Pat Mitchamore - Miss Mary Bobos Boarding House Cookbook: A Celebration of Traditional Southern Dishes that Made Miss Mary Bobos an American Legend

Miss Mary Bobo's
Boarding House Cookbook Pat Mitchamore
Recipes edited by Lynne Tolley Somewhere between Tullahoma, Winchester. Fayetteville. and Shelbyville is Moore County, the smallest of Tennessee's ninety-five counties. In the spring of each year folks come to Columbia on the other side of the interstate for the festivities of Mule Day, in the summer they come to Tims Ford Lake to fish and swim, and in the fall they come to Shelbyville for the Tennessee Walking Horse Festival. But all year-round and from all over the world, people come to Lynchburg, the county seat of Moore County, to tour the Jack Daniel Distillery. And many stay to have one of the finest home-cooked meals anywhere at Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House.

Two meats, an abundance of vegetables and side dishes, homemade breads, desserts, and beverages are all made with the same special care that Miss Mary Bobo used since 1908. That was when she and Jack Bobo bought the house from the family of Dr. E.Y. Salmon and began taking in boarders. Jack Bobo died in 1948 and Mary continued to welcome roomers until a few years before she died in 1983 at the age of 101. Today.

Lynne Tolley continues the tradition of serving mid-day dinners that are simple, abundant, and delicious. The same cooks who have been preparing the dishes for many years are still cooking the old-fashioned way, using iron skillets for chicken, real meringue for pies, and fresh-picked vegetables. Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House Cookbook is a celebration of the traditional southern dishes that made this particular boarding house an American legend. The more than 250 recipes are good, wholesome, nourishing, delicious food and many are made with Lynchburg's own Jack Daniel's whiskey. In addition, the book includes stories about the people and events that made Lynchburg a small town known around the world and Miss Mary Bobo's a hallmark of southern food and hospitality. a writer, public speaker, seminar leader, and promotion consultant, was for many years the executive director of Mr. 's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook and Jack Daniel's Hometown Celebration Cookbook. LYNNE TOLLEY, a great-grandniece of Jack Daniel, is the proprietress of Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House Restaurant. 's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook and Jack Daniel's Hometown Celebration Cookbook. LYNNE TOLLEY, a great-grandniece of Jack Daniel, is the proprietress of Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House Restaurant.

She travels extensively, sharing traditional southern recipes. Jacket design by Harriette Biueman
Large photo on front by Robin Hood
Small photo on front and photos on back by Hope Powell Miss Mary Bobo's
Boarding House Cookbook Miss Mary Bobo's
Boarding House Cookbook A celebration of
traditional southern dishes that made
Miss Mary Bobo's an American legend Pat Mitchamore
Recipes edited by Lynne Tolley Copyright 1994 Pat Mitchamore All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of the book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.. Photographs on Joe Clark, HBSS. Photographs on Junebug Clark. Published by Thomas Nelson Publishers.

PO Box 141000, Nashville, Tennessee 37214 Typography by Compass Communications, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee Design by Harrietle Bateman Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bobo, Mary, 1881-1983.
Miss Mary Bobo's boarding house cookbook : a celebration of traditional southern dishes that made Miss Mary Bobo's an American legend / [complied by] Pat Mitchamore ; recipes edited by Lynne Tolley.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-55853-314-1
1. Cookery, AmericanSouthern style. 2. BoardinghousesTennesseeLynchburgHistory20th century. 1.

Mitchamore. Pat. 1934- . U. Tolley. III. Title. Title.

TX715.2.S68B62 1994
641.5975dc20 94-23511 CIP Printed in the United Slates of America 14 15 16 10 09 Contents Acknowledgments My sincere thanks go to
Joan Crutcher Ferguson,
granddaughter of Miss Mary Bobo,
for sharing family clippings, letters, photos,
and her own remembrances.
Joan has been an invaluable source of
information. Although much of the history
was available through the Jack Daniel
Distillery files and clips, the personal stories
have enriched the depth and color of the
book. Joan's love of family and Lynchburg
history led her to research available
resources, and she published Reminiscing
about Lynchburg, which contains abstracts
from early Lynchburg, Moore County, and
Tennessee newspapers, 1873-1932, in
addition to other clippings and photos. To
assure that this book was historically
correct, Joan allowed me to utilize this
material freely. And for that 1 am grateful. I t is difficult today to imagine a time when we did not have large hotels in exotic places, wayside motels at every interstate exit, and luxurious resorts with lush lawns, rolling golf courses, well-lit tennis courts, and Olympic-sized swimming pools.

With room service to bring our lood, we hardly need to leave our room, but should we desire to do so. there are often multiple dining rooms on the property. Or, we can just cross the street for our choice of a dozen or so fast-food restaurants. Since the earliest settlers landed on our shores, the American boarding house was a welcome way of life in each little community. As the country grew and people branched out into the frontier, the boarding house followed. Men who blazed a trail for family and settlers to follow, needed not only housing but also a place to eat.

In addition, the isolation of long trails and open spaces created a hunger for companionship. Today, with the luxury of motel accommodations and restaurants available to us even in many small towns, we find a large segment of our society charmed by wayside inns, bed and breakfasts, and historic, quaint eateries. A fashionable trip now includes at least one slay in an old-fashioned bed and breakfastroom and board! The charm of the past, the simple, uncluttered life, no doormen or bellmen, no front desk. Instead, a family's home, all the things that say "make yourself at home" are experienced. What piques our interest and makes us desire this return to yesteryear? Perhaps it is because our lives are so complicated, but this small glimpse of our heritage gives us a sense of continuity and wholeness. Maybe it helps us appreciate what we have todayand what we had yesterday.

Let's face it, the fast foods of burger and fries, fish and fries, or chicken and tries, served in two minutes in paper wrappings to be eaten hurriedly while perched in a plastic-laminated booth, can't begin to satisfy our need for companionship, conversation, comfort, and nurturing (not to mention our desire to be well fed!). What was a boarding house? Generally, a large house with room to spare, a home to many. First, however, it served as the home to the persons or family that ran the establishment. Second, it was a source of income. In the old days, very few jobs outside the home were available to women. II they were lucky enough to have training, they might pursue employment as nurses or teachers.Otherwise, they worked in a family owned business, such as a store or a boarding house, where they might care for their families while working.