Mama cooking!

This is the picture that Daddy kept on his desk at the post office of Mama Cooper.   She did not like it but she did not like any picture.

It caused me to think of it because I am spending my day getting ready to have this major party in Cape and I will be meeting with caterers and taking tours of the building where the party will be held.   I am a good cook because I learned what good cooking is from my Mother.  She was far more interested in cleanliness and what the food was like and nutrition than she was about what it looked like on the table.  I learned that for myself.

But here are some lessons I learned from her:

l.  If you eat right, you will be healthy and your skin will be good for a lifetime.  This means vegetables out of the garden well-seasoned.  She could cook any vegetable better than anyone else could.   She could fry apples, fry okra, do a pot of green beans, turnips and greens, carrots, corn on the cob, and fried corn better than anyone I ever knew.

2.  She was clean as a pin.   Wrapped her head in a scarf before she cooked anything so that not one hair would fall into the cooking.

3.  Best pie baker in the world.  No one can touch her.  She used what the land produced. (6we had 3/4 acre of garden which Sam Henderson grew on the halves with us.)   

4.  When we were sick, we had milk toast or float.   I would almost fake it today to get some from her.

5.  Her utensils (with no dishwasher) were spotless.  And yes, as a dishwasher, I had many pots returned under her watchful eye.

6.  She canned jelly from our grape vines and pickles when people gave her cucumbers.   Whatever she got from farmers, she used.   Tomatoes, when they were plentiful, she canned and we had tomato juice for cooking the entire year.

7.   She taught me to respect food and the people who grow food.   She also taught me to respect the people who sat down at her table.