Around our table

When you are young memories are made like a picture in a camera’s lens.  You recall the colors, the smells and everything around you, but unlike pictures life changes. Unlike a photo life does not stand still. Such is life in a small community.  My community a small county snuggled up to the Chesapeake Bay on Virginia’s coast.  Life here could be very simple.  Simple is good. There are no stop lights, except for the ones on the bridge coming and going to Gwynn’s Island, my home. … not physically now, but will always be home in my heart.  Our lives are deep rooted in the land that has sustained generations by working in the water, without it’s harvest many people would not have survived.  Even with it’s bounty dwindling the Bay still draws watermen to seek their fortunes.  The blue of the sky and the water, the softness of the sand, and the red of the sunsets, keep drawing us to refresh the pictures of our mind, keeps us here, keeps things simple.

My early memories consist of long days playing out in the yard of our home on Gwynn’s Island.  Our home was situated almost in the middle of the Island, right behind one of it’s two post offices, Gwynn’s Post Office a, hub of activity in our small community.  My Parents grew up in Mathews a small County of Virginia bordering the Chesapeake Bay.  My Father, James David Hodges was from the mainland my Mother, Hazel Hope Hudgins Hodges, yes she used all four names, was from that little island attached to the mainland by bridge or in the early years by a ferry, Gwynn’s Island .

Daddy’s family was known seafaring people.  He was the 9^th son of Jessie, Jessie Thomas Hodges that is and his mother, Martha Henrietta Hunley.  They had 14 children 9 boys and 5 girls.  The story goes that when the boys grew old enough to wear long pants they were off to find their new life on the sea.  It has been said of my Uncle Raymond he was working in the corn field when he kept walking and the next time they saw him he was an officer on a ship.

Gwynn’s Island, a beautiful little island on the Chesapeake Bay was where my Mama‘s family lived. The island at that time was a bustling place with the water being it’s steady supply of work.  She was the youngest of seven, 5 boys, 2 girls.  Her Mother Eunice Belle Owens Hudgins and father James Claudius Hudgins lived on the water off of Hills Bay.

I was born in Richmond, Virginia.  The capitol of our State.  Travel in 1950 to and from Mathews by any means was slow.  Mama was accompanied by her sister in law Hazel who herself was expecting.  Aunt Hazel described Mama as being “slow as a shags tail” in delivering me and she was sad she had to catch the bus back to Mathews before I was born.  Not before however gathering up Moma’s maternity clothes to use in her next months.  She learned of my arrival  when she returned home.  Melinda Renee Hodges, as Gramdmoma would write Mama, “Hazel, have you lost your mind naming that child that?”  At that time you spent weeks in the hospital recovering.  According to Mama, Daddy was working on a boat in Louisiana and she had to send him money to come home to see me, times were tight.  I was welcomed home by an older sister by eight years Marlene, who I don’t think thought kindly of a little sister invading her territory.  Eight years is a big difference between kids and she had enjoyed the limelight for a long time.  But I guess she survived.

Sadly I don’t remember my Mama’s parents,  but feel the memories of others have helped  keep them alive for me.  Grand mama died when I was 6 months old but I understand she thought a lot of me, even waking me up whenever someone came to visit, much to Mama’s displeasure I am sure.  There was a story of a night Daddy was babysitting me and I seemed to be somewhat of a cry baby.  He had enough of my crying and when Mama returned home she found me asleep in a cloths basket.  Guess I found comfort with the towels and rags.  

I have fond memories of going to family gatherings as a child at my Grandma Hodges.  The house was full of so many people turns had to be taken to eat.  Her long dining table was full of the men first while the ladies served and then the ladies and then the older cousins.  Of course being a kid we had to eat early so we would sit in the kitchen at the “kids table” and enjoyed our meal.  It was fun when Amond, Granddaddy’s handy man came because he would sit with us and tell all kinds of stories. When we finished eating we’d all head to the deep ditch alongside the main road and play for hours.  The neighborhood children would join us and before our play was over a dare was given and taken.  Someone went home wet or muddy and most of the time it was me.  Mama learned early when taking us somewhere be prepared soon out of nowhere a new set of cloths would appear and I was off to do it again.  Unless I was made to sit beside her for the rest of the visit, that happened quite often.

I remember my Grandparent’s kitchen with its big wood stove.  Even though a small addition to the kitchen housed an electric stove most meals were prepared on or in that stove.  Grandmoma made the best biscuits full of crackling, cornbread, cakes………the aroma surrounding that stove was wonderful.  There was a large table in the room that never seemed empty.

Some Saturday nights we’d go there as a family for fish night.  Grandmoma would have her skillet full of fried fish or a pot full of boiled fish.  Corn cakes, or hoe cakes would be flipping off the stove onto our waiting plates, to be topped with a pat of butter and eaten while still very hot.  Even though I didn’t like fish, imagine that, those cakes would taste awfully good with my hot dog much to Grandmoma’s dislike!  I think she could whip up a batch of these wonderful little cakes of  cornbread with her eyes closed.

          

                                     Fried Hoe Cakes

Scald:

2 cups corn meal with
1 cup boiling water

Add:

1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar (more or less, to taste)
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and cook in hot pan or griddle (black iron works best). Add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil to the hot griddle before each batch of cakes. These corn cakes, that look like pan cakes,  are wonderful served with fish.

Pan Fried Fish

1 ½  lb. cleaned fish, whole of  fillets
1 ½  tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/3  c. flour
2 eggs, well beaten
1 c. corn meal
Oil or melted shortening

After cleaning the fish, soak them in cold water with about  1 T salt for about a hour.  Rinse fish and pat dry; place oil or melt shortening in large skillet. Sprinkle salt and pepper on fish, coat fish with flour, dip in eggs, then corn meal. Put fish in hot oil, fry for 5 minutes per side or until brown, drain on paper towel.

Grandmoma always took pleasure in seeing everyone with a full belly.  Guess with so many people around it was her way of sharing her love.  She made sure if you came to visit you didn’t leave empty.  If you didn’t have time for a meal you had something in your hand to take with you.  She never would let anyone go hungry.  That was handed down through the generations.  My Mama would put the skillet on when she saw us turning the corner on the way to her house.  Problem was she loved us too well

and it showed on our hips.

Sometimes we would visit Grandmoma’s after a hog killing and boy would the house be jumping.  Meat would be ground to make sausage, hams would be cooked fresh and some smoked for later.  Chops fried and loins baked, either way you served it, it was good.  I remember Mama frying the skins, like pork rinds you get in a bag.  They would also make crackling biscuits form the cracklings or fat.  The meat would be ground and mixed with spices to make sausage.  Mama would use the Butts or Shoulders to make BBQ.  Her BBQ was real good.

Crackling Biscuit

4 cups flour

2/3 cup margarine or shortening

2 T baking powder

1½ cups buttermilk

1 t baking soda

¾ cup hog crackling’s, chopped(old ham crumbs can be substituted)

1 ½ t granulated sugar

¼ cup margarine 

1 t salt

Preheat oven to 400° degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Mix well to ensure proper blending. With a pastry blender, cut 2/3 cup of butter into flour mixture. Once butter has been well blended into flour, add buttermilk and chopped cracklings. Continue to mix until biscuit dough is formed. Place dough on a floured surface and knead lightly. Roll dough out until approximately 3/4-inch thick. Cut biscuits with a 3-inch biscuit cutter until all are formed. Or shape by hand and place biscuits in a greased 12” cast iron skillet, drizzle with remaining margarine. Bake 25 or until brown. Makes; 8 to 10 biscuits

At the end of the meal these became a dessert by filling them with butter and using them to sop King PorTa-Ric Molasses from your plate.  You would pour the sticky, sweet syrup onto you plate, put some butter either on the syrup or on your hot biscuit and “sop” or dip your biscuit into the syrup……Yum!

Our post office was once called the Buster House.  It was a small building, red in color on the corner of our land right by the main road.  My Mama had once ran a business there selling snow cones, BBQ and other items.  I would wait daily until I say the mail truck arrive then give Miss Florence Carney time to sort the mail and run through the field to get our mail.  Of course Mama’s watchful eye was on me the whole time.  Everyone always tried to the mail early before Florence had time to read it all!  She always in a chair behind the counter, which was real high, to a little girl that is.  After she leaned over the counter and handed me the mail I’d trace my steps back to Mama waiting for me on the side porch.  She’d go through the mail then return to her daily chores. I’d return to play, picking flowers to get married or finding sticks to make horses out of.  Running around the porches was always fun and the hammocks made a good place to just lie around and day dream.

Oven Baked Bar B Q

1 boneless or bone-in Boston butt roast or pork shoulder, 4 to 5 pounds

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup apple juice or cola drink

Barbecue Sauce

¾ cup vinegar

1 ½ cup water

6 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

6 tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 teaspoon mustard

3 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 c lemon juice

1 ½ cups ketchup or more to taste

Hot sauce to taste

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon season salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 In a bowl, combine the salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard, seasoning salt and brown sugar. Place  the pork in a roasting pan and rub all over with the spice mixture. Let sit for 2 hours or overnight in fridge.  Pour coke over pork in pan and add enough water to come up ½ of the roast. Cover pan tightly with lid or foil, place pork in preheated oven, roast pork for 1 hour. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, roast for about 2 to 2 ½ hours, or until the pork is very tender and easy to shred with a fork.  Internal temp should be 170 degrees.

While pork is baking prepare barbecue sauce. Combine ingredients in microwave proof bow, cook 3 minutes on high in microwave until boiling, remove and whisk until incorporated. When meat is done, remove the pork from the oven, remove from pan, discard liquids, shred, and add pulled pork back into pan.  Add enough sauce to coat and put back in oven and bake covered another ½ hour. Remove from pan and serve with rolls, topped with cold slaw and, sauce. BBQ sauce may be put in plastic bottle with tip to serve alongside of pork.  Keep unused portion refrigerated.

This is the end of chapter one of my book............more to come.