Pour an amber pool of pure sorghum syrup onto a clean plate. Make your pool about three inches in diameter, the size of a homemade chocolate chip cookie or a slice of summer tomato. In the middle of the sorghum pool, put a chunk of pure, sweet butter that is not too soft and not too hard. With a fork, press the butter into the sorghum. Scoop up the edge of the syrup with a fork and drizzle the syrup on top of the butter. Scoop-mix-scoop-mix until you form a happy thick gold union of sorghum and butter. Take a bite, and join past, present, and future, fine taste and excellent nutrition, in one sweet mouthful. Sorghum is that rare food that is good, good for us, good for small farms and farm families, good for communities, and good for the earth. Until now, pure sorghum syrup has been a secret known only in a few midwestern and southern states. This book lets readers in on such secrets as sorghum's newly discovered super anti-oxidant power, along with the all-important sources of the very best syrup. For readers new to sorghum, this book offers tasty bits of information about this caramel syrup's origins, cultivation, nutrition, and uses. Longtime sorghum fans will find fresh tidbits to savor. Eight great recipes promise new taste adventures in the kitchen. In Sorghum Nation, we treasure the traditions of sorghum, the pressing and cooking outdoors that attract an eager crowd, the smell of the cane juice cooking down on blue autumn days, the taste of the green foam licked off the end of a peeled piece of cane. Indoors, we celebrate the happy moment after a good meal when butter and sorghum begin their swirling dance and prepare to glorify a biscuit. Even so, sorghum's past and present pale compared to its future. Eco-friendly, cash-producing sorghum cane, which growers around the world use for food, fiber, and fuel, can support our farms and small communities. Those of us who love the small farms and farmers of Sorghum Nation have the future in our sticky hands. The more we buy and use this intriguing, flexible food, the more sparkling and prosperous our beloved communities will be.
Rona Roberts, author of Sweet, Sweet Sorghum: Kentucky's Golden Wonder, writes and speaks about the wonders and pleasures of Kentucky food, farms, and farmers. She hosts Savoring Kentucky at www.savoringkentucky.com. Savoring Kentucky grows from Rona's delight in the great pleasures of eating and drinking what Kentucky's soil, water, air, and growers produce. Savoring Kentucky celebrates what is positive and fine about Kentucky's food, farms, farmers, restaurants, chefs, and markets. Rona intends to help change views about the promise of Kentucky agriculture, and particularly hopes to contribute to the great cause of our freedom from dependence on other states and other countries for our food and sustenance. Concern and commitment to this cause--true "homeland security"--have risen steadily for Rona since September 12, 2011. Like foods that are grown and processed in Kentucky, Rona is "Kentucky Proud." She studied at Oil Valley Elementary, Wayne County Elementary, Monticello High School, and the University of Kentucky. In college she studied Music and English, and then Human Communication, and finally Organizational Communication. Rona's most formative adult learning took place when she served as a Community Development Volunteer in the U. S. Peace Corps in the Philippines. Rona began her work as an independent researcher and facilitator in 1979. In 1983, with Steve Kay, she co-founded Roberts & Kay, Inc., a firm that offers qualitative research and facilitation. In other words, Rona's main professional work for 32 years involves helping people find things out and talk things through. After some time of working together, Steve assumed a new role in Rona's life: main encourager, favorite man and excellent husband. Between them, Rona and Steve have three thirty-something sons, two wonderful daughters-in-law, and two small, precious grandchildren. Rona is a native of Monticello, Kentucky, where her parents farmed and taught school. Rona and Steve co-host weekly Cornbread Suppers every Monday at 6 PM. Be assured pure Kentucky sorghum graces the table each week. You're invited. No RSVP needed.
