Inspiration

my grandmother in her element, the kitchen, with her family at Thanksgiving

I decided to start this blog as a dedication to my grandmother, Nancy Russell Parker. A native of Western, North Carolina with a family history in this area that dates back to at least the 1850s (this is as far back as I've gone so far), she has lived her life with a reputation as the finest southern cook. For the last 25 years I have heard compliment after compliment from friends, family, and local establishments like Givens Estates Retirement Community where my grandmother volunteered and prepared meals for the patients. Most of her recipes are not written down as they were passed on from her grandmother, Granny Best, and her mother, Granny Ruth (as I knew her).

My grandmother's father was the tax collector in Canton, NC during the 1930s and was murdered in 1933. The killers were never caught and her mother, in an attempt to maintain their comfortable way of life, moved to Washington, D.C. to find work. My grandmother did not want to leave the Mountains and it was at that time she began living in an old farmhouse in Canton with her mother's parents. Her grandfather worked for the paper mill that is still in operation today and her grandmother cooked on a wood burning stove, they got their water from an outside well, and heated their home with coal. My grandmother still cooks with the cast iron skillets that belonged to my Great Great Granny Best, and Great Granny Ruth. Her knives are just as old- sharp as can be and a trophy to the women cooks of our family.

There are so many stories that I have been told about my grandmother's childhood. She had such an exciting life but more than anything, she learned to cook. She was taught the ways of the old mountain people, her ancestors, Scottish, and her way of life, simple.

This blog will focus on her cooking and her techniques. My mother and I have adopted many of my grandmother's skills and recipes but, just as my grandmother, I have learned these recipes from watching and helping in the kitchen... there are no written recipes. Every once and a while it occurs to me that I don't remember how she did everything- I don't prepare all my meals with bacon drippings, or fry every piece of meat under the sun-- and as a result I am fearful that I will not be able to pass along the craft. SO, this blog will do just that... pass along my grandmother's craft of southern cooking.

In an effort to make things easier for anyone who might want to try these recipes, I will try to provide two recipes, when applicable. The first, recipes she's told me; the second, how she prepares the recipes today because sometimes her recipes have changed over time. There is no rhyme or reason to this blog- and most often I'll probably just blog when something comes to mind. Many of the recipes are tumbled around in my head so hopefully they will eventually resurface. I hope, that by recording these recipes her legacy as a true mountain cook will continue, and the greatest cook in these hills will live on forever.