Skip to main content

User account menu

  • Log in
  • Rss
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
Shopping cart 0
Cart

Search

Search
Home The Yazoo Herald

Domain menu for Yazoo Herald (mobile)

  • Post
    • Leaderboard
    • Post Dashboard
    • Payment Settings
  • Home
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
    • Monthly Website Statistics
    • Our History
    • Our Staff
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submit News
  • Most Read
  • Most Recent
  • More News
    • Cartoons
    • Crime
    • Documents
    • Politics
    • Public Notices
    • Lifestyles
    • Videos
  • Sports
  • E-Editions
  • Social
  • Opinion
    • Submit a Letter
    • Columns
    • Comments
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Polls
  • Calendar
  • State
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising
    • Website Rates
    • Legal Notices
    • Newspaper Rates
    • Place a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Post
    • Leaderboard
    • Post Dashboard
    • Payment Settings
  • Home
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
    • Monthly Website Statistics
    • Our History
    • Our Staff
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submit News
  • Most Read
    • Most Read This Week
    • Most Read This Month
    • Most Read This Year
    • Most Read All Time
  • Most Recent
  • More News
    • Cartoons
    • Crime
    • Documents
    • Politics
    • Public Notices
    • Lifestyles
    • Videos
  • Sports
  • E-Editions
    • Archives
  • Social
    • Anniversaries/Births
    • Engagements/Weddings
    • Schools
    • Submit an Anniversary
    • Submit a Birth
    • Submit an Engagement
    • Submit School News
    • Submit Wedding
  • Opinion
    • Submit a Letter
    • Columns
    • Comments
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Polls
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • State
  • Advertising
    • Website Rates
    • Legal Notices
    • Newspaper Rates
    • Place a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
    • Submit an Obituary

Memories are on the menu in the family kitchen

By Jamie Patterson , READ MORE > 1,960 Reads
On Tue, 03/12/2019 - 04:51 PM

I rested my top lip against the wood grain of the dining room chair.

Sitting in the chair, turned backwards, up against the kitchen counter, I kept my eyes glued to the magic happening across the linoleum surface.

Maw Maw was making her famous chicken pot pie. The dish had gained a reputation among the neighbors along Nobles Road. And its notoriety was beginning to spread clear across Lawrence County.

She made the flaky crust from scratch. And as the flour danced up, it would hit me on the nose as I continued to watch her do what grandmothers everywhere do.

There were no certificates from chef schools on our walls. There were no fancy cookbooks sprawled out.

This was country cooking with no measuring cups and no recipes needed.

It was the first day of my summer vacation with my grandparents in Monticello.

I had arrived first thing that morning. I was welcomed with a plate of hot biscuits with tomato gravy. After a good meal and a quick kiss goodbye to Momma, I was out the door and on my bike.

Now it was lunchtime.

This was no place for hot takeout or delivered pizza. This was Maw Maw’s house, and that kind of stuff wasn’t allowed.

As Maw Maw continued to work the flour, my Paw Paw was hunched over in the sink. Armed with a kitchen knife and a pipe full of Prince Albert tobacco, he was cutting up the chicken that would soon be put into the pot pie.

Paw Paw was a man’s man, but he insisted on cutting the meat. From Thanksgiving turkeys to Christmas hams to pot pie chicken...he handled it.

As a child, I loved to watch my grandparents cook. I was fascinated at how they could whip the best meal together from scratch.

Got a fridge filled with leftovers and scraps? Maw Maw and Paw Paw could make it into a first-class meal that was delicious.

Both came from large farming families that struggled to keep enough food on the table. But with a house full of kids and hardworking adults, nothing went to waste.

I only wish that I would have taken notes on their signature dishes. Since their passing, I will never have those plates of home ever again.

But those childhood moments in the kitchen with my grandparents did more than just teach me how to cook. They taught me how to live.

It taught me about working hard to provide for those you love.

Did Maw Maw really like standing on her feet all morning, making cinnamon waffles for me? Did Paw Paw enjoy cutting up a sink full of chicken?

Probably not...but they did it because they knew somebody at the eating table wanted it.

Maw Maw loved to see me smile when the smell of cinnamon hit me in the face.

Paw Paw knew to hand Maw Maw the chicken drumsticks first to fry because they were my favorite.

Either way, cooking in the Jackson household was an all-day affair. But the work put into it was worth it because your family gathered around the table with a gleam in their eye and a rumble in their tummy for that dish in front of them.

Cooking with my grandparents also taught me about tradition and family pride.

Those classic Irish recipes from my great grandparents and beyond were passed down to me because of my Paw Paw. You can’t find that online or inside an expensive cookbook.

It does my heart good to see my own family eating a hot plate of boxty (potato pancakes) on a cold morning. I like to think Paw Paw is having a plate with us in heaven.

And cooking with my grandparents taught me about respect and embracing the wisdom of an older generation.

There was a pecking order in the Jackson kitchen. And after you got over learning your place, you could really learn some stuff in the middle of a hot kitchen.

I learned about the Great Depression, sharecropping, farming, hog-killings, family traits, family curses, hillbilly engineering and how to tie my shoes in a kitchen.

I was rewarded with a bowl of homemade ice cream. I was spanked with a wooden spoon and a wet dish rag...at the same time.

Advice was given over pots of gumbo. Praise was shared over a four-layered cake. Punishment was issued as the chicken and dumplings bubbled. And love was shown over a homemade milkshake.

In today’s modern era, it’s almost hard to find that feeling you had inside the kitchen of your grandparents.

Perhaps I will never find it again. But I like to think that much like that family recipe, you can pass that feeling down for the next generations.

I need to remember that when my own children want to help out with my cooking. We are doing more than just making meals.

We are making memories.

‹ PreviousNext ›

News

Hopson introduces Legislative Doctor of the Day

Dr.

Argument leads to shooting
Carter Crow elected MAIS State Student Council President
City to maintain COVID restrictions until vaccines distributed
Thomas questions utility costs
Shots fired into 18-wheeler on I-55 Friday

Sports

Kenneth Gainwell declares for the NFL Draft

Former Yazoo County football star Kenneth Gainwell has officially declared for the upcoming NFL… READ MORE

Jacolby Little scores 17 points and grabs 10 rebounds to lead Woolfolk to victory
Dylan Dendy signs with Mississippi Delta Community College
Sports Column: Drew Brees leaves an unforgettable Saints legacy. The story started in Jackson.
Lanie Potter scores 21 points to lead Lady Mavericks to victory
Dendy and Poe power Mavericks past Raiders

Sign Up for Notifications of Local Breaking News

Start E-mail NotificationsStop E-mail NotificationsStart Mobile NotificationsStop Mobile Notifications

E Edition Button NEW

Obituaries

Wallace Walker

Floyd Wallace Walker died on January 18, 2021 at his home in Vaughan Mississippi.

Carl McDaniel
Dennis Burrell
Annie McMaster
Jerry Burton
Bill Smith

Most Recent

Deputy injured while pursuing drag racers

Drag racing led to a deputy’s vehicle being struck by an out-of-control vehicle near Broadway last… READ MORE

56th Annual Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo Kicks-Off January 22
Key House leader says Mississippi should cut highest-in-nation grocery tax
Hopson introduces Legislative Doctor of the Day
Mississippi Covid-19 Update : January 21st, 2021
Argument leads to shooting

Most Read News Article

  • Week
  • Month
  • Year
  • All Time

Carl McDaniel

Carl M. McDaniel, ,91, of Benton passed away Thursday January 14, 2021 at his residence. Carl was a… READ MORE

Dennis Burrell
Shots fired into 18-wheeler on I-55 Friday
Governor Tate Reeves Announces Additional 20,000 New Vaccine Appointments
Hyde-Smith: Additional $63.6 Million for Army Corps Work in Miss., Including $9.2 Million for Yazoo Backwater Area Pumps
Charter schools receive taxpayer dollars. Should their board members follow state ethics laws?

Indianola Doctor Who Suffered Effects of COVID Among the First to Get Vaccine at Clinic

When Dr. Eddie Donahoe heard that a COVID-19 vaccine was on the way and had the potential to be… READ MORE

Leora Smith
Editorial: Polio and Covid
Harold Fisher
Judge William Henry Barbour Jr.
Carl McDaniel

Governor Reeves explains "Safer at Home" policy

On his Facebook post, Gov. Tate Reeves explained that Mississippians are now "encouraged" but not "… READ MORE

Holmes Community College hosting football tryouts
Timmy Lloyd Helms
Shannon Marie Lungrin
Indians remain unbeaten in district
Warrene Chisolm

Riding After a Dream

It all began when she was a little girl riding a stick horse. Her love of horses has provided a… READ MORE

Crimm completes term as president
Bill Beeson
Albert Woodley Cook Jr.
Shirley Summerlin
Roberta Ann Pyles

Opinion

Opinion: Reeves swings early on COVID vaccines

Gov. Tate Reeves was batting .500 this week in the decisions he made dealing with the state’s… READ MORE

Mississippians control their own destiny
Opinion: Shouting fire in a crowded theater
Opinion: Are we near the end of our nation as we know it?
Editorial: We need more men like William Barbour
Freedom to speak and freedom to listen

Weddings and Engagements

Lifestyles

Covenant Christian Honor Roll

First Grade all As: Amelia Davis Kaidence Dent Addalyn VanGorder

From the Kitchen: Why are things always funnier in church?
Miss Lee to marry McGill on Jan. 30
From the Kitchen: Book brings back memories of my own father-in-law
Rare snow day in Yazoo
Let it Snow!

Social

Copyright 2020 • The Yazoo Herald • 1035 Grand Ave. • Yazoo City, MS 39194 • (662)-746-4911.

Emmerich Newspapers proudly serve the following Mississippi communities:

Click on the city name to visit its website.

ACKERMAN • CARROLLTON • CHARLESTON • CLARKSDALE • COLUMBIA • EUPORA • FOREST • GREENVILLE • GREENWOOD • GRENADA • HATTIESBURG • JACKSON • KOSCIUSKO • INDIANOLA • LOUISVILLE • MAGEE • MENDENHALL • McCOMB • NEWTON • PETAL • QUITMAN • SENATOBIA • WINONA • YAZOO CITY

As well as: DUMAS, Ark. • TALLULAH, La • FRANKLINTON, La.

For more information on how to extend your advertising message to these communities, click here.