Yes, I might have been a momma's boy, but who wouldn't be with a mom like mine! She has taught me so much over the years, I owe so much to her for teaching & preparing me for whatever life had to offer me.
I can remember early on, being with her wherever she went, usually wrapped around her legs (mostly hiding my shy self from others). But most of the time spent together with her was spent in the kitchen. Ain't it funny, how if you have a party at your house or if guests or family or friends show up, you almost always end up in the kitchen!?!?! That's just how it was in our family, from both of my grandmothers to all of my aunts & uncles. The tradition has been handed down from generation to generation, the skills that those women had & taught to each one of their children & even to some of their grand-children can not be taught in any cooking class!!
My dad's mother, being from the mountains, had breakfast cooked and on the table every morning by the time everyone else had gotten up. And even though I did not live with her, we visited often, and there would always be left overs wrapped up and either sitting in the warming-section of the oven or wrapped in foil sitting on the table... usually waiting for me. She would almost always have extra leftovers, especially if she knew I was coming, he he. She called me her "fat baby" or her "fat little butterball" (another reason my nickname growing up was "Turkey"), because I was the youngest grand-child on my father's side of the family and also the fattest one in the crowd. This woman used to keep 5-gallon cans of LARD under her cabinets. And used it religiously, in her made from scratch Buttermilk biscuits, that no restaurant could even come close in comparison to. She only used Neese's Sausage, farm-fresh eggs that were delivered to her on a weekly basis, the water she drank came from a well at my aunt's house who lived out in the country, she drank her coffee in a cup & saucer - always filled to the top, so she could overspill some into her saucer, that was how she sipped it while taking her medicine each morning. This was her everyday ritual, that I enjoyed so much to watch her do while I would stay with them. She worked in her kitchen like a well-oiled machine, never asking for help, but would obviously appreciate the company if you asked to just sit and watch in amazement the artistry of this fabulous cook in motion. Sometimes it looked like she was feeding an army, every burner on her stove was full of pots overflowing with the most amazing mouth-watering aromas that you have ever experienced. Cracker-Barrel didn't have nothing on her! I miss those meals so much, I would still be as big as a house if I could eat that food of hers everyday, and I would too. Love & miss you Grandma Ragan!!!!!!!!!
My mom's mother, being from the country & a mother to 9 kids, seemed more like the mother to any and all that would come around, she was used to cooking for an army. I think her motto was, we'll keep you up all night before we would let you go to bed hungry! Sure, there might have been several sleepless nights when they were all growing up, times were hard back in those days for everyone (and still are to this day as well). But they survived, the best they knew how at the time. Between two grandmothers who knew who to cook, no wonder I was as big as I was. I also learned at any early age, that I should always try to eat everything on my plate, because there were kids out in the world who weren't as fortunate to have anything to eat. To this day, it is very rarely, that I don't clean my plate at every meal. It is very rarely though, that I do sit down at a table at every meal. Living by myself, even when I lived with my parents, we almost never sat around a table for meals, unless we went out to eat somewhere to a restaurant or at someone elses house. It was customary to sit in front of the television with your food, and became a tradition that we still do today. Although, I do have a dining room table in my house, it is merely for looks (to fill the space or to catch all the mail & clutter that I throw on it), but what I wouldn't give to be sitting there now, surrounded by both grandmothers, who have passed on now, and to have their best dishes in front of me while I enjoyed their fine cooking skills ... (shoveling it in as fast as I could & asking for 2nd or 3rd helpings if any were left). YUMM :)
Our family reunion is coming up in little over a week now, traditionally held on my great-grandmothers & mines birthdays (August 12th & 15th). There will be some of the relatives of the some of the best cooks I have ever known, and I can't wait to dig in to all those delicious casseroles & more desserts than any bakery around. It is not as big or as celebratory as they used to be, now that most of the older relatives have gone on, but it is still a good gang of people & food that one has to just see to believe. If you would like to attend, contact me & I can give you all the details (when & where & what to bring, lol).
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