No question about it: pinto beans, potatoes and cornbread were the central part of our childhood diet. But, there was some variety. Especially in the summer and fall when the hard-won garden yielded its glorious bounty.
We frequently had ham and other hog products from the pigs we raised. What else are pigs good for except to eat and be eaten? However, we rarely had beef. Cows were too precious to slaughter because they gave milk that could be sold, drank, and made into butter and cottage cheese. Also, the meat from a slaughter steer could not be easily preserved. In the early years of our childhood any beef we had was stored in the Stratford meat locker and taken out as we needed it. Even after we had electricity and a deep freeze, it was too risky to store much meat in it because the electricity went out too often. We rarely bought beef from a store. It was just too expensive. When we did buy it, it was hamburger.
Our father sometimes killed a squirrel, rabbit or bird, or caught a fish. We ate them as a fried treat. Now a little vocabulary. Dinner was the meal served at noon time. We never called it “lunch.” We never called the evening meal “dinner.” The evening meal was supper.
© 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003 Portia Isaacson Bass and Veta Leigh. All rights reserved.