Monday, June 2, 2014

DAY 68 - COUNTING DOWN TO THE 50TH

Good Morning, Class of '64
Dinner for the Threshing Crew - Lavern Kammerude
“Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy.
And cooking done with care is an act of love.”
 Craig Claiborne

 Y'all Come
 Bill Monroe, a mandolinist who helped create the 
style of music known as bluegrass. He is often referred
to as The Father of Bluegrass. 
  • Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970
  • the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971
  • the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as an "early influence") in 1997. 
  • An inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1991. 
  • Received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993. 
  • Awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1995.
  •  In 2003, CMT ranked Bill Monroe No. 16 on CMT 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.

    When you live in the country
    Everybody is your neighbor
    On this one thing you can rely
    They'll all come to see you
    And never, ever leave you
    Sayin' you all come to see us by and by

    Y'all come! (Y'all come!)
    Y'all come! (Y'all come!)
    Well, you all come to see us now and then
    Y'all come! (Y'all come!)
    Y'all come! (Y'all come!)
    Well, you all come to see us when you can
    Family Dinner - Unknown




Another Day with Larry





Daily Meals
(Part Two - Conclusion)

Some of the most important conversations I've
ever had occurred at my family's dinner table.
Bob Ehrlich
 
In early spring, we always dug a large burlap bag of ramps. We usually ate them boiled over cornbread. Many people believed that there is a medicinal quality to ramps, something that the body needs in the spring. That belief was similar to beliefs that sassafras tea thins the blood. It had to be drunk in the spring to thin the blood for the hotter weather in the summer. We did not believe that, but ramps was one of the first fresh, green foods available in the spring. That’s why we prized them so highly.

In The Land Of Wild Ramps, 
Feast of the Ramson
Richwood, West Virginia
Elkins, West Virginia
Helvetia Ramp Supper
Helvetia, West Virginia
Unknown
Sunday meals were pretty much the same. In our community, we usually had company or ate at someone else’s house for Sunday dinner. Families paired up, seemingly at random, after Sunday School each week. That was a precious time for just “settin’ and visitin’.” 
Dinner Table - Henri Matisse

Mom could turn out a delicious meal in almost no time. Anyone who was in the area at mealtime was invited to eat - that is simply the way it was. Sometimes 2 or 3 extra suddenly showed up for a meal. Never seemed to bother her - open another jar, make a few more biscuits, and an excellent meal was on the table. In later years, several cousins and friends have told me how they marveled at her ability to prepare a delicious meal on short notice with no fuss and bother. 
Thanksgiving - Doris Lee

Meals for threshing crews were real experiences. Threshing was a community activity; all the men worked together to thresh everybody’s grain, sometimes up to 12 - 15 men. Wherever they were working at dinner or supper time was where they ate. The ladies worked together - some came and helped or sent food, but the host farmer’s wife was responsible for feeding the entire crew. 

I’m sure there was competition among the ladies for the best food, the most unusual, and the greatest variety. I remember the men comparing the different meals. The food was pretty much the same as any other time - there was really no choice because that was all that we had. The only differences were more food, more variety, and more desserts, prepared by someone else. Feeding that many men in those tiny houses was quite a feat! We sat on the edge of the porch, on temporary benches made by putting a wide board on two blocks of firewood, or under shade trees. These semi-hardship conditions certainly did not hurt their appetites!
Feeding the Threshing Crew - Unknown
My mom once commented that the hardest 
indoor work a 1900′s farm wife could possibly 
imagine was cooking for a threshing crew.

My personal top-ten foods I miss:

1. Mom’s homemade biscuits
2. Home made sausage
3. Redeye gravy
4. Fresh pork loin - the meal we always had the day we butchered
5. Mom’s baked sausage - she baked patties on a cookie sheet. Had catsup and some other things mixed in. I’ve tried to duplicate it but have had no success.
6. Fresh-drawn well water
7. Fresh-churned buttermilk
8. Mom’s ground cherry preserves - I cannot duplicate them.
9. Mom’s home made cucumber pickles - again, I cannot duplicate them.
10. Salt cured hams and bacons
11. Mom’s chicken dumplings
12. Salt cured ham shank, skinned and trimmed after most of the meat had been sliced for frying, and cooked with hanovers - no other meat is so tender or so flavorful!
(I realize that there are more than 10 foods listed above - could be a lot more!)

Unknown
 “Fussing over food was important. 
 It gave a shape to the day:
breakfast, lunch, dinner; 
beginning, middle, end.”
Robert Hellenga
 Philosophy Made Simple
 
Company's Coming
Porter Wagoner introduced Dolly Parton
on his long-running television show.
Known as Mr. Grand Ole Opry, he charted
81 singles from 1954–1983. He was elected
to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_Wagoner
Porter Wagoner - 1954
 
We got company comin'
company comin'
we got company comin' up the road
They're down the road about a mile
they'll be here in a little while
There's company comin' up the road
Company's Coming - Peter Etril Snyder - http://www.snyder-gallery.com/painting/companys-coming
“I want them to bite into a cookie, 
and think of me, and smile. 
Food is love.
Food has a power. 
I knew it in my mind, 
but now I know it in my heart.”
Jael McHenry 
(The Kitchen Daughter)
Threshing Crew - John Philip Falter
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Location: West Virginia, USA

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