Southern Belle Magazine Digital #02 August 2013 | Page 29

Shel li n ’ P E A S
We ate Sunday dinner at Granny's every Sunday and the food we ate was fit for a king. Granny always had a pan of hand spanked cat head biscuits in the oven or on the table and we would head to the jelly pantry for homemade jams and jellies to spread on those biscuits for a snack. My mama picked up right where my granny left off and would cook the same delicious country foods my granny did. The jelly pantry was stocked every spring and early summer with the fresh berries we picked and peaches and apples and pears as soon as they came in. I guess through all the pickin', preparing and cookin', my best memories are of the mornings and afternoons spent on the front porch shellin' peas and stringin' beans. I spent many pleasant days helping my mama and my granny learning how to pick, prepare and cook the fresh vegetables that I love so well. I still like to get a "mess" of peas and shell them myself when I have the time to sit on the front porch and shell them and I still put up a couple of bushels of white half runner beans every year and I string them, break them and prepare them to freeze so I have plenty in the freezer for winter. Days gone by are good memories. My hope is that children of this era will be taught these essential parts of everyday southern living.
By Nancy Gravitt

Nancy Gravitt lives just north of Atlant