Homestead mailing list

[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

Susan, I don't know anything about canning fish.  I was just wondering if you 
were getting any of that storm thats hitting maine ...bobford


--- On Sat, 9/27/08, SJC <indexer AT localnet.com> wrote:

> From: SJC <indexer AT localnet.com>
> Subject: [Homestead] was  Canning Chicken, now fish
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Saturday, September 27, 2008, 11:14 PM
> clansgian wrote:
> 
> > > 
> > > We've even canned the small creek fish that
> abound here abouts, horny-heads 
> > > and suckers.  They are headed, gutted, and
> scaled.  Then they are lightly 
> > > parboiled and packed into jars filling them with
> the pot liquor.  The pressure 
> > > canning makes the tiny bones like you find in
> sardines and canned salmon.   
> >   
> Oh, boy, does that bring back the memories.  A kid
> 'chore' where I grew up was to snare suckers in the
> winter, gig them late spring as they came from the Wabash up
> into a small rocky creek.  We usually went as a group and it
> was great fun, especially the gigging because for snaring
> you have to be quiet but gigging was like a party.  They
> were all canned in those days, made for some really good
> eating.
> 
> James, maybe you know:  the sucker we had in the midwest
> were always white meat and tasted very good.  When we moved
> to coastal VA, people turned their noses up at the idea of
> eating suckers, and we soon found out why: gray, soft meat,
> and tasted muddy.  They looked like the same critter to the
> eye but for whatever reason we never figured out, they were
> somewhat smaller.  Do you know why they'd taste
> different?  The warmer water maybe?  The food (theirs)?  Or?
>  We were so surprised, as sucker had always been a favorite
> til we tried those.  If you get good sucker, you can eat
> even the big ones fresh without worrying about all those
> teeny fine bones if you score them finely when they're
> cleaned.  Sounds like a pain but goes fast.
> 
> We also canned coho from the Great Lakes area and after we
> moved to VA we canned tuna and bluefish, although blues are
> not a favorite with me.  They are OK made up with potatoes,
> though, and made cheap eats, plus the kids all liked them. 
> Hint:  if bluefish are running, even if they are beaching
> themselves, do not try to catch with your bare hands; they
> prefer taking off your hand to being caught.....my
> rambunctious kid....lucky.
> 
> Susan Jane, in Maine
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Homestead list and subscription:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead
> Change your homestead list member options:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/homestead/bobford79%40yahoo.com
> View the archives at:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead