Todays canning

[thebuildist]

Now that I think about it, I'll bet the rich highbrow Germans who could afford fancy things like summer savory made their way up north to Canada. And the poor uneducated ones ended up farther south were they failed to teach people like me anything meaningful.

[Spike188]

Like Dave, I also have German Mennonite roots. Like Bob, I can't be teached much. Being an Oklahoma transplant to Ontario, okra and cabbage rolls are a part of my culinary taste. The problem is that I haven't learned how to grow okra in Ontario.

This year the plants are barely knee high and my southern mind says they should be shoulder high.

So far this years harvest has yielded about a dozen cuttings. Due to the severe drought here a few weeks ago even the small cuttings were on the woody side.

[Timj]

Can't say I have heard of the summer savory here in WI. Cabbage rolls yes, old school traditional dish, probably disappearing with younger generation.
Okra not popular here, haven't heard it mentioned in years. We grew it in the garden a few years when I was a kid. My dad would have to try something new and different every year. I'm sure the big grocery stores would have it.
Funny how regional things are.

[Eugen]

Now that I think about it, I'll bet the rich highbrow Germans who could afford fancy things like summer savory made their way up north to Canada. And the poor uneducated ones ended up farther south were they failed to teach people like me anything meaningful.

haha, I don't think so Bob. The poor had to add weeds to their otherwise tasteless food, and that's how we ended up with summer savory!

I came to Canada when I was really young and lived in Toronto for many years. There are so many cultures living in Toronto, and I was very curious about other cultures, especially their cuisine. Only once I tasted something that I really hated (lots of cilantro, which I still dislike very much). Otherwise, it was great trying new things. There used to be something called the Food Caravan in Toronto, a street food festival. The different cultures living in Toronto set up Caravans/Stands of food traditional to their place, all over town. So you'd travel from one place to another and try different foods. That was quite an experience, don't know if it's still on.

For instance, now I want to try fried okra, so next time I see it in store I'll get some.

Not sure our sourkraut will come out ok, we normally do it in late Fall, when the temperatures are lower. The warm ambient temperature we got now may cause the fermentation to be too fast and things can go into a mush. We'll see, it smells good so far.

One of the things I would like so much to have is a cold cellar. Some hole in the ground with a thick cement wall. We basically live in a swamp here, no way we could have a basement or cold room below ground, it would quickly become a fish tank. Can't have it all in life, that is true.

[Timj]

@Eugen that's funny. So poor they had to put weeds on their food. But probably very true. Most that settled in didn't have much.

[DavidBarkey]

@Eugen that's funny. So poor they had to put weeds on their food. But probably very true. Most that settled in didn't have much.

Growing up we were so poo we couldn,t' ever afford the "r"

[JSinMO]

@Spike188 our plants were short this year too. We got good okra through. Plants are just now getting to shoulder height.

I’m really enjoying reading what you guys wrote. I too come from a German Heritage but we never had cabbage rolls. Looks good though! Never heard of summer savory either, I guess the Germans around here used different weeds on there food!
@Eugen naturally store bought okra won’t be as good as fresh, but if you try it I bread ours in cornmeal, fry it in vegetable oil, and salt and pepper to taste as soon as they come out.

It is interesting what is regional. The conversation made me think of a few possibilities. Around here toasted ravioli is common but I have heard a lot of areas never heard of it. Pork steaks is another one that is staple around here but you can’t get it in other places. One that used to popular around here is cow brains. It used to be common to go to a restaurant or watering hole and see a cow brain sandwich on the menu. My mother used to cook them regularly with scrambled eggs and bacon. I think that went out of style when the big stockyards closed here.

Do you guys see chicken liver and gizzards in your areas? It pretty common here.

I know there are others that I can’t think of now.
Anyway interesting conversation guys, keep up the good work!

[Timj]

@Spike188 our plants were short this year too. We got good okra through. Plants are just now getting to shoulder height. FB791BA3-8A01-4619-B7D1-23ED4A8097A7.jpeg

I’m really enjoying reading what you guys wrote. I too come from a German Heritage but we never had cabbage rolls. Looks good though! Never heard of summer savory either, I guess the Germans around here used different weeds on there food!
@Eugen naturally store bought okra won’t be as good as fresh, but if you try it I bread ours in cornmeal, fry it in vegetable oil, and salt and pepper to taste as soon as they come out.

It is interesting what is regional. The conversation made me think of a few possibilities. Around here toasted ravioli is common but I have heard a lot of areas never heard of it. Pork steaks is another one that is staple around here but you can’t get it in other places. One that used to popular around here is cow brains. It used to be common to go to a restaurant or watering hole and see a cow brain sandwich on the menu. My mother used to cook them regularly with scrambled eggs and bacon. I think that went out of style when the big stockyards closed here.

Do you guys see chicken liver and gizzards in your areas? It pretty common here.

I know there are others that I can’t think of now.
Anyway interesting conversation guys, keep up the good work!

Luv pork steaks, always said if I had a restaurant they would be on the menu. Never see them on a menu here.
They are much harder to find around here, but growing up there was always a fight for the heart,liver, and gizzard. Can't get them out, only at home. Rarely see pickled turkey gizzards, sausages, or eggs on the backbar any more either.

[Eugen]

Never heard of toasted ravioli. But pork steak yes, big time. We consider the best cut to be from around the shoulder.

Brains are eaten usually from the pig or lamb where I grew up, but I never liked it. Chicken liver and gizzard were common on the table but again, I didn't like it much.

I'll try the okra as you say Jeff. We fry slices of eggplant like that, and sometimes zucchini.

@DavidBarkey it seems we might have derailed your topic a little, if you want to keep it clean about canning we can create another topic for this other stuff.

[DavidBarkey]

@Eugen Sometimes you need to take that winding road and see where it leads you . The only thing derailed is my train of thought .
@JSinMO The only things shoulder high here are the older grand-kids , corn and weeds .
We have pork chops here not steaks , not sure what is the difference .