Pilgrims and Pioneers: Parched Corn

Welcome To Pilgrims and Pioneers!

After many years of researching my family geneaology I have been lucky enough to discover actual information about my relatives that lived in the Pilgrim Era and the Pioneer Era- while many people also have realtives from those eras- many do not know their names or where they lived- actually seeing the proof in print makes you much more aware of who they really were.
After discovering these relatives it of course made me curious to learn more about the eras that they lived in and what their lives were like as, the history I learned in grade school had long since been forgotten.
I decided to start this blog for others who are also interested in these eras.
Some of the information here will be actual facts about my realtives and some will be information about the eras in general that I have found on the web.
I hope you will enjoy traveling back in time with me!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Parched Corn

Parched corn was a dietary staple for both the Indians and the settlers- I have even heard it goes back to biblical times.
The Indians dry roasted their parched corn while the settlers oil roasted or fried the kernels.
Parched corn is still eaten today by a number of hikers as it is easy to carry and prepare at their campsites.
Corn can be fully dried on the cob or frozen corn can be dehydrated. To use put a small amount of cooking oil in a skillet then wipe it out leaving only enough oil to coat the skillet and keep the corn from burning.Pour in enough dry corn to cover the bottom of the skillet. Stir constantly to keep it from burning.The kernels are done when they swell and turn light to medium brown and start to pop. Usually takes one to five minutes.