Vintagevista wrote:

*ahem*  Writing this from the Ozarks here - *harumph*  Don't let the "Sun City" thing fool ya.  I'm all Arkansas "from who laid the chunk".

Our regional versions of comfort foods (Oxark Uplands) revolved around the garden - what you could grow and can - because folks were too poor to get "store bought" food often.

Brown beans - fried taters - green beans and corn - meat was a minor factor - lots of times as a kid - the meals were generally meatless - (but, not vegetarian - WAY too much bacon grease as a flavoring to qualify)  And sliced tomatoes with EVERY meal.

The Favorites were okra - fried in a black skillet with cornmeal.  And the one thing I have never really seen that much, outside of this area, is the placing of raw onions as a condiment/accent.  (bite of beans and a crunchy bite of onion)

Winter time was taters and cabbage and mason jars of canned garden veggies.

^^^ That is pretty much the foods my mom likes, and grew up eating.

Mostly beans and cornbread. If they had meat, other than salted pork, it was because one of the men in the community killed a deer, and they shared it.

Koryn wrote:

^^^ That is pretty much the foods my mom likes, and grew up eating.

Mostly beans and cornbread. If they had meat, other than salted pork, it was because one of the men in the community killed a deer, and they shared it.

Yep - the whole chicken and waffles thing was for town folks and the rich.  Heck, chicken was a special occasion food.

Vintagevista wrote:

*ahem*  Writing this from the Ozarks here - *harumph*  Don't let the "Sun City" thing fool ya.  I'm all Arkansas "from who laid the chunk".

Our regional versions of comfort foods (Oxark Uplands) revolved around the garden - what you could grow and can - because folks were too poor to get "store bought" food often.

Brown beans - fried taters - green beans and corn - meat was a minor factor - lots of times as a kid - the meals were generally meatless - (but, not vegetarian - WAY too much bacon grease as a flavoring to qualify)  And sliced tomatoes with EVERY meal.

The Favorites were okra - fried in a black skillet with cornmeal.  And the one thing I have never really seen that much, outside of this area, is the placing of raw onions (cut in the forms of leaves-or scoops) as a condiment/accent.  (bite of beans and a crunchy bite of the chunk of onion in your other hand)

Winter time was taters and cabbage and mason jars of canned garden veggies.

Yes, I grew up in northeast Arkansas as well. I never went to the Ozarks but everyone in that area knows where they are.

I still cannot make fried potatoes like my mother used to. I never liked beans, so when she cooked brown or white beans I just ate something else. I was just discussing fried okra with my boyfriend (who is from Texas). We were just saying fried or in gumbo is pretty much the only way to eat it. But it is damn good. I made cornbread last night and I was telling him I wish I had a small cast iron skillet (mine is 16" diameter) to make cornbread in. We had chicken and pork chops a LOT growing up. We were quite poor but my mother was very inventive with food so we rarely had a repeat meal in a week.

It's a trick those southern ladies have I guess.

Vintagevista wrote:

Yep - the whole chicken and waffles thing was for town folks and the rich.  Heck, chicken was a special occasion food.

No it isn't. Unless you mean you lived in the country and could only get that in a small town, then maybe.

Chicken and waffles is strictly in the ghetto. You used to rarely find places that served them in cities, specifically in the south obviously. You'd be hard pressed finding a place even in the ghetto parts of my city that serves them.

Model Sarah wrote:
Chicken and waffles is strictly in the ghetto.

Chicken and Waffles is soul food.  It is not "ghetto" or "ghetto food."  I'm not even sure what that means.  I mean, I can imagine what it means, but nothing I imagine is going to be good or positive.

Model Sarah wrote:
Chicken and waffles is strictly in the ghetto.

Damon Banner wrote:
Chicken and Waffles is soul food.  It is not "ghetto" or "ghetto food."  I'm not even sure what that means.  I mean, I can imagine what it means, but nothing I imagine is going to be good or positive.

Poor people eat gravel and sticks. Acorns too. Like squirrels.

Koryn wrote:

Poor people eat gravel and sticks. Acorns too. Plus squirrels.

Fixed it.

Eatin' gravel and sticks ain't so bad but shittin' 'em back out do wear a body down.

B L ZeeBubb wrote:

Fixed it.

Eatin' gravel and sticks ain't so bad but shittin' 'em back out do wear a body down.

I would try squirrel. I am kind of poor though.

Koryn wrote:

I would try squirrel. I am kind of poor though.

This one time as a young hippie boy with no more brains'n what the Good Lord gave a turnip, I reasoned out that ground squirrels were chubby looking rascals so I shot one.

When I skinned it out there were 4 tiny legs with just a dab of meat on them and a huge gut sack full of crap. Critters are just mobile compost heaps.

I cooked what there was and ate it, just so I could post this thread probably. True story.

B L ZeBubb wrote:
This one time as a young hippie boy with no more brains'n what the Good Lord gave a turnip, I reasoned out that ground squirrels were chubby looking rascals so I shot one.

When I skinned it out there were 4 tiny legs with just a dab of meat on them and a huge gut sack full of crap. Critters are just mobile compost heaps.

I cooked what there was and ate it, just so I could post this thread probably. True story.

My mom ate squirrels growing up. She didn't mind squirrels, but did not like deer meat, and said bear meat was gross.

I like deer meat, and would be totally satisfied with my only animal product consumption being from wild game, but that's not really possible.

Koryn wrote:

My mom ate squirrels growing up. She didn't mind squirrels, but did not like deer meat, and said bear meat was gross.

I like deer meat, and would be totally satisfied with my only animal product consumption being from wild game, but that's not really possible.

Tree squirrels look like they have bigger haunches so probably more meat. Deer meat is good but seasonal with a permit. All birds are edible, most birds are too small and I would skip buzzards on principle. It is amazing up here watching how many ducklings are hatched just so 2 or 3 will survive, if you could scare off the predators until they got bigger there would be tons of ducks everywhere.

Rabbits are plentiful everywhere and good eating. Woodchucks and porcupines are probably pretty tasty.

Feral swine have overrun parts of California, it is open season on them. Couple of them would be a LOT of sausages. If you catch them in cold running water crawdads are awesome, same with catfish.

I think you could do it if you lived in the country and were determined.

B L ZeeBubb wrote:

Tree squirrels look like they have bigger haunches so probably more meat. Deer meat is good but seasonal with a permit. All birds are edible, most birds are too small and I would skip buzzards on principle. It is amazing up here watching how many ducklings are hatched just so 2 or 3 will survive, if you could scare off the predators until they got bigger there would be tons of ducks everywhere.

Rabbits are plentiful everywhere and good eating. Woodchucks and porcupines are probably pretty tasty.

Feral swine have overrun parts of California, it is open season on them. Couple of them would be a LOT of sausages. If you catch them in cold running water crawdads are awesome, same with catfish.

I think you could do it if you lived in the country and were determined.

Ewww.... buzzards. Gross. lol

I knew a guy who killed a wild boar once. He had a couple of kids, and a wife. They ate off of it for a long time, and said it was good. I can't imagine it'd be that much different from healthy pork, grown in natural conditions. I won't eat any kind of commercial pork or beef; saw too many documentaries on factory farming, and pigs are smart, so you know they suffer really badly. Not my thing. I'd probably eat wild boar though. It got to grow up naturally, doing stuff pig-creatures are supposed to do, like roll in the mud and eat rotten leaves.

I've never had crawdads, but I've seen people eating them on survival shows. I'd guess they're pretty tasty. Grew up eating fried catfish; omg love it.

Koryn wrote:
I would try squirrel. I am kind of poor though.

You have to have several of them to make a meal, preferably in a stew. There will be bones left in the little bastards because there is no way to get them all out.  So be careful not to swallow one.

Oh and wild hog is good if you process it right and let it sit in ice water for 7 days before cooking or freezing it. (Drains the blood out which if not drained can give it a gamey taste.)

MesmerEyes Photography wrote:

You have to have several of them to make a meal, preferably in a stew. There will be bones left in the little bastards because there is no way to get them all out.  So be careful not to swallow one.

Oh and wild hog is good if you process it right and let it sit in ice water for 7 days before cooking or freezing it. (Drains the blood out which if not drained can give it a gamey taste.)

I actually really like that "gamey" taste. I didn't eat meat though for many years, and I went from being a long time vegetarian, straight into eating wild game meats, so I don't have a lot of context for comparing, say, what I think is the game-flavor of deer meat, for example, to commercially raises beef. I have not eaten regular beef since I wad maybe 13 or 14 years old. I don't remember what it is like.

Koryn wrote:
Ewww.... buzzards. Gross. lol

I knew a guy who killed a wild boar once. He had a couple of kids, and a wife. They ate off of it for a long time, and said it was good. I can't imagine it'd be that much different from healthy pork, grown in natural conditions. I won't eat any kind of commercial pork or beef; saw too many documentaries on factory farming, and pigs are smart, so you know they suffer really badly. Not my thing. I'd probably eat wild boar though. It got to grow up naturally, doing stuff pig-creatures are supposed to do, like roll in the mud and eat rotten leaves.

I've never had crawdads, but I've seen people eating them on survival shows. I'd guess they're pretty tasty. Grew up eating fried catfish; omg love it.

HA! Pigs don't eat rotten leaves. They are omnivores, will eat anything you and eat then some. The pig plague in California has 3 primary sources. Feral swine - farm hogs that got loose in the wild and are thriving there. William Randolf Hearst wanted to have wild boar to hunt in proximity to Hearst Castle in San Simeon so he imported European wild boar and let them go. They have spread from there. Finally, the hybrid progeny of feral swine and European wild boar. There is probably a stray peccary here and there, they are smaller wild pigs from Mexico.

Other states have them as well, pigs are a survivin' type critter. If I was harvesting them I would probably shoot the little ones, more tender and juicy.
Gotta watch out for Mom though, she will gut you like a carp and then trample your corpse into the dirt. Then pigs would eat you!!! Poetic justice I suppose.

I forgot about possums. I have heard it said that as America grew westward, some of the settlers brought possums along because they liked eating them. The range indicated by the map seems to agree with this possibility but there are certainly other options. Anyway, I have only had marsupial once - kangaroo jerky. It wasn't that great but I would try possum. Weird little bastards, not real smart but survivors. Sort of like catfish. The areas in green are the range of the Virginia Possum.

B L ZeeBubb wrote:

HA! Pigs don't eat rotten leaves. They are omnivores, will eat anything you and eat then some. The pig plague in California has 3 primary sources. Feral swine - farm hogs that got loose in the wild and are thriving there. William Randolf Hearst wanted to have wild boar to hunt in proximity to Hearst Castle in San Simeon so he imported European wild boar and let them go. They have spread from there. Finally, the hybrid progeny of feral swine and European wild boar. There is probably a stray peccary here and there, they are smaller wild pigs from Mexico.

Other states have them as well, pigs are a survivin' type critter. If I was harvesting them I would probably shoot the little ones, more tender and juicy.
Gotta watch out for Mom though, she will gut you like a carp and then trample your corpse into the dirt. Then pigs would eat you!!! Poetic justice I suppose.

I forgot about possums. I have heard it said that as America grew westward, some of the settlers brought possums along because they liked eating them. The range indicated by the map seems to agree with this possibility but there are certainly other options. Anyway, I have only had marsupial once - kangaroo jerky. It wasn't that great but I would try possum. Weird little bastards, not real smart but survivors. Sort of like catfish. The areas in green are the range of the Virginia Possum.

My dad had possum once when he was a kid, but you can't just kill them and eat them, because they're gross like buzzards. He said it had to be kept in a pen for a month or so, fed mostly vegetable scraps and clean stuff, and sort of treated like a really creepy pet for awhile until it was fat and safe to eat. He only ever had it that once though; by the time my dad was growing up, people didn't really eat possums anymore, except on the rare occasion because it was kind of a weird novelty.

Damon Banner wrote:

Chicken and Waffles is soul food.  It is not "ghetto" or "ghetto food."  I'm not even sure what that means.  I mean, I can imagine what it means, but nothing I imagine is going to be good or positive.

What the hell is ghetto food? Who said that? I just said you're not going to find a place that serves chicken and waffles in the city.

Model Sarah wrote:
What the hell is ghetto food? Who said that?

Ummm, well, you kind of did?

https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thre … st18883078

https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thre … st18880461

Lohkee wrote:
Ummm, well, you kind of did?

https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thre … st18883078

https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thre … st18880461

Uh...no I didn't?

I said soul food. My only point was to Jay mentioning Memphis. You just aren't finding soul food in a city the same way you're not finding the stuff your mom served you in the city either. It's home cooked food. No one is ever interested in that unfortunately.

Koryn wrote:

I actually really like that "gamey" taste. I didn't eat meat though for many years, and I went from being a long time vegetarian, straight into eating wild game meats, so I don't have a lot of context for comparing, say, what I think is the game-flavor of deer meat, for example, to commercially raises beef. I have not eaten regular beef since I wad maybe 13 or 14 years old. I don't remember what it is like.

It will still taste different than domestic hog but "soaking" it drains most of the blood which taints the meat and where most of the diseases you can get from any hog reside.  Cooking it thoroughly will get rid of the threat though but, it will turn out turn out better when soaked. Since you haven't been that exposed it would likely be healthier for you to get rid of most of the threat   that way. It still has to cooked until it's white either way. Just make sure that if you do soak it after butchering it that it stays between 32° and 40°.

Koryn wrote:

My dad had possum once when he was a kid, but you can't just kill them and eat them, because they're gross like buzzards. He said it had to be kept in a pen for a month or so, fed mostly vegetable scraps and clean stuff, and sort of treated like a really creepy pet for awhile until it was fat and safe to eat. He only ever had it that once though; by the time my dad was growing up, people didn't really eat possums anymore, except on the rare occasion because it was kind of a weird novelty.

You gotta love how we derailed this thread into a discussion about not eating possums or buzzards!!!

B L ZeeBubb wrote:

You gotta love how we derailed this thread into a discussion about not eating possums or buzzards!!!

Oh yes! That's why SF2 is the best forum on MM!

Koryn wrote:

Oh yes! That's why SF2 is the best forum on MM!

"because possums tend to eat things that buzzards won't, like other dead buzzards."

This feller is straight up a genius I figger. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GA7Zk0wUG4

Jim Shibley wrote:
Possum & Waffles? We had opossum in our yard in California when I was a kid. They would come onto the house in the night using telephone/power lines. Kind of a nuisance.

Heck, if you batter and deep fry it almost anything would be good.

Jim Shibley wrote:
Possum & Waffles? We had opossum in our yard in California when I was a kid. They would come onto the house in the night using telephone/power lines. Kind of a nuisance.

We had them too in Fresno. Yard possums mostly eat dog food I think, well fed critters.

Found a dead one under the shrubs once, stinkiest little fucker I ever smelled.

Alabaster Crowley wrote:
Semi OT: I would cut a bitch for some pancakes right now.

I could go for a waffle about now. In Tucson at the AZ Shootout waiting for a model & the restaurant to open.