Hello, and please come in! I have just made a pot of coffee, have everything ready for those who love their tea, and finished up a batch of those wonderful, no-bake chocolate cookies. This recipe is the first one of our most favorite treats to share with you and I know that you will enjoy them and everyone will think that you slaved over a hot oven for their enjoyment!

I don't know about everyone else, but I like all kinds of cooking and have learned how to do many things in the kitchen. My first lessons in cooking began when I was about 10 years old on a farm in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Our home had no technology that we have today-no electricity or plumbing. We used a wood burning cook stove, as well as, a huge fireplace that covered almost the whole wall at the end of our kitchen. This is where we would cook large pots of things,like stews or chowders and use the fireplace ovens for breads and baked potatoes, and such.

We grew almost everything that we ate, so summers were very busy with lots of canning and drying our vegetables and fruits. Let's not forget the hard work involved in the planting, cultivating, harvesting and preserving enough food to last through the winter. Early in spring we would once again,look to our garden to fill the storeroom for our family. I am still very thankful for all of the family members and neighbors that helped one another through harvest time.

Molasses is a staple food for mountain folks, because if you found yourself without sugar, a car or even a store, you could always open a jar of molasses and enjoy a sweet treat occasionally. We grew our own sugar cane to make our molasses supply. The men would cut the cane and stack it near the two grinding stones which were placed one upon the other. Somehow, the top one was able to turn when the good mule was hitched to the apparatus and then walked in a circle around the stones. The cane was hand fed between the two stones, the liquid would be expressed into a wooden trough beneath the stones and the liquid would flow into a large, black pot sitting over a hot fire. It took many hours to boil all of the liquid to the right consistency while constantly skimming the foam off the top with a long-handled dipper. We also had horses, so to be kind to the mule, they would also take a turn and do their share of the work.
This night was also a lot of fun. Mother would brew coffee for the grown-ups, but that was when I first learned to love coffee (shame on me) and still do. We would pop popcorn over the fire in an old wire popcorn basket, sing and tell mountain ghost stories and create some wonderful memories.

Another natural source of sweetening was the famous "Sourwood Honey" of the south. When the time came for harvesting my father would put on his protective clothing, climb our very tall sourwood tree, gather the honey comb from the hive and bring it to the kitchen for canning. That was very risky ordeal, because he got stung a lot if he didn't work fast enough. He also had to put the honeycomb in a clean, oil cloth bag that was hung over his neck and shoulder. That was a lot of weight to manage in a tall tree. I am not sure how tall,but I couldn't see the top of it.

I hope that everyone has had a good visit and certainly hope that you will join us again. I am going to prepare an index for our cookbook so you will know what our plans are. Please come back again for more refreshment and just maybe, a new story about cooking on the farm. Come Back Soon!!

You are invited to share your favorite recipes with us and I will post them in our Guest Cookbook. Then you can say that-"you have been published". Just send yours to us at the e-mail link below.

Of course, you are also welcome to use any of our recipes for your family's enjoyment.

Thought for the Day
Every time that you open a package,jar or another container of food, please remember that someone worked very hard for your health and enjoyment.