MY DAD--NOBLE WILLIAM BEALL

How to color a picture of my dad in words is probably beyond my realm. But I will try as I want people to know him as the man and not just a name on paper. He was born on June 5, 1919 to James Guy Beall and Mary Imogean Walker Beall in a small community of Gore which is near Dallas, GA in Paulding County. He was the youngest of 7 children having 3 brothers and 3 sisters. I don't know much about his life in this area or time period because his mom died when he was 5 years old and they moved to Atlanta. He took me back to see his old home place when I was young but I don't remember the area. I just remember it is near Concord Baptist Church where most of his family are buried. He always said that it was between Dallas and Villa Rica and near Douglasville. Now that is a large area.
After the move to Atlanta, he lived with his sister, Gordie Mae and spent alot of time with his nephew, J Houston Adcock. Houston was about his age as dad's sister, Lillian, was married by the time dad was born and they played like most young boys would along a creek close to home. They fished and did a little hunting because my dad liked squirrel dumplings. I don't think they thought much about killing animals for food back in the depression like they do now, but back in those days it was kill or starve. My dad use to tell me stories about that time in his life. Once he went into a cafe in Atlanta to get a cup of coffee and he got a cup of hot water to go with it. He had a paper route so I was sure that he was at this place of business quite often. I think the waitress knew that he was hungry. Along the counter would be baskets of crackers and bottles of ketchup. No individual servings in the 1930's. My dad proceeded to pour ketchup in the water along with salt and pepper and had tomato soup with his coffee. I am sure this happened quite often to men and some women with no jobs during this era. Houston told me a story once about my dad and him being hired to dig a well. He said that the man didn't want to hire them because they were too young but they both assured the man that they would finish the job. Houston said it took them 3 weeks to finish the job with plenty of time to spare of the month allotted and the man was so impressed with their work that he paid them $15.00 instead of the intended $10.00 for the job. And I was told that the money went to Aunt Vivian to buy groceries minus a quarter each for Houston and my dad.
Dad told about walking to school and I believed him because I don't know when bus routes started or the trolleys in Atlanta. I am sure you had to have money to ride the trolleys. Money was scarce and shoes were hard to come by so with extra papers from his paper route, he would cut paper and slip inside his shoes when they wore thin to keep his feet warm. This happened when holes were in the shoes and by the time he reached the school, the paper would be wet. And my dad was smart because he said that he carried some extra in his pockets for when the paper got wet.My dad could make caps out of newspaper to keep his head warm. I wont even go into the difference between a cap and a hat at this time. That is another story in itself. I was told that some extra paper was taken home to help with the fires when coal was running low. If you rolled it tight enough, it would burn like a small wooden log in the stove or fireplace. I never could do it that way, but my dad could and it would burn slow and last longer. When my brother had his paper route, dad could roll the papers faster and tighter than Larry. I have many more stories about my dad that I will continue later.

SLAW via Rhonda

Do you have friends who call for recipes. Well I do but mostly it is friends of my children. I am Granny, Grandma, and now GG. I asked Lee why he started calling me that and his response was that I am his great grandmother and he had 2 grannies. So go figure out kids. This last request was for slaw. Well I thought everyone knew how to make slaw but evidently not. I got this report " But Granny, your tastes better." Do you think it might be because I stick my finger in the mixture to stir it good. HA HA  So here goes. I hope everyone enjoys my little stories as much as I do writing them. I want  to get everything written down just in case I start to forget them.

SLAW

1 medium head of cabbage grated or chopped in food processor
1 cup of mayonnaise
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
season salt (optional)

Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Now if I want to be fancy for a special occasion, I grate a carrot and add to it. Sometimes a chopped tomato or both. Sprinkle with paprika for the presentation. Taste is good but the presentation is better. When it looks good, it usually tastes good.

ALMOND CHOCOLATE BALLS

     This is a great treat I made for Christmas. You have to try it. I got it from a Paula Deen show so I don't think she will mind. It was her chocolate show. You will need help because it takes forever to roll all the balls. But the finished product is worth the effort. So call all the kids in and start making candy.

ALMOND CHOCOLATE BALLS
2 boxes confection sugar
1 stick butter softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp almond extract
1 bag coconut-16 ozs.
1 1/2 cups chopped almonds
1 bag chocolate chips
1/2 bar paraffin wax

Mix the first 6 ingredients together. You will have to use your hands. This is a sticky process so I would advise you to grease your hands good. After mixing, roll in to balls about the size of a walnut and place on a cookie sheet. Refrigerate until firm. Get the kids to help roll. They will love being in the kitchen.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler with the wax. Dip the balls in the chocolate mixture using a wooden skewer. Put on a parchment lined cookie sheet and let set until dry. Jaylan and Lee loved dipping the balls so when they finished with them, I let them dip some pretzels. Place in a Christmas tin and then enjoy. While some of these were still wet, I sprinkled them with Christmas sugar and sprinkles to get everyone in a Christmas mood. Play Christmas carols.

MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS-BEALL

NOBLE NEWNAN BEALL and ELIZA CAROLINE BROWN BEALL
This is an interesting story but very true. A person I will call J had posted a comment about my great grandparents on rootsweb.com on August 5, 2000. An interested party called P responded on July 16, 2000. Enter me in 2010 and found this comment about my family. I thought it was a long shot but I posted a message anyway on August 3, 2010. Much to my surprise, I had a response on October 21, 2010 saying yes she was married to my dad's first cousin and we began a correspondence that ended with my obtaining a picture of my great grandparents and acquiring an unknown relative. How strange is that to absorb. 10 years and we were so close. I am 66 years old and had never seen a picture of my great grandparents because they died before I was born. I have shared this picture with my family. It is amazing how much my dad favors his grandfather. His grandmother is a very striking woman. My aunt Vivian favors her alot. Since I have been told that I favor my aunt Vivian then I guess I look like her also. Would love to have known this phenomenal couple who raised such a wonderful family. He was the father of 14 children. Four by his first wife who died in childbirth and 10 by his second of which I have descended. He was a lawyer by trade and a farmer by necessity to feed the family. He also served as a state representative and a state senator from Paulding County, GA. He fought in the Civil War attaining the rank of Captain. A strange story has been told about a clever ruse he used to prevent being detected in the war. He wanted to visit his family while they were traveling thru GA and thought he would sneak thru the woods and come up to the back of the house. Upon arriving along the edge of the tree line, he spied some tents. Thinking that this was Union soldiers, he decided to wait until daybreak to verify his suspicions. After the sun came up, he was surprised to see that sheets were hanging on the clothesline instead of tents pitched in his back yard.
Most of his children attended college which was unknown for a family that large in the 1800's. His oldest son became a doctor and his third son became a teacher of music, choir director and a writer of gospel music. He led his brothers in this endeavor. They were all fine gentlemen who never drank or smoked but raised their families in the joys of church going and singing. Two of these men became preachers of the gospel and traveled over the states leading revivals in spiritual uplifting.

FRIENDS- Mrs Roy Lytle

     When I was growing up in Rome, GA, we had a next-door-neighbor by the name of Mrs Roy Lytle. I never knew her first name so we just called her Mrs. Lytle. Her husband died earlier so I didn't meet him but she had four daughters. Joy married a Wood and she had a son we called Bunky but I think they named him Lytle. Merriam had 2 children but I don't remember their names, a boy and a girl. A daughter named Virginia and  Nessmith And she had two girls. Susan and Allison Spurlin.  I remember the girls the most because they spent alot of time with their grandmother. They usually spent 2 weeks in the summertime and we would go to Vacation Bible School at the First Baptist Church on Fourth Avenue. Plus we had tea parties, lots of tea parties. Mrs. Lytle had a beautiful tea set for grown-ups and she would fix us tea and little dainty finger sandwiches. This was the first time I had tasted cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches. I still love them. They were cut from the bread with fancy cookie cutters. Now this was a genuine tea party. Sometimes she even made cheese straws. We had the best of good times while they visited. When the children would leave, Mrs Lytle was so sad that I would  go keep her company. She had a big front porch with hugh white rockers. We would rock and listen to the noise from the school yard. I just couldn't wait to start to school. After school sometimes she would walk across the street with me so I could swing. I couldn't cross the street by myself.
     Now one of the things I most remember about Mrs. Lytle is that she was forever going on a diet. She really wasn't fat just robust. She would eat salads with cottage cheese. This was the first time that I have ever tasted this dish and I have loved it ever since. She served it with pears sometimes with a little grated cheese on top and it was great. But my favorite was with pineapple. Sometimes she would add a little food coloring to make it pretty or top it with a cherry. Yum-yum. And she would walk around the block for exercise or we would walk on the Neely school yard around the City Clock. I am glad she was my friend.
     The last Christmas that my mom and dad were together, I remember wanting another doll. Dad said that I had to many dolls that I needed something else. I had just realized who Santa was and I was very up-set.
My Christmas Eve schedule included blowing out the candles, hanging up stockings, setting out fresh coconut cake and coffee for Santa and kissing mom and dad good-night, and saying my prayers. The last thing that I asked for was Santa to bring me a doll. After going to bed, I forgot to check and see if my stocking was hanging. I think I forgot it and you just didn't forget your stocking. As I went by the tree, I noticed a doll setting just partially behind the tree. This wasn't a new doll, it was my old favorite but with new clothes. And beside her were 3 more dresses and a coat and hat. These were beautiful dresses. I almost cried. I picked up each one so very carefully to check them out and try them on my baby doll. They fit perfectly and were my favorite colors. Red, blue, and orange. I was so excited that I didn't hear my dad when he sat down beside me. I just knew that I was in trouble, but since it was Christmas, he decided it was okay. After all, I was his favorite girl. He let me play for a while and then he told me that it was bed time and I needed to get some sleep. I was 12 years old. Later, dad told me that Mrs. Lytle had made the clothes for my doll and dressed her. She had given her a good bath and fixed her hair so she could wear the hat. I never forgot her for that and later when I married, she gave me the tea set. Unfortunately, I lost it in a house fire. I will always treasure the memories of her and taking time out for a little girl. What I never knew was she was lonely and enjoyed my company.
 I have just found a Georgia death record for Mrs. Lytle and she lived to be 102 years old. I can not imagine all the accomplishments to happen in her world of 100 years. Going from a woodstove to electric. I bet when she was growing up, they had fireplaces or wood heaters. Or even used coal for heat. Cars, electric lights, telephones, TV's, microwave ovens, and computers.  Oh what stories she could tell us if we had only asked. My husband says she went from being a pioneer to seeing a man walk on the moon. I will always remember her and her friendship. I will also know that because of my words, other people remember her and she isn't just a name on paper but according to a family tree on Ancestry my dear friend, Mrs.Virginia Elizabeth Bishop Lytle, my next door neighbor.

RECIPE-DEVILED EGGS

I just remembered why I started writing this blog. One of my daughter's school friends called me and wanted a recipe. The conversation consisted of " Hey Rhonda, you know I called for a recipe don't you." The first cake she ever cooked came from me. She stated that she never cooked with her mom because mom was always running around. I didn't have many close friends when I was in school, not the everlasting friends that some people have. Acquaintances yes but no one really close. But when my children started bringing home their friends, they adopted me as a parent. I was a stay-at-home mom for many years. I babysat while other mothers worked or were absent from the home. So when they needed something, they called me. So this story ends with "Granny, I need to know how to make deviled eggs." I just laughed because I thought everyone knew how to make deviled eggs and she said "but I never made them before." Probably one of the first things that I made in the kitchen with my mom was deviled eggs. I was thrilled to crack and peel the eggs and cut them, put them in a egg plate and decorate. So lets start with some instructions. I took Home Economics in high school for two years and alot of the lessons stuck. But the lessons from my mom and Granny Ruby stayed longer because they made more sense.

Deviled eggs

Place 6 to 8 eggs in saucepan and cover with water. add 1/2 tsp salt to water*.
Bring to a rolling boil and lower heat just so the water continues to boil slowly.
Time for 5 minutes and remove from heat*. Let sit until cool enough to immerse your hand in the water. Crack and peel the shell from eggs. Slice once length-ways. Remove the yolks and place whites on an egg plate. Mash the yolks well and add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, a tsp of mustard and 3 to 4 tbsp mayonnaise. If you like pickles, you may add a tsp of dill or sweet pickle relish. Which ever you prefer. Mix well and place back in the whites. Sprinkle with paprika for color. Sometimes if I want to be fancy, I use a cake decorator to add the yolks back to the whites. Decoration may also be sliced olives especially for Christmas with the red and green effect.

*adding the salt to water helps remove the shells. This is a comment from Granny Ruby to me.
*If you boil the eggs any longer, the yolks have a tendency to turn green around the edges.

MOM'S FRUITCAKE

I just put my fruitcake in the oven, so let's see how it turns out. This brings back many memories of cooking it with my mom. Every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving, we would start the fruitcake. Everything is so convenient now but many years ago, all the nuts had to be cracked and sometimes picked out of the shells. Then they were chopped by hand. All the candied fruit had to be chopped. Today I can go to the store and everything is ready to start mixing and put in the oven. Even my mom's fresh coconut cake is easier now, what with frozen coconut. No busting the coconut with hammer and smashing your finger. Or cutting your finger trying to peel the brown skin from the fresh coconut meat. Or nicking your finger on the grater. But it was fun to get to taste the little tidbits of coconut when the grating was done. Also squeezing oranges to get the juice for the fruitcake. These girls that cook today don't know how lucky it is to have so many things ready-made. Another thing that they don't know is that originally, fruitcake was the groom's cake. It wasn't made to eat but to take home and place under your pillow. The idea was that you would dream about your future husband. So much for old country ideas. My grandmother didn't have a mixer, just a hand-held egg-beater. My arm gets sore just thinking about it. So let's get to the ingredients for my mom's fruitcake.

MOM'S FRUITCAKE


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chopped walnuts
2 cups chopped pecans
2 cups candied fruit
1 cup candied red cherries
1 cup candied green cherries
1 box raisins (light or dark)
1/3 cup of fruit preserves (any flavor)
1/3 cup molasses
3 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1 stick of butter
1/3 cup orange juice
Grease a 10" tube pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Then grease again and lightly flour. Preheat oven to 250 F. Sift the flour and salt with the spices. Set aside. Chop all nuts and fruits and place in a large bowl. Add 1/2 the flour mixture to fruit and coat well. Cream the sugar and butter together and add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the remaining flour mixture along with the preserves, molasses, and orange juice. Stir with a wooden spoon. Mixture will be thick so place into tube pan, one spoonful at a time. Place in oven and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Let it set for about 30 minutes to cool. Wrap in aluminum foil and place in a cool place. This may also be placed in a Christmas tin in the refrigerator. Enjoy. Sometimes I freeze part of this cake to serve at a later date.

THE SLIPPING SLIP

Well this is a story about me and how mistakes that happen are so funny. In April of 1958 on Easter Sunday, my 2 cousins and I had gone to Floyd Hospital after church to see our grandmother. She had fallen and broken her hip. We were dressed to the 9's. My outfit was a peach colored princess style dress with a crinoline attached at the waist. Now a crinoline is a very stiff lace and net petticoat that helps your dress stand out instead of hanging limp. The ones made separate from a dress were starched very stiff, so stiff that they could stand up by its self. This was the second year that I got to wear heels. They were little white pumps about an inch high with a hat and purse to match. There were white gloves to go with this outfit and a white carnation corsage. We always got a corsage because Aunt Josie and Uncle James owned the florist. After we had visited with Ma Jones, Paula and Diane and I decided to go out side and walk around the front of the hospital. We were just old enough to visit the sick because you had to be 12 years old and they were, I had turned 14 in February. This day was very windy and we didn't have a jacket. I had brought a sweater with me, but Paula and Diane didn't because their dresses had three-quarter length sleeves. We went to the restroom to primp and fluff up our hair. When you becaome a teenager, the first thing that you think about is your looks. I wanted to check and see if my slip was showing because it had started to come un sewed. I tucked it under the elastic of my half slip and we proceeded to go to the cafeteria and get a coke. After this we went outside to get some fresh air. Well my petticoat had slipped some more and dropped to my knees. I thought I would be smart and just slip it off and put it in my purse. I knew that I would have to wad it up very small so it would fit. As I proceeded to do this, a big gust of wind caught the petticoat and started blowing it across the lawn. I tried to catch it but with small hills, it was just to fast. It blew into the street and a car had to stop. I was so embarrassed that I ran inside the hospital and left Paula and Diane just standing there. They followed me inside and we looked out the window to see what the driver of the car would do with my petticoat. He just picked it up and shoved it in the trunk and drove off. We all started to laugh by then because when you think about it, I had a very funny situation with the slipping slip.

RECIPES "ORANGE SLICE CAKE"

Well let's make favorite holiday cake. I first found this cake at a family reunion in Tunnel Hill, GA in 1980. Since then, it has been a Christmas tradition. Before Granny Ruby died, I made this for her birthday on Dec. 30 and she would freeze it to eat all year. Now it holds very precious memories for me of my time spent with her and all she taught me over the years. I don't think I would have survived without her leading me most of the way. My mom died when I was 15 and I married at 18 and Ruby took over from there. Try this at least once to see how you like it. It is better than fruitcake.

ORANGE SLICE CAKE
This used to be known as sugar plum cake. It goes back to a time when one fresh orange was a special Christmas treat in many Southern homes as they were scarce to come by.

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound of orange slice candy, chopped
2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
1 8-ounce package of dates, chopped
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk*

  Heat the oven to 300 F. Grease a 10 inch tube pan. Line the bottom with wax paper or parchment, and grease the paper. In a small bowl, combine the flour and salt. Use another bowl to combine the orange slices, pecans, dates, and coconut. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the flour over this mixture. Toss to separate the sticky pieces and coat evenly.
  In a very large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl until once again you have a light and fluffy mixture. Add the soda to the buttermilk and alternate the flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix this well on low speed. Add the orange slice mixture and stir with a wooden spoon or use your hands to get everything well mixed.
  Scoop the mixture into the prepared pan. Smooth the top and cook at 300 F for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the cake is golden brown. Test with a wooden skewer
While the cake is baking, make the glaze.

FRESH ORANGE GLAZE

2 cups confection sugar, sifted
1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed if possible
1 tbsp of grated orange zest
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well with a fork, making sure no lumps are left.
Pour over hot cake and let sit overnight. Carefully loosen the cake from the pan with a kitchen knife or a spatula.Turn on to a serving plate. Remove the paper and turn right side up on a cake plate.

*note: if you dont have buttermilk, stir in 1 1/2 tsps. of vinegar into 1/2 cup of milk and let sit for about 10 minutes.

ODESSA JONES CAMBRON "Totsie"

     My aunt Totsie was my friend as well as my aunt. It's funny but I didn't find out her name wasn't Totsie until I was grown. Her name was Odessa and she was called Tot when she was little because she was so small. The name stuck and evolved into Totsie. She was born on April 11, 1925 about 5 years younger than my mother but they were close. Heck, all the sisters were close to each other. That was just how families were back in the good old days. I rode the bus to her house many times to spend the night with her daughter, Diane. I could catch the bus on Broad Street at the corner of 5th Avenue and go to West Rome and the bus would turn at West Rome Baptist Church and let me off at Laural Avenue where aunt Totsie lived. She lived in a cul-de-sac in a cute little house that she kept spotless. I remember her with a cloth under her shoe shining the floor or removing footprints when we came in the house. We would go to a church on the old Calhoun road called Friendship Baptist church. I was saved in this church in July of 1959. Brother John Crowe was the pastor. They were having a summer revival. Aunt Totsie love to sing and she sang in a quartet for many years. I loved to sing along with her. Sometimes Diane and I would sing together but not very often. Sometimes Paula would join us. She was aunt Josephine's daughter. I didn't really sing alot until I joined a quartet in my 40's.
Diane and I usually had our birthday parties together since hers was on the 30th of January and mine was on the 4th of February. I remember one particular party when permanents were pretty popular and aunt Totsie and my mom had put them in our hair. Well it didn't turn out how we expected. Not by a long shot. Our hair was so frizzy that it couldn't be combed. Our brothers laughed and made fun of us until we cried. I never got another home permanent for along time.
When you first entered my aunt Totsie's house, the piano was behind the front door on the left. It is funny how I remember where the piano was but nothing else. I do remember that they built an addition to their house and when I got married, she gave me a bridal shower in her den.
Aunt Totsie had married young at the age of 17. It was the year of 1942 and I think her husband was going off to war. I know that he was in service because I found his service record. Her oldest son, Don, was born in September of 1943 because he is 4 and 1/2 months older than me. Then Diane was born in 1946. I don't know exactly what year her son, Alan, was born but he was close to my brother, Kenneth's age. I remember her husband worked in a meat market with his dad in North Rome, across the street from Whiteheads Florist. We use to go up there to get our meat. And sometimes when my granddad killed a hog, they would help with the cutting. All the family would have meat. You can't go to the market now and get choice cuts of meat. No friendly conservation or meeting of friends as you shopped at the meat market. Everything is commercial and seems so sterile. When I was growing up, just about every Sunday was a visit to my grandparents home. The whole family showed up and we would eat dinner and then play. Family's were close to one another, not this estranged bits and pieces. You were taught to forgive. And you never held a grudge. I miss those days but life goes on and we grow up and lose touch. My aunt Totsie died with cancer at the age of 68. She is buried beside her beloved husband at Oaknoll Memorial Gardens. I never saw them together without noticing all the affection that they had for one another. Always holding hands even after the children were grown. I miss her. She always called me "Rhunda Jane." She dearly loved my son Jerry. She was always telling me that he favored her brother. I never knew which one she was talking about.  I thought it was uncle Ed but my dad said uncle Charlie. He is the only one of my five children that favors my family. Totsie claimed him as hers. It is funny how someone gets an affection for a particular person and it never goes away. I miss her.

JAMES J. JONES

James was the first child born to my grandparents. His middle name is Jefferson for Pa Jones' grandfather. They only got to keep him for 13 months. He was diagnosed with dysentery. Most people didn't know, in 1908, that a child could not have milk with this condition so when the baby cried, he was given a bottle or the breast. How things could have changed with just a little sugar water. He is buried in Pleasant Valley Baptist Church cemetery.  His brother is buried beside him in Adairsville. After my aunt Sybil died in 1998 and uncle Ed in  2005, they were added to this plot. The inscription on his tombstone reads James J. son of Lay & N. N. Jones. Born April 5, 1907-Died July 9, 1908

PAUL ELLIS JONES

I don't know much about Paul Jones other than the stories that my mother told me and a few from my grandmother. He was born in 1916 which made him 4 years older than my mother. He was the second son that my grandmother lost as a young child. He died from complications of a tonsillectomy. My grandad never wanted to use doctors after that episode. I guess that is why Grandma called her older son, "her precious Clifford."  She said that he (Paul) loved to draw and draw he did. Using old pieces of chared wood from the fire, he sketched any thing he saw. He could go in the woods and return to draw a scene from memory. Sometimes he used coal. On trips to town with his dad, he could draw store buildings and never go inside. He just used his imagination. My mom use to try to copy some of the things that he did but hers were never as good or so she said. My grandmother told me about his love for marbles. And she kept his marbles for many years except for the ones on his tombstone. They had them placed there after his death. I think over time or vandalism, all the marbles were lost in that area. There is an inscription on the tombstone-"Budded on earth to bloom in Heaven." I am sure he greeted each family member when they joined him.

Aunt Sybil Morris

    

     Probably time to write another story and this one is about my aunt Sybil. She was born on Feb. 23, 1918 in Bartow County. I don't know when she married Robert Morris, who was the father of her children, because by the time I remember her the most, she was married to Herbert Ortwein. They lived just off Calhoun Rd. in North Rome. It was very near Eastview cemetery because Helen and I used to walk through it and read the headstones. Many times, when my mom and dad were going to visit my grandparents, they would stop at aunt Sybil's house and Larry and I would stay with her to play with her children. Wendell was just younger than Larry and Helen was older than me. I still wanted to stay with her because I thought I was just as old. She was wearing make-up and had polished fingernails. I thought that was real cool. She would brush my hair and pretend that we were in mom's beauty shop.
My aunt Sybil was a great cook, especially her dumplings. She is the only person that I ever saw roll dumplings, cut them in small strips and drop in to rich chicken broth. My mouth waters now just to remember them. And she did cook alot of fish. Her husband had a cabin up north of Rome on the river and they would stay up there on the week-ends and fish. This was the Oostanaula River but I didn't find this out until I was in my teens. I didn't pay attention to directions, just get in the car and go.
But her hushpuppies for to die for. Fried catfish and plenty of slaw, with homemade French fries. Oh yes and iced tea and plenty of it. She made homemade banana pudding. No one could top her pudding. It is funny how I remember it now, but each sister had a special dish that they were very good at and her dumplings and 'nana pudding were over the top.
Now I remember one time at her house, we were playing cowboys and indians outside under a tree. The boys had put up some kind of tent and Helen and I were in it. Larry, Ken, Wendell, and Michael were outside whooping and hollowing like indians, while Helen and I were inside, shreaking like scared girls do at stressing times. All of a sudden, something hit me in the head and almost knocked me out. The boys had thrown a board on top of the tent and it hit me. I kept asking Helen if it was bleeding and she said "yes" it was and I started screeming. She said "no it's not- no it's not" to get me to shut up. Since Ma Jones didn't have a telephone, aunt Sybil had to call one of their neighbors to tell my parents that I cut my head and needed stitches. Aunt Sybil was so caring with me. She soothed me and wiped the blood from my face and I felt protected. I never forgot her for that care she showed me. Well I got about 11 stitches that I can remember but the most awlful thing happened. My new dress that mom had made for me was ruined. It was a beautiful maroon color with small yellow flowers and a scolloped skirt. I pitched such a "fit" with the doctors and nurses that one of them spilled some of the ether on my dress and it ate holes in it. My dad would never let anyone use that on his children again. He said that if it would do that to cloth, what would it do to our lungs. He was a very smart man.
I remember when aunt Sybil's husband died. She had to move because the house belonged to his children by his first marriage and they wanted to sell it. She moved to Calhoun in one of the rock houses on south Wall street. Then this house burnt and she lost everything she owned. She moved back to Rome in an apartment. All the family pitched in to help her re-coop and get a job. After my mom died, I didn't see her much anymore. When I visited Cliff, she would be there. After I started singing with the quartet, I saw her one more time before she died. This was about 1990 and she was already sick. She couldn't get around without help. But she dearly loved my singing and listened to our radio broadcast just about every Sunday. She would call and say "Sing me a song." She loved them all. She died in 1998.

BRUNSWICK STEW

I can't think of anyone who loves Brunswick stew better than I do. I grew up with it for just about every holiday and especially Memorial day. My granddad had his own recipe which was handed down from his dad. I try to carry on the tradition. This is a shorter version of my granddad's simce his fed about 200 people. After his stew started cooking, he would be bar-b-queing a half side of beef. If this is to much for your family, then freeze some of it. It freezes very well or as Hannah says in "Steel Magnolias" it freezes beautifully.

1 6 to 7 lb. (hen I leave off the giblets)
1 6 lb. beef chuck or rump roast
1 6 lb ham butt or shoulder
12 cups water
6 to 8 onions chopped
about 18 potatoes peeled and cubes (optional)
6 cups fresh or frozen Lima beans
6 to 8 cups of canned tomatoes (I like home canned)
6 to 8 cups of whole kernel corn (you can use frozen corn)
1 stick butter
juice of 3 lemons
2 bottles of catsup (medium)
1 tbsp. Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Bring meats to a boil and lower heat so it will simmer until tender and meat falls off the bones. After the meat had cooled, chop in small chunks and set aside. Skim the fat from the broth and discard. Add all the vegetables to the pot, cover and simmer until not quite tender. Return all meat to the pot and add the seasonings and lemon juice. Add the catsup last and stir slowly. Let the stew cook slowly on low for about 20 more minutes, uncovered. Serve with biscuits, corn bread or crackers and sit back and listen to all the compliments.

Added a post to this story. Brunswick,GA has a twenty-gallon iron pot just outside their town of Brunswick; and the plaque declares that America's first Brunswick stew was cooked in that pot in 1898. However, there are other dissenters as well-mainly food anthropologists who believe that southern Indian tribes were stewing squirrels, corn, and beans long before the white man stepped ashore. Today, many a Southern cook has a cherished recipe for this stew. To counter act this theory, Brunswick County, Virginia declare that their concockation originated in 1828, was made with squirrels, onions and stale bread mixed by "uncle" Jimmy Matthew, a camp cook in service to Dr. Creed Haskins of the Virginia Legislature. Who knows where it came from, Indians, Virginians, or Georgians, I still love the taste and the memories from my childhood of shucking corn for my granddad to add to the stew.

TATOR' SALAD

Hey ya'll let's make some tater salad. Well I'm no Paula Deen, heck I don't even look like her and I'm not nearly as young and pretty, but I do love to cook and I remember standing in a chair, peeling cooked potatoes when I was about 7 years old, for my mom to make Sunday dinner. This was done about once a month on Saturday night so Sunday afternoons would be free to visit family members or go window shopping after church. The object was that if dinner was ready after church then the rest of the day was free. Well I would peel those potatoes and the boiled eggs and mom would mix up the rest of the ingredients. This was a fun time for me because I had mom all to myself. But back to the salad, mom had particular things that she wanted in her salad and one thing was dill pickles. No sweet pickles for her because the mayonnaise made it sweet. Sometimes she made homemade dill pickles from cucumbers gathered from the garden at my grandma's house. Now they were so dill that your mouth would just about turn wrong-side out. I loved them just out of a churn before Grandma put them in a jar. But when they would set in the jars for about 2 weeks, they were delicious. I cant find these pickles any more so I have to settle for store-bought. No particular brand, just dill pickles. Now my mom would boil her potatoes and eggs together to save time and this probably saved energy in the 40's. I didn't learn that lesson until later in life from my mother-in-law. This is just one of the short cuts that my mom used. After the potatoes were done, she would pour on cold water to cool for about 30 minutes. They would set until just cool enough for me to handle. The peelings would come off very easy  when cooked this way. I didn't even have to use a knife. After this process, mom would mix everything together and refrigerate overnight. This marinated all the flavors together and it tasted great with crackers. Usually served with ham, baked beans, and slaw it was a taste to die for. I think Paula Deen would look cross-eyed.


4 or 5 lbs of potatoes cooked, peeled, and chopped*
6 large hard-cooked eggs chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 large dill pickles chopped*
3 tbsp mustard
2 tsp celery seed or celery salt or stalks of celery (chopped)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika

Mix potatoes, eggs, onion, and mayonnaise. I use a food processor to chop the celery and pickles.
Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate about 2 hours or overnight.

*I like Yukon Gold potatoes but my husband likes Red Skin.
*I use a dill relish sometimes instead of dill pickles. Use whatever is on hand.

CHICKEN or TURKEY DRESSING

This is for you Katherine with some fond memories.
If you are from the south then you all know that dressing is made from cornbread. Even if it is leftover and long as it is still good. I dearly love dressing made from chicken, turkey, pork, and even squash. After I first married in 1962, I was staying with my sister-in-law while my husband was on the road. We decided that we wanted some dressing for dinner. At this time every phone call made between counties was long distance so we couldn't call for instructions. We followed our own intuition. So we started with the left over cornbread from the night before. I remembered that much. We knew that we needed some broth or stock and we had some chicken legs so we put them on to boil. We thought we better salt and pepper them while they cooked. After cooking and cooling, we removed the meat from the bones and added it to the crumbled cornbread. Mixing everything together and put in a casserole dish and into the oven it went. Well we found out right  quick that we didn't have dressing. No eggs, no onions, and no celery or any sage. just dry bread chicken flavored. We got a big kick out of it and asked the next door neighbor if she knew how to make a gravy to softened up our dressing. The next time I went to town, I checked out the library for the recipe of turkey dressing. I am better at dressing now and there is never any left in my pan. Here is my up-to-date version.

3 cups of stock  (chicken or turkey)
about 4 or 5 cups of crumbled cornbread
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
1 tbsp sage
1 tsp poultry  seasoning
1 onion finely chopped
1 or 2 stalks of celery chopped
1 boiled egg chopped
small jar of pimento (optional for color)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup evaporated milk

sometimes I add the chicken meat to my dressing to serve as one dish.
Mix all ingredients well and pour into a greased casserole bowl. Mixture should be easy to pour or it will dry out while cooking. If not, add more stock or milk  Cook at 325 F for about 30 minutes. About the last 10 minutes of cooking, I sprinkle the top with paprika to present a good appearance. My children like this even when it is cold. Well maybe at room temperature.