# The Things City Boys / Girls Do



## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

I hunt and fish quite a bit with a couple different guys that come from large metro areas. My rural buddies and I often joke about some of the things we see them doing that we would never do. I'm sure it's mostly because of how we are raised, but find it kind of funny none the less. Here are a few examples.

Make gravy with a store bought packet of mix rather than the pan scrapings.
Make meatloaf with a store bought ingredient package, rather than do it yourself.
Buy pre-made frozen meatballs for spaghetti.
Buy new chain saw chain and throw the old one away, rather than sharpening.
Can't sharpen a knife.
Never even considered seining minnows or picking up night crawlers for bait.
Scared to death of slightly unusual foods; liver, fried fish eggs, sauerkraut, Chinese, Mexican, etc.
All sporting gear purchases are based on what's currently popular on the outdoor shows.
Buy a nice gun or bow for hunting trip but won't spend a couple days in advance on sight in.
Would never consider leaving their dog outdoors overnight.
Get all creeped out if they have to use an outhouse.

I'm sure some of you can add to this list.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Fishindude said:


> I hunt and fish quite a bit with a couple different guys that come from large metro areas. My rural buddies and I often joke about some of the things we see them doing that we would never do. I'm sure it's mostly because of how we are raised, but find it kind of funny none the less. Here are a few examples.
> 
> Make gravy with a store bought packet of mix rather than the pan scrapings.
> Make meatloaf with a store bought ingredient package, rather than do it yourself.
> ...


I bet a list could be started about country people as well. None of those things are limited to only metro residents. I don't leave my dog outside overnight and I am as rural as they get. A cougar would kill them. I get creeped out by outhouses. Life experiences are different due to where you live and what you have grown up doing. Maybe it would be nice to not put down others because of what they have been able to experience.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

painterswife said:


> I bet a list could be started about country people as well. None of those things are limited to only metro residents. I don't leave my dog outside overnight and I am as rural as they get. A cougar would kill them. I get creeped out by outhouses. Life experiences are different due to where you live and what you have grown up doing. Maybe it would be nice to not put down others because of what they have been able to experience.


Guys put down other guys.

City guys or country guys, we live for the put down.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

painterswife said:


> I bet a list could be started about country people as well. None of those things are limited to only metro residents. I don't leave my dog outside overnight and I am as rural as they get. A cougar would kill them. I get creeped out by outhouses. Life experiences are different due to where you live and what you have grown up doing. Maybe it would be nice to not put down others because of what they have been able to experience.


 You must live in an interesting place that you can’t leave your dogs out because of the cougars and yet you’re not comfortable in an out house .

As a kid I lived for a few years in Germany in second grade I made my own money to play with the slot machines and buy beer with people seem to think that would make me an alcoholic gambler but honestly by the time I was old enough to really be an alcoholic gabler I was bored with the idea.
I have a beer or two a year and I usually spend 20 bucks at the casino...
I’m not addicted I’m not afraid I’m just not interested

Kind of the same way with outhouses I’m not addicted to them I’m not afraid of them I just don’t have a whole Lotta special interest in them.
I have sent a few pictures of an out house near here to my friends but that’s because you don’t run into too many two-story out houses


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

AmericanStand said:


> You must live in an interesting place that you can’t leave your dogs out because of the cougars and yet you’re not comfortable in an out house .
> 
> As a kid I lived for a few years in Germany in second grade I made my own money to play with the slot machines and buy beer with people seem to think that would make me an alcoholic gambler but honestly by the time I was old enough to really be an alcoholic gabler I was bored with the idea.
> I have a beer or two a year and I usually spend 20 bucks at the casino...
> ...


I don't like outhouses. I prefer an indoor toilet. I am not afraid of them. I like not having to go outside and drop my drawers at 20 below. I like not worrying about getting kicked by a moose in the dark. I especially like not having someone lock me in one.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

I think females tend to have a different relationship with outhouses than men do. I personally hate them, maybe unless it's my own private outhouse no one else is allowed to use.

*edit* forgot to add heated.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

When you live in the real wilderness you are aware of the steps you need to take to protect against predators like cougars and bears. I also do not leave my dogs or cats outside at night and I am not creeped out by outhouses, but disgusted. A lot of work to not only keep clean but a pain at night, in bad weather and with kids. Ever since the porcupines invaded and chewed up the seat and sides and refused to leave. They love the salt from human bums. And they got the oars too. And then there was the night of the great step on the skunk chase. As for kids -of course most men do not deal with kids with diarrhea and vomiting. Having done all this I can absolutely say give me a flush toilet and running water whether in the city or the country.

There seems to be a lot of very unusual food available in the cities - many of the things considered part of a normal diet today originated there. I do believe they have been eating offal and organs all over the world for thousands of years and immigrants bought their preferences with them.


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

painterswife said:


> I especially like not having someone lock me in one.


LOL! I'm with you there!


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Outhouses = spiders. 

Nope. Just nope.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

I forgot about the skunks and porcupines. Weasels are another one. Also who wants to have to shovel a foot of snow at 2am to get to an outhouse.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Maybe a rural farmland outhouse is different. A rural, forest outhouse is a lot scarier and not because it is an outhouse but where it is and what you have to be aware of to visit it.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

painterswife said:


> I don't like outhouses. I prefer an indoor toilet. I am not afraid of them. I like not having to go outside and drop my drawers at 20 below. I like not worrying about getting kicked by a moose in the dark. I especially like not having someone lock me in one.


 Lol. Ok. You are right I guess I will whole heartedly agree with ya on this one.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

AmericanStand said:


> Lol. Ok. You are right I guess I will whole heartedly agree with ya on this one.


The only good thing I can see with an outhouse is a bathroom to use if you don't have running water. Running water and hot water as well, two of the better things to have in this life.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

You know those pictures That you look at it they seem pretty and they seem romantic but you know it’s not gonna happen? 
My wife and I once ran a crossed a picture of a couple sitting on a bench Out doors gazing a crossed a beautiful snowy mountain landscape and after a while you noticed both butt crack showing 
It was probably titled the most beautiful our house or something like that it was probably titled the most beautiful our house or something like that 
But we agreed that we would sit peacefully side-by-side until we froze solid before either one of would let go first. 
We enjoy each other’s company but let’s face it number two is really for one at a time.


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

I can speed cook with what I find in the larder. I can put down and be put down with a grin. I locked a friend in a porta john at Oshkosh for a minute so I could take care of personal matters without getting locked in myself. I unlocked his door promptly after I washed my hands. He still remembers with a grin.

I pull my weight, clean up after myself and break camp rules when I need to.

I only get grossed out if someone yells "there is a hair in my food." I'll live.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

painterswife said:


> The only good thing I can see with an outhouse is a bathroom to use if you don't have running water. Running water and hot water as well, two of the better things to have in this life.


I think if I _had _to go back to using an outhouse, it would be in the Japanese style (basically a hole in the floor). Much more sanitary, less chance of things crawling out and biting you, and not too uncomfortable once you get the hang of it


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

How times change. An older friend of ours once told us that in his youth his family lived in row housing in England and they (and everyone else who lived there) had an outhouse at the end of the garden. After the war the county decided that they would modernize these houses by putting in sewers, toilets and baths. His father had an absolute fit. No way was anyone going to pee or poo in their house. Fought like crazy to prevent this from happening but in the end learned to live with indoor plumbing. The women loved not only the flush toilets but especially the baths.

The Romans had communal toilets - 20,30,40 seats- and all classes of people shared them. Nothing I would want to do in public with an audience but it was perfectly normal for them. As was their "toilet paper". A sponge on a stick.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

I remember my DIL making a grocery list once when she was here for a week. When I saw the gravy mix, I was Astonished! First off it didn't make all that much, secondly I thought it too expensive, and third, It wasn't near as good as I can make.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

I still don't know how to sharpen a knife. I am sure I could learn but my dad did it for me before and my husband does now.  I can, however, do all the electrical and plumbing in the house. I can also build and fix my own computer. I also make a great pie. Don't ask me to paint anything though unless you like paint all over everything. Then again I also get flour everywhere when I am baking, so pick your mess.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

I don't like packaged mixes as I was taught to cook by my Mom who was absolutely excellent. I am not that good. Everyone I grew up with cooked from scratch and that was in the city as well as the country. Lots of good nutritious food.

However I have had some real gag-me home made food items including gravy, stuffing and cakes so it may be that some people know their limits and find other solutions. I have never been able to make a really good pie crust despite lots of never fail recipes.

I can sharpen knives, scissors , tools and skates but I hate doing it. The sound!! Fingernails on the blackboard are a nothing compared to this. I shiver for hours afterwards.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Crisco pie crust recipe and use a cold bowl and cold ingredients. I keep the crisco in the fridge as well. Perfect crust every time. I learned that later in life but now can make a great pie crust. Just don't expect it to be pretty.  Husband makes very pretty pies. He is, however, a painter and artist. We work to our strengths.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

My Crisco pie crust was very flaky but not tasty. I once made a pie crust to wrap wieners in on an outdoor camping trip when it was 15 below zero. Baked them in a cast iron dutch oven. Everything was very cold. It was not bad but still not great. Perhaps I am missing the pie making gene. When I have cooking failures my husband always says "never mind, you are beautiful."


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

painterswife said:


> *Maybe it would be nice to not put down others* because of what they have been able to experience.


You should lead *by example*.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

My favorite was two 20-ish young girls who's car broke down and when I asked it they needed a ride, they said they'd just call an Uber. I said "hummmm, do you even know where you are in the middle of nowhere Minnesota. We don't have Ubers"


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## Meinecke (Jun 30, 2017)

Haha...Uber...good luck with that here...
And Outhouse? Well, when i am done, there will be no fly or spider anymore...


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## ford62b (Nov 3, 2014)

I can't comment on what city people won't do, but I know what a ******* like me will do that makes them do triple takes as I drive down the road (see picture). Ill go to a cattle auction say "I'm not going to buy anything so I don't need to bring the trailer." Well, more times than I can count I end up buying calves and have to get em home somehow. So the calf rides shotgun.

The looks on people's faces as they pass or sitting at a stop light....total confusion. Plus, I make it a point to stop at Dairy Queen, the drive thru. Yeah, its funnier than hell!


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Outhouse man what a luxury that would have been when camping on some Canadian Island on a fishing trip. Just wander in the bush(Canadian talk for woods) find a area where you can drop the draws and have a sapling to hang onto and do your thing. Hope you didn't have a moment (there elder moments now) and forgot the TP.










I can not imagine carrying in all the premix stuff to fix meals when out on a camping . I know that is what fishing dude ment with his post then there are those who didn't know that.
Yes I keep my dogs in at night here at home but when we are camping they sleep out side just like us. Well we are in a tent mostly,

I get tired of those clowns in the Cabela crap complaining it is to hot out. Well ditch that designer out door gear and get a good ole light colored T shirt lots cooler and wear a wide brim hat fool. The rattyer the better dip it in the lake of stream and get it soaking wet and slap it on your head to cool down too.

There was a reason we had terry towels around our necks. Kept the sun from beating down on it in the sun, Kept the bugs from sucking your life blood out also from the back of your neck, you could also dip it in a pool of water wring it out and have a cooling towel.

I got married and she wanted me to turn around and drive 25 miles back the way we came because there was a Mickdees rest room back there.
Nope ain't going to do it use the woods across and beside the ditch or hold it till about 30 more miles as there is a way side there with a out house.

I don't care if you wet your self isn't me got to wear the wet cloths and the seat will dry out you set in it enough with dry colthes on.

She learned to go in the back of the boat when we were out on the bay or use the 5 gallon pail I have to put some of the fish in.

 Al


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

By the way beautiful looking calf. 

 Al


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Love the calf!

My gravy sucks. Maybe not enough practice but after tossing several experiments I just gave up and either buy a jar or mix. As for pie crust, I can and have, with real lard that was home rendered. Nothing beats it, Pillsbury comes close and there is no mess to clean up after. As for the outhouse, sure beats a bush. My great-grandparents had an outhouse which I used whenever we visited them and that was every few days, IIRC. We also had one at our vacation cabin which I used when potty training 2 children.

I love fried fish eggs! Blue gill fillets with the tail on are wonderful too. Grandpa and I used to fight over them, we always ended up splitting them.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

OK - I am going to help you struggling gravy makers.

First repeat after me. Making gravy is easy.

Put an amount of oil. Any cooking oil.
Put a little more flour than oil.

Cook this until you get the color you like. Keep stirring. Very important to keep stirring.

OK is this cream gravy or stock gravy?

Put a little of the liquid of your choice. Stir.

Too thick? Add a little more liquid. Don't put too much liquid at one time. If you get it too thin you have to start again. No biggie, all you have invested is oil and flour, and time.

Once the thickness seems right, comes to a good bubble. Remove from heat.

You can salt and pepper, and any other spice you like to taste.

There. Make some gravy tomorrow, with some biscuits. Show your love some love.

We will discuss chocolate gravy later


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

That was a cute calf


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

painterswife said:


> I don't like outhouses. I prefer an indoor toilet. I am not afraid of them. I like not having to go outside and drop my drawers at 20 below. I like not worrying about getting kicked by a moose in the dark. I especially like not having someone lock me in one.


Me neither. Plus it's my luck I'd be the one that would be bitten by something in a private area and have to go to the ER and explain it.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Grandma never used oil or butter, maybe turkey fat but only what was in with the broth she was using. My grandma made wonderful gravy, she tried to teach me it just didn't stick. Maybe I'll try tomorrow after making pork chops. Can you use the fat from the chops?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Fat from the chops, bacon is very hard to beat also.

I love to cook sausage with sage in it then make gravey.
No kare can't make gravey either.
She finally stopped putting milk in my scrambled eggs after I fed them to the dog and went and fixed my own.

I fixed a chease red pepper omelet for lunch today. Fixed some maple flavored sausage to go with it.

 Al


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

I'm from the country and you won't catch me eating liver or any other innards from any animal. YUCK! Nor will I eat anything that lives in the water not fish, not seafood let alone fish eggs. Again YUCK! I'm a whiz at making milk gravy and in fact made some biscuits & sausage gravy for my grandson today but my brown gravy is lumpy every time. I can not make a pie crust nor can I even bake a decent pie even if someone else does the crust. I can however, bake melt in your mouth cakes and do fine with cookies. I don't do outhouses either, I've had bad experiences, but I'm perfectly happy finding a tree to go hide behind to do my business. LOL I don't think personal preferences have anything to do with city vs country.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

Anyone else having problems on this forum with it only letting you type so far in a reply before the letters quit showing up?


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

I think it depends on your situation at that moment. I can cook really good and grill even better but If I run short of time you can bet I aint rolling my dumplings by hand. I will be buying those frozen flat ones you get at the store. I lost my supply of stone ground corn meal so the corn bread isnt as good as it used to be. 

I find that most city folk will eat pretty much anything in the OP. What they turn their nose up at is chitlins, tongue, and they usually dont do chicharron or buche on their tacos. When I was a kid my dad once said he was cooking hog lights. I remember going outside and looking across the pasture at the hog pen. I told him they didnt have their lights on tonight.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

Anyway, where I do think there is a difference is in the way we think. I have a hubby who was raised in the city and I know he doesn't feel the affinity for our farm the same as me. He could sell it all off tomorrow and not feel one inkling of loss where I would buy up every inch of land bordering ours that came up for sale. He thinks our pastures and yard should look like the lawn in an upscale suburb. We look at a project that needs doing and see two totally different ways of getting done. Out of curiosity I've asked male family members how they would have done it just to see if it was a male vs female thing. It wasn't.


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## ford62b (Nov 3, 2014)

Ok, chitlins: those are so nasty. What would motivate someone to eat that??!??


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

ford62b said:


> Ok, chitlins: those are so nasty. What would motivate someone to eat that??!??


The same motivation to eat a chicken leg at KFC?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

ford62b said:


> Ok, chitlins: those are so nasty. What would motivate someone to eat that??!??


Hunger is a great motorvator. That being said I get it. Fish of any kind are off limits to me.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> Hunger is a great motorvator. That being said I get it. Fish of any kind are off limits to me.


I will eat anything that comes out of the water. Except that stuff called Ex- Cargo. That's what it is in my world anyway.


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## dsmythe (Apr 21, 2013)

I will eat almost any kind of fish, seafood that is fried. I like calves liver, chicken livers, beef heart, tongue, don't think I could keep down brains but have never tried either. Chitlins are OK IF they are stuffed with sausage, Grandma used to make the best sausage in the world and used the small intestines of the hog they killed to make link sausage.
I make the best sausage gravy there is, at least that is what my wife says about it and THAT Is all I need to hear. I use sausage that I make from hogs that I had killed.
Pies are still a mystery to me along with biscuits. I want to learn to make biscuits before I die, no more WHAPING a can on the side of the counter but we will see.
Outhouses are a thing of the past, I used one as a young child in NE Indiana at Grandmas' house before they had plumbing installed inside BUT if you gotta go you gotta go and if there ain't a "formal potty place" around I would use what ever was available, we usually keep a roll of TP in each vehicle so we don't accidentally get a poison ivy leaf IF mother nature calls while we are away.
We even used a large wash tub( don't remember what number size it was but it was big enough for me) to take our Saturday Night bath. I guess I am not too easy to embarrass as I have gotten older. My dogs sleep inside as we have bears and coyotes roaming around at night. I keep a weapon at each door of our house as well as in each out building for obvious reasons plus we have one neighbor who has been a patient in a mental hospital so one never knows what will be at the door out here.
Some City Folks are just fun to watch. I was born in the city but have spent a large amount of time out in the rural areas and live down a loooong drive now so I consider my wife and I as "Country Folks" and we love being able to go to town when we need to. Dsmythe


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Danaus29 said:


> Can you use the fat from the chops?


If there's enough you can use it.
Most any type of oil will work if you need to add more, but I wouldn't use Olive oil for gravy.

Butter does well if you don't overheat it.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

mreynolds said:


> I find that most city folk will eat pretty much anything in the OP. What they turn their nose up at is chitlins, tongue, and they usually dont do chicharron or buche on their tacos.


But most of them will eat hot dogs and grocery store sausage.
At least you *know* what's in a bowl of chitlin's.


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## roadless (Sep 9, 2006)

I viewed the OP as observing some differences between city and county folks rather than a put down.
I used to own a beautiful off grid cabin on a river in upstate New York, it had an outhouse with a usual toilet seat.
Deep in winter the lid was frozen shut, after struggling to open it while doing a gotta-go dance, I decided to buy an adult porta- potty for inside the cabin at times.
I actually used one of the open room bathrooms in Italy. It was a huge stone building with raised wooden planks that had holes every 2 feet, there was water constantly running underneath. It was better than the tour bus bathroom.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

I fail to grasp the outhouse at 20 below problem. I grew up with outhouses and 20 below was fairly common in the wintertime. We also had coffee cans for free once the coffee was used. In our house each family member had their very own coffee can sitting under the edge of the bed. Didn't have to endure the elements to take care of those duties in the middle of the night or during a blizzard. Come daylight the can would be emptied, rinsed out and put back. It really wasn't an issue.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

You all grew up with Dick and Jane. I had Tom and Nancy in the first grade. Tom was from the country, Nancy was from the city. The rest of the school year they visited each other. 

I can't remember the rest of the stories in the book, nor do I remember where they raised their kids. 

geo


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

I'm staying in a deep woods cabin right now. 
I consider it modern and comfortable.
When you arrive you should expect to rinse spiders from the sinks and bath tubs. A wasp or two may be climbing the window; maybe a snake under the porch.
Probably a good idea to put down fresh sheets or shake out the covers.
There are some canned goods in the cupboard but most everything else you have to "make".
I'd take an outhouse over most public toilets anytime.
A city environment can seem to be a little more sanitary and modernized but I'd argue no cleaner or prepared.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Danaus29 said:


> Grandma never used oil or butter, maybe turkey fat but only what was in with the broth she was using. My grandma made wonderful gravy, she tried to teach me it just didn't stick. Maybe I'll try tomorrow after making pork chops. Can you use the fat from the chops?


Sure


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

geo in mi said:


> You all grew up with Dick and Jane. I had Tom and Nancy in the first grade. Tom was from the country, Nancy was from the city. The rest of the school year they visited each other.
> 
> I can't remember the rest of the stories in the book, nor do I remember where they raised their kids.
> 
> geo


I feel cheated


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

HDRider said:


> OK - I am going to help you struggling gravy makers.
> 
> First repeat after me. Making gravy is easy.
> 
> ...


this is how I do it, too..
my wife mixes flour and water and shakes it in a jar. then boils it. it is OK, too.

the main thing is to COOK the flour well..If the flour is not cooked, the gravy will be intolerable.


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

we have an indoor toilet, I still prefer to go outside away from the house to pee. I don't have to aim to hit the ground..
I worked on a farm where it was common for everyone, including the guy's wife to straddle the cow gutter and do their business. I only did it when she was not around..
I do not eat heart, can't stand the metalic flavor.
I love liver, but quit eating it after I found flukes in a deer liver..
gizzards are ok.
I shy away from chickens that I haven't butchered myself.. too many things left inside them..
fried or deep fried bluegills and perch can't be beat .
boiled perch fillets are as good as lobster..
........jiminwisc.......


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

roadless said:


> Deep in winter the lid was frozen shut,


You needed a blow torch.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

HDRider said:


> I feel cheated


Maybe, but at least we got to "see Spot run"


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

dsmythe said:


> don't think I could keep down brains but have never tried either


Brains and eggs are wonderful.


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## Ellendra (Jul 31, 2013)

To make gravy from pan drippings:

First, eyeball it and try to estimate the amount of fat left in the pan. You may need to add oil, lard, or butter. Have whatever liquid you're using (water, broth, milk, whatever) nearby and ready to go.

Simmer the drippings until any remaining water has been boiled off. Be aware that as it gets close, it will splatter more easily. Prepare accordingly.

When you've driven off as much of the water as you can without burning the solids, start adding flour. It takes practice to estimate the amount you'll need, so start with a spoonful at a time, mix it in, then add another, until it reaches the consistency of a milkshake, and there's no clear fat sitting on top of the flour.

Simmer, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan constantly. If you miss a spot while scraping, it will burn. Cook this way until the mix changes color. How deep a color is personal preference, I like it to be a nice butterscotch shade.

Start adding the liquid, a little at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. The first few additions will be noisy, that's normal. Mixing in a little at a time helps prevent lumps.

If you plan on adding flavorings that need to simmer, make your gravy just a bit thinner than you want it to be. It will thicken as you go. I usually try to keep my gravies simple, with just a little salt or bullion, but to each their own. Usually just a few minutes of simmering is enough to dissolve the bullion, at which point the gravy is ready to serve.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

My husband likes Poutine and unfortunately we often do not have any drippings from which to make either beef or chicken gravy. A friend recently sent us a few packages of St. Hubert Poutine gravy mix (chicken) and it is really good. A nice substitute when homemade is not available. I now need to find a beef mix that is as good.


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## Slane (Jun 14, 2017)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Outhouses = spiders.
> 
> Nope. Just nope.


Or feral hogs trapping you in the outhouse for too long! (with no gun)


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Slane said:


> Or feral hogs trapping you in the outhouse for too long! (with no gun)


You can't really blame that on the hogs.


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## Cornhusker (Mar 20, 2003)

painterswife said:


> The only good thing I can see with an outhouse is a bathroom to use if you don't have running water. Running water and hot water as well, two of the better things to have in this life.


When I was a kid, we used to go to "Hay Camp" in the summer and put up hay all summer. Very rustic living conditions, and we had an outhouse.
One summer when I was maybe 14 or 15, I had to visit the little 2 holer in the middle of the night, and soon after getting settled in, something slithered across my foot.
I don't know about you guys, but I find it difficult to do my business with my feet off the floor.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

I grew up in the city and suburbs but was very fortunate because we had friends who owned a farm and others who owned a cottage and they loved to have extra hands around. My Dad also loved to garden and as soon as we had a yard we planted a veggie patch. And the Central Experimental Farm was right in the heart of the city so this was part of our school curriculum - going there and working with the animals, fields and plants and in the greenhouses. 

I have seen some photos of the cities where I lived and the amount of building that has taken over the land is just stunning. When I was young there were a lot of green and natural spaces all throughout the city and along the river. My interest in nature started in the wild fields, forests and ravines around our apartment buildings and especially along the railway and streetcar lines. My Mom was not enthusiastic about the snakes, birds , insects and small animals we brought home but she accepted it and even made us go to the library to learn about each captive. We were not allowed to keep them for more than a day or two and we would return them where we found them.

We would start exploring and go so far that we would not have a clue where we were, getting home after dark. Parents were usually out looking for us because the unbreakable rule was that you came in when called for dinner. Of course only when you heard the sirens voice. Absence at that time was met with punishment. Usually confined to barracks which was absolutely the worst punishment when you are use to running free.

Later when our parents could afford bicycles for us we covered the whole city and out into the surrounding countryside. 

I saw on TV that many cities are creating long natural parks along the old railway and streetcar routes and I hope this will give modern kids the same sorts of adventures we had - even if Mom and Dad are following behind and peaking our from behind the trees.


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## manfred (Dec 21, 2005)

On a windy day the city girls hold their hair and the country girls hold their skirts.


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## D-BOONE (Feb 9, 2016)

manfred said:


> On a windy day the city girls hold their hair and the country girls hold their skirts.


And northern girls say"you can" while southern girls say "yall can"


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)




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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

manfred said:


> On a windy day the city girls hold their hair and the country girls hold their skirts.


I never could figure out how to climb a barbed wire fence while wearing a skirt.


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## 101pigs (Sep 18, 2018)

nehimama said:


> LOL! I'm with you there!


And turn the light weigh plastic ones over :0 while inside.


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## ticndig (Sep 7, 2014)

Danaus29 said:


> Blue gill fillets with the tail on are wonderful too.


good to know I'm not the only one that eats the tail . almost like a potato chip.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

D-BOONE said:


> And northern girls say"you can" while southern girls say "yall can"


Thems the girls I like bestest!


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

Danaus29 said:


> I never could figure out how to climb a barbed wire fence while wearing a skirt.


Good way to have legs covered in ticks and chiggers too. 

That's hot.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Skirts? Not on the city and country girls I knew and know. Were forced to wear skirts to school when I was very young but that changed very quickly. My poor Mom so wanted me to be a girly girly. She gave up.


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

where my three sisters went to high school they had to wear uniform skirts with white shirts/blouses.. the skirts were drab green. vests of the same material were optional.. no matter how tall the girls were, the hem had to be somewhere around 8 inches from the floor.. the nuns actually measured some that seemed too short..


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

dress code enforcement is the bane of a teacher. especially a man enforcing a girl's skirt length. Reminds me of a cousin I had that taught in a big city a few years. He had a girl that wore short skirts and flashed him on a daily basis. One day he told her he wasn't interested in seeing her underwear. The next day, he didn't see underwear!


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I HATED having to wear skirts and dresses to school! Think Marylin Monroe over the grate but on a -20*F day while waiting on the bus! Tights were very popular back then, also kept your underwear from being seen when you were playing on the monkey bars.

Of course we were tough girls. Now the schools shut down for the day if the temp gets too low. Buncha wimps. I remember jogging in place and actually wearing a coat in an effort to keep warm on those cold, dark mornings.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

I think the only dress code we had was that we weren't allowed to wear sweat pants to school unless it was part of your uniform on game day - like cheerleaders could wear their uniform sweats instead of their cheer outfits, or basketball players could wear uniform sweats instead of shorts.

So glad I didn't go to school anywhere that forced you to wear skirts. It should be considered a form of torture in northern climates.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Mish said:


> So glad I didn't go to school anywhere that forced you to wear skirts. It should be considered a form of torture in northern climates.


I want to like this 100 times! Even schools that have uniforms now, require girls to wear skirts or dresses. I would never send my daughter to a school where dresses or skirts are required unless it's in Scotland and the boys wear them too. I would consider attending that school. LOL


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## Jen_Jen (Jan 10, 2017)

To be honest, (I'm Gen X,) I don't see much difference between country and city folks of my generation. We seem to be very adaptable. Maybe it's just that my friends/partner and I have been exposed to the outdoors and to country life from the time we were very little. We DO like to have our WiFi, and rural areas are gaining more and more broadband access. Other than that, we're good either way, but we prefer country life.

We have an outhouse on the farm we're buying. It's been defunct for probably decades, but it's nice looking and big inside. I'm going to clean it up, rig it up, and make it my grow house for my cannabis.  (It's legal in MA, where we're moving.)

As far as food goes, I like all kinds, and I can fix all kinds, if I put my mind to it. I WANT to want to bake, but at the end of the day I'm just not interested. My partner bakes, though.

I think it also depends on what part of the country you're from. If you're suburban/urban, but you're in a really mixed area, you're more likely to be adaptable.

Jen M, MA


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Lol
As a young man going to school in Alaska at 2030 and even 40 below zero I saw a certain irony in the big tough guys wearing snowmobile suits big boots possibly carharts and the girls standing there in heels and miniskirts. 
It always seemed to me that they must be a whole lot tougher!


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Fishindude said:


> Get all creeped out if they have to use an outhouse.


I well remember when my parents built our first pit toilet.

The county health inspector helped by providing plans.

None of our neighbors had one.

We were so proud!


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

I use a outhouse every day, it is neither creepy or unsanitary. I am not afraid of spiders, weasels, porkeys, skunks, or moose. My dogs live outside. I have found bear, and lion tracks in my yard, but have never lost a dog to either. I do have a fobia about liberal busybodies, who can't wipe their butt, without someone holding their hand.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

muleskinner2 said:


> I use a outhouse every day, it is neither creepy or unsanitary. I am not afraid of spiders, weasels, porkeys, skunks, or moose. My dogs live outside. I have found bear, and lion tracks in my yard, but have never lost a dog to either. I do have a fobia about liberal busybodies, who can't wipe their butt, without someone holding their hand.


NO WAY am I holding anyone's hand while they wipe their but.....


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## Redlands Okie (Nov 28, 2017)

They should not need BOTH hands. You can hold the other one


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

Redlands Okie said:


> They should not need BOTH hands. You can hold the other one


Yeah, but I'd have to really *really* love them.


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

muleskinner2 said:


> I use a outhouse every day, it is neither creepy or unsanitary. I am not afraid of spiders, weasels, porkeys, skunks, or moose. My dogs live outside. I have found bear, and lion tracks in my yard, but have never lost a dog to either. I do have a fobia about liberal busybodies, who can't wipe their butt, without someone holding their hand.


We always hated those slick pages in the big Sears catalogs.


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## TraderBob (Oct 21, 2010)

What's wrong with an outhouse?

















I've even seen some with a shower...outhouses are what you make them  I'm putting in one with a shower next spring....


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## Jen_Jen (Jan 10, 2017)

That is really nice!

I actually have no problem going outside or in an outhouse or whatever. My only issue, ever, is not having anything to wipe with. That means when we're out hiking our land, I'll be taking something with me for that purpose.

That said, I DO like my indoor plumbing, especially during those New England Winters!
Jen M.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

NRA_guy said:


> We always hated those slick pages in the big Sears catalogs.


The secret is to crumple them up and roll them between your hands. It softens them up.


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## Redlands Okie (Nov 28, 2017)

Lol


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