The Legacy of Food

The Joy of Bringing People Together

Food is part of the history of people gathering together. Whether it was in churches, among family, with friends, an important part of the get-together had to do with food.

Food breaks down barriers; it helps people to show love to each other and provides a central point for human interaction. A high priority of an event may be what kind of food is being served, but ultimately, it is about the people being served. Food is the connector. My roots go way back to food being a focus in my life, not just for daily nourishment, but for pleasure, for relationship building, and for sharing time together. It makes for lasting memories.

When I attended church with my parents as a little girl, quite often lunch was served after the service. Everyone brought several dishes and they were all laid out on tables for everyone to enjoy. Years before that, the food was actually spread on quilts on the ground. Churches eventually built tables for the spreading of food and most people brought their folding chairs on which they sat, ate, and talked with others. The women compared notes about their various dishes, often sharing recipes later. My mother and I began on Saturday to prepare food to take to church on Sunday. She taught me how to bake and help in the kitchen. As much as we could prepare ahead of time, the better, since there was not a lot of time on Sunday morning. Pies and cakes, congealed salads, and bread could be done early. Sunday morning was reserved for the hot dishes, which were cooked and put into containers to keep them as warm as possible for the mid-day meal.

One important note is that when I was young, we had three meals - breakfast, dinner (which is now lunch), and supper (which is now dinner).  It later changed to the second and third meals of the day becoming lunch and dinner. I have fond memories of the older people around me still sticking with the former way of expressing their meals.

Growing up on a farm, our food mainly came from our gardens and apples grown in our orchard, along with wild berries. Blackberries, black raspberries, and wild strawberries made very tasty jams, jellies and preserves. These berries grew at different places in the area and there was general freedom to pick unless someone lived pretty close to that spot. Then we might ask permission. The occasional cherry tree fit into this category.

We worked throughout the spring and summer to plant, grow, harvest, and preserve this food. To this day, it is my favorite type of food, and I still enjoy having a garden. My parents generally worked several gardens. We didn’t buy canned food; we canned our own, mainly because of the cost, but also, it was just better. The harvest included lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, sweet corn, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, onions, October beans, pattypan squash, and cantaloupes.

Some of the vegetables from my garden this year.

My parents were industrious people. They worked in the fields a lot, but we also had quite a bit of company. Family and friends would stop by, as well as people who helped with mowing and putting up hay. It would be nothing to open up some cans from the basement, heat up the contents, and add to the bread that my mother made every day. Her loaves of homemade bread were delicious. I’ve only had bread that was somewhat comparable a few times. I surely enjoyed it, with homemade butter, which was a frequent as well. It wasn’t sweet, but the texture and flavor I still remember to this day. My mother’s creamed corn, wilted lettuce (a heated vinaigrette that she made poured over fresh cut lettuce and green onions), and her creamed potatoes (not mashed, but a thick cream sauce over fresh potatoes) were the BEST!

Donnie went hunting several years ago and he brought back a turkey, not having a clue how to clean it. My mother immediately grabbed it, heated the water, and began plucking the feathers from the turkey. He was fascinated by how quickly she handled it.

My Aunt Ora Conner (my mother’s sister) was also quite the worker. All my aunts and uncles were hard workers. She could split wood, plow a garden (with a hand plow), kill a chicken, as well as all the things that my mother could do in the kitchen. She fed a lot of people in her lifetime. One of my favorites at her house was honey (with the comb), to which I was not accustomed. She made the best coleslaw with her own cooked dressing on top. No food processor in her life, just a hand shredder. She lived by us for awhile, and I would sneak off to go visit her when I heard she had made pumpkin pies. They were slightly browned on top from the wood stove. Excellent!

Mama and Aunt Ora taught me a lot about the kitchen, which I passed on to my children, as best as I could. Given that I was quite busy raising three children and working a demanding job, my picture of food may have been a little different than my mother’s, but, nevertheless, it was important in our home. We ate our meals together as our family grew, just like I had as a child. Although we had more prepared food (which was generally quicker to get ready), I never lost sight of the value of fresh food. I had the memory base of tables laden with food. I was blessed, I know. From there, my daughters and I began to create our own legacy of food dishes. When my daughter, Kim, was leaving for college, she gave me a journal with recipes in which she had included those that we had come to like, including the Jello cake recipe that came from Donnie’s mother. This is part of what Kim wrote in the journal inscription –

“The recipes I have written in here are only a beginning. It includes recipes we have made together, recipes you all love, and recipes we have always wanted to make but haven’t yet. Cooking is something the Edmonds girls will always have together…”

Kim Edmonds Tulou

My sister-in-law, Linda Walters, taught me how to make a good biscuit when my husband I were first married. She also shared her pickle recipe with me that my family loves. For years, Linda hosted the Edmonds family for Christmas Eve dinners. Her food was always great. My friend, Pam Harris, has given me many recipes over the years. One that continues as a favorite is her Sweet Potato Casserole, which my family loves. I’ve made her soft sugar cookies with my grandchildren many times.

In my kitchen today, I have more cookbooks than any person should have. My Facebook page is filled with recipes. I continue to have the passion for food that was instilled in me. I do like to eat, but mostly I enjoy finding just the right recipe to please people. My family has many treasured recipes and is still discovering new ones that are becoming traditions. Food is still the focus of our family get-togethers. We have had celebrations, joyous occasions, wedding and baby showers, holiday meals, birthday fun, and, sadly, we’ve had times when we must grieve around a food table.

We love our family time, and it is always fun to eat at my children’s homes. A new chapter has begun with our grandchildren now making dishes that are quite delicious. It is such a joy to spend that time with them in the kitchen and to taste their dishes that amaze us. When we are all together, it is nothing to ask someone to stir or drain a pot, chop or peel, or set the table. That’s where we usually are – in the kitchen. So the legacy continues with the next generation.