Home Cookin'

Kate Yandoh, a friend who grew up in upstate New York, suggests I eat my favorite foods now because they probably won't be available in Kenya. Upon arriving at my Mom's house in Warner Robins today, I tell her we must eat dinner at the Cracker Barrel and breakfast at IHOP. So here's what we eat over the next few days: Fried chicken livers, boiled cabbage, fried okra, catfish, chicken n' dumplin's, turnip greens, pancakes, grits and pork rinds. My recommendation is to order turnip greens as all three sides with your Cracker Barrel dinner platter!

Mama, a.k.a. Kathryn Bohannon, cooks Brunswick Stew and we eat it with buttered bread for lunch. Granny Brown used to make Brunswick Stew the traditional way, with a complete hog's head simmered in a giant pot for hours. Here's the recipe Mama got from Aunt Betty Jean Brown of Hazelhurst, GA. The recipe calls for pork, just not the head:

Brunswick Stew
(With notations by Kathryn Bohannon)

1 large chicken
1 small Boston pork roast (I buy one and have it cut in half and then freeze it.)
6 to 8 medium potatoes, cubed
tomatoes, diced (Canned is okay. I run the tomatoes in the blender before adding them.)
1 small can tomato sauce
2 medium onions chopped
Tabasco sauce
1 small can garden peas
1 package yellow corn kernels, frozen

Directions: Cook chicken and pork together with onions until meat falls apart. Remove skin, bones, etc., and shred the pork and chicken with a fork. Add potatoes, tomatoes, corn and tomato sauce (to add color to stew). Add salt and pepper to taste. Add Tabasco sauce to taste. I make a big pot of stew and divide and freeze it. I add garden peas only when thawing the stew because I don't like to boil the peas.