Mamow's Tennessee Home Recipes

From the time I was small, I remember two things my grandmothers had in common, they both loved flowers and they both knew how to cook. After living thru the depression years, they knew how to make do with what they had and to can everything they could get their hands on. And believe me, they did. I remember every summer, we would work in our garden, then we would work in both of the mamow's gardens picking, canning and freezing enough to last us thru the winter and in most cases a couple of years longer than that.

Friends and family would share what they had with each other and give to the ones who either didn't have a garden or wasn't able to raise one. There was plenty to go around. I know when I visited either of my mamow's after I was married, I never went home empty handed. I would have to take a freshly canned jar of green beans or some corn from the freezer and when I accumlated enough of that, they would start with gifts from other areas of their expertise.

As I mentioned, they both loved flowers so if it were the right time of the years, they would have me dig up some of their perennials that needed to be separated and take home to plant in my flower bed. I still have many plants that my mamows have given me over the years. I think of them every time I see them bloom. What a wonderful heirloom to pass down.

They both also loved craft work; quilting, crochet, knitting, etc. so if nothing else, we would be handed a doilie or on special occassions, a handmade quilt. I can not even imagine a more wonderful gift than something made by my mamows own hands. They were so alike in many ways but so different in others.

Mamow Russell was the strongest, most hard working, independant woman I have ever known in my life. She knew how to do everything and even though she had very little education, she had more knowledge of life than most people with a college degree. It was only after her death that I though of things that I wished I would have asked her about or got her opinion of how something should be done. I guess the old saying is true that things are taken for granted until after they are gone and then it's too late to do anything about it.

Now Mamow Davis was a different story all together. She was the fun-loving mamow who would set everything aside to go out and play basketball or put on a record and dance with her grandkids. She loved to cut up, laugh and have a good time. She loved to work in her yard and garden from spring to fall and then in the winter came the crafts and the cooking. I remember that my favorite food that she made was her chocolate cake and chocolate pies. They were the BEST!

I miss both of my mamows terribly but at least I do have some things of theirs that I hold special in my heart; flowers, quilts and recipes. There are some recipes that I have posted that you may have heard of but I am sure there are some you haven't. Mamow Russell made the best stack cake on earth and angel pickles that are out of this world. If you have never tried angel pickles and you like a sweet, tangy pickle, you MUST try these. They are a little time consuming to make but they are well worth it! I hope you enjoy all of their old time recipes.