In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

The vacola system is quite simple. The jar has a shallow slot around the
top. You stretch an annular rubber seal into that slot. You then pack the
jar and put a metal lid on it that sits on the rubber seal. You add a metal
clip that holds the lid down tight and process in the normal way. When cool
you take the clip off. The lid now magically stays on as the processing
drives out the air from the jar but as it cools the seal prevents it from
re-entering. So you have a sterile vacuum sealed jar. In the case of fruit
it will last for years.

ie (and hardly surprisingly) fundamentally similar to the ball-jar
method, except that the seal is separate, rather than fused to the (for
ball jars, "use once, per official guidelines") metal lid. The function
of the vacola clip is served by the threaded ring on ball-jars.

Harking back to the all glass jars with glass lids and separate jar
rubber rings, which I have a bunch of but don't use for canning
(officaldom's concern with those is that one might not find a failed
seal as obvious, since glass lids don't "pop" in as the metal ones do
when sealed.) I have relegated mine to dry storage duty.

I have canned meat exactly once, to make "real mincemeat" - and that's
the only thing that would lead me to can meat (and hasn't for 25
years...)

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

On 3/5/2015 11:11 AM, Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

The vacola system is quite simple. The jar has a shallow slot around the
top. You stretch an annular rubber seal into that slot. You then pack the
jar and put a metal lid on it that sits on the rubber seal. You add a metal
clip that holds the lid down tight and process in the normal way. When cool
you take the clip off. The lid now magically stays on as the processing
drives out the air from the jar but as it cools the seal prevents it from
re-entering. So you have a sterile vacuum sealed jar. In the case of fruit
it will last for years.

ie (and hardly surprisingly) fundamentally similar to the ball-jar
method, except that the seal is separate, rather than fused to the (for
ball jars, "use once, per official guidelines") metal lid. The function
of the vacola clip is served by the threaded ring on ball-jars.

Harking back to the all glass jars with glass lids and separate jar
rubber rings, which I have a bunch of but don't use for canning
(officaldom's concern with those is that one might not find a failed
seal as obvious, since glass lids don't "pop" in as the metal ones do
when sealed.) I have relegated mine to dry storage duty.

I have canned meat exactly once, to make "real mincemeat" - and that's
the only thing that would lead me to can meat (and hasn't for 25
years...)

Same here, have several of the glass lid jars, up to one gallon (what
the heck did they can in a jar that big?) Very good for keeping grains
and cereals from getting old quick.

I've never canned meat, family got their first Deep Freeze (actually the
name on the plate) in 1951 and it lasted until Mom went to the nursing
home in the early eighties and might still be with the neighbor that
bought it. My folks didn't can meat either, before home freezers they
had a "locker" at the ice plant in town to keep lots of meat in.

I do make pear mince meat and really like it.

Warming up rapidly again, seems the pear tree and the other plants will
keep their blooms. Hopefully it stays that way, we have about two weeks
left for possible frost.

Sauerkraut is doing well sitting in the unused bedroom that is a cold
room at the moment. The bucket is in a plastic tub, just in case.

Note: rec.food.preserving is a good spot to hit for home food
preserving. Some folks on this spot ride that one occasionally too.

On 5/03/2015 10:48 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but
they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight
unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the
grocery stores sell.

:-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that
showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is.
You would not like the prices we pay in Oz.

snip

Pressure canners have only fairly recently
become available int his country...
Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an
online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me
the lid-sealing arrangement differed.


I'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because
really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our
country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the
country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large
quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all
affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate
generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year
round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I
still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of
winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far
wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for
growing good apples.

We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime.

I know you live inland a long way north of me. I had placed you from
the things you'd said and the weather conditions reported at times when
you said certain things as being inland in a triangle bounded by Taree,
Musswellbrook, Newcastle. How close is that fit?

I have just harvested most of my pomes.

My inclusion of "perhaps" was right.

The medar will be another two
months if the possums don't get them.

I have one producing apple tree, it gave a little less than one crate of
granny smiths, they are very tasty, I just love the tart-sweet crispness.

We have at 5 of a size that produce and more coming on. Our trouble now
is netting them quickly enough to keep the blasted Sulphur Cresteds off.

I have one quince that gave one and half crates of fruit.

I lost all fruit form mine this year on a hugely loaded tree in l2
hours. Guess what got them? Ran out of netting.....

I have two pears. The Josephine Dumaurier (sp?) gave one crate this
year, in years past more. The Packhams Triumph had a good year and gave
7 crates.

We've got 2 pears and they seem to alternate and both are ????
Williams??? This year both are going to give a huge harvest

Despite the hot summer we still get frost in the winter. We selected
cultivars that do not require high chilling.

We are in high chill area. Down to -9C is not unusual. -7 is common.

Why do they vary so much
from year to year? I don't know. The hot humid summer doesn't seem to
do any harm, the pomes don't appear to get fungal diseases. They do get
birds, bats, possums, chooks, fruit fly and rats however.

My chooks never seem to do any harm to our trees. Teh worst problem so
far is that one hen got inside the nettign and I dint notice she was
missing and then realised she'd been out in the open under the tree
without water or food for 3 days and we'd had a humungeous storm in that
time. Poor thing. She survived but was thirsty by the time I foudn
her. I felt very guilty.

These are milk crates that hold about 20kg (45lbs) of fruit. So the
Packam had about 140kg (310lbs) of fruit, some branches were broken.

I have had the same trouble with one of my prune trees this year. I
knew i should have put props under the branches and didn't. I felt
guilty again.

The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola
method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food
most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular
when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit.

I will bottle some and freeze some and try to give away most of the
pears before they rot.

Make soem pear juice? I've made apple juice in the Vacola using very
large jars and it was lovley int he depths of winter.

Yesterday I made plum jam. I've also frozen stewed plums, I've also
done the "5 minute Microwave Bottling" method of putting away plums in
old Salsa jars. Later Today I am going to do the Vacola method of
preserving plums after I deliver basket loads to various people around
the village (along with eggs, tomatoes, zucchini and there is somehting
else someone asked me for so I'd better recall that before I set out...).

On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:

Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs
another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And,
with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees.
I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better),
and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies,
cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top.

What is a 'cobbler'?

I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a
'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble
etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is
traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like
before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served
with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more
than women IME.

Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 10:48 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but
they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in
sight unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those
things the grocery stores sell.

:-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online
that showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap
it is. You would not like the prices we pay in Oz.

snip

Pressure canners have only fairly recently
become available int his country...
Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an
online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to
me the lid-sealing arrangement differed.


I'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because
really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our
country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the
country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large
quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all
affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate
generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year
round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I
still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of
winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far
wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for
growing good apples.

We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime.

I know you live inland a long way north of me. I had placed you from
the things you'd said and the weather conditions reported at times
when you said certain things as being inland in a triangle bounded by
Taree, Musswellbrook, Newcastle. How close is that fit?

That's where I live but you missed out on the sin part.


My chooks never seem to do any harm to our trees. Teh worst problem
so far is that one hen got inside the nettign and I dint notice she
was missing and then realised she'd been out in the open under the
tree without water or food for 3 days and we'd had a humungeous storm
in that time. Poor thing. She survived but was thirsty by the time
I foudn her. I felt very guilty.

Ours will jump up to peck at the low hanging fruit.


These are milk crates that hold about 20kg (45lbs) of fruit. So the
Packam had about 140kg (310lbs) of fruit, some branches were broken.

I have had the same trouble with one of my prune trees this year. I
knew i should have put props under the branches and didn't. I felt
guilty again.

The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers
Vacola method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of
preserved food most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg
was never popular when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic
habit.

I will bottle some and freeze some and try to give away most of the
pears before they rot.

Make soem pear juice? I've made apple juice in the Vacola using very
large jars and it was lovley int he depths of winter.


good idea


--
David

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Corporate propaganda is their
protection against democracy

On 3/5/2015 5:05 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:

Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs
another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And,
with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees.
I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better),
and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies,
cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top.

What is a 'cobbler'?

I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a
'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble
etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is
traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like
before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served
with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more
than women IME.
Pretty much the same thing, a US southern cobbler is stewed fruit with
dough ladled into it and the dough puffs up when baked. Favorites here
are blackberry, dewberry, peach, and pretty much any available fruit.

I can dig up a recipe and post it if you like. I've made blueberry and
everything else but apples. About the only way I eat apples is sliced up
and have a plate of sharp cheddar cheese handy.

I was brought up in a house full of women, ranging from a great
grandmother on down to two older sisters. Being the only boy child I
learned to cook, clean, and preserve pretty much anything. When you have
that many women hovering over you you learn to be polite and correct.

I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of
zucchini bread.

Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

What is a 'cobbler'?
Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and
a biscuit dough top crust.

snippage happens

We have crumbles, too-in the Southeastern US, at least-known by a
variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there
are regional variants.

Our cobbler recipe is basically a stick of butter melted in a deep baking
pan (we use a 4 qt round pan), a pint or two of fruit added , then a batter
of 1 cup each of sugar , flour , and milk with some baking powder poured in
the center of the whole thing . Toss it in the oven at 375 for about 45 min
to an hour , then enjoy with ice cream on top . We've used apples , cherries
, fruit cocktail (!) peaches , and blackberries . Fresh , frozen or canned ,
if you use fresh add some sugar to the fruit . If we use canned , we use the
juice and water with dry milk in the batter .
Another variation uses a chocolate cake mix with reduced liquid and
canned cherry pie filling (google dump cake) cooked in a dutch oven over a
camp fire , that one was a really big hit with the Boy Scout troop I was
involved with (as a leader) .
--
Snag

Terry Coombs wrote:
Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

What is a 'cobbler'?
Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and
a biscuit dough top crust.

snippage happens

We have crumbles, too-in the Southeastern US, at least-known by a
variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there
are regional variants.

Our cobbler recipe is basically a stick of butter melted in a deep
baking pan (we use a 4 qt round pan), a pint or two of fruit added ,
then a batter of 1 cup each of sugar , flour , and milk with some
baking powder poured in the center of the whole thing . Toss it in
the oven at 375 for about 45 min to an hour , then enjoy with ice
cream on top . We've used apples , cherries , fruit cocktail (!)
peaches , and blackberries . Fresh , frozen or canned , if you use
fresh add some sugar to the fruit . If we use canned , we use the
juice and water with dry milk in the batter . Another variation uses
a chocolate cake mix with reduced liquid and canned cherry pie filling
(google dump cake) cooked in a dutch oven
over a camp fire , that one was a really big hit with the Boy Scout
troop I was involved with (as a leader) .

Forgot to add , what you're calling crumbles is probably the same dish we
call a crisp . Sliced fruit covered with a mixture of oatmeal , flour ,
brown sugar , and butter and baked hot enough that the topping gets browned
and crispy - thus the name .

--
Snag

On 6/03/2015 2:11 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:

Forgot to add , what you're calling crumbles is probably the same dish we
call a crisp . Sliced fruit covered with a mixture of oatmeal , flour ,
brown sugar , and butter and baked hot enough that the topping gets browned
and crispy - thus the name .

Bingo! It is the same thing is an apple crisp/crumble according to
Wikipedia although given the two photos that Wikipedia has put in to
illustrate the dish, they should have foudn someone who could actually
cook because both of those look like a very lame effort :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_crisp

But form there i followed the link to 'crumble' and there it says that a
'crumble' is also called a Brown Betty! Not in my universe!

On 6/03/2015 10:19 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 10:48 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
(snip)
We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime.

I know you live inland a long way north of me. I had placed you from
the things you'd said and the weather conditions reported at times
when you said certain things as being inland in a triangle bounded by
Taree, Musswellbrook, Newcastle. How close is that fit?

That's where I live but you missed out on the sin part.

Snort! Some interesting environmental challenges up your way these
days........ You may as well turn to either sin or the bottle.


My chooks never seem to do any harm to our trees. Teh worst problem
so far is that one hen got inside the nettign and I dint notice she
was missing and then realised she'd been out in the open under the
tree without water or food for 3 days and we'd had a humungeous storm
in that time. Poor thing. She survived but was thirsty by the time
I foudn her. I felt very guilty.

Ours will jump up to peck at the low hanging fruit.

I've got standard Australorps so they are probably too big and heavy to
bother.

On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote:
On 3/5/2015 5:05 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:

Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs
another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And,
with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees.
I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better),
and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies,
cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top.

What is a 'cobbler'?

I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a
'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble
etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is
traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like
before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served
with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more
than women IME.
Pretty much the same thing, a US southern cobbler is stewed fruit with
dough ladled into it and the dough puffs up when baked. Favorites here
are blackberry, dewberry, peach, and pretty much any available fruit.

I can dig up a recipe and post it if you like.

Thanks for the kind offer but I've just done a google, which in all
honesty, I should have done to begin with rather than asking you, but
then it does make for newsgroup conversations I guess. I've learned a
few more things about American food as a result of my hunt and that is
always a worthwhile activity.

I've made blueberry and
everything else but apples. About the only way I eat apples is sliced up
and have a plate of sharp cheddar cheese handy.

Yum. Apples and Blue vein. I'm slobbering at the thought.

I was brought up in a house full of women, ranging from a great
grandmother on down to two older sisters. Being the only boy child I
learned to cook, clean, and preserve pretty much anything. When you have
that many women hovering over you you learn to be polite and correct.

Snort! You mean you didn't learn to dish it out to them when they
dished it out to you?

I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of
zucchini bread.

Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them
that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts
come.

On 3/5/2015 10:34 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote:
On 3/5/2015 5:05 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:

Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs
another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And,
with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear
trees.
I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but
better),
and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies,
cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top.

What is a 'cobbler'?

I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a
'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble
etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is
traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like
before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served
with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more
than women IME.
Pretty much the same thing, a US southern cobbler is stewed fruit with
dough ladled into it and the dough puffs up when baked. Favorites here
are blackberry, dewberry, peach, and pretty much any available fruit.

I can dig up a recipe and post it if you like.

Thanks for the kind offer but I've just done a google, which in all
honesty, I should have done to begin with rather than asking you, but
then it does make for newsgroup conversations I guess. I've learned a
few more things about American food as a result of my hunt and that is
always a worthwhile activity.

I've made blueberry and
everything else but apples. About the only way I eat apples is sliced up
and have a plate of sharp cheddar cheese handy.

Yum. Apples and Blue vein. I'm slobbering at the thought.

I was brought up in a house full of women, ranging from a great
grandmother on down to two older sisters. Being the only boy child I
learned to cook, clean, and preserve pretty much anything. When you have
that many women hovering over you you learn to be polite and correct.

Snort! You mean you didn't learn to dish it out to them when they
dished it out to you?
Back then if I came home from school with a note from the teacher or the
principal I got whopped good by all five of those women. It was the old
timer way of teaching kids to be a) polite to their elders, b) do well
in school and not cause problems, c) don't make Mama mad, you might die.
Of course there were lots of hugs and kisses after the punishment. My
grandmother taught me how to play board games, my big sisters taught me
to read and write at four years of age, great grannie let me cut the
sweet gum small branches she brushed her teeth with. She dipped snuff
and brushed her teeth with snuff. Died at 89 years of age with a full
set of teeth. I loved all of them to pieces just like they loved me.
They did make sure I would grow up to be polite, courteous, and not a
trouble maker. Seems to have worked.

I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of
zucchini bread.

Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them
that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts
come.



Last summer's zucchini crop was sparse, only picked about six or seven
fruit, they all weighed more than three pounds and were seedless. Put up
a lot of shredded zukes and also yellow squash, which also makes a good
squash bread and can be used in casseroles.

Got down to almost freezing again early this morning, the rest of the
week the weather heads are predicting temps in the 70's and 80's. So
much for climate change. Will plant spring carrots today and clean out
the last of the fall garden. Then will amend those two beds and get
ready for all the seeds we have on the counter now. We have tomatoes and
sweet chiles nearly a foot tall under the grow light and others coming
on steadily. It's either plant out or fight the jungle inside.

I used to fly in and out of both Australia and New Zealand back in the
late nineteen fifties, was a crew member in a U.S. Navy transport
squadron. We flew stuff all over the world and it was a hoot for a rural
Texas farmboy. Don't miss it because wife and I averaged over 100,000
miles a year in flight time when we worked and lived in the Middle East
and other parts of the world. I haven't flown since 1990 when we came
home for good. Met a lot of nice people though, at least the sober ones. G

On 3/5/2015 8:11 PM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

What is a 'cobbler'?
Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and
a biscuit dough top crust. Whether "real" cobblers have bottom crusts
has been the subject of debate at (USA) Southern family reunions for
generations ;-) The crust, also, is more casual and less demanding than
pie crust, resembling biscuit dough much more than it does traditional,
butter-rich flakey pie crust. Regional variants abound. Although, I'll
eat damn-near anything with sugar in it, I regard guava cobbler as
unmatched for purely decadent but forgiveably sinful, pleasure. Some
people abuse ice cream and cobbler by combining the two—to my mind, a
practice as questionable as combining whiskey with Coca Cola. Of
course, I'm revealing my personal bias, he Ice cream and cake, pie
or cobbler _never_ should be mixed for the same reason that one adds
five only drops of water, and nothing more, into a 2-oz "shot" of
single-malt.
We have crumbles, too—in the Southeastern US, at least—known by a
variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there are
regional variants.

You're a sick puppy Derald. You can't eat cobbler without BlueBell
Homemade vanilla ice cream on top. BlueBell makes a very good "Southern
Blackberry Cobbler" ice cream too. My new favorite is "Chocolate Covered
Cherries." Outstanding ice cream.

I don't think I've ever eaten a guava, since you're in Florida you
probably grow your own. My favorite fruit is papaya, ate some for the
first time in Bangkok and fell in love with it. Bought one in the
supermarket yesterday and it is chilling before I devour it. Even the
dog likes papaya. We have a lot of guava plants in our neighborhood,
pineapple guava. Most don't get a chance to ripen fruit. Neighbors
across the street have four of the plants in their front flower bed.
She's from Puerto Rica and didn't realize the plants were guava. Guess
she had never picked her own and didn't recognize the growing fruit. I
keep hoping they will produce some ripe fruit one day.

On 3/5/2015 9:02 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

What is a 'cobbler'?
Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and
a biscuit dough top crust.

snippage happens

We have crumbles, too-in the Southeastern US, at least-known by a
variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there
are regional variants.

Our cobbler recipe is basically a stick of butter melted in a deep baking
pan (we use a 4 qt round pan), a pint or two of fruit added , then a batter
of 1 cup each of sugar , flour , and milk with some baking powder poured in
the center of the whole thing . Toss it in the oven at 375 for about 45 min
to an hour , then enjoy with ice cream on top . We've used apples , cherries
, fruit cocktail (!) peaches , and blackberries . Fresh , frozen or canned ,
if you use fresh add some sugar to the fruit . If we use canned , we use the
juice and water with dry milk in the batter .
Another variation uses a chocolate cake mix with reduced liquid and
canned cherry pie filling (google dump cake) cooked in a dutch oven over a
camp fire , that one was a really big hit with the Boy Scout troop I was
involved with (as a leader) .

Used to make biscuits in the 24 inch wide, footed dutch oven back in my
scouting days. Started at age 8 and quit in my thirties. Still have that
giant dutch oven, just don't do much with it. My Dad was a scout leader
for over forty years, good program at the time. Nothing tastes as good
as grub cooked over a wood fire in cast iron pots. Thanks for jogging
some very old memories.

On 3/5/2015 10:23 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 6/03/2015 2:11 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:

Forgot to add , what you're calling crumbles is probably the same
dish we
call a crisp . Sliced fruit covered with a mixture of oatmeal , flour ,
brown sugar , and butter and baked hot enough that the topping gets
browned
and crispy - thus the name .

Bingo! It is the same thing is an apple crisp/crumble according to
Wikipedia although given the two photos that Wikipedia has put in to
illustrate the dish, they should have foudn someone who could actually
cook because both of those look like a very lame effort :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_crisp

But form there i followed the link to 'crumble' and there it says that a
'crumble' is also called a Brown Betty! Not in my universe!

Lots of Usian southerners call them Brown Betty, we never did but we're
more south westerners than southerners. My mother-in-law, from Virginia,
made Brown Betties a lot.