This Easter was kind of nice in the fact that it was the first one that Josiah really seemed to get the whole point of it and could tell us the story from Good Friday till Easter Sunday. I guess he could probably do this with some prompting before, but it seemed to be a bigger deal to him this year.
Our festivities were hectic as always, yet enjoyable. Josiah started celebrating at school on Friday with his own little party and Easter Egg hunt. He told us that he tripped on a root and fell, spilling out the eggs from his basket. He said he almost cried because the other kids took his eggs. I felt bad for him, but thankfully Calista gave him some of hers. She’s a friendly little girl. I asked him what he’d do if he saw someone spill their eggs in the hunts we would have in the coming weekend and he said he’d help them pick them up and give them back because he’d remember how he felt. I hope that’s true!
Saturday, after we gave the boys their Easter baskets and finally got ourselves packed up, we headed to Jacob’s cousin, Laura Lee’s, house where we had a nice meal and a hunt. Then headed to his parents house where the boys of course got another Easter basket.
We didn’t quite make the Sunrise Service the next morning, but we did make it in time for the breakfast served afterwards :) Next came my family reunion at Gram’s house where we had the usual feast and big egg hunt.
We did something a little bit special this year. Gram got to thinking about how our younger generations either haven’t or don’t often experience eating “Swamp Cabbage” which used to be a part of every Florida Cracker get together, so she decided a demonstration was in order. She had my dad cut down several cabbage palms in advance and my Aunt Martha cooked them, then she wanted to cut one down in her yard to show the kids what it actually was. Well, no one brought a chain saw and the only available axe was too small for the job, so while all the other men said no way, Jacob, true to his nature, said he’d do it.
Josiah loves to wear this explorer get up everywhere he goes. He’s an adventurer at heart.
Aunt Martha (Gram’s sister) wrote her memories and a recipe to go along with her cooked swamp cabbage. The “Mama and Daddy” referred to here are my Great Grandparents who I have fond memories of. They were pretty poor when they were raising Gram and Aunt Martha, but they knew how to survive and often speak fondly of their past. Here’s what she wrote:
Living in the woods wasn’t all bad. We had Mama, Daddy, each other, and usually a pet or two. There were fun times as well as work times. There were times we would have a picnic or all of us would go fishing and cook the fish and the rest of the meal there. Those would really be the best times.
Mama would take some pots, a cast iron skillet, some grits, coffee, salt, and corn meal. Of course we would take plates and our eating utensils. There were no paper plates or plastic stuff. There was also lard that Mama had rendered from the last hog butchering. Also, there was fresh milk if we had it, or evaporated milk.
Mama and Daddy had cane poles and Daddy had a rod and reel he would take with an artificial bait. It was a plug that looked like a frog and he caught a lot of big bass with that.
Daddy would make us a fishing pole out of a cabbage stalk and white string he had saved from the feed bags. Everything was saved for a future use. He would put a small hook on for us and a little stick for a float. Sometimes a safety pin was used for a hook. The bait was usually a green frog found in an air plant or some worms dug before we left home. At times we also used salt pork rinds and a fish maw.
After we had caught some fish and had about enough for the meal, Daddy would take the axe and go cut one or two swamp cabbage. The best ones were from a cabbage palm about half grown or about 8-10 feet tall. Mama would butcher them by peeling off the layers and cutting the bitter part off the end.
We would have a fire and some salt pork, a pretty good portion would be put in a pot to fry. When it was brown and a lot of the grease was cooked out of it, the swamp cabbage was put in and enough creek water to just cover the cabbage. Then it was allowed to cook slow. When it was about done and the water cooked down, some milk was put in.
While the cabbage was cooking, the grits were also put on in some creek water to cook for a long time and stirred frequently. They had to cook a long time cause they weren’t like the nice quick grits we have today.
When all of the this was about done, the iron skillet would be put on the fire with a good amount of lard in it to get really hot to cook the fish quickly. Some of the fish would be really small and if they were fried crisp we could eat the bones too. Children learned early on to eat fish with bones and not to swallow them. The fish were cleaned, salted, and rolled in corn meal to fry. If we had an egg and some onion, hush puppies would be made and fried in the fish grease. When all was cooked, a lot of the grease was poured out of the pan, some water added to the cornmeal sediment in the pan and we had sawmill gravy for the grits.
That was the best kind of feast. It would be made even better if another family or two could join us.
Swamp cabbage was a staple at all the dinners and fish fries and every Sunday there was a dinner on the ground and church. It would be cooked in a big wash pot and the fish would be fried in another big wash pot. At those times the women would bring in all manner of other dishes and desserts. A good time would be had by all.
Daddy was fond of telling about cutting a cabbage with a pocket knife one time when he was hungry. I don’t know how true this was, but he enjoyed telling it.
And here’s the recipe:
Swamp cabbage is the heart of the sabal palm. When the heart is used for food, the tree dies. It’s fruit is used for food for squirrels, raccoons, and birds. The meat of the heart that we eat is sweet and has a good flavor. It can be said that the swamp cabbage is a renewable resource because of the number of sprouts under the trees all the time.
Swamp cabbage – amount will vary according to the number of people.
Salt pork - a good amount to season the amount of cabbage you have.
Water to cover. Add more when necessary
Salt to taste
Fry the salt pork till brown and the fat is rendered. Add the cabbage, water, and salt and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer till tender. May need to add small amounts of water from time to time.
Just before serving, add a small amount of milk.
I love my family history. I hope I do it justice in teaching it to my kids.
Party’s over, time to clean up:
No comments:
Post a Comment