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Over the Back Fence By HANK HENRY When one culinary constant was grease When I was growing up in the �30s, meals were simple, often heavy, and dependent on the seasons and the pocketbook. Because one in four families was unemployed nationwide, folks had to make do by growing gardens where land was available, or they could go to churches where a meal of soup, bread and coffee would be served. There also would be cookies and milk for the children. If the crops had been sold, the meals served on small farms might begin with a full breakfast: ham or bacon, eggs, toast and coffee. If it was springtime and money was getting tight, the housewife might serve only bread and coffee. A noonday meal throughout the South and Southwest was called "dinner," probably because in farm country, it was traditionally the big meal of the day. Again, the meal would be influenced by the state of the pocketbook. In good times of the yearly cycle, there would be an entr�e of beef, pork or chicken. The hands-down favorite was chicken fried steak. Side dishes could be beans, peas, potatoes with gravy, corn on the cob (in season), one of several varieties of squash or okra. Most of these would come from the larder of home-canned vegetables prepared the prior fall. Even the poorest farmer�s wife had a pressure cooker for canning. Once the vegetables were steamed under pressure, placed in jars, sealed and cooled, children were often given the job of testing the seal by tapping each lid with a large spoon. Jars not sealed would make a thunk, while sealed jars made an almost musical note. The evening meal, called "supper" in rural areas, might consist of leftovers from dinner, or the wife might bake a batch of bread pudding, one of the simplest and cheapest of dishes. With the pudding might go a sandwich of meat from the noon meal. All bread was homemade back in the �30s, as farm wives didn�t make it into town very often. Many meals were served with Southern cornbread. Ground corn meal was the major ingredient in the dish. People who put sugar or a lot of regular flour in the mix, as some do now, would be told, "Whatever that thing is, it ain�t cornbread!" Food in those days almost floated on a sea of grease. Lard was great for frying meats, and was used to cook other foods such Mexican tacos and burritos. Fresh vegetables were to be had only when they ripened in the garden. When Nora and I married in the 1950s, the only culinary knowledge I brought to the table was my ability to make "wilted lettuce." This was a favorite in my family. Leaf lettuce out of a friend�s garden was washed, torn into small pieces, and put in a large bowl. Then hot bacon grease and vinegar were poured over the lettuce, causing it to wilt. Boy, was that good. Not good for you, just good. I haven�t heard about wilted lettuce for decades. We dropped it from our list of good dishes many years ago when we learned that it really was very bad for you. One other food I remember was tamales sold from carts in the downtown area. When you paid your dime or 15 cents, you would receive a tamale covered with corn husks. The hot tamale was made with a thick coating of corn meal, and inside was string beef and a sauce containing hot peppers. The last time I was in Austin, I didn�t see a single tamale stand. Pure food laws probably put them out of business. I remember that in about 1940, an entrepreneur started a potato chip plant in a small storefront, and I walked by on the way home from school as the chips were being deep fried. That smell of potato chips in a hot bath of lard was enough to die for. (Hank Henry is a retired Jackson County commissioner and a former radio and television announcer. Call him at 772-9055.) Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.