Food and Setting

My family lived at 2102 41st Avenue North in the 1960’s. In the kitchen, as with most kitchens in that day, we had a refrigerator, electric stove, table with four chairs, and large white aluminum cabinet. ‘Course, that’s the best way I can describe the cabinet where we stored the glasses, plates and eating utensils. To the left of the electric stove was the sink used for washing dishes and rinsing off the meat my mom cooked. My mother was a fantastic cook. Ok, that only when she prepared my favorite meal which consisted of: fried, chicken, smothered cabbage with fat back or strick o’lean which is also called white meat, cornbread made with meal, flour, eggs, salt, Crisco Lard and buttermilk. Sometimes, however, instead of cooking my favorite food she would boil parts of the pig that made me gag because looking at these pieces of the pig was disgusting. She cooked the ears, the feet, and the tail. She boiled and boiled these parts of the pig until the water evaporated and all was left in the pan were sticky substances which she now called dinner. I sat at the table glaring at the feet, ears, and tail which she so carefully placed on my plate. As I stared at this pigs parts I wondered if the pig was still alive but missing his feet, ears, and tail. Mama said “eat it, it’s good.” Maybe it was good to her but I wanted chicken because at least the chicken had little legs and the feet had been cut off. Also, chickens had no tail.