We all have crummy days and seasons of life, ones in which we’d prefer to float over instead of linger; but every great story needs conflict.  Just remember that those hard and depleting parts of our lives make the sweet parts sweeter.

“I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade…..And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.”    Ron White

“Happiness is life served up with a scoop of acceptance, a topping of tolerance and sprinkles of hope, although chocolate sprinkles also work.”  Robert Brault

Mother and daddy both came from families of 10 and 11 children, so I had lots of cousins to play with growing up.  Even though my parents didn’t have a lot, they knew how to enjoy their lives and how to appreciate all the little things that made life worth living.  They were honest, hardworking and grateful and taught us to be the same way – and that’s a recipe for a very happy and contended life.

Let me tell you little bit about my childhood.  We lived two houses up from my maternal grandparents, Granny and granddaddy and boy did I love them.  When I was 2 our house caught on fire and we lost everything.  However, it didn’t seem to bother me because as they were fighting the fire, I sat down in a mud puddle and exclaimed, “Oh, goody, I get to stay with granny all the time”.

Ideally, the love of a grandmother is pure and unconditional, spoken uniquely throughout her life with countless gestures – often by what she created with her hands and heart. Some of us have tangible keepsakes handmade by our grandmother – quilts, blankets, dollies, etc. – yet for most of us the real keepsakes are intangible, built on years of rich memories made at the table with loved ones around it. There will always be certain foods, scents, sights and sounds that can transport us right back to our places at our grandmothers’ tables. Our senses can evoke such sweet thoughts of those incredible southern dishes that have become our favorites – it’s no wonder then that this cuisine is best described as comfort food!

Daddy, granddaddy and a couple of my uncles built us another house – 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen and a room that served as a bathroom.  And when I say bathroom, I mean we used it for bathing in a round, aluminum tub filled with water that was heated on the stove.  The bedrooms were never heated so we slept under loads of quilts in the winter.  Many times, I would sit so close to the heater that I would singe my eyebrows and lashes.

Daddy worked in the coal mines and we didn’t have much in the way of material things but that never mattered.  We had the love of family and togetherness and that meant more than anything you could buy.  I never once heard my granny or granddaddy say a curse word or an unkind word about anyone.  They were devoted Christians and trusted in God and they loved each other and their family.

When I was almost five, my brother was born premature.  He was such an ugly little baby, no fingernails, gray hair and wrinkled skin but I loved him just the same.  What the doctors didn’t tell mother and daddy was that he had a heart condition because they thought he would outgrow it by the time he was five or six weeks old.  Well, he was six weeks old when he had his first episode – he passed out and turned blue.  They had to rush him to the hospital and that’s when they found out about his condition.  He could not be startled or frightened in any fashion or he would pass out and turn blue.  He was such a tiny little boy and I was very protective.

I attended Hopewell Elementary School, which only went through the third grade.  It was a two room school with a coat room between the two rooms.  Half of the third grade was in with the first grade and the other half was in with the second grade.  We ate lunch at our desks because there wasn’t a lunchroom.  The meals were prepared in a small area off the second grade classroom and had a cutout where they gave you your lunch.  You ate what you got or you went without – most families couldn’t afford to provide a separate lunch so no one brought their lunch to school.  When I was born, I had six blood transfusions by the time I was six weeks old.  The doctors finally discovered that I was allergic to milk.  School lunches came with a pint of milk and nothing else to drink.  For the first week, my teacher would make me drink the milk.  I tried to tell her that I couldn’t but she just thought I didn’t want it.  Needless to say, I would have to leave school shortly after lunch because I was sick.  Finally, mother talked with the teacher and told her that I was allergic.  Not a very good experience for a six-year-old just starting school.

I walked to and from school almost everyday with my two best friends, Nancy and Gail, and a couple of other kids.  There were seldom any fights among the kids at school, we all played together and knew if we misbehaved, we would get a spanking when we got home.   We were taught to respect our elders, not to talk back, and to not interrupt adults talking to each other.  Too bad kids aren’t taught the same values and principles that we were taught back then.

Family is a very important element of the south.  However, we have a tendency not to think about family a lot because they are always there.  And then one day ….. they’re not.  I also find that spending time with family isn’t as important among the younger generations.  Back in the day, we all gathered together at least once a year and spent the day together as one big, big family – all of my cousins, aunts and uncles – with lots of delicious, homemade food, good music, games and wonderful memories.  We still do this on my daddy’s side of the family.  For more than sixty-five years, on the Sunday closest to the Fourth of July, we have a family reunion.  The tradition started with a huge ice cream supper Saturday night – everyone brought a different flavor of ice cream in old crank ice cream freezers.  Granddaddy had killed and dressed a pig and goat earlier in the day and put it on to cook.  A pit was dug and an iron grate was placed over the hole.  A fire of hickory wood was started and the embers would be spread around the outside edges of the pit all night long.  The pig was placed on the grate and a piece of tin was laid over the pig so that it would get a concentration of the smoke and heat from the hickory embers.  The result was always succulent, juicy and tender meat.  Granddaddy’s special mopping sauce was put on the meat during the last couple hours of cooking.  Extra sauce was served along side the meat.  On Sunday, everyone would come, bringing their family favorites and spread the food on homemade tables connected to trees.  This tradition has continued with the exception of cooking the whole pig – about 7 years ago, my father bought a huge smoker and began cooking Boston butts.  The meat is still delicious but I do miss that whole pig.

Oftentimes we like what we like because it’s what we know.  And what we know is based on the experiences and traditions that we learned growing up.  So many of our best memories and time-honored traditions are wrapped up in food and time spent with loved ones around the table.

Whether you’re lucky enough to still be invited by your grandmother or if you’re now part of the next generation doing the inviting, it’s important that we continue to come together and celebrate when we can – both to showcase our time-honored rituals and traditions for younger generations and to create new experiences for stories yet to unfold.

Halleluah!  Jelly and jam making is finished.  At least until the pears come in then I will be making Pear Preserves.  Ended up with 19 jars of plum jelly and 12 jars of peach jam.  Today was my canning day (“puttin’ up” day – typical southern phrase) using the freezer method of crowder peas and butterbeans.  There are numerous types of peas grown in the south – field peas, purple hull, pink eyed, lady, just to name a few.  My family’s favorite is the silver crowder so that’s all daddy grows.   As far as butterbeans – there are green and speckled – we prefer the green but would never pass up a helping of speckled with cornbread.

I am grateful to have come from a family of canners.  Over the years, I have kept that family tradition by stocking my shelves and freezers with everything edible that stood still long enough to be shoved into a jar or freezer bag.  I’m sure my mother and granny would approve of my bounty.

I remember one time on a visit to Greg’s family in Plymouth, MA, we went to lunch at a little cafe downtown. There was a blackboard with the daily specials and it had peas, just peas.  The waitress comes over to take our order and I asked her what kind of peas they were; she looked at me like I was crazy and said “There’s only one kind of pea and that’s green peas.”  I knew then that they didn’t know or understand anything about good old southern food.  And no, I did not order the peas!

If someone goes out of their way to find beautiful, seasonal field peas, like the crowder, the pink lady or the zipper cream, it usually means that they have been cooking form scratch in a family kitchen that never stopped cooking from scratch.  This is a really important distinction in the south!  While most of the population succumbed to the ease of Jell-o and instant gravy, many others are hell-bent on keeping their culinary traditions alive.  And that be me!!

When I was growing up in Alabama, summer meant working in the garden, shelling peas and beans, canning, making jams and jellies and fresh fruit cobblers.  My grandmother, “Granny”, made absolutely the best peach and blackberry cobblers – and to this day I haven’t had a cobbler as good as hers.

Preserving the gardens bounty fed the family all year long.  Granny’s method was water-bath canning.  She had a pantry off the back porch and all the shelves would be full by the end of summer with everything from chow-chow to sauerkraut.

Mother chose the freezer method and was the jelly and preserve maker of the family.

Granny and Grandaddy also had a root cellar under the front part of their house where all the root vegetables, like onions, potatoes and beets were stored.  My brother, cousin and I always liked playing in the root cellar, especially in the summer, because it was always cool.

One of the beauties of the south is that we have two to three growing seasons and a cuisine that is as wide and deep as the south itself.  That is one good reason why vegetables have long been the stars of the southern plate.

I continue to carry on this family tradition of preserving the produce from my daddy’s garden and making homemade jams and jellies.

Daddy is 89 and continues to raise enough vegetables to feed us through the fall and winter months.  He grows Kentucky Wonder snap beans, silver crowder peas, green butterbeans, corn, okra, squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  He also has plum, apple, persimmon and pecan trees, blueberry bushes and muscadine vines.  He keeps me busy with his bountiful harvest.  And I love him for that – even though it is a lot of work.

I absolutely love and I mean love making jelly and jam!

Daddy’s plum trees have produced like crazy this year.  The first picking, he brought me 10 gallons and I had to make jelly.  The funny thing is that after I made the jelly, I gave him a jar and asked if he wanted more – his reply, “I have to try it first and if it’s as good as your mother used to make, I will get some more”.  Needless to say, he was back for another jar before the week was out.

Plums ripen from late May to early summer.  Using the fresh fruit gives a more concentrated and flavorful jelly.  Jelly is basically the same as jam except the cooked fruit has been strained to give a clear spread.  I use the basic recipe for making jelly that comes in the Sure-Jell premium fruit pectin package.

Stone fruits are at their peak in June and July and we have some wonderful peach orchards around here.  I am constantly going to the peach stands to pick up peaches and other goodies they may have.  Quiet often they have homemade peach ice cream for sale.  Yummy!!  Most often I enjoy a peach immediately, eating it in the car on the way home.  I usually end up with juice dripping off my chin, running down my arm and on my clothes as I sink my teeth into its sweet flesh.

Juice, pectin, lemon juice and sugar combine to create a classic peach jam.  The fruit is usually chopped very fine or mashed.  When making jam, always make sure the sugar is dissolved before bringing the mixture to a boil.  If not, the result will be grainy.

Whether you are making jelly or jam, use the exact amount of sugar called for because sugar affects how pectin works.  It bonds to the sugar for its thickening power.

Delectable spreads made from jellied or preserved fruits, herbs and peppers are irresistible additions to breakfast, tea, appetizers and entrees.  Jams and jellies can be spread on toast, English muffins or the southern favorite, biscuits with no added butter necessary.  The burst of flavor added with a dollop of a sweet or spicy seasonable spread can make your meal more delicious and memorable.

Store in the pantry, give to a friend!  A gift jar of homemade jelly or jam is always appreciated.

Remember to refrigerate the jelly or jam once the jars are opened.

In the next blog, we will talk about those famous, delectable southern biscuits.

Happy jamming and jelling!!

“Heavens no – I couldn’t possibly!  Well, maybe just a little slice……..”

Why bodacious?  Well, according to Websters’ it means “very good, impressive, and unmistakable” and Peach Blueberry Pie is definitely those things, but the lemon/cinnamon double punch in this particular recipe it what satisfies Websters’ second definition – “voluptous.”  Just don’t get caught staring.

I have to admit, I love desserts.  But when peaches are at their peak and blueberries picked fresh from my own bushes – give me fruit desserts.  Warm, juicy fruit baked in a pie or topped with a crisp flavorful crumble – my oh my – one happy girl I am.

Baking fruit, which condenses its sugars and reduces its liquid, is as old as time.  Fruit baked between two crusts is the most common pie found in the United States today, and apple is the most common fruit in use.  Pears, cherries, berries, grapes, raisins and stone fruits are baked into pies.  The varying sugar and water content in fruit means it requires both a sweetener and thickener in order to make a good baked pie, usually sugar and either cornstarch, flour or tapioca. With few exceptions, fruit pies are baked inside traditional American pie dough.  Pies are often categorized as single-crust pies (wherein there is only a crust on the bottom, or in case of a deep-dish pie, there is only a crust on the top); and double-crust pies, where a crust lines the top and bottom of the filling.  Decorative elements such as lattices or cut-outs are simply more beautiful forms of the double-crust pie.

This pie will rock your ever-loving existence.  I really don’t trust myself around this pie.  Nothing is better than growing and harvesting your own dessert!  Soooooo good!!!

PEACH BLUEBERRY PIE

Ingredients                                                                                                 6 cups peeled fresh peaches, sliced 1/4-inch thick                                    1 cup fresh blueberries                                                                                 1/4 cup light brown sugar                                                                                  1/4 cup granulated sugar                                                                                            1/2 cup all-purpose flour                                                                               1/2 teaspoon kosher salt                                                                                   3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon                                                                      1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract                                                                   2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice                                                                        2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest                                                                          1/4 cup cornstarch                                                                                            1/2 (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts                                    1 egg white, lightly beaten

Topping                                                                                                       1/2 cup all-purpose flour                                                                             1/2 cup granulated sugar                                                                              1/4 cup packed light brown sugar                                                                  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon                                                                             1/8 teaspoon kosher salt                                                                             4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced                                                 1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Directions                                                                                                   1.  Immerse peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the skins peel off easily.  Immediately placed peaches in cold water.  Peel the peaches, slice them into 1/4-inch thick wedges and place in a large bowl.                                                                                     2.  Add blueberries, brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, vanilla,, lemon juice, zest and cornstarch.                                3.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie dish and set aside.  Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.                                                                                                         4.  Unroll the pie crust and place in pie dish.  Brush the inside with the egg white.                                                                                                5.  For the topping: Pulse the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, butter and pecans in a food processor until small chunks form.                                                                                                  6.  Pour peach mixture into the crust.  Sprinkle the topping over the filling and turn edges of pie crust over the topping.                                 7.  Place pie dish on the parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until top is golden brown.  Check after 30 minutes of baking to make sure crust is not browning too quickly.  If it is, cover the edges with strips of foil or a pie shield.                          8.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 30 to 40 minutes before serving.

Make sure to enhance the intercontinental dance with a heaping scoop of cool vanilla ice cream.

Remember – “Life is short, Eat the Pie!!!”