She’s devious in that way.

Joy, thank you so much for sharing this wonderfully written remembrance. I’d never heard the possum grape story, but I can attest to her love of homemade wine. She used to make batches of the stuff using a giant bottle shaped jar which she kept in our utility room. She’d place various fruits, yeast, sugars and other unidentified items in the jar and then put a large balloon over the neck. Over the next few weeks the balloon would slowly inflate and then deflate. That’s how she knew the poison was ready to consume. I always assumed this was middle aged boredom, but now I know she started her career as a bootlegger at a much earlier stage in life.

The dumplings are almost my favorite of Mom’s dishes. For me, her best will always be her thin, southern style cornbread. Lottie doesn’t like her cornbread thin so she stopped making it once our father passed away. But I love it. I cannot recall the number of times we’ve sat down at dinner (that’s lunch for you yankees) with fresh black-eyed peas (with pepper sauce), fried ham, and a hot slice of buttered, crispy cornbread.

Thanks again for posting this, and for the blog as well!
Rodney Gleghorn