Hi Dave,

 DD> But sorghum is closely related to maize and the millets within the
 DD> PACMAD clade of grasses. It's a large stout grass that grows up to 8
 DD> feet tall. It has large bushy flowerheads or panicles that provide an
 DD> edible starchy grain with up to 3,000 seeds in each flowerhead. It
 DD> grows in warm climates worldwide for food and forage.

 RH> Hopefully it's not close enough related to set off an allergic
 RH> reaction. The heads sound almost like sunflowers.

 DD> Sorghum has different varieties, such as grain sorghums, grass
 DD> sorghums, and broomcorn. The seed pods are more like lilac flowers
 DD> less the petals. Sunflowers have their seeds more attractively
 DD> arranged.

OK, interesting to know that.


 DD> I know from experience that it's hard to tell sorghum from corn as new
 DD> plants. And until the tassels appear on the corn versus the seed heads
 DD> on the sorghum.

 RH> So you have to watch to see that you're growing what you intended to
 RH> grow. (G)

 DD> I pretty much know what I planted. And where. For instance I planted
 DD> my popcorn as far away from my sweet corn as possible so that the
 DD> didn't cross-pollinate.

Cross pollination is not good. Back in 1993 we planted tomatoes, bell
peppers and jalapeno peppers in a little strip garden. The tomatoes did
quite well, made both chili sauce and salsa from them. Unfortunatly, the
bells and jalapenoes cross pollinated so we had bitter, hot bells and no
heaat jalapenoes. From then on we planted only one variety of peppers.
(G)

 DD> Sorghum is gluten-free and is a great alternative to
 gluten-containing DD> grains.

 RH> We don't have that worry, but I can cook/bake GF if I had a need to.
 RH> Yesterday our church had a combined worship service with another local
 RH> one, with a pot luck dinner afterward. I made an Ocracoke Fig Cake,
 RH> brought home a small piece that we split for lunch.

 DD> There is a nice article on popping sorghum at WikiHow: If/when I pop
 DD> some I'll use my Stir-Crazy popper.

We had an on stove stir popper for a while, don't remember if it was
that brand. Once we realised Steve was allergic to corn, it was taken
over to some place like ReStore (forget the exact place) for someone
else to enjoy.


 DD> And I found this recipe using sorghum flour for a cake. Only
 DD> alteration I'll make is to use my bundt pan.


 DD>       Title: Sorghum Cake w/Cinnamon Sauce
 DD>  Categories: Cakes, Desserts, Spices
 DD>       Yield: 6 servings

It does look good. Last week I made an Ocracoke Fig Cake for a church
pot luck. I've used my bundt pan the other times I made it, this time I
used a tube pan. It released from the pan really well, just a very small
area clung to the pan. I pulled it out, stuck it on the cake and when it
was covered with glaze, nobody knew the difference.


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... OH NO!  Not ANOTHER learning experience!

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