Filled with fresh milk, the old blue bowl with the cows moulded into it's side

sat on the shelf allowing the cream to rise to the top. That cream was then

skimmed off (skimmed milk!!) and churned into butter. I can still see Grandma

sitting and churning that cream into butter in an old glass Mason jar.

The blue bowl continued to sit on the shelf, filled with the skimmed milk. 

No refrigeration...no nothing. It just sat there waiting for bacteria to

curdle the milk. The result: a bowl of clabber.

(In today's parlance, that would be yogurt/yoghurt.)

(Wayne still has the old blue bowls; I have the matching milk pitcher.)

According to Wikipedia:

"...Clabber is a food produced by allowing unpasteurized milk to turn sour at a 

specific humidity and temperature. Over time the milk thickens or curdles into a 

yoghurt-like substance with a strong, sour flavor. In rural areas of the Southern 

United States, it was commonly eaten for breakfast with brown sugar, nutmeg, 

cinnamon, or molasses added. Some people also eat it with fruit or black pepper 

and cream. ..."

I guess the milk produced by our old milk cows (like "Annie") didn't know the

specifics of temperature and humidity. The milk curdled just sitting there on the

shelf.

We didn't get too fancy eating it either...just mixed in some cane syrup and

enjoyed the snack. I enjoy a "simulated" clabber snack these days by mixing syrup

into store bought vanilla yogurt. Good stuff!



A comment from a web posting:

"...Back before there was baking powder to use as a quick leavener in baking, there 

was clabber. This was something that every farm wife or person with access to fresh

milk could make, no additional ingredients necessary!...". 

I can't speak to that.

Maybe Mama and Grandma did use clabber in baking. This leads to commenting on

"Clabber Girl Baking Powder" which has been around for well over a hundred years,

negating the use of clabber in baking for a long long time (if one could afford

buying it!). It was introduced in 1899 as "Clabber" baking powder. In 1923, the

name was changed to "Clabber Girl". (By the way, Clabber Girl Baking Powder was and

is made by Hulman & Company who also own the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 

Indy Racing League (IRL). Curious, huh?)



There are also stories of folks feeding young chicks clabber and of mixing whey 

and ground feed with clabber and feeding it to the hens. I have no recollection 

of us ever doing that.



James (with thanks to Wayne for a memory jogger) 28 May 2009