maxine wrote on Sun, 8 Mar 2009 09:25:31 -0700 (PDT):

> On Mar 7, 2:07 pm, "James Silverton"
> > wrote:
>> notbob wrote on Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:59:07 GMT:
>>
> >>> Eggplant caviar is an old, old recipe. The name was meant
> >>> to imply something you spread on toast or crackers. There
> >>> never was a suggestion that it would taste like fish roe.
> >>> -aem
> >> Sez you. Every tried "mock apple pie" made with vanilla
> >> wafer or ritz crackers or whatever the heck it is. What's
> >> next? Burnt bread crumbs as coffee?
>>
>> My grandfather tried coffee made from roast acorns during WW
>> II. Most of the family pronounced it a failure.

> They're lucky they didn't get sick from it! Acorns are so
> high in tannins! He shoulda tried chickory root.
> On second thought, he probably did.

I wouldn't be surprised if he did! There are two sorts of acorns, red
and white, and one type is supposed to be edible. I forget which but
Grandpa would have known. He spent his working life in the coal mines
but he knew more about country crafts and edible plants than anyone I
ever knew.

He made mistakes too. I may have mentioned previously his country wine.
One batch had not finished fermenting when he bottled it and explosions
began to occur in the cellar. Grandma stopped speaking to him until two
months after the last explosion!

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not