Does this sound digestive? Growing up in Lexington County I’m sure there were poorer people. I just can’t name any. My father died when I was four months old and I suppose we were classified as a poor farm family then and it got worst with him gone. I was the baby of four children. I remember my first Christmas. My brother and I were sitting in front of our fireplace eating fruit from a basket. A common dessert for us was crushing biscuit crust into a cup of black sweet coffee and eating with a spoon. Another delicacy when times permitted was grits with a half spoon of mustard mixed. Sometimes we had a piece of fat back with this dish. During the growing season there seemed to be fresh peas, butter beans, tomatoes, and okra at times. In the winter time there were stewed potatoes, dried peas and beans. The beverage most of the time was coffee or milk. Fat back was common since you could buy a piece for a nickel and it would last several days. A streak of lean was a premium piece of meat. It was fat back with a streak of lean running through. One thing I learned from this atmosphere is that a person doesn’t miss what he has never had. I like to joke and tell people I didn’t know we were poor until we got a radio. After growing up and working and improving my life style I still think of those early days and sometimes I yearn for the time of biscuit crust and black sweet coffee.

JJH 3/18/2010