1 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,719 Speaker 1: Welcome to this country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 2 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:11,879 Speaker 1: from coon hunting to trot lighting and just in general 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: country living. I want you to stay a while as 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: I share my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:22,440 Speaker 1: is presented by Case Knives from the Store More Studio 6 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: podcast that airways have to offer. All right, friends, grab 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some stores 9 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: to share Country cooking, y'all, pull up a chair. It's 10 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: time to eat. Did you notice that I didn't ask 11 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: you if you were hungry? I walked out on the 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: porch one time to tell my dad that supper was ready. 13 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: I said, Dad, food's ready. Are you hungry? And he 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: responded with what's hungry? You got to do with it? Now? 15 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: I never made that mistake again. It would just holler, 16 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: come eat when it was time. Now. I bet I've 17 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: told that story a million times because I've had some 18 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: of you folks say it back to me, bears repeating, 19 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: because I like to hear that story too. And we're 20 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: going to talk all about victuals this week. But first 21 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:28,479 Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you a story. Now, this may 22 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: be a stretch for the theme of this week's struggle 23 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: since I'm talking about country cooking. But there is food 24 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: in this story kind of and it's one of my favorites, 25 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: not food but story that is. Also it's my show 26 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: and I pretty well make all the rules. So with 27 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: that said, here we go. My oldest brother, Tim was 28 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: on a school bus coming home from a high school 29 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: football game. The whole Rising wild Cat team was on there, 30 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: including the coaches. Now, they just put a beat down 31 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: on the Junction City Dragons. The year was nineteen seventy two. 32 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: Junction City is in Union County and sets on the 33 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: Arkansas and Louisiana state line, with Third Street running east 34 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: and west along the border separating both towns. That's right 35 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: plural because Junction City, Louisiana, well it starts where Junction City, 36 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: Arkansas stops. Anyway, Tim said it was thirteen to nothing 37 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: when the horn sounded at the end of the fourth quarter, 38 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: and we'd whooped them pretty good. Some disgruntled Junction City 39 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: in chunked a brick through the window of the bus 40 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: on their way out of town, but it didn't change 41 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: the score. Now, when I was a lawman down in 42 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,079 Speaker 1: Union County. Some thirty years after that fateful Friday night 43 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: under the lights, I found the folks of Function City 44 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: to be somewhat more hospitable, most of them anyway. But 45 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: that night the victorious Wildcats were making tracks north Horizon. 46 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: The seat of government for Cleveland County was w number 47 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: five in what would wind up being one of eight 48 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: in a nine game season. Tim said frivolity was rampant 49 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: on that bus for the first forty five minutes or so, 50 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: as he and his teammates celebrating beating the dragons and 51 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: surviving the brick, and then the monotonous drone of the 52 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: bus engine and darkness of rural Arkansas lulled the tired 53 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: players into quiet. They slept the dreamless sleep of victors 54 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: on their triumphant return from battle. Most of them, anyway. 55 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: Tim and his seat mate were awake, wide awake, and 56 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: whispering back and forth about anything and everything. And it 57 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: was during this quiet time when Tim felt something under 58 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: his foot. Bending over, he retrieved a discarded can of 59 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: Frieto's bean dip. The can had been opened and left 60 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: on the bus, defining whomever was responsible for cleaning the 61 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: bus For quite some time, Tim said, The occasional light 62 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: from passing cars shine through the bus window and lit 63 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: up that can well enough that he could see a 64 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: liquid had started to form as it decomposed in the 65 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: can that was almost full of what had initially been 66 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 1: intended for human consumption. What it had morphed into over 67 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: time resembled more what you might find in a baby's 68 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: diaper after feeding him a diet of bean dip. A 69 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: pair of fifteen year old boys saw an opportunity, an 70 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: opportunity to play a prank on their teammates by sharing 71 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:59,159 Speaker 1: their found treasure amongst the rest of the team. So, 72 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: with the ai of waxed paper drinking cups torn to 73 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: resemble those little wooden spoons you get with portions of 74 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: complimentary ice cream, Tim began launching the free Doo free 75 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,679 Speaker 1: Holy bombs over his shoulder towards the back of the bus, 76 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: and a squad of unsuspecting travelers, volley after volley of 77 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: weapons grade pinto bean contaminants, arched their way rearward towards 78 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: their hapless victims. Tim said, I don't know how long 79 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,159 Speaker 1: I'd been chunking them back there, but by the time 80 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: we got to Hampton, about forty five minutes from Junction City. 81 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,679 Speaker 1: I was all out of bean dep As the bus 82 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: passed through the little town, the street lights lit up 83 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: the interior bout the same time, the folks in the 84 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,160 Speaker 1: back of the bus began to wake up and see 85 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,840 Speaker 1: and feel what had befallen them. Coach Somebody's throwing crap. 86 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: Tim and his coke and spirator laughed quietly and giggled 87 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 1: as they looked around at the carnage they'd unleast seeing 88 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: that a large of their artillery fire had stuck to 89 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: the ceiling and was falling off onto the folks in 90 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: the back, who were beyond disgusted and furious at the 91 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: thought of what was now all over them. They got 92 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: the full effect an hour later when they pulled up 93 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: to the fieldhouse and Coach Hendricks turned on the bus lights. 94 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: Tim said, you just don't realize how much bean dip 95 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: is in one of those cans until you start slinging 96 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: it all over creation. Now, he said, his friends were 97 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,039 Speaker 1: wiping it off their clothes and trying to get it 98 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: out of the hair while not puke it all over 99 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: each other until they realized what it actually was and wasn't. 100 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: But like any wartime secret loose lips sink ships, and 101 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,480 Speaker 1: Tim's battle buddy told someone they'd done it, and in 102 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: short order Coach Hendrix had cracked the case and issued 103 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: out some bombs of his own. Upon on, Tim and 104 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: his blabbermouthed partner's posterior. Early the next morning, they were 105 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,359 Speaker 1: at the bushyard with cleaning supplies, skyring the interior of 106 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: that bus from one end to the other. To this day, 107 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: Tim says, really, you have no idea how much bean 108 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: dip is in one of those cans. You really don't. 109 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: And that's just how that happened. First of all, entitling 110 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: this episode as country cooking is. It's only semantics is 111 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: to get your attention that what we're talking about it. 112 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: It should really just be called cooking, because that's the 113 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: only kind of cooking I know. I doubt the folks 114 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: in China or Mexico call their food Chinese or Mexican. 115 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: And I realize there are different areas of the US 116 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: with the ethnic and regionally buys foods and recipes. I 117 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: happen to be a fan of both of those his cuisine, 118 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: But when it comes down to sitting at the table 119 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: with family and friends. The food on the table usually 120 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: represents where I'm from and could actually be a form 121 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: of identification. Last week, I had the fortune of being 122 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: a guest of Canam up in Connecticut with my colleagues 123 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: Matt Miller and Ryan Callahan. We were up there for 124 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: the unveiling of the twenty twenty six Canam Defender, which 125 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: is pretty sweet, by the way, but Connecticut is an 126 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: absolutely beautiful place with some really nice folks. And Ryan 127 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 1: and I were discussing the local trout streams we've seen 128 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: which guide us onto other types of fishing, and talking 129 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: about like what I do here in Arkansas, and I 130 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: told Ryan that I love fish. I could eat fish 131 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 1: every day and had eaten it three out of the 132 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: five days before joining him and Matthew up in the 133 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: Constitution State. Now, Ryan, he's a smart guy, a real 134 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: smart guy. But he asked me the dumbest question I've 135 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: been asking quite some time when he said, what all 136 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: ways do you cook them? Ways? What other ways are there? Right? 137 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: There's two ways to eat fish where I come from. 138 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 1: That's the traditional way of deep frying them with a 139 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: corn meal bread. Or if you're looking for something different, 140 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: you might try taking a bite out of one before 141 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: you take the hook out of his mouth and drop 142 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: it into the ice chest. That's always been the options 143 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: around the Ponderosa riding fried or fried man. Come on, now, 144 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: there are arguments for baked and seared fish, and even 145 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: for somewhat. A friend fixed from me on an offshore 146 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: fishing trip last October that I called raw and he 147 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: called savice, regardless of what you called it. I was 148 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: sure I was going to get worms after I had it, 149 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: but alas I did not. Also, it really tasted pretty good. 150 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: But there's a comfort to country cooking, I guess, a 151 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: quiet goodness of familiarity that speaks of country food not 152 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: as a collection of recipes, but as an enduring language 153 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: of love and memory. A pan of corn bread paired 154 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: with purple whole peas, butter beans or pento beans says 155 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: as much about where you're from where I live as 156 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: poutine and butter tart says about my hockey playing friends 157 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: way up in the Great White North. Growing up, if 158 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: we were headed to Mama's slice House for dinner after church, 159 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: you could guarantee the head count and the chicken coop 160 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: was going to be minus at least three. When roosting 161 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: time came that evening a big cast iron skilled of hers, 162 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: having done quite a number on a toasac full of 163 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: chicken parts, she'd run through a buttermilk and seasoned flour bath. 164 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: Good night, nurse, I can smell it cooking right now. 165 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: There'd be vegetables and potatoes and biscuits and gravy of 166 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 1: that terrible Hoover gravy. Hoover gravy was named after President 167 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression, when folks didn't have 168 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: milk to add to the flyer increase to make gravy, 169 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: so they substituted water. Let me tell you that is 170 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: not a good substitution as far as I know. President 171 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: Hoover had two things named after him, the Hoover Dam 172 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,319 Speaker 1: and Hoover gravy. One of them saw one hundred and 173 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,680 Speaker 1: thirty eight people died during this construction. The other makes 174 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,599 Speaker 1: me want to die after I try to eat it. 175 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: It's terrible, and milk during the Depression from my family 176 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,079 Speaker 1: was as close as the barn out back. I had 177 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: a couple more examples of parallels for the names Hoover 178 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,560 Speaker 1: Dam the Hoover gravy, But I'm trying to keep the 179 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: cussing on here at zero and saying hoover gravy without 180 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: including the term for a water control structure. It is 181 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: hard enough that gum was awful, But I think a 182 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,079 Speaker 1: big part of the cooking experience, especially when I think 183 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: about mama slies kitchen centers. Around any holiday, when the 184 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: whole family would gather to visit and eat, all the 185 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: grown ladies of the family would be busy as bees 186 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:14,959 Speaker 1: in the kitchen, a mama sly right in the middle, 187 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,319 Speaker 1: navigating a tight space with the coordination of a well 188 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: old machine. Regardless of what was cooking, the feelings and 189 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: the sounds were the same. Laughter, joy and reverence and 190 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: love poured out of that kitchen more than the food 191 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: they were preparing. Mamasly, I'm hungry, it'll be ready, directly, 192 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 1: get outside and on slammed screen out we'd go starving 193 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: and feeling nearly dead from a lack of groceries. The 194 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: meal you could count on as being almost as satisfied 195 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:52,199 Speaker 1: as the socializing, but that wouldn't be realized until later 196 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 1: in life, when one by one, time reduced the presence 197 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: of the older ones and new ones were added, either 198 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: by marriage or birth family gatherings were a being of 199 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: their own as they grew and changed with time, shifting 200 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: from what I first remember them being to what they 201 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: are today. The face has changed, the location has changed, 202 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: but the food mostly stays the same. We are creatures 203 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 1: of habit and while we can't control the progression of time, 204 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: we can control the menu. The staples of subtenance that 205 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: remind us that the pie were eating in twenty twenty 206 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: five could have been made from a recipe from many 207 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: generations before. The connections between now and then are subtle 208 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:44,560 Speaker 1: and endearingly timeless. It may be cooking that gets me 209 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,640 Speaker 1: to the table, but the people I share it with 210 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: is what keeps me in my chair. My mother asked 211 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:54,319 Speaker 1: me once what she should get a lectures for Christmas, 212 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 1: and I didn't have a clue, And then I suggested 213 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: that she write down her recipe for cherry pie that 214 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,800 Speaker 1: she's made me since I became a tax deduction. It 215 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: is my favorite pie. Not a cherry pie from the store, 216 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: not one from a restaurant, not one from a bakery, 217 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:16,959 Speaker 1: the one she's been making me all my life. When 218 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: birthday time came around, there may not have been a 219 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: lot to go around as far as presence went, but 220 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: the birthday person got depict their favorite meal to share 221 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: with the rest of the family, and the dessert. Mine 222 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: was a lead pipe cinch. Every year you could bet 223 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 1: on it and you'd win fried chicken, biscuits, gravy mash, taters, 224 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: english peas, and cherry pie. That was it. Every year 225 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 1: I lived at home. The year I turned sixteen, I 226 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: asked her to make me two cherry pies, and she did, 227 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: and they had had just enough time to cool off 228 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 1: when I walked in the kitchen from whatever I was 229 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: doing outside before suppering. I saw the pie sitting on 230 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: the table, and I asked her if I could have 231 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: one piece before supper, since I was the birthday boy, 232 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: and she said, well, I guess so one of them 233 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: is yours. You go ahead. She poured me a glass 234 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: of sweet milk, and I got a fork, and I 235 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: sat down at the table and the first bite I 236 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: took came right out of the middle. She leaned up 237 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: against the counter to watch, and I didn't stop until 238 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: I hit the whole thing. It was one piece of 239 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: pie that just happened to be as big as the 240 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: dish it was baked in. Happy birthday, Brent. Now that 241 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: recipe is framed and it sits in our kitchen, special 242 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: occasions and holidays will have alexis moving gracefully around the kitchen, 243 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: measuring flour and rolling out door free heating the oven. 244 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: It's as good as my mama's in it. It might 245 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: even be better. But I'm not sure if it's the 246 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: taste or the triggering response of nostalgia that makes it 247 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: so good. Coun'try cooking so much more than the culmination 248 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: of ingredients and heat. It's an excuse for us to 249 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: be together. Now. I can't speak for anything above the 250 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: Mason Dixon line, but I can only assume the similarities 251 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: would be more than coincidental. I learned full well that 252 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: outside of the differences in how we talk and the 253 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: foods we eat, sentiment is the same down here. You 254 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: never get invited to do anything that doesn't usually involve 255 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: or revolve around food. A fish fry, crawfish boil pot 256 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: looks up for all occasions and maybe even excuses to 257 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: gather with family and friends. And since we all got 258 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: to eat, why don't we just do it all? Visit, 259 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: cook and eat the recipe that my mama wrote down 260 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 1: for Alexis will one day belong to Bailey. I have 261 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: my dad's handwritten barbecue sauce recipe that he wrote down 262 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 1: for a family friend many years ago. She ran across 263 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: it and sent it to me, and I believe those 264 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: items are meant to be shared amongst the family, not 265 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: only to enjoy, but to have that link to the 266 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:09,880 Speaker 1: past that goes beyond memories and even pictures. I can 267 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,880 Speaker 1: imagine and remember what it sounded like to hear my Mama, 268 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 1: Slye and all the other ladies in the kitchen. But 269 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: when we're frying chicken in my home now, I have 270 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,239 Speaker 1: a tangible link to the past that, even though I 271 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: can't see it, it is as real to me as 272 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: it can get outside of physically being there back in time. 273 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,199 Speaker 1: There is a direct correlation between smells and memory, and 274 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,440 Speaker 1: there's a good reason for it too. Check this out. 275 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,159 Speaker 1: It's called the Prowsed effect or prows phenomenon, and it 276 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: occurs when you experience a vivid, emotional, autobiographical memory that's 277 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:50,160 Speaker 1: triggered by a sensory experience, particularly a smell or a taste. 278 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,399 Speaker 1: It can be both positive and unfortunately, it can be 279 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: negative too, But In our case, it's all intertwined with 280 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:02,640 Speaker 1: the feeling of home, and that's where the term comfort 281 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: food comes from. But it may be entirely different depending 282 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 1: on where you're from. On the ride back to the 283 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: airport from the Canam event in Connecticut, I was riding 284 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:15,000 Speaker 1: with a daughter and a dad from Missouri and a 285 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: lady from Australia. The event only lasted a day and 286 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: a half, so when we weren't learning all about the 287 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: new Canam, we were learning about each other, and the 288 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: hour and a half ride back to the airport was 289 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,400 Speaker 1: one of my favorite parts of the trip. I've always 290 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: been fascinated with Australia and I couldn't have been talking 291 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: to a better representative of the land down Under than 292 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: Miss Jessica Edwards or jel Rue Jess as she's known 293 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,879 Speaker 1: on Instagram, just as as country as corn bread, and 294 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:54,119 Speaker 1: was overwhelmingly intrigued to learn about our way life. She 295 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: wanted to know about the things we ate and how 296 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: we prepared them, and as we talked, I watched our 297 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: driver list in complete silence for an hour and a half. 298 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: He negotiated through the quiet little towns, forested mountains and 299 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,439 Speaker 1: pasted the well groomed yards of houses that didn't have 300 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:14,640 Speaker 1: front porches. As we talked, I thought to myself as 301 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 1: we passed home after home, where in the world their 302 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,199 Speaker 1: hounds sleep. Then I realized mine usually sleeps on the 303 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: floor of my room or on my side of the 304 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: bed while I'm on the road. But still the absence 305 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 1: of front porches on the homes puzzled me. Still does 306 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: I bet someone listening has an answer, so let me know. Anyway, 307 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: I mentioned eating bullfrogs, and that brought on a conversation 308 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: about the many ways to eat them, along with squirrels, deer, elk, coons, 309 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: and bears. She was in an absolute delight to talk to, 310 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:52,120 Speaker 1: and her accent was superb. She mentioned something about my accent. 311 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,240 Speaker 1: I smiled and nodded politely, but I'm still not sure 312 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:00,719 Speaker 1: what she was talking about. Accent, what accent? Anyway, about 313 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 1: five minutes before we piled out of that suv at 314 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: the airport, our driver spoke up and, in a very 315 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: Northeastern accent of his own, he thank He thanked us 316 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,440 Speaker 1: for the hour and a half lesson on hunting, fishing, 317 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: and the eating of animals he'd never thought would be 318 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: on a menu in any country, especially his own. But 319 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: it doesn't have to be critics from the country. I 320 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,879 Speaker 1: was in Pennsylvania with Alexis and Bailey last year and 321 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: my Case family in the beautiful town of Bradford. And 322 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: for the uninitiated, Bradford, Pa is where my champions of 323 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: goodness dip buckets of case pocket knives out of the 324 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: every flowd knife spring the Case brothers discovered back before 325 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: the turn of the twentieth century. There it's a variety 326 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 1: of foods with Italian and German influences and some of 327 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 1: their own making. Doesn't matter really what it is or 328 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: where it is, where it came from, now, that's important, 329 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 1: just like where we come from. And if you dig 330 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,400 Speaker 1: far enough in your past, you're gonna find a link 331 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: to the country and the food you eat. It may 332 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 1: not even be in this country. It might be Italy, 333 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,479 Speaker 1: Germany or even Australia. I hope that one day, one 334 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,919 Speaker 1: hundred years from now, descended of mine gets a cherry 335 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: pie for his birthday, made from the recipe that's framed 336 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: and sitting on the counter in our kitchen. I actually 337 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,119 Speaker 1: hope they get two and that person eats one of 338 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: them all by hisself. I hope you've enjoyed a little 339 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,399 Speaker 1: look at country cooking this week, and I appreciate so 340 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: much all of you. Give it a meat, Lake and 341 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: Clay some of your time here on the Bed Greas 342 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: Channel until next week. This is Brent Reeves, sign it off. 343 00:21:50,240 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: Y'all be careful.