4/16/2002 11:04:56 PM
I love to read anything about the olden days....maybe because I used to stay with my Grandmother who lived in a really big log house with a dog trot hall that had been closed in before I came along...Grandpa ROBERT FRANKLIN BUNTIN built that house in 1900, and left marks of his fingers where he had caught a slippery section of chinking and shoved it back in to place . He made the shingles and raised up the wide logs he had hewn so perfectly from trees cleared on the farm ...These deeply dug in finger marks were over by the old porch swing, which was shaded from the summer sun by a lushly growing vine that was just covered with tiny white flowers in the summer...I used to sit there , lazily swinging back and forth , looking at those prints , and linking them in my head to the man sharing the picture with Ma { CORA BERLEAN BARKER B } that hung over the fireplace... ... I used to wonder why he didn't smooth those marks out again, but maybe he wanted to just leave something for his Grandkids to grow into...We used to spread our grubby little fingers wide to try and fit them in the marks Papa left there...He died 6 years before I was born , you see, and only from pictures do I know that handsome mustachioed man who passed down his love of reading to the Granddaughter who shares his birthday......Me , Jeannie T ! ! !
4/20/2002 8:47:27 AM
We thought the teenage boys visiting my cousin one summer had the most hilarious accents....Yankees ! One day we were at their house , outside playing horseshoes. My cousin said they were trying to get to sleep the night before, and one brother said to the other....Remember the Northern brogue, now....".Jesus Christ Anthony, quit pinching me ! " Well, he had us falling down laughing he sounded SO funny....That has been umpteen years, but I still think of it and say it once in awhile, for old times sake...Recently I heard my 11 year old Grandson say " Jesus Christ , Anthony !" to his sister...Hubby asked why I was laughing so hard and I told him imagine the future when I am not around to explain who ol ' Anthony' was ! I felt it was my duty to explain it to them...they didn't see the humor....Guess you had to be there, hmmmm ? Mama's sister came down and stayed a week or two every summer, and always had VERY nice things....Lorded it over us...Well, when I moved to Chicago I found out they only bought new clothes, etc, before going on vacation ! Mama's brother's favorite cuss word expression used to be " I'll be John Brown !" Then...it changed to Jod down , then to G-- ----....Chicago's influence on him , no doubt....Jeannie T.
4/28/2002 8:21:56 AM
Somebody asked me for this recipe can't remember who, so I will just send it to lots of people and hope I got the right one ! ..It is VERY easy to make , and not near as fattening as Sawmill or Milk gravy.... CHILDREN' S CHOCOLATE GRAVY , Jeannie Travis 4Tbl. flour 3 Tbl. cocoa 1 Cup sugar 1 Cup water 1 tsp. vanilla a pinch of salt Mix the dry ingredients up in a skillet. Add the water and vanilla , stir to mix, cook till thick, stirring all the while. , like you was making custard pie. Cook it till it is like regular gravy, pour it over broke up biscuits, and eat it. This was our favorite breakfast when we were little kids...Especially on winter mornings when the stove wood was wet and Mama had to fry the biscuits ! She would make up biscuits in the biscuit bowl in the regular way, put some lard in the iron skillet, take out a stove lid and set the skillet right over the slow fire ..When the biscuits browned on one side she turned them over and browned the other side...A lid was kept on the skillet to hold the heat in...We loved them cooked that way so much we asked Mom to do it regular, but she said it took too much lard....I cook biscuits that way sometimes, makes Bear real happy to see "Stove tops " as he calls them, but I have the same concerns as Mama ...takes too much grease...Not because I worry about using all the lard up, but because of cholesterol and our weight !
5/8/2002 5:58:05 PM
I'm an old timey cook and can make a bought pie crust look like I slaved over a rolling pin for hours ! LOL ! When making an apple pie, for instance, I buy Pet Ritz deep dish pie crusts and regular ones too..OR.. Use 2 of the same size crusts....regular ones are cheaper, but I like a big pie...This recipe is geared to that.. Use 1 set for 1 pie, or make two and freeze or give away one...I fill a deep dish crust half full of sliced peeled apples, like Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, whatever tart apple I have on hand..For each pie I mix up a scant cup of sugar, 2 heaping Tbl. of flour, and pour half of this onto the apples... Then sprinkle apple pie spice on it....it should look kinda brown....Then I finish mounding up apple slices, pour the rest of the flour / sugar mix on and sprinkle again with Apple pie spice...It should be evenly light brown....Sometimes , I put very thin slices of orange, un peeled, between the layers of apple slices...Dot the filling with pats of butter...about 5 or 6 ... Turn one of the thawed regular size pie crust over on top of the apples ...work around the sides gently till it falls out of the pan and you can arrange it neatly....Form the crust to the apples, just a little bit....Mash your thumb into the two pie crusts on the edges all the way around ...thumb on top , forefinger under the rim...sealing the pie crusts together and making a pretty design...Just mash the crust together, move your thumb over a bit , mash again...[.If you are making your own crust...something I avoid like the plague, you would make the crust a little bigger than the pan, roll it around the rolling pin and unroll onto the pan ...turn the edges under the crust and ' flute to suit '. or just take a fork, dip it in flour, and go all around the crust edge sealing it down...If using a bought crust, just thaw, and flute all around as directed ....] Back to our Apple pie ! ...Hold the pie pan on one hand and use the back of a knife to cut / scrape the extra crust off all around the edge....Set it down and cut a quarter sized hole in the center of the pie for juices to escape...Using the paring knife, make a row about 5 inches long of half inch slits , kinda going around the top...reverse the knife, and make slits down beside the other row, to look like ferns....This is easier done than said ..Make about 3 of these...if you want to.....It looks real pretty and home made...Take the pieces of crust you have cut off and knead them a little and form into flat apple and leaf shapes and put on the top...Add little stems..Spray all over with butter spray if you like , and sprinkle on a little sugar...Bake at 350 till browned...30 to 45 minutes..The crust should be nicely browned and juices bubbling in that center hole.. .If you set the pie on an old black cookie sheet, the bottom crust will brown and juices will cause parts of it to caramelize into a delicious , made from scratch tasting pie ! A Teflon cookie sheet would do in a pinch...It might run over, so you need to put something under it...The dark color of the old black cookie sheet or whatever draws the heat and makes the bottom get good and brown...If your oven browns on top too fast, lower the oven rack, or cover the top with foil if it starts getting too brown before the filling is slightly bubbling....Serve hot with ice cream or whip cream or eat cold...The apples might drop down a little after it cools, but it tastes so good nobody cares ! Good luck ! Jeannie T
5/13/2002 4:50:25 PM
If by the grace of God I could sit on the porch and rock the day away with my Mother, there are so many things to talk about we would still be rocking when the lightning bugs started lighting up the night and the Whippoorwills began their lonesome calls in the shadows of the woods . Since there are now at least 125 descendents from Mom and Daddy's marriage ---if you count 'out laws'.....it would take quite a spell just to name all the babies and console her for the loss of loved ones, especially her' favorite' child, my brother Gerald....He was always a great one for teasing her, you see, and I think he reminded her very much of that handsome blue eyed man that shared a loving marriage with her for those heartbreakingly few years.. I'd like to tell my Mama we appreciated the hardships and heartaches she knew for so many years raising us 9 children alone .Not a single one went on to change the world in a big way , but neither have we done things to make us hang our heads in shame....We have lived lives she and Dad would have largely approved of, reared our children to know the difference between right and wrong, and haven't lost our sense of humor doing it ! Great Grandchildren are coming along now, and I know my parents would have been proud to spoil each and every one of them ! Oh yes, Mama and I could do some talking alright........ If I'd a knowed she's coming I would'a put on a big mess of green beans in my old iron dinner kittle, and poured in a goodly amount of bacon grease to make it taste good. Salt also , and a dab of vinegar and sugar so's they would taste like the ones she cooked so many times...And I would catch a frying size chicken and clean and cut it up just like I watched her do all those growing up years..Then it would be fried golden brown in the old back iron skillet handed down to me after she was gone....Hubby would volunteer to go down to the garden to 'scrabble' new potatoes for me, but I like that job so well I would tell him I had to go down there anyway . Onions are big enough to push down in the beans to flavor them up , and I'll lay the scraped potatoes on top before I put on the heavy lid......There'll be plenty of time to cook the dressing to pour over the slaw made from that tender head of cabbage I cut down at the garden ....Oh yes, my Mama was a wonderfully good cook, and she showed us girls our way around the kitchen at an early age so we could be a help to her when we wasn't out in the fields with Daddy... Now, I don't like to bake pies, but with Mama coming I'd git up real early and mix up custard in that iron skillet just like she always did . We've got plenty of sweet milk fresh from the Jersey cow , and I'd break open lots of those brown country eggs Cousin Herman give me last time I visited the farm....Their deep orange yolks would give it such a lovely golden color as well as a delicious rich flavor.. I know Mama's been eating these pies since she was a little girl , because she used to wait till Ma went to town on trading day and she would make 2 custard pies . The kids would eat the meringue topped pies before Ma got home , so she wouldn't get fussed at for wasting the sugar...One day a neighbor stopped by at the ' wrong' time and was politely given a piece of this delicious pie...Well, he went on to town...saw Ma...complimented her on the fine custard pie he ate at her house....and the pies were saved for special occasions only from then on ! I didn't know all this for many years , but I used to sneak and make cakes when Mama went to town to do the trading ...So,.... I guess the nut didn't fall very far from the tree ! . I wish you all happy rocking, happy memories of your Mama, and if she is still alive...treasure her as she deserves to be ...You will miss her SO badly when she is gone.....and wish you had given her the gift most Mothers want above all others...time with you......Jeannie T