Blood Dumplings

by Jerome

Here is how my dad and I made "Crub" as we called it.

1 quart of pork blood poured into a large mixing bowl and add three quarts of water. Now begin mixing sifted flour into the blood and water. Once this gets too heavy for a small mixer, you'll have to begin working the flour into the mixture with your hands. Have someone else help by adding small amounts of flour while you mix this dough with your hands. It's going to become thicker and working it difficult.

Once it has become thick and you can form a ball, stop adding the flour and begin to form your dumplings. We always tried to make the dumplings about the size of a soft-ball. Taking some of the dough, cut it with a sharp knife away from the rest of the mixture. Now slice into the ball you've made about half way through and add about a golf-ball size piece of leaflard (pork fat). Now shake some salt and pepper on the leaflard (you be the judge as to how much salt and pepper to shake on it). Now close up the slice and pinch it back together and roll the dumpling around in some flour and set it aside and begin cutting out another dumpling from your dough and do the same again.

My dad and I always use large canners to boil our dumplings in. I think he used to fill them about two-thirds full of water and start the water boiling. Once the water comes to a boil and you have your dumplings made, it's time to begin adding them into the boiling water. Now when doing this, you'll need a very large spoon, and I mean a very large spoon of some sort, to stir the dumplings and keep them from sticking to the bottom of the canner.

My dad and I used two canners on the gas stove so we could cook our dumplings faster because the cooking time is 3 hours. We could get 12 to 14 dumplings in one canner. I should also add that you won't have to stand there and stir them for 3 hours to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the canner. I would say that 20 to 30 minutes worth of stirring would be enough time for them to become hot enough to begin floating on their own. From the time you drop your first dumpling into the boiling water, begin timing that canner and just keep the water boiling for three hours. Now it's a good idea to use the cover to hold the heat in, but look inside the canner and if the water is boiling away (and it will), it's a good idea to have another kettle of already boiling water to add as needed.

Now it's time to lay out some sheets of wax paper so that when the dumplings are done, you'll have a place to set them out and let them cool. My dad always had to have one fresh out of the canner and eat right away. Okay, three hours have gone by, and it's time to take out your dumplings and let them cool. Place them on the wax paper for cooling. Once they are cool they can be wrapped up in wax paper or aluminum foil, placed in ziplock bags, and put in the freezer for future use.

Now comes the messy part, cleaning up the canners. There will be some caked-on stuff on the bottom and some loose in the water. Strain the water as you pour it out, so you don't get this messy stuff going down your drains. Now you'll have to clean out the stuff that was left behind and throw it away. Wash the canners with soap and water and, yes, you will have to use something like a small spoon to clean the baked-on stuff off the bottom. Clean your canners real good and put them away for other uses.

Here is how we prepared our Crub for a meal or having it for breakfast. Take and thaw out what you think you'll be able to eat. Once thawed, begin chipping pieces off the dumpling, like you were going to make American fries out of them, into a frying pan with some margarine in the bottom of the pan. Once you have them chipped-up, start a flame under the pan and begin to heat them up. When the chips become hot, pour cream or half-and-half over them and let this thicken. When the cream or half-and-half has thickened, turn the flame off, put some on a plate, shake a little salt and pepper over them, and eat.

It's a lot of work and hard work to make these. I didn't mind helping my dad make this because I enjoyed the rewards of eating them later. They were, at times, all we had for supper one night, or a good way to start the day for breakfast. They are very filling and stood with a person on a cold winter day.

This is how I remember to make them. Thank you Dad, thank you. There were so many things you did I never had the chance to say thank you for. I know you're watching me from some place, and I hope you don't mind me sharing this with others. I know you don't mind, because you were always a giving kind of person. Thanks again Dad for everything!