My Grandmother

Hi, Kathy. I read your article about the kitchen table, and it brought back memories of my Grandmother's kitchen table. It was a long, homemade trestle table with long benches on either side, and short benches on each end.

My what wonderful memories I have of gathering around her table for a family meal!

Her pie safe would be full of wonderful pies and cakes, and the table groaned with homemade biscuits, cane syrup, chicken and dumplings, fresh vegetables from the garden (field peas, butterbeans, sliced tomatoes, creamed corn, etc),

and whatever meat was currently available. On "hog-killing" day, there was fresh pork meat. I loved the pork tenderloin she would fix.

Of course, each gathering would differ, according to the occasion and those who would be there. When she had special "meetings" at her church, she would have out of town guests to come and stay with her. She would really cook a LOT of food for those welcome visitors. We were fortunate to be visiting there when these occasions arose. I remember chicken and dressing. fruit salad (ambrosia), chocolate cake, coconut cake, etc.

But some of my favorite times to be there was when it was just us and "Grannie and Grandpa". She always had her leftovers out on the table with covers over them. It was a ritual with me to look under each and every lid, to see what she had to eat. Then I would check out her refrigerator for any other "goodies". My mother was embarassed at my inspection of the kitchen, but my grandmother always said it was perfectly fine for me to check it out.

I had a fascination with what went on in her kitchen.

My grandfather used to tease me and say "You just come here to eat up my groceries" (lol). Without pausing in my appreciation of the food before me, I simply agreed with him, "Yes, I sure did".

In this day and age, when people don't have time for one another, I am so grateful for the times we ate and talked, ate and laughed, ate and cried around that old table. I miss those times and I miss my Grandmother.

Thanks for making me remember those happy times.