Porter - At my grandmothers table: heartwarming stories & cherished recipes from the South

2013 by Faye Porter and Bryan Curtis

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Photography by Stephanie Mullins

Food Styling by Teresa Blackburn

Dishes used on pages 28, 79, 146, 172, and 219 courtesy of the Mosley family, in loving memory of Margaret Mosley.

Bean pot used on page 100 courtesy of Lea Mosley.

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The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Porter, Faye, 1966

At my grandmothers table : heartwarming stories and cherished recipes from the South / Faye Porter.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4016-0488-2

1. Cooking, American--Southern style. I. Title.

TX715.2.S68P675 2013

641.5975--dc23

2012042581

Printed in the United States of America

13 14 15 16 17 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my niece and godchild, Lillian Porter, and her sweet reminder that every day is a great day to be alive...

O ftentimes we like what we like because its what we know. And what we know is based on the experiences and traditions 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. While table time these days does not occur often for many on-the-go families, one thing is certainyou can always count on having a place set for you at the table of a Southern grandmother. Its these quintessential ladies who continue to make sure that the art of entertaining stays alive and well in homes throughout the South.

When At My Grandmothers Knee was published in 2011, a number of readers shared that they sat down with their copy, intending to look for a recipe, but instead ended up reading it from cover to cover because they loved the stories. And as we found out in interviewing ladies for that book, there were just as many Southern men who, on the spot, could recall their memories of Grandma and the much-loved food she made, and wished they could participate. So At My Grandmothers Table was bornthis edition based on the same theme, but featuring both Southern grandsons and granddaughters reminiscing about their beloved family matriarchs, whether known best to them as Nana, Grana, Memaw, or just simply Grandma.

Ideally, the love of a grandmother is pure and unconditional, spoken uniquely throughout her life with countless gesturesoften by what she creates with her hands and heart. Some of us have tangible keepsakes handmade by our grandmothersquilts, blankets, doll clothes, etc.yet for most of us the 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 grandmas tables or helping in their kitchens. Our senses can evoke such sweet thoughts of those incredible Southern dishes that have become our favoritesits no wonder then that this cuisine is best described as comfort food! Most Southern grandmas will agreethere is no greater way to show their love for family and friends than with their special gift of hosting a meal or gathering, complete with all the homemade fixins.

What comes to mind when you think of your grandmothers table? Who is sitting around it? Whats on it?... For me, the smell of a long-baked ham or a beef roast with carrots and potatoes reminds me of a Sunday afternoon at my Grandma Porters house. Also on the table would be high-rise homemade dinner rolls, a crystal dish with dark green lime pickles, homemade noodles, and a mile-high angel food cake with maple icing for dessert. At Grandma Ferkans, it would be her giant sugar cookies inside the big apple cookie jar, homemade haluski with cheese dumplings in the tan and brownspeckled bowl, and mint ginger ale served over ice in white and colorstriped glassesall prepared with my Aunt Emma in the kitchen.

I lost my last grandparent at the age of ten. How Ive longed for more time with any of them. While certainly not a replacement, I fortunately had my parents, brothers, many aunts and uncles, and older cousins who could help fill in some of the missing details. Its through old pictures, letters, recipes, and stories passed down that we can carry on the traditions of our loved ones and introduce those traditions to new generations.

Im grateful for maternal cousins Debbie, Carol, and Larry, who have been assembling recipes to archive our family favorites. And for those of us becoming the new older generation in our families, may we always value the importance of a legacy and carrying on the traditions of those who came before us by celebrating life events, honoring a life passed, or getting together just because. I dont know about your gatherings, but for us, regardless of the occasion, it becomes story timekeeping the past alive by sharing old ones and creating new memories that just might become tomorrows retold gems.

Whether youre lucky enough to still be invited by your grandma or if youre now part of the next generation doing the inviting, its important that we continue to come together and celebrate when we canboth to showcase our time-honored rituals and traditions for younger generations and to create new experiences for stories yet untold.

And, by all means, share your recipesbased on the pleasant memories that food evokes, you can honor a special someone every time you re-create her famous dish.

So grab your iced tea, sit back, and join mepage by pageat the tables of these treasured Southern grandmothers. Enjoy!

FAYE PORTER

Kentucky-Style Southern Sweet Tea

Mimis Hot Tea

Lemonade-Strawberry Punch

Mamo Mays 1920s-Style Christmas Float

B. G.s Lemon Tea Fizz

Great K. K.s Strawberry Lemonade

KRISTIN CEDERLIND currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, but she comes from a long line of Southerners, including her parents and grandparents. Kristin visits the South often and shares that her grandmother, DOROTHY HURST (Ashland, Kentucky), used to always make her Southern-style sweet tea for the family when they would visit and sit on the porch. Grandma served this tea in her beautiful Pilgrim Glass glasses and would always say, Be very careful, honeydont break Grandmas special iced tea glass; hold it with both hands. Kristin says that her grandmas tea was always made with love, and she still uses her grandmothers recipe to this day.

6 to 8 tea bags

6 cups water

1 cup sugar

2 to 3 oranges, sliced

Sprigs of mint

In a large pot, add the tea bags and water. Bring to a rolling boil, remove from the heat, and let steep 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags.