I love to tell and retell stories to my grandchildren about my childhood probably because it was so different from what theirs is today. They have a supermarket to buy groceries, all kinds of different goodies, Starbucks for specialty coffee, all different types of meats, and just a host of all new “fangled” things. When I was a little girl we lived over on the north side of town near what was called Rock Hill. We had TWO grocery stores within walking distance. Our favorite was Mr. Ed Carter's store. It was so close to our house that my mama would send me there to pick up things she needed, and I was always so excited to go. It was a big old clapboard building with a wide front porch and double doors. Inside, right in the middle was a potbellied stove with a table holding a checker board and checkers sitting next to it. I always wanted to play but some older gentlemen were always enjoying a game when I was there. Of course as they played, they discussed all the goings-on in the area. This place was a treasure chest of news. It always smelled so good inside the store, like fresh ground coffee, tobacco and spices. I believe this may be where I was instilled with my love of the coffee bean. He ground his own hamburger meat while the customer watched as he added lean beef, a little beef fat and pork sausage. This made the most tastiness of hamburgers I have ever eaten. I can tell you without a doubt, to me, our Sunflower Store here in town cannot compare to that little country store on the hill.
Our little girl, Emmie Jo has started to “experiment” with make-up. Not because we allow her to but because she desires to wear a full face of the creams and gels, especially the lipstick. When she finds a tube of lipstick I haphazardly have left in a lower drawer, and she paints her face, we always call her “Miss Utz.” Miss Utz was an older woman who lived just down the road from our house, back off the road a good piece, and she would walk to Mr. Carter's store everyday or to town or wherever she needed to go. She was tall and slender, dark hair and always wore a black hat and carried a large black purse. The most noticeable thing about her was her make up and especially her red lips. They were always the reddest red, and it was somewhat smeared as if she might have missed the mark. She also wore red rouge to match her lips. She was fascinating to me, and I always wanted so badly to talk to her but she was always in a hurry or seemed to be as she reminded me of a race horse just out of the lot. I would always run out to the road but she would just hurry by. Every time I see smeared red lipstick I think of her. She was Miss Eula Utz.
Mama’s Saturday Night Hamburgers
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 pound pork sausage
1 piece of light bread, soaked in milk and torn to pieces
Mix well and make into patties and fry in hot skillet.
Salt and pepper.
