"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

A few years ago I spent some time at a place in California where there were several orange and lemon trees. "pick and eat as many as you want" I was told. And so I did and it was great.
There was one tree though, that I was warned, produced oranges that were for marmalade, and were otherwise inedible.
"How bad can they be?" I thought, so I tried to eat one.
Pretty bad, it turns out! I could still taste the bitterness hours later.
I like marmalade, but am pretty sure that it was first made by a Scot who couldn't bear to throw away any part of something he/she had paid money for. (I am married to a scot!)
 
Mr. Chips said:
A few years ago I spent some time at a place in California where there were several orange and lemon trees. "pick and eat as many as you want" I was told. And so I did and it was great.
There was one tree though, that I was warned, produced oranges that were for marmalade, and were otherwise inedible.
"How bad can they be?" I thought, so I tried to eat one.
Pretty bad, it turns out! I could still taste the bitterness hours later.
I like marmalade, but am pretty sure that it was first made by a Scot who couldn't bear to throw away any part of something he/she had paid money for. (I am married to a scot!)
Click to expand...

There are some orange trees with fruit which has an extremely low sugar content. We had one in our yard when I was growing up.
I don't know if they are used for Marmalade, but I was told that the fruit was used for cooking purposes.
 
waynorth said:
Hear Hear!!
Slightly bitter marmalade, with lots of peel, is indeed the best!!:thumbsup::cool:
:D
Click to expand...
I am by no way a Marmalade Expert but I do like DUNDEE Marmalade . Usually when I have breakfast in a restaurant , I will look for Marmalade to put on my toast . We do not have it at home because I am the only one who will eat it .

Harry
 
In winter my Ma used to wait for Seville Oranges to appear in shops, so called I believe because they are extremely sour but make a fragrant Marmalade, the whole house reeked of citrus and as usual I was the only one in the family who couldn't bear the stuff:D:eek: But then, I was the only one who could face the SPIDERS who used to come indoors;)

I don't know if Marmalade needs these sour oranges or not...there are types with Lemon, Lime, Tangerine etc or even Ginger (which is great stuff) One school of thought used to claim that apple tart needed those horrible sour cooking apples (mostly what grow here a vile kind of Crabapple, sour...:poop:) Disagree, best apple pie is made with sliced sweet dessert apples, FRIED IN BUTTER and cinnamon then cooked in an open tart Normand style like in France, love it :D

Marmalade, that chewy, sticky, bitter peel infested....;) candied peel is vile too:D:D
 
Will Power said:
...best apple pie is made with sliced sweet dessert apples, FRIED IN BUTTER and cinnamon then cooked in an open tart Normand style like in France, love it.
Click to expand...

Very true! The best apple for pies is the Winter Rambour. A rare ancient apple tree, i have three of them in my field, good for juice, excellent when cooked, not bad eaten raw. The Rambour apple tree grows up in the north and east of France and in Germany. Give it a try if you have the chance, you will thank me.

Marmalade? Isn't it to the jam what spam is to the meat? Don't argue, i've already been accused of bad faith in the past.

Dan.
 
Blueberry preserves # 1, followed by strawberry & raspberry in the # 2 spot. Altogether different but very delicious in the right applications - saying dipping banana :) is Lemon Curd. In all cases I prefer organic and only very slightly sweetened. The best preserves have nothing added. There you go my 2¢ :thumbsup: ;)
 
dantzk8 said:
Very true! The best apple for pies is the Winter Rambour. A rare ancient apple tree, i have three of them in my field, good for juice, excellent when cooked, not bad eaten raw. The Rambour apple tree grows up in the north and east of France and in Germany. Give it a try if you have the chance, you will thank me.

Marmalade? Isn't it to the jam what spam is to the meat? Don't argue, i've already been accused of bad faith in the past.

Dan.
Click to expand...
Tatin sisters say : YES! :D

Since XIVth century in Bar-le-Duc gooseberry seeds are removed with a goose down. :) Neither marmelade nor gelée.
Dutriez.jpg
 
Switching gears from preserved fruit to preserved skills and memories, check this out - a solid stick after a 360 backwards flip, first try in probably 35 years.
bYK1AZL.jpg

I was bored waiting for the chicken to grill, and it occurred to me I could use this cheap Marbles whittler which I never carry to play mumbletypeg to pass the time. Took me back to my schoolyard days in the 1970’s when this was an acceptable playground activity. We didn’t really have any formal rules as I recall, just trying to repeat the other guy’s shot.

The other game we used to play, and which I recall my dad telling us NOT to play at school, was where faced your opponent, each with a wide stance, then threw the knife between the other guy’s feet. If it stuck he had to move his feet closer together. We always chickened out before the risk of a puncture wound got too great.

We actually had different names for these two games - the only one I remember is mumbletypeg, and I’m not sure which game it applied to. I will have to ask my dad.
 
We called that other game "Splits", and we played it the opposite way! If you could "stick" the knife less than a knife-length away from your opponent's foot (starting with feet together) you had to move your foot out to touch the knife! Repeat until the loser lost balance!!
 
Will Power said:
There is an interesting delight to throwing a cheapie knife into the turf :cool: If it's a carbon one, it seems to polish the patina very nicely (all that fine earth&grit) just don't get any grit in the mechanics :eek:;)
Click to expand...
Yes, I used to stick my scout knife spear blade in the dirt to "clean" it! Then I wiped it on my jeans, I believe. :cool:
 
On the subject of fruity preserves..speaking as a man with Type 1 diabetes..I opt for "spreadable fruit" rather than "jams/jellies"or "conserves"...
Much lower sugar and carbo content...still sweet though and not recommended by the medicos and dietitians...i spurn anything with the word diabetic written on the label mainly bevause I prefer my food intake to have ...oh what do you call it..? Oh yeah .Flavour.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top