1012 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
An  Alabama  Chicken  Dinner 
Cooked  by  an  Old  Timer 
We  are  preparing  a  series  of  articles 
which  will  describe  typical  meals  served 
in  various  sections  or  corners  of  the 
world.  We  hope  to  have  Alaska.  Pata¬ 
gonia.  Mexico.  South  Africa.  Siberia  and 
sections  which  lie  between  represented — 
and  all  by  It.  N.  Y.  readers  at  home  as 
they  write.  The  first  one  follows,  and 
describes  an  old-time  Creole  dinner  as 
prepared  by  a  famous  ante-bellum  cook. 
Mr.  M.  B.  Parker  interviewed  such  an 
old  “mammy.”  and  has  caught  her  lan¬ 
guage  and  manner  well.  “If  you  could 
only  eat.  such  a  dinner !" 
Planning  The  Meal. — “Say.  Mam¬ 
my  Ginnie  ( Virginia! ,  you  reckon  you 
could  fix  up  a  feed  for  a  few  friends  of 
mine  from  the  North?” 
“Fo’  de  righteous,  boss !  I  dunno 
what  dem  Yankee  folkses  eats,  lessen  it's 
cawdfeesh,  an’  tea.  an’  p unkin  pie.  an’ 
bake  beaus,  an’  all  that  Sorter  truck. 
No,  sah.  boss.  I  oyant.  an’  I  ain’t  er 
gwine  ter  squatoherlate  m.v  reppertasheu 
for  cookin’  wid  no  sech  trash !  I’s 
s’ prised  at  yor  ax  in  me  ter.  Yer  kin  git 
dat  Dutch  gal  f’om  Mis’  Ross,  cause  dats 
’bout  her  erbilities.  I  cyant  desgrase 
myself  offerin’  white  folkses  secli  eatin’. 
Yer  know  I  ain’t  never  ast  yer  ter  eat 
dat  eben  when  dare  wasn’t  no  comp’nv.’* 
“Now,  looker  here,  mammy,  I  just 
want  you  to  fix  up  a  good  dinner  like 
your  ole  master  would  like.  You  know 
he  said  you  were  some  cook,  and  I  want 
those  folks  to  see  what  real  Southern 
cooking  is,  and  how  far  my  old  black 
mammy  can  heat  the  cooking  school  lady. 
You  reckon  you  can  do  it?” 
“Does  I  reckon  I  kin  do  et?  T.aw. 
honey,  ef  dat  lazy  triflin’  haf-grown  gal 
o’  my  T -iz,  didn’t  know  no  moali  ’bout 
cookin’  dan  deni  cookin’  school  white 
folkses.  I’d  bus  her  side  de  haid  wif  er 
skellet,  dat’s  whntter  I’d  do.  I’s  gwine 
ter  gib  dem  Yankee  fren’s  er  yourn  er 
dinner  lak  dey  ain’t  nober  et  in  de  Norf.” 
“What  you  going  to  fill  ’m  up  on, 
Mammy?” 
Crati  Gumbo, — “Wal.  lemmo  fisterente 
er  ininnit.  Wal,  I  reckons  crawbs 
(crabs),  dey  os  good’ll  fat  now  au’  ful¬ 
ler  aigs,  an’  de  moons  on  de  crease,  day’s 
all  right.  I’ll  gib  ’em  crawb  gawmlio 
fe-lay  (fill?),  but  I’s  gwine  ter  buy  dem 
orawbs.  I  wants  de  crawbs  wif  der  aigs, 
so  I’s  gotter  pick  ’m  owt  myself.” 
“Well  mammy  what  are  you  going  to 
do  with  the  lady  crabs  after  you  get 
them?  How  you  fix  them?” 
“Yer  gits  er  kittle  er  scaldin’  warter 
an*  draps  dem  in  tel  dey  es  daid.  dat’s  er- 
bmit  free  minits.  den  yer  takes  ’in  owt, 
den  yer  busses  orf  de  hard  sliel  and 
de  pndduls  an  de  daid  man’s  feengurs 
and  frows  all  dat  erway :  den  yer  takes 
de  big  claws,  an*  de  fat  an’  aigs.  an’ 
yer  breaks  de  bawdy  in  er  haf.  an  yer 
is  frow  wid  do  crawbs  till  bymJiy.  I 
forgot  ted  tel  yer  yer  needs  er  haf  doz¬ 
en  crawbs  for  gawnibo  fe-lay.  Aer  gits 
er  big  unyun  (onion)  an’  two  pards  or 
gorlick  an  some  pa’sley  au  chops  et  all 
up  fine,  an’  fry  ’em  tel  dey  am  er  nice 
light  brown.  Now  yer  takes  er  kitchen 
spewn  er  brown  flour  an*  yer  pa’sley  an’ 
unyun  an’  garb  ok,  an’  er  haf  a  can  or 
termater  pfts’e,  an’  all  yer  crawbs,  an’ 
dewnjp  ’m  in  er  soop  pawt  au’  po’  on 
erbowt  free  quarts  er  warter  an’  den 
drap  in  er  ham  bone,  an’  sot  him  ter 
bilin  tel  da  ain’t  but  ’bout  two  quarts 
er  warter  leff.  an’,  yer  gawmbo’s  done 
Veptin’  ter  tase  et  art’  ad  sawlt  an’ 
pepper  tel  et’s  jest  right,  an’  yer  is  awl 
done,  ceptin’  puttin’  in  de  fe-lay.  an’  yer 
waits  tel  it’s  time  ter  tak  et  up  for 
yer  draps  dat  on,  an’  stirs  him  up;  den 
dares  yer  crawl}  gawnibo  fe-lay.  an’  yer 
don*  wan  nothin’  ter  eat  wid  it  ceptin’ 
rice.” 
“Do  you  know  bow  to  get  rice  good 
and  dry.  right  for  gumbo?  If  you  do, 
how  do  you  do?” 
Boiling  Rice. — “Now  looker  hyar, 
white  folks,  lissen  ter  dat  white  man, 
an’  him  done  tole  me  hisself  I’se  oue  er 
de  Autre  Bellemy  ole  time  cooks,  an’  him 
er  asken  cf  I  kin  cook  rice !  Co’s  I 
kin ;  yer  pewts  er  cewp  er  rice  in  cole 
warter  an  sot  et  on  de  stowve  ter  bile, 
an’  evvy  now  an  den  yer  sturs  it  wif  er 
fnwk  til  it  am  ’bout  haf  cooked,  den  yer 
tak  et  offer  de  stowve  an’  frow  de  rice 
owt  on  er  bar  (hair)  sieve  an’  wash  un¬ 
der  de  hydrunt  wif  cold  warter,  tel  et  is 
wrinehed  (rinsed)  good,  when  yer  pewts 
ot  back  en  de  pawt  wifowt  any  warter 
an’  sot  et  on  de  stowve  tel  et’s  done  puf- 
feckly  cooked  frew :  yer  puts  de  sawlt  in 
after  yer  warshes  de  rice  when  yer  puts 
et  hack  on  de  stowve,  an’  when  yer  gits 
done  dis  here  rice  won’  be  no  mush,  but 
ebbeiy  grain  will  stau’  up  by  liisself  puf- 
fickly  dry,  an’  when  yer  pewts  er  tab- 
blespoon  er  tew  ter  de  plate  er  gawnibo; 
say  boss,  I’s  bawngry  allerredy !  Won’ 
dem  Yavvnkees  smack  da  jaws  when  da 
tasses  et !” 
•“That’s  good  all  right,  but  what  else 
will  you  fix  up?" 
Broiled  Mackerel. — “Fee.sk;  I  briles 
er  Spanish  niaekrul.  but  I  doau’  do  dat 
on  no  stowve.  I  feox  dat  on  the  chaw- 
cole  funnace.  Yer  git  er  fine  clean  fiah. 
lak  yer  do  fer  i'on’  close,  an’  sots  on  de 
bvilin’  i’ou  an’  while  it  am  gittin’  hot 
yer  draws  de  feesh  an’  wash  it  an’  dry 
it ;  don  yer  pewts  er  good  size  hunk  er 
butter  on  de  brilin’  i’ou  an’  sots  yer 
feesh  on  et  an  git  it  nice  an’  brown  on 
one  side,  den  turn  et  Ober  an  brown  de 
udder  side,  an’  when  bofe  sides  am  done 
sot  de  feesh  on  er  platter,  an’  yer  ineexos 
er  haf  cewp  er  melted  buttah  an’  pepper 
an’  sawlt  an’  er  leetle  lemmun  jewse  an' 
yer  pore  et  ober  de  feesh,  den  yer  sots 
lettis  leabes  er  pa’sley  er  de  white  leabes 
er  de  sellery  roun’  de  deesh,  lak  da  do  in 
de  resterant. 
Boiled  Okra. — “Now  I’s  gwine  ter  gib 
ileiri  some  biled  ok  raw  nex.  I  gits  er 
nice  clean  saspau,  er  old  rusty  one  woan’ 
do,  cause  et  gits  de  okraw  smowky  look¬ 
in’,  an’  sot  ct  on  de  stowve  wif  some 
warter  an’  er  leetle  sawlt  ter  bile;  now 
yer  taks  some  young  tendah  okraw 
pawds  an’  cuts  off  de  on’  wif  de  stem,  an 
when  de  warter  biles  yer  draps  in  de 
okraw  an’  biles  tel  et  tendah,  den  take 
ot  orf  an’  sot  in  er  deesh  an’  powt  plenuy 
er  buttah  an’  pepper  an’  sawlt,  an  it  am 
sho’  good.” 
Fried  Chicken. — “Ah’  fried  eheekou.  I 
ginnum  dat  tew,  but  I’z  gotter  hah  er 
nice  fat  eheekou,  an’  yer  needs  ’bout  four 
er  ’em,  an  I’ll  hab  ter  kill  ’em  au  clean 
’em  de  day  befo’  yer  cooks  ’em.  Yer 
sots  er  pot  on  de  stowve  'bout  haf  full 
or  grease  ter  git  havvt,  an’  den  yet  gits 
some  flour  an’  sif  et  an’  sezen  ct  wif 
peppah  an'  sawlt;  yer  wipes  yer  cheekens 
wif  a  damp  elof,  not  er  wet  un,  cos  ef 
et  ain’  dry  ernuf  de  flour  will  git  et 
gummy,  an’  nex  yer  cuts  yer  cheeken  de 
size  pieces  yer  wants,  an’  yer  dredges  de 
pieces  wif  de  flouab  yer  done  got  ready, 
an’  yor  den  shakes  off  awl  yer  kin,  dat’s 
do  reason  yer  inus’u’t  had  et  too  wet,  an’ 
now  soon  es  yer  pot  er  grease  is  er-bilin’ 
drap  in  yor  cheeken  an’  cook  et  tel  ets 
done  all  frew,  but  not  too  dry.  an’  be 
sho’  et's  a  nice  brown,  but  honey,  doau 
yer  let  et  git  too  brown,  yer  jes  gits  et 
’bout  my  culler.” 
Vegetable  Salad. — “Yer  needs  some 
kinder  sallud,  an’  I  er  reckon  I  mought 
make  er  veggerterble  sallud  outer  beets 
an’  snap  beans  an’  cole  biled  Irish  tu¬ 
tors,  an’  jest  or  leetle  unyon,  meonces  up 
fine,  an’  hawd-biled  aigs  an’  er  lettle  sel¬ 
lery  meenced  up  line,  an’  yer  gits  er 
glass  bole,  an’  yer  kermenses  at  de  bot¬ 
tom  an’  puts  er  layer  er  beets,  an’  one 
er  taters  an*  one  er  beans  an’  one  er  aigs. 
an’  so  on  tel  yor  done  got  ermiff,  an’ 
don  yer  meks  er  ineyeruaze  dressiu'.  but 
yer  uses  de  veenoger  offer  de  beets  ter 
nick  et  wid.  an*  yer  pewts  in  ernuf  sawlt 
an’  peppah  ter  sezen  all  de  veggerterbles 
an’  aigs,  an’  den  yer  shoves  et  awl  en 
de  friggerater  ter  git  good  an'  cole,  tel 
yer  es  reddy  ter  feed  de  gestes  at  de 
tabbel,  an’  it  am  shore  some  feed.” 
Ice  Cream. — “Now  I’s  got  ter  cool  de 
fokses  orf  an’  ’ll  gim  ice  creom,  not  non 
or  dat  slawps  dat  yer  buys  in  de  stoh’s, 
no  sah.  et  es  de  gennerwine  t’ing.  I  puts 
er  quart  er  de  bos’  milk,  no  sah.  not 
creem,  jest  milk,  in  er  dubble  biler  an 
sots  et  on  er  stowve  ter  cook,  an’  den 
yer  takes  eight  aigs,  none  er  dem  stoali 
bawt  aigs,  not  none  er  dem  mastereated 
aigs.  yer  got  ter  hab  dem  freesh,  an 
eight  tabblespoons  er  gratclierlated 
(granulated!  sugali.  au’  yer  whops  dem 
tel  dey  am  life  an  frawth.v  an’  ’bout  flat 
time  de  milk  am  mighty  ni’  de  bilin’ 
place,  an’  yer  stirs  en  de  whopped  aigs 
an’  sugali  perty  fas’,  tel  dey  am  all  en, 
den  yer  stirs  et  slow,  but  mine  yer,  yer 
got  ter  always  stinry  et  roun’  de  same 
way,  or  yer  gwine  ter  spile  et,  an’  yer 
keep  stirrven  tel  et  gits  quite  tlieek,  an’ 
den  yer  tek  et  orf  de  stowve,  an’  stirry 
fer  er  few  minits  kinder  gentle  lak,  au’ 
den  sot  et  on  de  tabble  in  de  air  ter 
kewl.  When  yer  es  reddy  ter  freeze  de 
creem  yer  adds  er  tabblespoon  an  er  haf 
er  strac  er  verniller,  au  yer  freeze,  an 
July  22,  1910. 
yer  freeze  hard  an’  ef  yer  wants  et  extrar 
fine,  yer  Jets  et  stan’  in  de  freezer  for  fo’ 
er  five  owers  ter  git  seazened  an  ripe.” 
Tiie  Cof.ee. — “An.  de  colly,  take  ’bout 
haf  an'  haf  Mowker  an’  Jabber  pa’cherl 
real  nice  an’  grille  inedum  co’se,  an’  take 
er  tabbel  spewn  er  de  growned  eoffy  for 
ebry  cup  an’  put  in  de  dripper  er  de  coffy 
pawt,  an’  yer  pours  one  cup  er  cole  warter 
in  de  dripper  fust,  an  den  yer  pours  in  de 
bilin'  warter:  ef  yer  aims  ter  make  fo’ 
cups  er  coffy.  yer  uses  five  Spewns  er 
coffy.  de  extrer  spewn  hein  fer  de  pawt. 
an'  de  cup  er  cole  warter  es  fer  de  pawt 
too,  so  yer  uses  fo’  Clips  er  bilin’  warter, 
an’  yer  keeps  on  er  drippin’  de  coffy  ober 
and  ober  tel  de  coffy  stains  de  cup,  den 
yer  am  got  de  eoffy,  an’  all  yer  needs  now 
am  er  leetle  sweet  creem  an’  sugali  ter 
serbe  wid  et.  M.  A.  parker. 
Canning  String  Beans 
On  page  594  Mrs.  D.  C.  B.  gave  some 
interesting  instructions  for  canning.  We 
are  “back-to-the-landers”  and  last  year  I 
had  very  bad  luck  with  ray  canning.  Can 
the  yellow  and  green  string  beans  be 
canned  the  same  way?  Should  water 
boil  when  the  beans  are  put  in  to  cook, 
also  at  what  stage  should  beans  be  gath¬ 
ered  for  canning?  I  would  also  like  re¬ 
cipes  for  canning  pens,  tomatoes  and 
beets.  We  have  such  quantities  of  fine 
vegetables,  and  all  Winter  long  I  have 
bemoaned  my  loss  on  canned  goods.  Can 
I  also  obtain  recipes  for  making  rhubarb 
wine  (the  kind  that  will  keep  at  least 
a  year)  V  MRS.  L.  M.  b. 
Iu  canning  beans  I  use  both  green  and 
yellow  beans;  gather  when  fit  for  table 
use.  I  usually  can  one  or  more  cans 
when  cooking  for  dinner.  Put  beans  over 
in  cold  water  and  proceed,  but  have  the 
second  water  boiling  for  filling  cans.  My 
tomatoes  I  can  the  same  as  cooked  for 
table  use,  seasoning  just  the  same,  usu¬ 
ally  canning  some  at  the  same  time  when 
cooking  for  dinner.  Be  sure  cans  are 
well  sterilized  and  new  rubbers  for  to¬ 
matoes  anyway.  My  cellar  will  not  keep 
peas  well,  so  I  dry  them.  Take  peas 
that  are  full  grown  but  not  hard,  shell, 
put  in  dripping  pan  in  very  slow  oven 
on  back  of  stove.  Dry  slowly,  stirring 
often.  Continue  until  bard  and  dry  as 
a  bone.  Do  not  have  too  many  in  pan. 
Pack  in  glass  or  stone  jars.  Let  soak 
over  night  in  cold  water  before  using. 
Beets  f^buly  can  as  pickles. 
Let  me  give  you  a  hint  iu  making  rhu¬ 
barb  wine.  Clean  your  clothes  wringer 
and  press  (the  stalks  through  that.  Pass 
them  through  about  tlwee  times  tighten¬ 
ing  the  wringer  each  time.  This  is  a 
splendid  dandelion  wine  that  I  can  rec¬ 
ommend  and  is  excellent  for  liver  and 
blood.  Four  quarts  of  blossoms,  pour 
over  one  gallon  boiling  water,  let  stand 
until  cool,  add  the  peel  of  three  oranges 
and  one  lemon;  boil  lo  minutes,  strain 
and  add  the  juice  of  same  free  from  seed. 
Add  r.V,  pounds  of  granulated  sugar  and 
a  yeast  cake.  Keep  in  a  warm  place  for 
a  week ;  strain  and  let  stand  three  weeks 
before  bottling.  We  have  some  that  is 
over  six  years  old.  MRS.  D.  c.  b. 
Short  Cuts  and  Cake 
To  Drain  Silver. — Perforate  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  a  one-pound  baking-powder  can 
with  many  holes.  When  washing  knives, 
forks  and  spoons,  have  one  or  more  of 
such  cans  in  the  rinsing-pan.  and  place 
each  article  upright  in  it.  as  it  is  washed. 
Pour  boiling  water  over  all.  remove  to 
another  pan  or  dish  for  a  moment,  then 
place  ou  the  stove  shelf  to  finish  drying. 
No  willing  is  required. 
To  Repair  Wall  Paper. — To  cover  a 
soiled  or  torn  spot  on  wall  paper  which 
has  become  at  all  faded,  take  a  piece  of 
new  paper  of  the  same  pattern  and  ex¬ 
pose  it  to  sunlight  until  it  is  faded  to  the 
same  degree  as  that  on  the  walls.  The 
patch  will  then  he  practically  invisible. 
A  Great  Convenience. — Separate  the 
loaves  of  a  newspaper,  and  cut  in  halves, 
pierce  the  pad  of  leaves  near  one  end 
and  hang  them  over  a  nail  as  near  as 
possible  to  the  kitchen  table  or  cabinet. 
Fso  them  to  slip  under  kettles  or  any¬ 
thing  which  would  soil  the  table.  They 
will  be  handy  also  for  other  uses  too  nu¬ 
merous  to  mention.  Try  it. 
A  Favorite  Molasses  Cake. — One 
egg,  1  cup  molasses.  cup  buttermilk, 
scant  *4  cup  shortening,  1  teaspoonful 
soda.  214  cups  flour  (level),  a  little  salt, 
and  ginger,  or  other  spice  if  preferred. 
I  use  y»  teaspoon  ginger-  G.  A.  T. 
Watermelon  Time  in  Georgia 
