
<v Speaker 1>Lizzie Watanita Beard Play, so we called Mama Player. She

0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:06.600
<v Speaker 1>was born in eighteen ninety three and might have stretched

0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:08.720
<v Speaker 1>to five feet tall, but it would have been a

0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:12.399
<v Speaker 1>pretty good stretch to get her there. I can remember

0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:15.639
<v Speaker 1>thinking I was grown standing beside her, and she died

0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:19.560
<v Speaker 1>when I was seven. She never broke one hundred pounds

0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.560
<v Speaker 1>her whole life. I don't remember her ever wearing anything

0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:26.800
<v Speaker 1>except cotton dresses and apron and those little faded blue

0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:30.840
<v Speaker 1>cats shoes, unless, of course, it was Sunday and it

0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:33.400
<v Speaker 1>was a fancier dress and leather shoes.

0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:36.280
<v Speaker 2>But she had a porcelain.

0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.520
<v Speaker 1>Stone ware churn that set on the back porch. The

0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.320
<v Speaker 1>handle and dasher was worn thinner around the middle by

0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:46.000
<v Speaker 1>the countless trips up and down, by years and years

0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:49.480
<v Speaker 1>of churning. It was an arduous process, the one that

0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:53.679
<v Speaker 1>was both necessary and part of farm life. By the

0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:56.159
<v Speaker 1>time I hit the ground in nineteen sixty six, my

0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:59.440
<v Speaker 1>mama player had an electric churn, but she kept the

0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:01.920
<v Speaker 1>old one around and let me take a turn at it.

0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:03.120
<v Speaker 2>When I was just a pup.

0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:06.800
<v Speaker 1>We would feed the chickens from the feed. She towed

0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:09.040
<v Speaker 1>it in her apron, holding the bottom edge up to

0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:10.119
<v Speaker 1>the form of pocket.

0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.919
<v Speaker 2>Then we gathered eggs and headed back to the house.

0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.280
<v Speaker 1>She'd already milked the cow by the time I made mustard,

0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:20.320
<v Speaker 1>and it had been set long enough for the cream

0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:23.480
<v Speaker 1>to rise to the top. That's where that sin comes from,

0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:28.000
<v Speaker 1>if you didn't already know. The cream is then skimmed

0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:30.640
<v Speaker 1>off the top and poured in a churn, and then

0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.520
<v Speaker 1>a dash or handle is brought up and down into

0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:36.600
<v Speaker 1>that cream, agitating the cream until a portion of it

0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:41.880
<v Speaker 1>solidifies and turns into butter. And the liquid that's left, well,

0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:44.840
<v Speaker 1>that's butter milk. I catch a lot of greef from

0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:47.040
<v Speaker 1>my Yankee friends at me Eater when I referred the

0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:51.120
<v Speaker 1>whole milk as sweet milk. But if you've ever tasted buttermilk,

0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.480
<v Speaker 1>you'll know where that comes from. I didn't make it up.

0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:57.120
<v Speaker 1>It's a label for whole milk that I've heard all

0:19:57.160 --> 0:20:00.840
<v Speaker 1>my life. My daddy hated it, but he would buttermilk

0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:02.880
<v Speaker 1>right out of the ice box.

0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:04.560
<v Speaker 2>Pretty sure.

0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:06.960
<v Speaker 1>I told you all about that in episode one twenty

0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.520
<v Speaker 1>nine Hauling. Hey, it's a good one you should listen

0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:12.199
<v Speaker 1>to if you haven't. But I've seen him come in

0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:14.920
<v Speaker 1>from the barn that we just filled with square bells

0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:18.199
<v Speaker 1>and the blistering heat and chug buttermilk straight from the

0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.040
<v Speaker 1>jug while I was gulping water from the kitchen sink

0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:22.920
<v Speaker 1>as fast as it would run out of the spigot.

0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:26.879
<v Speaker 1>Look it gives me the ev GeV is just thinking

0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:30.280
<v Speaker 1>about it. But if you didn't know how all of

0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:33.600
<v Speaker 1>that went down and where buttermilk and butter comes from,

0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:39.080
<v Speaker 1>consider yourself educated. Tim said he wasn't using the churn

0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:42.960
<v Speaker 1>he was using a big upright kitchen aid mixer. But

0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:46.040
<v Speaker 1>he's also minus of cow, so he buys whole heavy

0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:49.919
<v Speaker 1>whipping cream from the store raw if he can find it.

0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:52.720
<v Speaker 1>Starting out with two cups of cream, and you'll wind

0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:55.399
<v Speaker 1>up with about three sticks of butter and a cup

0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:59.639
<v Speaker 1>of fresh buttermilk. The process is fairly simple by letting

0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:02.080
<v Speaker 1>the large wists do all the churning for you, allowing

0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:05.320
<v Speaker 1>you to concentrate on other things. But don't stray too far.

0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:09.240
<v Speaker 1>You can literally have all that done in less time

0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:10.000
<v Speaker 1>than it took.

0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:11.520
<v Speaker 2>Me to tell you about it.

0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:14.439
<v Speaker 1>I watched the lady on YouTube knock it out in

0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:17.639
<v Speaker 1>about fifteen minutes. Just search for making homemade butter and

0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:22.040
<v Speaker 1>you'll get all kinds of recipes and instructional videos. Now,

0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:25.840
<v Speaker 1>to me, the neat thing about making your own grits

0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:29.080
<v Speaker 1>and making your own butter isn't limited to just the

0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:33.439
<v Speaker 1>production of healthier foods and the satisfaction of providing something

0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:36.720
<v Speaker 1>better for your family. It's the education that I got

0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:40.359
<v Speaker 1>from doing just a minimal amount of research into something

0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:44.960
<v Speaker 1>that's now obscure, that was once commonplace in almost every home.

0:21:46.240 --> 0:21:49.119
<v Speaker 1>These things are simple, but they're important to pass on

0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:50.880
<v Speaker 1>to the folks who are going to be picking out

0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:54.320
<v Speaker 1>our nursing homes one day. Now you add a child

0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:57.280
<v Speaker 1>or a grandchild into the mix when you're doing these projects,

0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:01.880
<v Speaker 1>and who knows, y'all just might find your own spam

0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:09.520
<v Speaker 1>and onion salmon. As always, thank you for listening to

0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:11.520
<v Speaker 1>us here on the Beggars Channel, and I have an

0:22:11.600 --> 0:22:15.399
<v Speaker 1>update about this country life merchandise from our gal on

0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:20.199
<v Speaker 1>the Prowl Reeve Hansen. Folks, we're not months away. As

0:22:20.240 --> 0:22:23.239
<v Speaker 1>I reported in Era last week. We're supposed to have

0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:27.080
<v Speaker 1>the first ones this very month. I'll be sure and

0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.280
<v Speaker 1>keep you posting and who to blame if it don't happen.

0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:34.240
<v Speaker 1>But until next week. This is Brent Reeves signing off.

0:22:35.240 --> 0:22:36.000
<v Speaker 1>Y'all be careful