Jump to content

Menu

Headcheese questions from 8yo due to WWE and Farmer Boy


Recommended Posts

In WWE we did a bit on Farmer Boy yesterday. It explained what headcheese is, (and that Susan ate it growing up.) My son wants to know if it also has the brain in it? I know they basically boil the head to get all the meat off the cheeks, snout and other parts, but is the brain part of the meat in head cheese? Do they leave the brain in? Does it ooze out and mix in after it's cooked? If we look at it in the deli case can we see brain parts mixed in?

 

Yes, these are his questions, NOT mine.

 

And note to Susan - while that is a great book, the explaination of what headcheese is can REALLY add a lot of time to that one lesson.

 

Of course the banging of MY head against the table saying "What's in headcheese in NOT the point of the lesson!" Among other little comments like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:lol: We did that lesson this morning - different 8 yo boy, same rabbit trails. I share your pain, but I have learned that certain 8 yo boys need answers and details - LOTS of details! and they need them before they can move on to math or history or any other subject. So I found myself googling headcheese this morning before I was finished my first cup of coffee.

 

I will confess that we have chased many rabbit trails between two boys 8 and 9 each on a different level of WWE. Of course, when one stops mid work to find out the answers to headcheese questions, the other must become involved. They are brothers after all, one cannot know something the other doesn't. Most days I can embrace their curiousity but there are days when I just want to get.the.work.done! WWE has inspired them to check many of the source books out of the library. It really is one of my favorite curriculums.

 

Sharing your pain!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From memory, although I can check with my father if you like - The tongue is removed. The head is skinned and split into two. The brains are removed. The skull is rinsed in (salt?) water, then boiled.

 

The tongue is served as tongue, fresh, smoked,or pickled, or ground with the heart and other innards to make baloney. (You did not really want to know that, did you?)

 

The brains are served as ... brains. My grandfather liked them fried with scrambled eggs.

 

The gelatin that holds headcheese together has oozed from the bones.

 

The old saw about using every part of a pig but the squeal is quiet true. The same is true of a beef steer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From memory, although I can check with my father if you like - The tongue is removed. The head is skinned and split into two. The brains are removed. The skull is rinsed in (salt?) water, then boiled.

 

The tongue is served as tongue, fresh, smoked,or pickled, or ground with the heart and other innards to make baloney. (You did not really want to know that, did you?)

 

The brains are served as ... brains. My grandfather liked them fried with scrambled eggs.

 

The gelatin that holds headcheese together has oozed from the bones.

 

The old saw about using every part of a pig but the squeal is quiet true. The same is true of a beef steer.

 

Well that cures me of EVER wanting baloney again!

 

I figured the tongue was out. Normally "tongue" on the menu is cow tongue I think, but I figured it would be the same.

 

As for your grandfather, the only thing I can think of worse than fried pig brains with scrabled eggs is if the scrabled eggs were runny/snotty eggs! LOL!

 

So.... vegetarianism sounding better to anyone else now?? LOL!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:lol: We did that lesson this morning - different 8 yo boy, same rabbit trails. I share your pain, but I have learned that certain 8 yo boys need answers and details - LOTS of details! and they need them before they can move on to math or history or any other subject. So I found myself googling headcheese this morning before I was finished my first cup of coffee.

 

I will confess that we have chased many rabbit trails between two boys 8 and 9 each on a different level of WWE. Of course, when one stops mid work to find out the answers to headcheese questions, the other must become involved. They are brothers after all, one cannot know something the other doesn't. Most days I can embrace their curiousity but there are days when I just want to get.the.work.done! WWE has inspired them to check many of the source books out of the library. It really is one of my favorite curriculums.

 

Sharing your pain!

 

Yes, if only "That's a good question. We can look it up later." worked!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...