Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Cooking


I have spent all day cooking with very little to show for it. I probably could have done everything I did in three hours instead of the eight it took me if I hadn't been so spaced out.
Anxiety-brain.
It's a real thing, y'all.
Anyway, that picture shows the pecan pie recipes I use every Thanksgiving, both of them recipes from Mrs. M, or Granny Matthews, to be more specific. I have spoken of her often on this blog so I will simply say that she was the first real cook I ever observed and at least 50% of my cooking skills come from watching her in the kitchen as she moved slowly from pot to pan, sprinkling this, adding that, usually wearing her nylon negligee set and with a cigarette ever-present, dangling from her lips.

Here are my pies.


Regular pecan and chocolate.

I did not go to Monticello but drove down to the intersection of Highway 27 and Chaires Crossroad where I had seen a guy set up selling collards earlier in the week. I figured that way I wouldn't have to put on a bra. Turned out to be a good decision.
Here, my friends, is what we might call "a mess of greens."


I also bought two sweet potatoes, both rather huge. I was only going to buy one to chop up into the bean and sausage soup I have been cooking all day in the crock pot but the greens man and another guy who was there laughed at me. 
"One?" they asked incredulously. 
"Okay. Two," I said. 
They laughed some more. 
For all of this I paid $3.50. 
It was the highlight of my day. 

Peace, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

17 comments:

  1. My girl arrives tonight, with friends. My niece arrives tomorrow, with friends. My cousin and her girls also come tomorrow. We have 23 people this year. Did I ever mention how small nyc apartments are? I'm hyperventilating a bit already.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wait, not 23 people sleeping over. Just 6 people in addition to us 4, that's 10 in all staying over. Still a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  3. your pies are beautiful and the recipes......I had to smile. The cranberry relish recipe I make each year (Moms) is made from Moms original hand written recipe..... probably 30 years old, paper crumbling and stained...... I love it! My first *holiday* without Mom...... yet using her crumbled and stained recipe brings me mostly smiles and fond memories....as I'm sure do your Granny Matthews recipes
    Susan M

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your pies look excellent. How do you tell which one is chocolate? They look alike to me. I don't care. I'd eat either one :) Enjoy the fruits of your labour!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Collard greens are so delicious. I had never even tasted them until about a year ago. Had no idea what I was missing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your pies look delicious! I'm supposed to make mashed potatoes but today the host told me she'd buy them at Costco so I took the lazy way out and said ok do that and I'll pay. I can't see you ever doing that. Now I have 6 lbs of potatoes in my possession...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would love some collard greens with fried cornbread to go along with them. My husband won't eat them and they're so much trouble for only 1 person that I rarely get any. :(

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've started putting a sweet potato into the beef stew that I make for the boys. Lots of red wine, too. It's delicious, and a nice change from the regular potato. I do love your food and recipe posts, Mary. Sometimes I even print them out!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I hear you Mary!! I am amazed at how much time I spend in the kitchen for what at times seems a minimal result. Gosh those pies look good. I love all these Thanksgiving recipes. Being an Australian we don't celebrate Thanksgiving but I find it fascinating. I guess it is fascinating when I don't have to do all the cooking etc. I would rather like to be eating all this good Thanksgiving food though.....

    ReplyDelete
  10. PS, I hate wearing a bra so I hear you about avoiding them. It's so bloody hot here wearing a bra is horrible.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We had collard greens when staying with friends in Florida. Delicious! And I am a sucker for pecans. I wish you'd send one of your pies over here!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Those greens just make me crazy. I love greens and we can't easily get 'em here.

    I wonder how much of Granny M's cigarette ash wound up in the food? :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Angella- I am so glad you went on to say that not everyone was staying with you. I almost passed out just imagining twenty three people lining the floors of your apartment. Ten is still an awful lot. Oh dear woman.

    Susan M- Yes! They do bring back sweet memories. Granny M was a good woman.

    Jenny_o- You can tell if you look at them side-by-side. I promise.

    A- I'll put collards up against kale any day of the week.

    Joanne- That's hysterical! Well, luckily potatoes last quite a while.

    Jennifer- Make some for yourself and eat them until you're done. Throw the rest out. You are worth it!

    Elizabeth- The collards guy and the other guy and I talked about using sweet potatoes instead of white in soups and stews. One of them said, "Yeah. They're doing that now."
    I encouraged them to try it.

    Leisha- Thanksgiving can be truly overkill. I mean- how much can one person eat?

    Jenny Woolf- Overnight pecan pie delivery?

    Steve Reed- You should try growing a few collards in your back yard next year! As to the ashes- who knows? They blended in well.

    ReplyDelete
  14. uh, excuse me, part of the pecan pie recipe is missing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear god. That is a LOT of greens!

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.