When Love Comes to Dinner

FACE TO FACE

Virginia Hughes

My mother, Frances, is blessed with good health in her nineties and remains an organized champion of cooking, efficiently completing household tasks and gardening every inch of her yard. Not a complainer, she raised eight children and birthed most of us in rustic conditions as a missionary overseas. For one family meal, Mom had prepared a delicious bean, pork and rice recipe from a missionary friend in Mexico. As we enjoyed it and added our compliments, Mom laughed and added we did not know how fortunate we were to have such flavorful beans lavished upon us. She had not been a fan of beans since her childhood until this recipe came along. We assumed her dislike for beans was because of war shortages or the Great Depression, but Mom shared about a difficult time in her life apart from those events.

When she was eleven years old, her mother got sick. Two years later, her mother died and went to be with Jesus, which left the family’s table with a sad longing.

Tears for their lost mother soon turned into beans boiled up in a pot they would eat for several days. Their sorrow compounded by the arrival of the one who came to help them get back on their feet. Hers was not the table they longed for.

As their father, Oren, entered home after work, he would lament silently, “Beans, beans, beans! All Elda cooks is red beans.” He was thankful for a hot meal—don’t get him wrong. His sister Elda had moved in to help Oren and his three children, Dale, Frances and Doris, following the funeral of Roberta, his beloved wife, about a month earlier.

Frances, now 13 years of age, insisted they did not need grumpy Aunt Elda. If someone must come, how about one of the friendly aunts, the ones who teased each other, sang in the kitchen and baked mile-high angel food cakes? Frances offered to be the cook herself. Hadn’t she learned from Mother for years? As Mother languished, Frances had washed the clothes, cooked dinners, ironed brother Dale’s shirts for a quarter per shirt and helped Doris with just about everything. She swept floors and cleaned all over the house. Had her father forgotten she also packed his lunch?

Oren could not hold back tears, and neither could Frances as he choked out the words that such a young girl should not lose her mother and bear the burden of running a household. “It’s too much, Frances, please. Let Elda do it and maybe you can help her a little.” Frances nodded.

Aunt Elda moved in and placed her giant stock pot in the sink with a loud clang to fill it with water. With a thunk, she set the pot on the stove and stirred in cups upon cups of red beans to boil. Frances peeked in the pot and thought, “That’s enough beans for an army.” Her heart sank when she realized that they were the army. Frances offered to help. No, Elda did not want Frances baking biscuits. Too messy. But Frances promised she would clean up any mess. She was old enough. No, they needed nothing else when beans were easy, filling and healthy. “But are they delicious?” Frances asked herself gloomily.

Several days passed, and Elda had not varied from serving red beans for dinner and mush for breakfast. Older brother Dale found refuge from the beans by eating at the tables of agreeable friends and neighbors. Oren brought home meat and vegetables from the grocer. Elda did not prepare any of it. Oren asked if she had seen the food he brought. She had. Would she please cook those? Elda was unsure. Could she then make a grocery list of items she would rather cook instead? What perfect timing since Elda did in fact need more red beans, and a large bag of onions would be mighty fine too.

Oren brought bacon, ham and a beef roast, along with vegetables and bags of sugar and flour hoping Elda would add a morsel of meat or biscuit to a meal, but she quickly relegated the items she didn’t need, everything but the beans, to the cupboards and ice box.

Why didn’t Oren turn on the oven and bake a ham himself? This number-one-best-question is answered with the fact that this was simply not done by most men back in 1939. Oren did not want to offend his sister, and he had no desire to assume kitchen duty. Perhaps his sister Elda was the genius here: cook passable food and handily wean needy relatives of one’s presence.

Oren took containers of beans in his lunch pail and offered them to anyone at work who would eat a serving. He bought bags of sandwiches from the lunch counter for himself and the children’s lunches in the following days. A welcome relief from the onslaught of beans.

One afternoon Elda stopped stirring the beans, turned off the stove and told Frances to serve up the cooked beans when their Daddy came home for dinner. Then she left her bean post. Frances and Doris stealthily followed Elda the three blocks from Caroline Street to the neighborhood café near their church. As they watched, a few church members filed into the cafe to sit with Aunt Elda. The group ordered pie and coffee. The girls wondered if Aunt Elda would order beans or maybe bean pie? Surely not, they giggled. They wanted to spy for hours, but Frances had an idea and they needed to get home right away. She planned to take over the kitchen during Aunt Elda’s absence.

Back home, Frances opened her mother’s recipe box. First the biscuits. Frances turned the oven to 450 degrees. Cold lard sat in the icebox for biscuit making. She measured out the flour, salt and baking powder, and swiftly cut small pieces of lard into the flour with two forks. She added a little milk as Mother’s instructions filled her mind, “A light touch and mix only as long as it takes for the dough to come together. Do not overwork the dough.”

Frances carefully placed the dough on the floured counter folding it onto itself and turning it for a total of four times. Using just her fingers and not a rolling pin, she pressed the dough into a small rectangle shape. To make sure it was tall enough, she bent her forefinger. The measure from bent middle knuckle to top knuckle of her forefinger would do. Doris helped cut biscuits ever so gently using the small jar kept just for that purpose. “Press down and do not twist,” they reminded each other. Together they cut the biscuits, lined them up in the baking pan with the edges touching, drizzled a small amount of milk over the top of the biscuits and put them in the oven. Using a timer set to 12 minutes and carefully watching, Frances pulled perfectly baked biscuits from the oven just like she used to make with Mother. It wasn’t nearly enough biscuits; so, she made another batch. To help Doris practice spelling and writing, Frances dictated a grocery list: bacon, eggs, potatoes and carrots. She planned to give this grocery list to her father and look for future opportunities to cook something other than beans for the family.

Frances carefully placed the dough on the floured counter folding it onto itself and turning it for a total of four times. Using just her fingers and not a rolling pin, she pressed the dough into a small rectangle shape. To make sure it was tall enough, she bent her forefinger. The measure from bent middle knuckle to top knuckle of her forefinger would do. Doris helped cut biscuits ever so gently using the small jar kept just for that purpose. “Press down and do not twist,” they reminded each other. Together they cut the biscuits, lined them up in the

Frances fried a whole pound of bacon in the iron skillet. She sliced tomatoes and put them on a plate. She found Mother’s pickles and blackberry jam and spooned some of each into Mother’s pretty bowls. Frances and her mother had managed to can rows of preserves before Mother weakened. Now, they could munch on these treasures and remember Mother happily for many meals. There was love in those pickles, beets and green beans. This was the delicious table set full of Mother’s preserved love they so desperately needed right now.

Jesus knew how to spread a table when the hungry came out to listen on the hillside. They starved in body and soul until he fed them hopeful words and baskets of fresh bread and fish, enough for everyone to be filled. The twelve baskets left over were counted by twelve men amazed at the miracle of the bread and fish multiplied before their eyes.

In Jerusalem during Passover, Jesus gathered his twelve together for a particularly important meal, the Passover feast they had remembered from the time of Moses. Then suddenly Jesus brought the new covenant to the table as he broke bread and poured wine. Jesus explained how he is the spotless lamb. His body and his blood broken and poured out for whoever believes in him. Be forgiven. Be saved. Do this. Remember me together.

By Friday, the disciples had lived through terrible days. Betrayal by Judas, violence, betrayal by the religious leaders, more unspeakable violence and denial among themselves. They watched their beloved leader, teacher and friend lay down his life to become as Savior of the world. Fear flattened their faith and waves of anguish wrecked their souls.

On the third day, Jesus arose and was back with them just as he had said. After the resurrection, Jesus fed his people again at a familiar spot by the Sea of Galilee. He told them to put their empty nets on the other side of the boat, and the nets were filled with fish. Jesus cooked and taught. He taught and cooked. “Feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my sheep,” Jesus said and handed a grilled fish to Peter, who trembled with the need to be forgiven of all his recent denials. And this is how we know what love is. Jesus did not yell at Peter, nor did he heap ashes from the cooking fire upon his head. Punishment was deserved, but Jesus gave grace and fed his loved ones by the sea.

What flavor is this grace? The best-ever tasted. Jesus gives grace to us as we gather close to him and stretch out our hands to receive it. This is the table we long for and desperately need. And he wants us to be forgiven, fed and then hand the good news, the food of life to others.

Bliss walked into the kitchen that day with Oren when he smelled bacon and saw hot homemade biscuits on the table with sliced tomatoes, Roberta’s blackberry jam, beets and green beans from her garden. The cloud of mourning was lifted. They were going to be okay. Love had come to dinner.

Aunt Elda was hugged by all and thanked sincerely as Oren assured her, she could return home and the family would get along fine. Frances then cooked, cleaned, washed laundry, ironed Dale’s shirts, packed her father’s lunch and helped younger sister Doris with just about everything for another six months.

To the children’s delight, their father fell in love again and married the fun loving, lively assistant who came to shepherd the youth group at their growing church. The children teased their father that they had seen Magdalen first, met her and loved her first as well. Magdalen was a match made in heaven for all of them. Frances was pleased to be a young girl again and willing helper to Magdalen around the house.

Magdalen had a large cooking pot, a pressure cooker, which landed on the stove with a familiar thunk, causing momentary worry. But Magdalen’s pressure cooker created delicious southern fried chicken. She stirred up flaky, light biscuits using White Lily Flour, an old southern secret. She also shared a wealth of gardening knowledge and expanded the family’s garden. Magdalen spread a delicious table of food cooked with love and warmth. She often spoke of Jesus and sang a familiar song, “He who fed the multitude, turned the water into wine, to the hungry calleth now come and dine!” When love comes to dinner, we are truly fed. This is the table we all need.

Old Fashioned Lard Biscuits {that Young Frances Baked}

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt1/3 cup cold lard

2/3 cup cold milk, plus a couple tablespoons to drizzle over biscuits before baking (buttermilk if you have it)

Directions

Tip: Chill the mixing bowl, flour, lard, milk and mixing forks for 1 hour or longer before making recipe

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Make sure oven rack is in the center.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Cut in cold lard until the mixture resembles small peas. Use a pastry cutter or two forks.

4. Stirring with a fork, add milk to flour mixture, and lightly stir to make a soft dough.

5. On a lightly floured surface, carefully fold and turn dough over itself four times. Press dough into a rectangle shape gently with your fingers to approximately a one-inch thickness.

6. Cut with floured 3-inch cutter. Press down firmly, do not twist.

7. Place the biscuits in an ungreased baking pan or on an ungreased baking sheet side by side.

8. Drizzle the two tablespoons over the top of the biscuits.

9. Bake for approximately 12 minutes.

10. Serve piping hot with butter, jam and honey.

MEXICAN CHILI

{the recipe from a missionary friend who taught Frances how to make delicious beans, when she thought she would never eat another bean in her life!}

Pinto Beans

Wash and cook according to package directions.

Season with salt & pepper.

Prior to serving, add 2 pieces of cooked, crumbled pieces of bacon to beans.

Meat

1 ½ to 2 pounds of any beef or pork tenderloin cut into cubes, season with salt, pepper, onion powder and a few shakes of chili and cumin powder. Fry in hot oil until browned.

Add to meat in pan:

2 teaspoons chili powder, or more to taste.

2 teaspoons cumin, or more to taste.

Cover meat with water, simmer until meat is fork tender, at least two hours or longer.

Before serving, add flour (1 tablespoon per cup of liquid in meat pan) to a little water in small bowl, stir vigorously and add flour mixture to meat mixture to thicken as gravy. Stir thoroughly to combine with meat. Simmer for ten minutes.

Rice

Fry rice in 2 tablespoons hot oil in skillet until lightly browned.

Add 1 onion chopped. 1 clove of garlic, chopped Stir and sauté for a few minutes. Then add: 1 small can of tomatoes, chopped Cover with water and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer until water is cooked out of the pan.

Place lid on pan and don’t stir the rice while steaming. Allow to steam with heat turned off and lid on for at least 15 minutes.

Serve rice, beans and meat in separate bowls to allow guests to make their own portions. Goes well with tortilla or chips, guacamole or avocado slices.