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When spring begins to make its appearance each year, I yearn to take a drive in the country. It was a family tradition for me as a young child.
Every Sunday, my parents would pile us in the car, and we would meet my grandfather at the Shangri-La Motel in downtown Grayson. Baked ham with raisin sauce, real mashed potatoes, and homemade pies and rolls were a memory that I tucked away.
Gas prices do shorten my drives, but it doesn’t keep me from stopping at Dairy Queen for a dipped cone — hardened chocolate shell on a creamy vanilla cone. While it isn’t baked ham, it fills the bill.
I drive out Highway 89 looking at the trees just starting to erupt in various shades of green, and I think of driving out this way last July to Sandy Baker’s, a former home economics teacher at George Rogers Clark High School, for a luncheon on her farm.
Sandy is a creative soul, and this party exemplified her creativity. Upon pulling up her drive, waving in the wind were aprons of every color and style. Guests were asked to bring an apron and a piece of jewelry that had a special memory for them.
We sat under the sheltering arms of an ancient oak tree eating fruit, salad, homemade biscuits that melted in your mouth, chicken salad, and molasses cookies from Sandy’s great-grandmother’s recipe. Each table was decorated with antique sewing items: buttons, pins, old handkerchiefs and doilies and we sat around her pool atop the hills of Clark County.
There were only the sounds of laughter, an occasional cicada, and a faint bawling of a calf hunting for its mother. The day was one of sharing memories of families who have lived in eastern Clark County for 200 years and being with people who had been part of my life since I moved to Winchester 30 years ago.
Many people were there like Mrs. Elsie Curry, who taught young girls to sew and cook and inspired them to have style and grace while entertaining in their homes.
I saw Lucille Sallee who was a godsend to me when I first started teaching in the days of the infamous red book to keep attendance.
Standing on that hillside that day, I saw people whose lives, much like the stitches on the aprons they were wearing, were drawn together. There were childhood friends; college friends like Pam Burton, Sandy’s friend from Carter County; school friends that had taught together for years; and new-found friends bound by memories, food, and the land.
While driving back into town, I, too, thought about the First Christian Church where Graham and I were married and Hannah McClure School where our daughter attended and where her grandmother taught the first and third grades.
I thought about Dr. Bishop’s office, former site of The Old South Inn, where Graham’s grandmother served many Central Kentuckians for 15 years.
From my own front porch, I see places that are part of my life in Clark County and, like those aprons, are also stitched with the love of friends, food, and the land.
Several years ago, Graham’s cousin, Sarah Dan Brown from Richmond, sent many of his grandmother’s recipes from The Old South Inn. Since strawberries are coming on, this strawberry cake might be a good way to utilize some homegrown berries.
Strawberry Cake
1 box white cake mix
3 egg yolks
1⁄2 cup strawberries (mashed)
1 box strawberry Jell-O
Every Sunday, my parents would pile us in the car, and we would meet my grandfather at the Shangri-La Motel in downtown Grayson. Baked ham with raisin sauce, real mashed potatoes, and homemade pies and rolls were a memory that I tucked away.
Gas prices do shorten my drives, but it doesn’t keep me from stopping at Dairy Queen for a dipped cone — hardened chocolate shell on a creamy vanilla cone. While it isn’t baked ham, it fills the bill.
I drive out Highway 89 looking at the trees just starting to erupt in various shades of green, and I think of driving out this way last July to Sandy Baker’s, a former home economics teacher at George Rogers Clark High School, for a luncheon on her farm.
Sandy is a creative soul, and this party exemplified her creativity. Upon pulling up her drive, waving in the wind were aprons of every color and style. Guests were asked to bring an apron and a piece of jewelry that had a special memory for them.
We sat under the sheltering arms of an ancient oak tree eating fruit, salad, homemade biscuits that melted in your mouth, chicken salad, and molasses cookies from Sandy’s great-grandmother’s recipe. Each table was decorated with antique sewing items: buttons, pins, old handkerchiefs and doilies and we sat around her pool atop the hills of Clark County.
There were only the sounds of laughter, an occasional cicada, and a faint bawling of a calf hunting for its mother. The day was one of sharing memories of families who have lived in eastern Clark County for 200 years and being with people who had been part of my life since I moved to Winchester 30 years ago.
Many people were there like Mrs. Elsie Curry, who taught young girls to sew and cook and inspired them to have style and grace while entertaining in their homes.
I saw Lucille Sallee who was a godsend to me when I first started teaching in the days of the infamous red book to keep attendance.
Standing on that hillside that day, I saw people whose lives, much like the stitches on the aprons they were wearing, were drawn together. There were childhood friends; college friends like Pam Burton, Sandy’s friend from Carter County; school friends that had taught together for years; and new-found friends bound by memories, food, and the land.
While driving back into town, I, too, thought about the First Christian Church where Graham and I were married and Hannah McClure School where our daughter attended and where her grandmother taught the first and third grades.
I thought about Dr. Bishop’s office, former site of The Old South Inn, where Graham’s grandmother served many Central Kentuckians for 15 years.
From my own front porch, I see places that are part of my life in Clark County and, like those aprons, are also stitched with the love of friends, food, and the land.
Several years ago, Graham’s cousin, Sarah Dan Brown from Richmond, sent many of his grandmother’s recipes from The Old South Inn. Since strawberries are coming on, this strawberry cake might be a good way to utilize some homegrown berries.
Strawberry Cake
1 box white cake mix
3 egg yolks
1⁄2 cup strawberries (mashed)
1 box strawberry Jell-O
