She was the best

[SheepDog]

Jim.
I lost my mom in October of 2009 and I still miss her.
If I had to point out the greatest lesson she ever taught me it would have to be unconditional love.
With 12 kids we did the cooking and cleaned the kitchen but she did the laundry and the shopping. She let us test ourselves and helped when we took the inevitable nose dive. No matter how much she disliked what we did she always loved us - even enough to force us to take responsibility for what we did. She taught me more just by living than anyone else in my life.I was very luck to spend most of the last year with her. I never felt the need to grieve for her because she was so much a part of my life. I do miss her cold hands up the back of my shirt! It always felt good and she got to warm her hands and cool my back.

 

[Sentry18]

You guys are lucky, even the ones who have passed.

Did any step in and fill the roll of mom for you? Because if so that is the person this thread is about as far as I am concerned. While many of us were fortunate to have good mothers, not all good mothers gave birth to their children. My little sister and I share no blood, but she is still my sister and we still share the same mother.

 

[VThillman]

And...
She was at sweet taters, fried squirrel, and egg pie...

Bet you ain't never had any.
Ye olde northner..

Jim

No egg pie. Mar cooked the squirrels - and showed me how to skin 'em. Sweet taters are pretty common in a meal, we just can't grow them outdoors - season ain't long enough yet (give climate change a few more years). Mar made egg custard pie, but I don't think that's what you're talking about.

The main difference between southern Appalachia and the Green Mountains was mostly the length of the growing season - and how long it took to say 'Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." We chew the words different in the Greens.

Things are different now. Yes they are.

 

[Bacpacker]

Sorry to hear that Cnsper.

Do you have a receipe for the horseradish soup? That sounds yummy

 

[Cnsper]

Did any step in and fill the roll of mom for you? Because if so that is the person this thread is about as far as I am concerned. While many of us were fortunate to have good mothers, not all good mothers gave birth to their children. My little sister and I share no blood, but she is still my sister and we still share the same mother.

Yeah, my dad's mom raised us from 2nd grade till graduation. It's still not the same though because she was grandma. She was an awesome lady and her and grandpa taught us a lot. I would have done anything for the two of them.

They did give dad the freedom to work during the week and we did a lot of camping and fishing on the weekends.

Sorry to hear that Cnsper.

Do you have a receipe for the horseradish soup? That sounds yummy

I had a better upbringing than if she would have been around. I just happen to be the oldest so I remember more than my siblings.

As for the recipe, not really, I just cook like grandma did, no measuring.

Here is a list of ingredients.

Potatoes
Ham hocks
Heavy cream
Jar of horseradish
Green beans
Apple cider vinegar
Bay leaves

Just enough acv to give it a sour taste. Grandma did not use green beans but she would have loved it.

She also made a green bean soup that I cannot come close to making. Even my sister can't get it and she spent more time in the kitchen with her.

 

[Bacpacker]

Glad you had a great Grandma. They are priceless.

I'll be giving the reciepe a try. Wife cooks like that too, so she'll hit on something we like.

 

[Double R]

My mother that is,
Just lost my mom this year..
Sure do miss her, was just thinking about eating over at her house ...
View attachment 32422

Fried squirrel, gravy and biscuits.

I sure miss my mom.

I'll probably think of something else that she did so special

How bout your mom, even if you still have her.

Jim

Very sorry for the loss of your mother.

 

[phideaux]

I get sad on Saturday mornings.. I lost my mom about 6 months ago.

She use to cook up a special breakfast on Saturday morning , once in a while , just for me .
She made biscuits from scratch..I mean , 2-3 dozen, then her special chocolate gravy, that nobody can duplicate...and a pile of fresh sausage on the side.

I will miss this the rest of my life.

Love ya mom.

Jim

 

[backlash]

Chocolate gravy and biscuits was a major treat when I was a kid. My wife learned to make it from my mom and she makes it for our kids. Your special breakfast was exactly what we had, including the sausage. The secret is getting just the right amount of Hershey's cocoa. Too much or too little and it just doesn't taste right.
Very few people even know what it is and I bet you will get questions about it.

 

[phideaux]

Chocolate gravy...

I believe it's a deep South thing.

Not many people have heard of it , must less experienced it.

I grew up on it for breakfast.

Jim

 

[Weedygarden]

Yeah, my dad's mom raised us from 2nd grade till graduation. It's still not the same though because she was grandma. She was an awesome lady and her and grandpa taught us a lot. I would have done anything for the two of them.

This is absolutely the truth. I lost my mother when I was 6 years old. Grandmother who insisted on raising us had no business doing that. She was a narcissist as are a few others in the family. The problem was a dysfunctional family and she wanted all of her boys to stay at home forever. She did not like any of her daughters-in-law, because they took her boys away from her. When Mom died, it was the perfect way to insist that her son, my dad, move back home.

My mother was a soft-spoken person. She was beautiful, tall and thin. I was blessed to have her for six years of my life. She was kind and gentle, and disciplined us in a loving way. We knew we had done wrong, but we also knew we were loved. She grew up in a tar paper covered house, 12 x 24, with 6 siblings, hard pressed to know what their next meal would be. She went to nursing school and became an RN. There was no grass growing under her feet; she was always working on something. She cooked, cleaned, sewed, helped remodel the house when running water was put in. She would take things and redo them and make them look great. The linoleum in the kitchen was worn. She painted it a background color and used three colors of paints to decorate it. She sewed curtains, bedding, quilts, almost all of our clothing. She had a huge garden that she canned from. She had chickens, like many women did. With her nurses training, she would take care of the elderly and ill in the area. She worked with us to get started on our education. She worked with my brothers to learn sports. She taught me about God and she taught me about racism. And, she had a job!

What did she cook? One thing that I remember her cooking was a banty rooster from the yard that tormented us. I remember the chicken and dumplings. She also made decorated cakes for birthdays and weddings.

 

[backlash]

Before I got married I took my soon to be wife around to all my family and had them show her my favorite things they made.
Grandma's chicken and dumplings were high on the list. She makes them just like Grandma did. Grandma also showed her how to fry chicken. Unfortunately, she didn't get that lesson.