Uncle Willie’s Swamp Cabbage Stew, Peggy’s Pig Eggs, and Yankee Puddin:

Ridin' out the Recession I think we’ll just keep it recipe day today! Deb and I were out the other day, and we were killing some time at the bookstore. She was picking up a couple crossword puzzles, so I was mostly just wandering around…in the cookbook section…again.

Honestly though, I do enjoy looking at the cookbooks and seeing the different recipes people across the Country use, mainly…South of the Mason-Dixon Line! LOL!! If they have the words “GRITS” in them, I know right then…it’s my kinda book! Like I said, I was just browsin around, and then I saw it…a book with a title that warmed my heart. It’s title… “White Trash Cooking.” It’s the 25th anniversary edition, and was written by Ernest Matthew Mickler. It was published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown publishing Group, which is a division of Random House Books. Harper Lee, the Alabama native best known for her novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” was quoted as saying, “I have never seen a sociological document of such beauty. The photographs alone are shattering… “White Trash Cooking,” is a beautiful testament to a stubborn and proud people.”

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The photographs themselves are almost worth the price of the book alone. From the ole kerosene lamp on the table, to the dish drain with the old colander and hand cracked mixer, to the “share-cropper styled” houses, the cast iron cookware, the hamper basket full of purple-hulled peas, to the photographs of the individuals themselves. It truly is a testament not only to the people, but their history as well. We’re both enjoying this book. Today, let’s post a couple of the recipes, and try them if you like. Who knows, you may soon find that you too, may come to love and enjoy a big plate of good ole , “White Trash Cooking!” Uncle Willie’s Swamp Cabbage Stew:

• 1 medium swamp cabbage
• 2 large chopped onions
• 3 pieces of fatback
• 1 teaspoon of white sugar
• 2 cans of tomatoes
• 1 pod of hot, green peppers, chopped
• Pinch of Thyme

Fry fatback, onions, and chopped swamp cabbage till it starts to brown. Add tomatoes, sugar, peppers, and thyme. Simmer until it thickens and tomatoes cook down. Add another pinch of thyme 10 minutes before it’s done. Serve over rice. If you don’t have access to swamp cabbage, Heart of Palm that you can purchase from the supermarket will work. Peggy’s Pig Eggs:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs (peeled)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs, or cornmeal
• 1 pound of loose sausage meat

Mix ½ the beaten eggs with the sausage meat. Pat the meat around the outside of the boiled eggs until it’s even all the way around. Then smear the rest of the beaten eggs on the meat covered eggs and roll them in the breadcrumbs. Now you have something that looks like six large goose eggs. Fry these in a heavy iron skillet with ½ inch of oil in the bottom until golden brown. Make sure you roll them around while they’re frying to brown them evenly. Drain on a brown paper bag to get rid of the extra grease, and then chill them overnight before using. “Your company won’t believe their eyes when they cut them open,” says Peggy Lou Dawson of Pee Dee, North Carolina. Yankee Puddin:

• 4 sweet potatoes, grated
• 2 sticks oleo
• ¼ cup Karo syrup
• 1 cup grated coconut
• 4 eggs, whole
• 1 cup chopped pecan
• 1 cup chopped dates
• ½ cup cooking sherry
• ¾ cup chopped raisins
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups sweet milk
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 2 cups sugar

Beat eggs and sugar; fold in all other ingredients and bake for 1-1/2 hours at 300 degrees. A thick casserole dish works best. This may be served as a dessert, topped with Reddi Whip, but it goes good with meat and vegetables too.