Poke and Grits

I recall a recent conversation with a desk librarian at the library we visit quite frequently. She asked me if I had ever heard of the phrase “poke and grits?” I wasn’t sure what she was referring to, so asked her where she had heard this term. She said her mother always told anyone who asked what they were having for supper that they were having “poke and grits.” As a young girl she was curious to know where the expression came from so she asked her mother about it and her mother said it was her mother's expression. So the next time her grandmother came to visit, her grandma told her,  “poke your feet under the table and grit your teeth,” meaning “get ready to eat.”

I don’t recall that my mother ever saying this to us, but I do remember her telling us to wash up right before she brought the food to the table.

In David’s family, the saying was "come to the table before the food gets cold,” which sometimes meant wild greens –young poke sprouts, lambs quarters and burdock, fried morel mushrooms (YUM! 😋), fried wild meats like squirrel, rabbit, fish, frog legs, turkey, eel, coon or tame meat and vegetables. Often there was wild grape or elderberry jelly to spread on Grandma Marie’s homemade lightbread and sometimes wild blueberry pie or custard pie to eat. And like us, they didn't eat grits except as a hot breakfast cereal.

I asked my mother after we were married, why our family never ate wild things and she relayed a story about how after the first winter after her grandparents moved to Oklahoma, they were starving for fresh greens in the spring and gathered a big bunch up, cooked them and about poisoned all of themselves to death, not knowing the proper plants to pick in that area. After that time, her family stayed away from picking wild plants to eat. My dad, however, loved to hunt deer and we fished (mostly catfish) at Grandpa's pond on the farm.

And my husband's family also has another saying in their family about eating -- "chickie fly high, no good eat." A wandering gypsy, tramping through their part of the Ozarks, in his broken English, told them that one must be careful about what wild birds one eats -- certain flying birds were not edible -- one had made him sick! 😛

More to Read:
Cookbooks
His Relatives' Recipes

Written by Dolores J. Rush.

Mom Quotes, Daddy-isms, and Nursery Rhymes

HER

Ever catch yourself doing this when you had a kid underfoot and (s)he was getting on that LAST NERVE ...

Things you said to yourself that you would never, ever say to your kids when you had them and then... you clap your hand over your mouth when you realize you just did! 😮

👦👧💖 👨👩

I was thinking of the things my dad used to say today. He was an air conditioning and heating serviceman and a trustee at church. He took care of all our church’s air-conditioning, heating and some of the plumbing and I remember that he told me “to leave a place better than I found it!” 

Dad always said his two favorite pies were "hot and cold!" His favorite cake was applesauce cake made with black walnuts. And it was especially yummy with cream cheese frosting! 

I remember playing these games as a child: Basketball; Dodge ball; Hide & Seek; Hide the Thimble; Hopscotch; Hot Potato; Hula Hoop;  Jump Rope, Kickball; Mother, May I;  Red Rover; Relay Games; Simon Says; Softball; Tag; and Who Got the Cookie from the Cookie Jar? 

My Kansas grandmother taught all her grandkids how to play "Hide the Thimble." The more the merrier in this case. She said her mother taught her how to play it.  Grandma would hide the thimble first or she would choose someone to be "It" and then all the other players had to leave the room. Grandma or one of the aunties or uncles or sometimes the oldest child stood guard at the door so there was no cheating by peeking. "It" hid the thimble in plain sight somewhere in the room. The thimble could not be hidden behind or under anything, but could be seen from any corner of the room and often "It" had to check before sitting down. When "It" called okay, then all the players came back into the room and stood in the middle of the room. The first person who spies the thimble, is the next hider. If "It" hides the thimble so well that nobody can find it, then "It" may give clues like, "You are warm" meaning someone is close to the thimble and if they are next to it and still don't see it, then they are hot. If they move away, then they are getting cold. The game is a lot of fun and I taught the game to my in-law's family. It's surprising how well a tiny silver object can blend in with the contents of a room. 

I wasn't very good at active outside games, but I did try. I surprised myself though once and everyone else I think, when I won a game of 2-ball dodgeball in sixth grade. My first bicycle was a red boys bike and the first time I crashed it on a girlfriend's hilly front yard, I couldn't sit down for a week. smile! We had a heavy metal pipe swing set in the back yard. Dad set the feet down in concrete, so we could swing high on it without it falling over. Mom bought a commercial metal slide at a rummage sale at the New Santa Fe Christian Church and it stood next to the swing set. Later, mom bought us kids a metal fort. It was two stories tall -- we could climb up to the top story by ladder and slide down a pole in one corner like a fireman. 

I collected dolls and had a Barbie doll. She was a single lady -- she never kept company with Ken at my house. My sisters and I sometimes made our Barbie doll clothes out of the tops of stray socks or stitched clothing for them by hand from bits and pieces of rescued fabric that my mother tossed out after sewing up our clothing.  

Saturday mornings were for watching cartoons. I remember when the kids in school told me about Batman. I was so excited about it and asked my mother if I could watch it. Then I missed the whole show when I fell asleep on the sofa waiting for it to come on. We didn't have a remote control; we had to get up to change the channel on our black and white TV. We didn't get a colored TV or Atari until I was in high school. Our local PBS channel was on the "U" section of our dial. I remember watching Captain Kangaroo. I loved his side-kick, Mr. Green Jeans. Once my sister was on television when she and her classmates visited our local television channel to pay a visit to Torey Time, our local children's programming. 

Mom used to say a version of this poem:

Spring has sprung, the grass has riz I wonder where the birdies is The birdies are up high in the sky Dropping whitewash down in my eye I am good, I don’t cry I’m just glad that cows don’t fly.

She also used to tell us about the peanut and the choo-choo train whose heart was all a flutter, then along came the choo-choo train and he became peanut butter!

👦👧💖 👨👩

HIS family used to quote favorite rhymes for fun. Ishmael used to say these:

"Entry, ventry, cutry, corn

Apple seed and apple thorn.

Wire, brier, limber lock,

Three geese in a flock.

One flew east, one flew west,

And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.

All the way out, you old dirty cloud,

Never saw a pretty girl, but what I liked her some."

---------------

"Let's go to bed," said Sleepyhead.

"Oh no," said Slow, "let's eat a bite before we go."

---------------

This one was accompanied by hand motions as a finger game. It never fails to amaze the little ones!

Two blackbirds

Sitting on a log,

One named "Jack"

And one named "Jill."

Fly away, Jack,

Fly away, Jill,

Come back, Jack,

Come back, Jill.

---------------

Marie's dad, Wm. Thornton, used to say this one:

"Penny-nip, clip, clap, clam, roady-hoady, brush-him-over, Peter Pan-Dan, sigh-all-lo-dy."

🎮🎲💪🎣🎯🏀🏊🎳

David said he can remember his dad saying that if he ever got into trouble at school, expect trouble at home.  How many of your parents said the same? Mine did!

David said a favorite game to play at his grandparents over their farmhouse was "Andy, Andy, Over." The object of the game involved throwing a ball over their house's roof to players on the opposite side to capture and add in team members. He said the two teams were usually divided equally, in this instance, I'll call them the A Team and Team B. Anybody could pitch the ball over from the starting team, say from Team B and as they threw it, they yelled "Andy, Andy, Over" giving warning to A Team that a ball was in the air. David said the trick was to just get it over the peak of the roof to roll or bounce a couple of times before dropping down into a catcher's hands.  The catcher and everyone else on the A Team then ran around to the other side of the house to try to tag anybody they could for their team.  The throwing team couldn't run until they saw people coming around the corner of the house and they could be coming from either side, so you had be alert. Also, Team B didn't know who held the ball, so they had to run away from everyone on the A Team. My husband said the game generally lasted about a half hour or so or until someone damaged a body part while running or getting bonked over the head with a ball. 

David said this to me tonight -- March winds bring April showers bring May flowers and June Bugs!

Got any mom quotes, daddy-isms, or fun jingles your family used to say? Please share in the comments below. 

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A Moment in Time Ephemera

Some people like to use 3-D decorations in their heritage scrapbooks of the ancestors, but I, personally, don’t like bumpy albums with dented pages. I do like using personal keepsakes, however, that bring my ancestors to life and thought I would compile a list of flat ephemera one could use. Take time to plunder the attics, closets, dressers, hope chests, jewelry boxes, junk drawers, photo albums, recipe boxes, scrapbooks, sewing cabinets, and writing desks of your grand-relatives for mementoes before the estate sale.

Note: Reproduce good quality permanent copies of paper documents at your local printer and archive the originals in a fireproof document box. Ink-jet photocopies are temporary in nature and might fade over time.

address labels, alphabet stencils (new and used), autographs, baseball trading cards, botanical illustrations, bookmarks, calling/business cards, cancelled checks, car keys, certificates (adoption, award, birth, church membership, death, guarantees, marriage, military, prize, stock, Sunday School promotion, warranties) children’s artwork, church bulletins, clothing tags, candy packaging labels (candy bar, crackerjack, gum wrappers, Valentine), dance cards, desk calendar pages, dog tags, flashcards, garden catalogs, garden seed packets, hair ribbons, embroidery thread, favorite poetry (Bible verses, quotes), feathers, flattened spice tin fronts, foreign coins (tokens), funeral leaflets, graduation diploma, handwritten recipes, hankies, images from a favorite book, lace, lacy gloves, ledger, library cards, guest-books (guest check receipts), journal and diary accounts, letters, a lock of hair (hair-nets), locker tag, maps (paper), menus, old-fashioned packaging labels, old greeting cards,  old schoolbook pages, measuring tapes, needle threader, newspaper clippings, old magazine ads, old patterns (envelopes with images and tissue patterns), old typewriter keys, paper doilies, paper dolls, patches, photos of heirlooms (favorite toys), photographs of their homes, perfume bottle labels, pinked swatches of calico and gingham feedsack fabric, playing cards, postcards,  pressed flowers, printed tablecloths,

quilt patterns, receipts, report cards, rickrack, school papers, a sequin from a special dress, sheet metal jewelry (photos of jewelry), sheet music, silhouettes, slides, stereoscopic viewing cards, suitcase stickers, theater programs, ticket stubs, traced hands or feet cut-outs, travel brochures, utility bills/receipts, used envelopes, used postage stamps, vintage Valentines, vintage wrapping paper, wallpaper remnants, watch parts (crystals, faces, hands, gears), wedding invitations, and wedding dress fabric.

Postscript: I stumbled across a Civil War quilt blog and she had an article on Albums: Silk and Paper. Another item to add to the list to look for!

 Compiled by Dolores J. Rush, Updated: 9/29/2019

Memory Scrapbooking Papers

In my last article on Heritage Scrapbooking, I explained the basics of what to collect to put into your scrapbook. My husband and I have been looking at hobby stores when we go out and about and there are companies out there that are now producing product that cater to family historians. Here are a few.

For starters, my mother gave me a thin paperback book from Deja Views, called “Heritage Technique and Idea Book”. It’s from their Time and Again Vintage Inspired Collection by Lori Pieper, Sharon Kropp, and Norma Manak; 2002 that went with a couple of vinyl decorative scrapbook templates. I love this book! I plan to use this book as a jumping off point when I re-create our family albums. (Note: previous photo albums were damaged in a flood, but that’s a story for another time.)

Next I found three, very good books at my local library on scrapbooking old photographs. The first one is called “Scrapbooking Your Family History.” By Laura Best. A Sterling/Chapelle Book, NY; 2005. The second and third ones are both by Maureen A. Taylor = “Preserving Your Family Photographs: How to Organize, Present, and Restore Precious Family Images” Betterway Books, Cincinnati, OH; 2001 and “Scrapbooking Your Family History” Betterway Books, Cincinnati, OH.; 2003. If your library doesn’t carry them, perhaps you can order them through World Cat (it’s an interlibrary catalogue of books from other library systems around the world). My library doesn’t charge for interlibrary loans within the USA, but I know some libraries do. If that fails or is too costly for your pocketbook, perhaps you can purchase them at a local new/used bookstore or online.

We have found product in different nostalgic styles and colors. What do you like best? If you don’t know, here’s a variety below that might help you decide =

• Antique Toys/Comics/Literature/Old School (think old paper dolls; baby handprints; old comic books; Alice in Wonderland, early Disney illustrations; jacks, jump ropes, rocking horses & wagons; old one room schoolhouse; blackboards, block printing; alphabet strips);

• Artistic/Illustrator (consider your favorite artist’s style, I love Mary Engelbreit's work.);

• Beach/Tropical (sand, pastel colors, lighthouses, macramé, sea shells, palm trees; flamingos); 

• Bistro (think little French/Italian café chefs);

• Colonial (Early Americana);

• Exotic (animal prints, safari, Asian);

• Kitschy or Retro (1940s, 1950s, 60s, 70s);

• Rustic (vintage camp, bears, deer, elk, log cabins, row boats, earth-tones);

• Shabby Chic (vintage/romantic tea garden theme, distressed white metal containers or wicker, lace, vintage Valentines, etc.);

• Traditional (classic, sophisticated patterns like argyle, diamonds, paisley, plaid, and tweed);

• Western/Southwestern/Farmhouse Country (think Cowboys and Indians, pioneers, Little House on the Prairie, calico, quilts, cactus, coyotes); or

• Vintage (Victorian, Edwardian, Gothic romantic). Choose papers accordingly.

 

Like me, you may decide you don’t want one style of scrapbook decoration, but a happy eclectic mixture of what you love.

Next, decide on the color combinations you are drawn to and incorporate them into your scrapbook. Personally, I like to stick to certain color combinations in one project as I feel it gives a harmonious look to the whole book. I usually purchase enough scrapbook paper to make a photo spread (two pages that face each other). You can purchase stickers or die-cuts, if you aren’t into rubber stamping. Sometimes, certain styles, like those mentioned above, dictate color choices. For instance, faded colors of cream, beige, putty, parchment, sand, tarnished gold, tea brown, olive green, smoky grey, jet black, linen, and French country blue evokes an antique mood. When artist Mary Engelbreit first hit the market, her bright colors caught my eye and I was riveted, but as we’ve both matured, she and I have added lighter color tones to our palettes. I also like the cottagey tea garden theme of rose pink, sage green, and off-white of Shabby Chic. It makes me feel deliriously romantic. LOL!

My husband and I have been trying to collect enough scrapbook supplies to reconstruct his and her heritage albums. His color choices are different than mine. He dislikes pink, mint green, and white and is drawn to blue. I would add neutral colors to his blue, like tan, off-white, and black or brown in wood tones or rich leather plus maybe a deep burgundy or gold for a pop of color –a traditional vintage color combination!

Written by Dolores J. Rush, updated 4 May 2023.