Food Friday

There is so much that I love about growing up on a farm.

There are so many memories.

I was raised in Middle Tennessee.  Tobacco was the money crop in my area…NO, we know better now, so please don’t make judgements…

This county was once the World’s Largest Dark Fired growing area.

Tobacco plants were started on a plant bed.  This was a gauze covering that would be “gassed” to kill the weeds and the seed would be sewn.  A tobacco seed is tiny, tiny! 

When Daddy planted the plant bed, he would also sow his tomato plants, radish, green onions and leaf lettuce.

NOTHING heralded the coming of spring than when Daddy would walk in the back door holding a handful of lettuce, radish and green onions, for this meant it was time for Wilted Leaf Lettuce.

This is one of my most favorite food memories of all times!!  NOTHING tasted better to me than this…my heart is almost bursting right now from the memories!

Mother’s pretty blue eyes would light up and dance as she would exclaim, “oooooooooo”!  Mother had a gift for finding joy in the simply and common moments of life…I was blessed to learn this from her.

Mother would immediately put on ham to fry to make red eye gravy.

Cornbread was mixed to make flap jacks or (ho cakes).

Lettuce, radish and green onions were washed and placed on a platter, along with the small silver-handled knife.

One of the best memories that Mother gave us, was, no matter WHAT we had to eat, our table was always set with her Desert Rose Plates, our silverware (yes, the real silver), a napkin, and glasses for tea/water.  Most often, there was a centerpiece on the table with whatever happened to be blooming.  Bowls were used on the table, and never was a pot allowed to sit on the table.  A prayer was said before EVERY meal and we passed the food to each other…YES, pass to the right. (hmmmmm, I think…or is it to the left??  HA HA HA).  Manners were observed…there was no reaching for food, you ASKED to have it passed to you, with “pass the (fill in the blank), please.”  When we left the table, we placed our silverware onto our plates, and told mother we enjoyed our meal.  When we went to someone’s house, these same manners were observed, FOLLOWED by the ladies helping to clear the table and “do the dishes”!  NEVER, have I failed to help a hostess after a meal.

I snicker as I remember Mother asking one of us, “where are your manners.” We would usually say, “Under the table.” We would laugh, but we KNEW that we had been told to do better, and we best crawl under that table and find them!

Tonight, I am having Wilted Leaf Lettuce.

As the years have passed, I have learned that I can make a similar dish using bought items.  I usually try to buy leaf lettuce, but tonight, I am making do with Romaine Lettuce, already cut.

I have had a ham hock boiling in water for 90 minutes, making a wonderfully flavored “gravy”, that will also serve to make a pot of beans at another time.

While the cornbread in cooking in the old iron skillet, that is probably at least 60 years old, I will cut up the radish and green onions!

Back in the day, we used Red Eye Gravy that was made when the country ham was fried.  Mother always fried the ham first, then added water to let the ham tenderize and cook out the salt that was used to preserve the ham.  This is why so many people don’t like country ham, but if you boil the meat in water, much of the salt is removed, leaving yummy meat.

Red Eye Gravy would often have a teaspoon of coffee added to it…

I HOPE this will be as good as I think it will be!

YEEEEEEEESSSSS….it was good!!

Another moment of realizing just how blessed my life has been and is!  My parents gave up monetary things in order to spend time with us, but NEVER did we want for anything.  Every single need we had was met.  We were taught the importance of hard work, making do with what you have, and always being thankful for what you had.  God was first in our lives and I am grateful that they loved me enough to make me do things that I would choose not to do, if given a choice, because, in life, we sometimes do things in life that we don’t want to do, but it usually doesn’t hurt us!  I think my life was better by having parents who were blessed to be able to do what they loved…

ALWAYS take time to do things for YOU…feed your soul.  When YOU are happy, then you are able to do more for others, and after all is said and done, we are to SERVE…

Sorry, but I don't think you can have too many pictures of cornbread straight out of the oven!!

If you were here, I would serve you some Wilted Leaf Lettuce!

May you have blessings in your day that will soften your heart and cause you to sing PRAISES!...I am simply blessed to create~~charlotte♡