Loved Baby Chicks
The photograph on the cover of your May/June issue reminded me of when I was a child and would ride to town with my mom in our 1936 International pickup to get boxes of baby chicks. Once we got them home, we would teach them to drink by dipping their little beaks in a bowl of water. They were always so fuzzy and cute. I loved to just sit and watch them.
Thinking about the chicks, of course, turned my thoughts to farm-fresh eggs. I recall listening as my mother explained to me how to tell when eggs were fresh – and when they weren’t. Mom’s sisters and our neighbors considered Mom an expert on eggs. She always said, “Whenever an egg white spreads out enough that the egg yolk sits there by itself, you know the egg is at least a week old. We don’t eat those; we dump ’em in the slop pail and feed ’em to the pigs!”
Thinking of the eggs then made me think of Mom’s cooking. She always used fresh egg whites to make angel food cake (which was the best angel food cake ever!), and she saved the egg yolks to make homemade noodles. However, she waited until the eggs were at least two or three days old before she would boil them for deviled eggs.
Life on the farm was truly educational.
June Murphy – Rio Rancho, New Mexico
What wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing them with us, June. You made us all hungry for angel food cake and homemade noodles. And you’re right. Farm life is definitely educational. – Editors
Brother Saved the Day
Reading “Spanking Turned Out to Be a Good Thing” in Heart of the Home in the May/June issue of CAPPER’S reminded me of a similar situation.
When they were children, my son and two daughters were playing a card game by candlelight when suddenly, my son began swatting my younger daughter’s head. She immediately began crying and hollering, “What did I do? Why are you mad at me?”
My son told her she had apparently leaned too close to the candle and her hair was on fire. Her tears stopped, and she was happy to know her brother wasn’t mad. They all went back to playing cards, but they were much more careful.
Virginia Paquet – St. Louis, Missouri
Avid Fisherman
I’m writing about your fishing article in the May/June issue (“Gettin’ Fishy,” Page 72). Being a lifelong fisherman, I enjoy reading about the pleasures one derives from fishing the local streams and ponds. Growing up, I spent countless days fishing for bass, sunfish, perch and crappie.
On the other hand, I cannot agree with people who consider the walleye such a wonderful species. The most sought-after fish in the north-central United States? Well, they are sought-after here in Maine, too, but for the purpose of eradication.
The selfish few lawbreakers who illegally introduced the non-native walleye and northern pike have caused irreparable damage to the thriving native fish population of salmon and trout in the pristine waters of Maine. Let the Minnesotans, etc., have their walleye and pike. Let us have our trout and salmon.
I live near the coast and have enjoyed striped bass and bluefish fishing as well. Now that is also fun and tasty!
Dick Choroszy – Kennebunk, Maine
