Winter was coming, the days were getting shorter, the basement was now filled
with food to last the long winter months when there would be no garden.
Now the butchering could be done. Meat would be canned, some salted and smoked,
some could be kept frozen in the shed.
On the day of butchering, Uncle Carl and Aunt Gustie would come to help Ma and
Pa. They brought along their big butchering knife. Pa had already sharpened up
his knife. A fire was built and water was heated in a big black kettle out back
of the house. Berdina hated to hear the pigs squeal when they were killed, but
Pa did it very fast. Then Pa and Uncle Carl lifted the pig up and down in the
boiling water until it was well scalded, then they laid it on a board and
scraped it with their knives until the bristles came off. The pig was then hung
from a tree, the insides were removed and it was left to cool. There would be
fresh liver for dinner. Later the pig was cut into pieces. Butchering took a few
days as every part of the pig was used for something. Ma and Aunt Gustie would
cut up the big pieces of fat Pa would bring in. After that the fat was put in
big pots to cook. The smell of butchering filled the house. The lard crackled as
it fried and Berdina and her sisters had to stay away from the stove. Ma didn’t
want anyone to get burned. As the pieces browned they were skimmed from the fat
and placed in a small crock. These were called cracklings and, when crushed up,
made good molasses cookies and cake. Soon, the pots were removed from the stove
and the lard strained into crocks. This white lard was used to make bread,
cakes, pies and cookies. Meat from the pigs was cooked and canned, chops were
fried and larded down in crocks; the lard between the layers of chops sealed
them and they would keep a long time. Ma would take off as many as she needed
for a meal.
Another day the sausage would be made. It was fun for Berdina and her sister,
Pauline, to sit on the ends of the board that held the meat grinder, which was
placed on two chairs. Members of the family took turns alternately in feeding
the machine or turning the crank. It was exciting watching the red and white
parti-colored streams of meat pour forth into the big tub. Later the meat was
seasoned and stuffed into casings, some of it was canned and would be fried in
the winter for breakfast. This was really good with pancakes and maple syrup.
The sausage that was put in the casings was smoked, along with salted and cured
hams and sidepork, in the little smoke house next to the house. Green hickory
chips were placed on top of the fire which Pa had made in the hole in the center
of the smoke house. The chips made the fire smolder and the ham, sausage and
bacon hanging from the ceiling were filled with good hickory smoke.
Pa said, “There is nothing better than good hickory smoke; it makes good hams
and bacon that will keep most anywhere.”
The fire had to be watched for many days. If smoke stopped coming out through
the cracks of the smoke house, Berdina or her brothers would gather more hickory
chips and Pa would put them on the fire.
Finally the smoking was done and the fire was let go out. Pa cut down the meat,
then Ma wrapped it in paper and hung it in the attic where it would be safe and
dry. The house was fairly bursting with good food stored away for the winter.
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