As I sit this morning here at the Circle S planning my day, I look across the tops of my kitchen counters, and they are weighed down with beautiful red ripe tomatoes, some still turning the bright red but all so pretty, small okra pods and big juicy yellow squash.
I have said so many times, “I am not a farmer.” However, I am, after so many years of living out this same scenario, a farmer’s wife. Sometimes I do grow tired of the “get your skates on” kind of hustle that the harvesting season brings, but I love the end result. I have already processed and put several bushels of peas and butterbeans in our freezer for our winter meals. Bringing some of the summer bounty back to our dreary winter weather table is amazing in the cold, frosty weather.
This setting brings back so many memories of my days spent in Montgomery County with my grandmother. She had a small rough-hewn table sitting on her back porch, between her quilt and her pantry room that from July until the frost held some type of her garden’s produce. Of course, she had no big deep freezer like I have so she canned and processed all her vegetables, and they had a setting place in her big pantry, all on the shelves assigned for each vegetable. She always had someone dropping by for lunch unexpectedly, and she could always walk into that little room with the lined-up Mason jars holding all her beautiful bounty and pull out something to make a most delicious meal. She even canned some of the meat from the hogs that were killed during “hog killing” time.
I have often told my friends who do not freeze and process vegetables in the summer that I feel like I am the “mama grocery store” for my children. None of them prepare for the winter as I do. They are all so busy with their lives and jobs. So, during the blustery, cold winter days when they hunger for the freshness of the summer abundance, I readily share my summer processed goodness with them.
I don’t know how many still prepare for the winter with the freshness of the summer vegetables, but sometimes I wonder if after my generation is gone how many will carry on the tradition. It seems it may be a dwindling ritual.
We have had a great quantity of squash, and I have tried some new recipes. This is one that my friend from Walnut Grove, Allen Cullen, shared with me.
6 yellow crookneck squash
1 large chopped onion
6 tablespoons cracker crumbs
½ cup of grated cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup of mayonnaise
1 beaten egg
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Boil the squash until tender, scoup out the insides and mix with all the ingredients. Add more cheese to the top and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
