Summertime

Summertime has been really busy and really hot. We have had alot of projects going on with work and with family.

The sports world has been fun with the US playing world cup soccer and with Wimbledon tennis matches. John Isner, a Greensboro, NC native and Nicolas Mahut of France played in the most amazing marathon tennis match ever. The match was spread over three days and lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. It was a display of huge serves and amazing effort to stay in the match from both players. Isner ended up winning, but both players were winners in my book. They were cordial and classy all the way through and it was a pleasure to watch.

Local tennis was fun too with USTA league play, Club Team and Boiling Springs Team Tennis winding up with a fun benefit tournament for Madison's Cancer Foundation.

For me it is way to hot to play tennis just now. I keep hearing songs from 1965. The old Lovin Spoonful song - "Summer in the City". "Hot Town Summer in the City. Back of my neck getting dirt and gritty! ...Everybody walking around half dead..Hotter than a matchhead". Another song that keeps playing in my head is Billy Stewart's version of "Summertime". This is a jazzy, bouncey, staccato version of the Gershwin tune from "Porgy and Bess". Billy Stewart was one of my favorite soul singers and he always comes to mind in the Summer because I remember hearing so many of his hits when I was coming off a tennis court or near a swimming pool in the 1960s. "Sitting in the Park waiting for YOOOOUUUUU" was another favorite. And of course "I Do Love You" was a classic beach song. If you don't know or remember the Loving Spoonful or Billy Stewart you can look them up on YouTube. If you're like me, you'll get the urge to dance.

Another summertime pleasure from the 60s was chasing lightning bugs. In Lattimore, we would run around outside with mason jars and catch as many lightning bugs as we could. We would punch holes in the lids so they could breathe. I'm not so sure why we did this because we also used to pinch off their lights to make 'jewelry'. One light could make a ring and several lights would make a necklace. There seemed to be a ton of lightning bugs back then. I haven't noticed them as much during the last few summers, but this year they are very plentiful in my neighborhood. Fortunately for them, I haven't felt any urge to chase and pinch. I am happy to just rock on the front porch and watch them blink.

The Round-Up Store - Homemade Pimiento Cheese

In the late 40s Mom and Dad moved to Cliffside, NC so Dad could practice dentistry. They had planned to start a practice in Shelby and had a site picked out for an office when Dr. Robertson, Cliffside's only dentist called. Dr. Robertson was not well and needed Dad to come fill in for him while he recuperated. Cliffside was a southern mill town and had a very closely knit family atmosphere. People who lived there during that time have a strong nostalgia for Cliffside. They still have reunions even though the mill was closed years ago. Dad planned to stay there until Dr. Robertson returned, but ended up practicing dentistry there until he retired in the 80s.

There were alot of interesting characters in Cliffside; Mr. Haynes of the Haynes Bank, Harris who was Dad's Dental assistant, and there was Tubby Hawkins. Dad says Tubby was larger than life. Tubby was involved in everything that happened in Cliffside and was quite the entrepreneur. One day Tubby appeared at Dad's dental office in uptown Cliffside. To get to Dad's office you entered wooden doors with creaky, dark, dusty, and very long stairs leading up to the dental office area. Walter Dalton says that when he was an eight year old going to the dentist, this felt like walking up to the gallows.

Tubby walked into Dad's office and said, "Jack there's been a train wreck at the Harris Station down the road. Let's go look at it." Dad had patients to tend to but he agreed to go during lunch. When they arrived at the train wreck, they discovered the train cars contained Donald Duck orange juice and escarole. Tubby and Dad thought they could sell the salvaged orange juice, but they didn't know what escarole was. Anyway, after some discussions they bought the contents, salvaged all they could and got it ready to resell. The Donald Duck orange juice sold quickly, but as it turned out nobody knew what to do with escarole. They put it on a truck to drive up North thinking people up there might know what to do with it. Turns out escarole just wasn't very popular anywhere, but overall the salvaged train wreck turned a small profit. Dad says that for he and Tubby, "the salvage bug had bit".

From there, they bought other train wrecks, fire damaged goods and close-outs. After Dad worked all day in the dental office he would drive around looking at various merchandise that somebody wanted to dispose of. They bought shoes which Tubby and Georgia sold from their basement. Dad says this was before Pic N Pay or but they did run across the Levine's from time to time during this period.

Dad was called back to the Army for Korean War service and he turned everything over to Tubby. When he returned from Ft Bragg, he started looking for salvage deals again and this was the beginning of The Round Up Store.

The Old Round Up Store began with a purchase of a hardware store in Virginia. Mom, Dad, Tubby and Georgia traveled to see the stock. After a lot of discussion they ended up with this stock and moved it into Roy Price's building in Mooresboro. It was named the Round Up Store, I thought because they galloped all over and rounded up the bargains. A cowboy on a horse with a lasso became the logo. Bo Greene was hired as a manager, Mildred Jackson as a cashier and Helen Byars did the accounting work.

Turns out they were pretty good at looking at stock, finding quality merchandise and selling it at discount prices. Mom got involved reluctantly at first, but Dad encouraged her to spread her wings in the business world. At one time or another, they opened stores in Ellenboro, Troutman, Boone, Raleigh, Morganton, Shelby and had three locations in Boiling Springs, NC. My sisters and I worked throughout the years in one location or another and so did alot of our friends.

The Round Up was interesting because we never knew what tomorrow would bring. At one time or another we packed up roller skates, TVs, hardware, soft goods, Misty Harbor raincoats, Lanz, Bobbie Brooks, red pajamas, groceries, shoes and a whole gift store from Oxford, NC. We cleaned and packed and sold flood damage stock from a hurricane in Alabama and fire sales from alot of places. It was wild and exciting and fun. We worked together as a family, doing whatever needed to be done at the time. In the salvage business, you never know when you will be called to pack a train wreck or a close out. You just have to be ready when called.

Dad met alot of interesting people while he was in the salvage business and enjoyed the relationships. Somewhere along in there he also met a man named Johnny Walker who was a sales manager with a fairly new business called Lowes. At that time, Lowe's wanted to franchise so Dad opened a Lowes Franchise in Shelby, NC on East Dixon Boulevard. After several years, Lowes decided that they wanted to have only company stores and they bought the franchise rights back. So they rented Dad's building in Shelby and the Lowe's store operated there for many years.

Dad still had the dental office, still had the Round Up and other stores, they had moved to Lattimore and he and his brother Robert had started a dairy farm on the side. Then Dad decided to get into politics. He told Mom he wanted to run for the Legislature for two terms and ended up staying in the legislature for 22 years. Eventually it was time to close some of the businesses and to simplify the stock.

Today there is still The Round Up Store of Shelby, Inc and it operates out of the original Lowe's location in Shelby. Today the stock is limited to building materials. There is a shop where storage buildings are manufactured and there are a wide variety of cabinets and cabinet grade plywood.

This week, about 60 years after the first train wreck of orange juice and escarole, the Round Up Store of Shelby held a Chamber of Commerce event called Business After Hours.

The purpose of the event is to expose Chamber members who may have never been into the store to come see the products. Dad wanted to make it a memorable event and this meant calling in all of the family to help. Old neurons must have kicked in because everyone knew how to jump in to help.

Dad set the menu; Mama's Country Ham biscuits, shrimp cocktail, cream cheese and olive sandwiches, homemade pimiento cheese sandwiches, pineapple raisin sandwiches, deviled eggs, and David's beef tenderloin. For dessert, he wanted coconut cake, pound cake and Libby's Marshmallow brownies.

Philip, Chris, Jay, Abel, and several others worked for days to get the Round Up cleaned up and organized. Mom, Dad, Libby, David R and I worked to get the food and tables together. Cindy, Judy, Penny, David M, Tammy, Debbie, Will, and Jay were present to help with hosting and clean up. The Round Up looked great and the food was outstanding. It was a very memorable event.


Homemade Pimiento Cheese

Grate an 8 oz block of Cheese (Dad uses Colby Cheese but I use Sharp Cheddar. Dad and Mom like to taste the pimiento so they like colby because it is milder cheese)
Grate a little bit of Monterey Jack with Jalapeno if you want
Add diced pimiento. (Dad and mom have grown their own pimiento but they also like Goya when they can find it)
Add mayo to taste.
Add black pepper to taste. Less mayo than you think. Dad puts alot of pepper.

Mix everything together and spread onto white or wheat bread. Cut each sandwich into fourths. For parties, Mom and Dad arrange on a three tiered platter that they call 'the sandwich tree'.

OPG

One of the best things about having a small garden of your own is walking outside to pick something fresh for dinner. But one of the drawbacks is that sometimes there isn't alot to pick. That's when you can really appreciate OPG. Other people's gardens.

People who love fresh food and gardening flock together. After so much preparation and work that goes into gardens, when the bounty starts coming in, it can be really bountiful. All of a sudden.

So, I haven't planted some of our favorite things like silver queen corn, white potatoes, green beans or zucchini. But other people have.

Mom and Dad have white half runners (green beans) coming in fast and furious. They have canned several times now and Mom has declared she is done. She has over 100 quarts of perfect green beans in the pantry. But the beans keep coming, so Dad has called to offer fresh green beans and we are happy to accept that offer.

Then, this morning, I saw a grocery bag on the kitchen counter. It is full of fresh, beautiful white potatoes. Steve Royster grows the best white potatoes we have ever eaten. They are organic potatoes and honestly there is nothing like them. They are not at all starchy and the thin skins taste wonderful too. I ran into Steve recently and he said this year's is the best crop he has ever had. Oh joy.

The Royster's immigrated from Wales in the 1700s, settling first in Jamestown, Virginia and then Granville County, North Carolina. Horace and Mary Elizabeth Royster came to Cleveland County, North Carolina in 1872. They wanted to build a railroad in Western North Carolina, but when this project didn't work out they set up a boarding school. Later Horace became the first Superintendent of Education in Cleveland County. Horace and Elizabeth had five children and one of those was Stephen Sampson Royster. He was a pharmacist and a medical doctor and was known as Dr. S. S. My grandmother, Alma Harrill Hunt, wrote that she remembered Dr. S. S. making house calls in a horse and buggy.

Dr. S. S. and his wife, Olive, had two sons, David and Ralph. David had two children Anne and David Jr ("D"). Ralph had two children, Mimi and Steve. So Steve is David III's first cousin once removed or something like that. Mama Crowder could explain it.

Anyway, Steve grows the best organic potatoes that we have ever had. And they go great with my parent's fresh green beans. We are so lucky to have sweet family who want to share with us.

When you get to enjoy other people's gardens, it's a treat in more ways than one.

Garden Update - Cucumber and Onion Sandwiches

The gardens are just about to explode with fresh vegetables, herbs and flowers. Things we have planted and things that come back every year are really taking off. We had a wet winter and spring and that has made the hydrangeas this year the prettiest ever.

In the Lattimore garden, Mama has had beautiful cabbage heads and has made slaw and cooked cabbage with cornbread. The freshness and the tenderness of homegrown cabbage makes everything taste twice as good. Yesterday I made Nishie's Slaw. Nishie would be so proud.

Mama and Daddy have already canned 14 quarts of green beans with more to come. They use a pressure cooker to can beans. I never have learned to use a pressure cooker. I don't think I am afraid of that many things, but that jiggling and hissing and steaming scares me to death. So I can help pick, string, break, wash, blanche and put the beans in jars, but I don't do the pressure cooker part.

The corn 'is as high as an elephant's eye' and will be ready to pull in early July. Corn freezing day in Lattimore is a huge production that actually spreads out over a week or so. This is usually around July 12th, but Daddy says this year the corn may come in a little earlier. Whenever it is, we drop everything to 'do corn'. Daddy wants us to get the corn 'from field to freezor in under 3 hours' because that preserves the fresh sweetness of the corn. If it takes longer, the corn sugars start breaking down into a less flavorful sticky starchiness.

My little garden is also growing and we have eaten cucumbers, peppers, and sweet 100 cherry tomatoes. I love walking outside to pick something fresh to put on a sandwich or salad.

The difference between slicing a grocery store cucumber and one straight from the garden is amazing. They are more tender to slice and the smell and taste are juicy, crispy and sweet. We have had cucumbers in salads, but my favorite thing is a cucumber and onion sandwich.

Cucumber and onion sandwiches make me think of Memorial Day on the grounds at Lattimore Church on the first Sunday in May. It isn't the same as the National Memorial Day Holiday, but is held each year to remember people who are buried in the Church Cemetery. Lattimore Church is an old country Baptist church where we grew up going to Sunbeams and Vacation Bible School. I was baptized there and I remember Preacher Borders being an intelligent and quiet leader back then. I also remember one time sitting on the front row with my friend, Avis, and watching the candles flicker on the big oak table that said "This Do in Rememberance of Me". Avis and I caught each other's eye and we both saw the candle flame dancing around like it was alive. I have no idea why it was so funny, but we could not hold back the giggles. The harder we tried not to laugh the worse it got. Preacher Borders was trying to concentrate on his sermon and gave us a sweet but exasperated glance. That look is burned into my memory. I'm still afraid to watch a candle flicker in church.

Lattimore Church is small, but has a pretty sanctuary and large beautiful grounds with grass and huge trees outside. This is where they usually set up the Memorial Day Lunch on the grounds. Everybody brings their speciality and sometimes there is a little competition to make sure the dish you bring is appreciated. When the dish you bring 'gets gone quick' then that means it was a hit.

Aunt Pauline, who was really my great aunt, married Nanny's brother, Colon Harrill. They lived in the old Harrill homeplace where we also had the Harrill Reunions. She always made cucumber and onion sandwiches for Harrill Reunions and for Memorial Day at Lattimore Church. She cut white bread out into big circles with a biscuit cutter and then peeled and sliced cucumber and onions. She put just a little mayonaise on the bread and a little salt and pepper.

Sometimes we make these like a sandwich and sometimes we do them in smaller circles and serve open faced as an appetizer. It is simple, but so good.

Sister's Cheese Wafers

The Summer so far has been filled with visitors in and out of the house and with quick road trips here and there. If there is one thing that I can cook to make everybody happy it is Sister's Cheese Wafers. They are a hit anytime anywhere.

Sister's Cheese Wafers put people in a festive mood. They are crispy and spicy and they go great with coffee for breakfast, diet coke for an afternoon snack or with a 'libation' during cocktail hour. A cheese wafer on a road trip can make the trip itself feel like a party.

There are alot of recipes for cheese wafers, cheese straws, cheese pennies, but we think Sister's Cheese Wafers are the very best. Sister is David's mother. Her given name was Katherine Quinn but everybody calls her Sister. She got this Cheese Wafer recipe from her mother, Katherine Briggs Quinn. Katherine Briggs grew up in Raleigh, married Aaron Quinn and they had four children - Sister, Pete, Ennis and Charlie. Sister said her mother had given her a box of handwritten recipes when she married David's father and the Cheese Wafer recipe was in the box. I asked if it was okay to blog this recipe and she laughed and said, "oh heaven's yes! I have given that recipe out many times."

It may not matter if you have the recipe or not because making cheese wafers is another one of those things that takes some practice. Also it helps to have the right pan. I mentioned to Lynn's husband, Tommy, that sometimes food is only good if it is cooked in the right pan. Tommy said he sure would like to have the pan Sister makes cheese wafers in.

I make cheese wafer rolls on one day and then refrigerate until I am ready to bake them. You have to bake the cheese wafers just before you plan to serve them for two reasons - 1) they get stale within a couple of days; and 2) they get eaten up within a couple of days.

I store them in cookie tins and those tins have become familiar to alot of folks. One red cookie tin says David's Cookies and we bought it years ago on a trip to NYC with Susan and Thomas. I have kept it all these years and always put cheese wafers in there for David on his birthday, Father's Day and many other times. Family and friends know when they see the red tin that cheese wafers are in there and that means the cheese wafers can disappear really fast. When I have a big crowd around for a weekend, I hide extra tins of cheese wafers so I can ration them or they won't last past the first day.

Sister's Cheese Wafers

8 ounces Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
1 stick melted butter
1 cup flour (I use self rising and do not add salt which is not the original recipe)
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
Cayenne Pepper to taste

Pour butter over grated cheese and mix. Add flour, pecans and pepper. Divide into two long rolls and wrap in saran wrap. Keep in the fridge until ready to bake.

When ready to bake, slice and bake on a cookie sheet at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes. Then, put them on paper towels to cool and to absorb some of the grease. We like cheese wafers really crispy. As David says, "There is a fine line between cooked and burned."

Playing House

My parents, Ruby Frances Crowder and John Jackson Hunt, were born within 100 yards of each other in Lattimore, NC. Daddy was born in 1922 and Mama in 1926. Walter Dalton says they are so much a part of each other that their names are intertwined - JackandRuby sort of like Jack-o-lantern.

Daddy remembers how pretty Mama looked when he saw her as a little girl hoeing cotton in Lattimore. Mama is beautiful inside and out and is possibly the only person who can hoe cotton and still look beautiful. Mama remembers how cute Daddy was as a 12 year old, wearing his short khaki pants and driving an old red pickup truck around Lattimore. In those days, no drivers license was required.

Daddy also remembers that Mama loved to play house. He remembers seeing her when she was a little girl playing house on the side of the road in Lattimore using old bottle caps for cups and saucers. He says she has been playing house ever since.

They have set up house in Cliffside, NC where Daddy practiced dentistry; in Ft Bragg, NC where they served during both WWII and the Korean War; in Shelby and in Lattimore where they raised five children and 11 grandchildren; and in Raleigh where they served for 22 years in the NC Legislature.

When Mama sets up a house, she works at it. She thinks about colors, fabrics, furniture and accessories. And she thinks about comfort. Mama's house is pretty, but it is also warm and inviting. And it is always about serving whatever friends and family are there.

In the Lattimore den, hanging over the fireplace, there is a print of a woman and several little children on a picnic. The woman is nudging one of the little girls to offer a plate of food to a little boy. Mama said she loved this print when she first saw it and she bought it because "I wanted to teach my little girls to serve".

I love the print too, but Mama is the best model for learning to serve.

Lake Lure North Carolina - The Hunt's Potato Salad

There is no where in the world more special to our families than Lake Lure.

Lake Lure was built in the late 1920s in Rutherford County, North Carolina to generate power and for recreation. Small cottages were built around the lake and the majority of the recreation was fishing. The Lake has had many ups and downs since then. Today some of the fishing cottages are disappearing and being replaced with huge houses. The recreation still includes fishing, but also canoeing, kayaking, skiiing and pontoon rides. Jet Skis are not allowed on Lake Lure and I see that as a plus. Several movies have scenes on and around the Lake including The Last of the Mohicans, Firestarter and Dirty Dancing. The Town of Lake Lure has pontoon tour boats that take folks around the Lake to hear the history and enjoy the beautiful scenery. For years, visitors to the Lake told me that the old, rounded mountains and the homes and boathouses that surround the Lake looked alot like Switzerland. Last year, after a pontoon trip around Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, I could see the similarity.

Both sides of our families have long histories at The Lake. Any trip to The Lake starts out with excitement and anticipation of who will be there and what are we going to eat?

My grandfather, R. L. Hunt, loved Lake Lure and had a fishing cottage there. Carl Martin, my father's best friend since elementary school, tells a story about visiting the Lake with my father and grandfather. Most of Carl's stories are theatrical and hysterical. He loves to tell them and we love to hear whatever version he's telling. The jist of this story was that Carl and Daddy were grown men and were 'up at the Lake' to go fishing with PawPaw. PawPaw and Daddy did not drink 'libations' in front of each other. So Daddy might say, "Carl let's go down to the dock and have a libation". Later, PawPaw might do the same. If you have seen Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire you get the picture. Carl can make this story short or long, but it is always funny to watch him tell it.

In the 1950s, my parents bought several cottages and a restaurant called The Log Shop. They rented the cottages most of the year, but also took friends up to the Lake for house parties. Sometimes they would take their guests to the Log Shop for breakfast of country ham, grits, eggs, biscuits or for a steak dinner. But mostly Mama would cook. She did this with five small children. Betty Harris reminds me every time I see her, that she rode with Mama to The Lake once. At that time, there was one way to The Lake - about a one hour ride on a curving winding 2 lane mountain road. My sisters were ages 7, 5, 4, and 2. I was a baby and Betty says she held me in her arms while I cried the whole way to the Lake! No wonder she only did that once.

Mama is the most organized hostess you will ever see. She knows how to entertain and make it look effortless. She planned her menus so that she could actually accomplish a trip that men, women and children could enjoy. I am guessing she was beautiful and smiling while she pulled off this magic.

Her menu was picnic style - shrimp, ham, fried chicken, potato salad, green beans, deviled eggs, pimiento cheese sandwiches and chocolate cake. She would prepare everything ahead of time and when she arrived at the Lake she would just put it out buffet style and "let people eat when they wanted to".

I learned to water ski at Lake Lure when I was nine years old. We were visiting at the Hamrick's cottage and Daddy's friend, Carl, had pulled skiers all day long. Carl was ready to put the boat in the boathouse, but I begged him to let me try. I remember he looked at me and said, "I'll let you try one time, but if you don't get up, we are coming in." I knew he meant that and somehow I managed to get up the first try.

Later on in the 60s, I learned to slalom when we were skiing at Bald Mountain resort (now Rumbling Bald). I never enjoyed the slalom as much as two skiis. I think it's because when I was learning to slalom, I fell into a patch of lily pads and started imagining all the creepy things that might be living under there. It seemed like hours before the boat circled around to get me out of the lily pads. Bald Mountain resort is also the first place I ever tasted an ice cream sundae. It was in a tall parfait glass and had vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry on top. I guess I remember it because it settled my nerves after the scary lily pad incident.

In the late 1950s, David's father "D" bought a lot on The Island. There is a small island in the middle of Lake Lure called Yacht Island. I'm told it was originally called Snake Island and the story goes that they released pigs on the island to get rid of the snakes. I seldom see snakes there anymore, so if it's true, it must have worked.

There was no bridge to the island, so "D" built one. That's just how "D" was. They have since replaced the original bridge, but there is a picture of the old bridge at the house. They built a house on the island and it has one of the most spectacular views on the lake. Every trip to "D"s house also included lots of menu planning and gigantic meals. Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, BLTs, Steaks and Ribs were on the menu and huge quantities of everything. There is a big boathouse with a high deck and railing that everyone loves to jump off. Various boats over the years have pulled alot of people skiing and tubing all over the lake. Several years ago another deck was built at the house where we eat crab legs and ribs and watch the amazing sunsets. Dancing parties have been known to break out there.

On the way to the island, is a cove that years ago was called "Shelby Cove" because so many people from our area owned houses there. There are still alot of "Shelby people" in the cove including a cottage that my sister, Cindy and her husband, David own. With alot of musicians in the circle of family and friends, the Martin's deck is home to alot of music and singing.

So, there are years and years of memories filled with food, fun, family and friends at Lake Lure.

The Hunt's Potato Salad for 50 People
Note: I have three written recipes for Potato Salad and all are varied amounts so adjust it to how you like it.

Scrub 17 white potatoes, cook in several pots in uniform sizes so they cook right (they aren't good if the insides aren't done)
Cook potatoes 20 minutes unsalted. Peel and cube uniformly.

About 2 cups of celery
Pull silks off and cut fairly small and uniformly

3 large onions (or 3 cups - which mama thinks is too much but daddy doesn't)
chop onions uniformly
1 cup or more of sweet salad cube pickles
17 eggs - Cook 10 minutes, then let them sit in hot water 10 minutes, then chill
Use 5 whites and all of the yolks, finely mashed

2 cups mayo or so (*there is a Dukes vs Hellmans controversy. Decide for yourself.)
3 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper

Cook potatoes, eggs. Cube potatoes. Finely mash eggs. Chop everything else. Add together and mix it without making it all too mushy. Add a little extra pepper and puerto rico (paprika) and garnish with fresh parsley.