GRANDMA’S KITCHEN

Grandma’s

Kitchen

Sylvia Hughes with her grandmother, Bertie Dameron.

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Talking to my cousin, Wayne, recently, he was reminiscing about the vegetable garden my mom and dad planted every year. We could hardly wait for the garden to start producing.

Wayne and I were raised like brother and sister. He was remembering my mom telling him, “Go out to the garden and pick whatever you want to eat and I will cook it.”

My dad often chose our meals the same way. Our table was always full of freshly picked food in the summer. Is there anything better? I ate very little meat when there was so much goodness on the table.

My mom cooked many things the same way her mom cooked vegetables from her garden. She cooked other things her own way.

I didn’t cook with my mom, but watched what she did. Our favorite thing from the garden was fried corn. Fried cabbage was a close second. We also liked fried okra and squash. Seems like a lot was fried, right?

But other foods balanced it out. We had cucumbers in vinegar, sliced tomatoes, green beans, peas and many other vegetables.

As the garden began to produce more than we could eat, mom and I canned for the winter months. Not only did we can vegetables, but we canned fruit and made relishes and jams.

The hardest thing we did was chow chow. It involved a lot of vegetables diced very small and we made a lot of batches at one time. We continued to can together even after I was married.

I had my own garden then and we gathered enough from both gardens to can for two households. There is something about sharing work that makes it fun and draws you closer together.

Seeing all the jars on the counter ready to be used when the garden is gone is very satisfying. Knowing that you will have something for your family that is better than you can buy at the grocery store is a feeling of a job well done.

I have gotten too old now to plant a garden and can its surplus, but I still cook some of the vegetables the same way my mom and grandmother did. Grandmother’s recipes were brought with her from her home in the Shenandoah Valley. All of her family lived there from the 1700’s. They were Scot-Irish and she married a man who was of German descent. Her cooking was some of both.

I have not seen anyone who cooked fried corn or cabbage this way, so I will try to tell you how it is done. They are cooked almost the same way.

Sometimes it is hard to turn what you have always done into measurements someone can follow. It is worth it though because it is the best corn and cabbage I’ve ever eaten.

Fried Corn

6 ears of corn

One slice of streak of lean meat or a little bacon grease

Cut all the corn off the cob

In a cast iron skillet, fry out the meat or heat the bacon grease.

Remove the meat

You do not want much grease in your pan. Just enough to cover bottom of skillet.

Put corn in the skillet and fry

until charred

Add just enough water to come almost to top of corn.

Add salt and pepper to taste

Cover and cook until water is

gone

Cut one small cabbage into about 1 inch by 2 inch pieces Fry two pieces of streak of lean meat in cast iron skillet until browned. Remove meat

Put cabbage in skillet and keep

Fried Cabbage turning until charred and wilted Add enough water to cover cabbage. Add salt and pepper to taste Cover and cook until water is gone and cabbage is almost soft.

Sylvia Hughes is a retired newspaper editor and columnist residing in Windsor. In addition to three sons, she has a gaggle of grandchildren, many of whom love cooking with her just as she did with her mother and grandmother.