Whatever Happened To...

[L Verge]

Herb struck a familiar chord for me when he mentioned the neighbor who made his own wine. We did too, except not with grapes. Locust trees grow like wildfire around here (the Garrett farm was even named Locust Hill Farm). My mother would gather the white blossoms from those trees right at the peak of bloom. Out came huge crocks left over from my great-grandmother's kitchen. The blossoms were boiled down, put in the crocks, and lots of sugar was added along with lemon slices, orange slices, and seeded muscat raisins. Finally, a yeast cake was added.

Our kitchen had a metal work table over a radiator, so the crocks sat on the table over the heat for about two weeks for fermentation to occur. Each day, I'd come in from school and smell it getting stronger. It also "talked" to you - sort of a slushing sound. When ready, Mom strained it and poured it into dark wine bottles without corks until all fermenting was complete. She then corked the bottles and stored them in cool, dark places (like the back of a closet or on steps leading to the basement). Each year, the new batch was brought out in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was a light amber color and bubbly. She called it "Farmers' Champagne," and boy was it good -- especially when we found an overlooked bottle from the year before.

We lived with my grandmother who was a tee-totaler (raised in a good Methodist family who belonged to the Sons of Jonadab, a temperance group). She forgot about her upbringing, however, whenever the Locust Blossom Wine came out. She also was a sucker for Mogen David and Christian Brothers wines, but she blamed that on her husband converting her to his Episcopal faith and forcing her to drink wine at the altar!

We also had a huge persimmon tree in our yard that produced tons of the little, native persimmons. Mom made Persimmon Beer with those. She also made Persimmon Pudding with some, and it was delicious. Of course, the persimmons were best once they had been touched with the first heavy frost.

I'm continuing to read Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen, and some of the recipes are bringing back fond memories. BTW: The author cites numerous occasions where Mrs. Lincoln entertained guests or the whole family served dinner to visitors. She was noted as an excellent cook, and no one seems to have made any comment about her being in bad humors.