The way we were……..

Summer’s here and the time is right for veggies at their peak, sung to the tune of dancing in the street. 

I grew up on a farm. Our lives were enriched and filled with lovely fresh vegetables and fruits. We were enriched by raising our own beef, pork, and chickens. 

For a while we had fresh milk daily. Mama made butter. We had fresh ice cream weekly and I do mean fresh. Fresh cream, fresh milk, and fresh eggs. There were no fancy “lectric” machines. Making ice cream was a production. We would get a couple of big cubes of ice and there were like 2 feet square. Then out came the sledge-hammer to break it up. This was the man’s job while the women were putting together the cream ingredients. When it was ready to be churned, the women brought out the canister and set it in the churn, now their job was complete for the moment. Then it became the men’s job, they packed the churn with alternating layers of ic e and rock salt. Then the oldest quilt ya owned was folded up and put on top and the smallest young un was unceremoniously called (it was always me) and my job was to sit on top of the quilt on top of the churn holding it all in place and the men began to take their turns a crankin’. The male children always had to give it a go and see if they could turn the crank. As the sitter, my only fun would be to suck on pieces of cold salty ice, then spit em or throw em at the boys in the family as they walked by. 

Each woman in the family had their own special flavor. My mama did strawberry or peach, one of my aunts would attempt to do chocolate which was ok but never great but she was not the best cook in the family, she was just ok. She would always try to outdo everyone else and would change the recipes around a bit which changed the outcome and she used these pie crust squares that come in the cake mix section, they were Pillsbury, and when it was all said and done, the only people who really ate her food were her own family. But my other aunt always made nanner ice cream and my “mamaw” made vanilla. Now believe me my mama was the best cook in the family bar none. All of them could cook some better than others and some had specialties that n o one could beat. But overall my mother had better range. 

At big family gatherings, she did most of the desserts, cause she made her own crust, not frozen, not pie crust squares but from scratch. My Aunt Billie really did not do any baking. But she made a great ham, and she made the best baked beans and tater salad. She still makes the best tater salad but now my cousin Sandra and I make the best baked beans. My Aunt Joyce made the best fresh salads. She also made the best Mincemeat pies but then it was only her family that ate em. My mother made chess pie, fresh coconut cake, chocolate pie. Ahh the memories. 

Anyway, back to the ice cream, now I loved it all but if I had to pick one, well sorry mama but it would have to be my Aunt Billie’s nanner ice cream. 

This time of year always makes me think of veggies tho. We always had a big ol garden. My mama spent all summer making jellies, preserves, canning veggies, making pickles, and chow-chow, freezing and just putting up vegetables. 

Before we got a freezer, when it butchering time, after putting all they could in the Smokehouse etc. They would take bits and pieces and grind it up, add seasonings, and make sausage, they would fry up all these sausage patties, then put them into quart jars, then completely cover them with hot grease and put the lids on, the hot grease would create the vacuum etc. Then they were stacked up and perfectly preserved. People today would have a fit and would not touch something like that but we were never sick, never had food poison etc. Time to cook, ya poured all the sausage and grease in a skillet then heated it up. Drain the sausage and kit was licious. Then ya had your grease to cook with for the week etc. 

I am anxious to get through with this gallbladder surgery. I want to put up a few things and make some jelly and preserves. I am gonna try something different this year. I absolutely adore mango and intend to make some mango pineapple preserves/jelly and maybe some mango peach or mango strawberry. 

I still make my mama’s blue ribbon bread and butter pickles. She won a blue ribbon in both the Texas and Oklahoma state fairs with them. They are our favorites. But I loved her pickled beats, squash pickles, pickled green tomatoes, chow-chow, mustard relish, pickled peaches. I am going to work on a post on cooking fresh veggies my mama’s way. 

Detailing some of my favorites. 

Advertisement