Dedicated to my Mama...Mommy...Mother! 1927-2015

I am back blogging after my extended absence. It has been awhile and like everyone else..."Life Happens". I hope to get back into the swing of things with this post. I've missed blogging and sharing recipes with you.

My sister was going through my Mother's things that were in her possession when Mother passed away. She came across some recipes and sent them to me. I'm so excited to share them with you.

Mother was a collector of recipes. She loved to cook and read her cookbooks. She had a wall full of cookbooks. She would sit and read recipes for hours on end. Occasionally she would say, "Doesn't that sound good?" I find myself saying the same thing while reading recipes. I am so proud that she passed her love for cooking and food to me, otherwise life would be boring eating the same foods over and over. 

She encouraged me to try new recipes. Taught me that it was okay to alter a recipe by substituting, adding to and taking way from it to make it my own. I was taught that a recipe was only a road map. You could veer away from it a little to make it my own creation.

She taught me that baking was like a science project. You have to have certain combinations to make it work. I was taught the difference in 1Cup of All Purpose Flour as apposed to 1 Cup of Sifted All Purpose Flour. She taught me the difference between Baking Powder and Baking Soda, which have different chemical reactions to the recipe. I learned so much from her.

As a collector of recipes she was never afraid to ask for a recipe regardless if it were a close friend, at a church pot luck, a restaurant, or an elegant dinner party. She would write a recipe on whatever she could find as shown in the picture below of her having written the Fired Chicken Recipe on the back of her check register. She would save all of those scraps of paper and place them in a box or plastic bag. If she needed that recipe she knew exactly where it was and what she had written it on.

Southern Fried Chicken Crunchy Crust

Flour Mixture:

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

(I add additional spices to this mixture such as pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, etc.)

Egg Mixture:

1 cup Water

1 Egg

1/4 cup Cornstartch

In a Cast Iron Skillet or Dutch Oven heat up oil/shortening to medium heat. Dredge Chicken in Flour Mixture. Dip in Egg Mixture. Add Chicken to hot oil. Coated chicken should sizzle when it hits the oil.  Turn Chicken half way through frying. Breasts should cook 8 - 12 minutes on each side and Dark Meat 6 - 10 minutes. I always start with the breasts and add the dark meat after to white has been in for a few minutes, that way all of the meat is hot when taken out.

This is the most delicious cruncy chicken ever.

Thank you Mother for all of the loving guidance and patience as I learned to cook with you. Everytime I cook I think of you! You are always with me.

Cooking with Mama!

I remember climbing upon a chair watching my mother, grandmother and aunts cook. My earliest recollection is about 4 years old. I was always included in some type of the preparation. I felt so grown up!

I loved the sounds and smells that came from preparing foods. I completed every task that was given to me with pride no matter how small. I loved to pour ingredients in pots, stirring, mixing, cooking. Ah the sense of accomplishment and watching everyone enjoy their meal.

Many of our family get together's revolved around food. There was always room for one more at the table. 

Dinner at the table was very important. It was the place and time of the day that the family came together and discussed the happenings of the day. There were no electronics back then. There were no books , no toys and no TV at the table. This was a time for conversation. As small children we were taught our table manners during this time. The dinner table was the prelude to all of our future social interactions.

This blog is dedicated to my mother, aunts and grandma. I will be sharing pictures, stories and recipes from the past and present. They will come from old hand written recipes from family members. I want to thank my cousins - Pam Chisolm Knight, Debra Chisolm, Rhonda Addison, Katherine Read Addison and Peggy McCraw Runnels for their inspiration, encouragement and content of this blog.

My goal with this blog is to share these memories with our children and relatives before they are lost forever.