Comfort Food: A Redux
Sitting across a high, bar style table on the edge of my Aunt Ethel's kitchen, I had to pause to look around in wonder at the food.
Sweet Tea, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Rolls, Fried Okra, Black Eyed Peas and ...Fried Chicken.
My Cousins Misty sat beside me and Amy sat across from me, with Uncle Roy to my right and Aunt Ethel beside Amy. The wonderful food was her handiwork, and she was a wiz with Fried Chicken. Soft, tender, juicy, so much flavor...simply perfect.
Looking at the "bone yard" left over on my plate after dinner, Roy asked me.
"How is it, when you aren't here, we cook up one chicken and there's nothing left. But, when you are here, we cook up two chickens and there's still nothing left? Do you eat a whole chicken?"
Looking back on it, trying to count the bones on my plate...yup, I almost ate a whole chicken, but not quite. *grins*
There's another truth here. I loved that food. It was the epitome of Comfort Food. Bacon cooked in the Black Eyed Peas, still a tiny lump or two in the fresh made Mashed Potatoes, butter still melting over the top of them. The salty crunch of the fried okra. And oh my god, that Chicken.
I loved it so much, that my love for it was infectious. Even though this was their house, and they had the chance to eat Aunt Ethel's fried chicken every week, the fact that I was there, so obviously loving every bite, made everyone else enjoy their meal that much more. So, I may have eaten MOST of a fried chicken myself, but you know what, I think everyone had an extra piece that day.
My Aunt Ethel is no longer with us, but as Amy reminded me just yesterday, the memories of her kitchen always will be.
They had two stoves! One Gas, One Electric. A big storm had come through years before, knocked out power for three days, they had to cook in dutch ovens over an open fire. Roy said, to Hell with this and put in gas lines and a second stove. I'll be damned if he was going without again.
On the end of one bar, near the electric stove, pies would sit and cool, ready to eat later.
The Dining Room was right beside the kitchen but more often than not it was reserved for important things like...dominoes, Two Card Guts, 31, and piling gifts on for birthdays and Christmas.
More often than not, we'd eat at the bar, a glass of sweet tea in hand. Or, if it was breakfast time, with Uncle Roy sipping his coffee from a small bowl and me wondering why he'd do that.
Most meals last a half hour, but some meals last a lifetime.
As you approach this Holiday season with friends and loved ones around you, remember. You have a choice what kind of meal you're going to have. Choose wisely.
Sweet Tea, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Rolls, Fried Okra, Black Eyed Peas and ...Fried Chicken.
My Cousins Misty sat beside me and Amy sat across from me, with Uncle Roy to my right and Aunt Ethel beside Amy. The wonderful food was her handiwork, and she was a wiz with Fried Chicken. Soft, tender, juicy, so much flavor...simply perfect.
Looking at the "bone yard" left over on my plate after dinner, Roy asked me.
"How is it, when you aren't here, we cook up one chicken and there's nothing left. But, when you are here, we cook up two chickens and there's still nothing left? Do you eat a whole chicken?"
Looking back on it, trying to count the bones on my plate...yup, I almost ate a whole chicken, but not quite. *grins*
There's another truth here. I loved that food. It was the epitome of Comfort Food. Bacon cooked in the Black Eyed Peas, still a tiny lump or two in the fresh made Mashed Potatoes, butter still melting over the top of them. The salty crunch of the fried okra. And oh my god, that Chicken.
I loved it so much, that my love for it was infectious. Even though this was their house, and they had the chance to eat Aunt Ethel's fried chicken every week, the fact that I was there, so obviously loving every bite, made everyone else enjoy their meal that much more. So, I may have eaten MOST of a fried chicken myself, but you know what, I think everyone had an extra piece that day.
My Aunt Ethel is no longer with us, but as Amy reminded me just yesterday, the memories of her kitchen always will be.
They had two stoves! One Gas, One Electric. A big storm had come through years before, knocked out power for three days, they had to cook in dutch ovens over an open fire. Roy said, to Hell with this and put in gas lines and a second stove. I'll be damned if he was going without again.
On the end of one bar, near the electric stove, pies would sit and cool, ready to eat later.
The Dining Room was right beside the kitchen but more often than not it was reserved for important things like...dominoes, Two Card Guts, 31, and piling gifts on for birthdays and Christmas.
More often than not, we'd eat at the bar, a glass of sweet tea in hand. Or, if it was breakfast time, with Uncle Roy sipping his coffee from a small bowl and me wondering why he'd do that.
Most meals last a half hour, but some meals last a lifetime.
As you approach this Holiday season with friends and loved ones around you, remember. You have a choice what kind of meal you're going to have. Choose wisely.
That was wonderful! It made me think of those few but wonderful times we would have a big meal at my Grams. Thanks for making me think of those times.
Reply to this
Thank You SO much, for remembering with me! The dinners, the smells, the smiles and the love we have all had over our dinners.Do you remember "The Pig in the ground"? Dad stripping the leaves off your moms banana tree, Uncle George and dad talking for weeks about what all to put on the pig. The beans, potato salad and the beer? The people!
Reply to this