The Little Boy Cook

By Joe Baxter Davis

Joe Baxter Davis tells the story of his family who lived on a farm in Equality Alabama. Daddy worked in town as an auto body man and painter. Some of the time Mama taught school across the county and only was home only on the weekends. So my older brother Winston and my younger brother Michael and I did the farm work. We raised food to eat and to trade at the local store for things we could not raise. We took care of the animals, built fences, cut wood to heat the house, milked the cows and all the other chores. Even though we were young boys, we were farmers. Mama and Daddy depended on us. It may be hard to understand today what our farm life was like in the 1940s, but we all worked very hard to provide for our family, it was our way of life. When I was eight, I had to have surgery on my leg for osteomylitis, a bone disease. After a long time in the hospital I went back to the farm, but I was on crutches and could not do the farm work with my brothers. But guess what Mama and Daddy had a plan. They asked me to be the family cook. So in 1945 I became the full time cook. I was so happy. I had always loved to watch Mama cook but now it was my job. I would get up early in the morning and help build fi res in the fireplace and in the little kitchen stove, then I would make home made biscuits and cook bacon and sausage and eggs for the family. I was the full-time cook. I enjoyed cooking so much and my brothers and Mama and Daddy acted like they really enjoyed the food. Maybe they were just hungry.

the Little Boy Cook is a collection of good old county recipes and memories from the past and recipes from family and friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abbott Press
• Release date: Apr 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781458202598

Book preview

the Little

Boy Cook

Joe Baxter Davis

abbottpresslogointeriorBW.ai

The Little Boy Cook

Copyright © 2012 Joe Baxter Davis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN: 978-1-4582-0260-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-0259-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012904378

Abbott Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

Abbott Press

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.abbottpress.com

Phone: [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Thanks to my daughter, Cynthia Davis for the front cover graphics.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Abbott Press rev. date: 4/3/2012

Contents

This is my story

Main Dishes

Hanging Around The Stove

Baby Back Ribs

Baked Brisket

Bean Soup

Blackened Fish

Broccoli Cheese And Rice Casserole

Cooking Like My Mama Did

Broiled Fish Steaks

Camp Stew

Chicken And Rice

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

Chicken Casserole

Chicken Fried Steak

Making Oleo In The 40’s

Chicken N Dumplins

Chicken or Turkey Dressing

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Salad

Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken Spareribs

Mr Peanut

Chitlins (Chitterings)

Chorizo Con Eggs

Cindy’s Spaghetti

Country Fried Steak

Cubed Steak

Enchiladas Verdes

Fideo’ (Mexican Spaghetti)

Ham Steaks & Red Eye Gravy

Hillbilly Stare Fry

Hot Chicken Salad Casserole

Jeremy’s Turkey Chili

Daddy Was A Preacher

Lasagna

Meat Balls

Meat Loaf from 1957

Mexican Chicken

Nick’s Turkey Chili

Pot Roast

Pot Roast Hash

Pulled Pork

Ruety Fried Chicken

Coveted Fowl

Ruety Meatloaf

A Good Sammich

Ruety Spaghetti Sauce

The Red Muzzle

Salmon Patties

A Nickel Saved

Shrimp And Crab Salad

Southwest Chicken Soup

Spaghetti

Spaghetti Sauce Mix

Tin Can Soup

Turkey &

cornbread dressing

Tuttle House Chili

White Chili

Sides

The Vow

Alternate Pear Relish

Baked Corn

Barbecue Sauce

Batter Fried Okra

Michael’s Watermelon Adventure

Black-Eyed Peas

Boiled Rice

Bread & Butter Pickles

Candied Yams

Chow Chow

Chili Con Queso

The Icebox

Christmas Cranberry Salad

The Big Fishing Trip

Cole Slaw

Corn Fritters

Cream-Style Corn (not yo mama’s )

Cucumber Dressing

Deviled Eggs

Easy Potato Soup

Egg Salad

Fresh Garden Pickles

Fresh Packed Dill Pickles

Fried Corn (cream-style)

Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes (battered)

Shucking & Shelling

Grandmother’s Dill Pickles

Green Bean Casserole

Green Beans with new potatoes

Grit Cakes

Guacamole by Irene

Guacamole by Marco

Boxing Lessons

Hoppin John

The Old Grist Mill

How To Boil An Egg

Lime Pickles

Macaroni & Cheese

Macaroni & Cheese (Baked)

Milk Gravy

Onion Rings

Feed Sack Shirts

Oven Baked Potato Slices

Pear Relish

Pico De Gallo

Pinto Beans

Poke Salad Greens

Potato Cakes

Potato Salad

Different But Good

Red Jalapeno Sauce

Religious Sauce

Ripe Tomato Relish

My Really Big Chance

Sausage Gravy

Sawmill Gravy

Sliced Baked Potatoes

The Good Old Days

Spanish Rice

Squash Relish

Stewed Cabbage

Sweet Potato Casserole

Taco Seasoning

Tartar Sauce

Tomato Gravy

My First Car

Rockford Jr Boys Quartet

Sweets

A Pinch, A Shake, And Just Enough

Ambrosia

Banana Nut Bread

Banana Pudding (old timey)

Blackberry Cobbler

Boiled Cookies

Bread Pudding

Butter Cream Frosting

Buttermilk Pie

Carrot Cake

Chocolate Layer Cake

Chocolate Pie

Chocolate Pound Cake

Chocolate Tea Cakes

All Day Singing and Dinner On the Ground

Cinnamon Monkey Bread

Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut Layer Cake

Coconut Layer Cake Icing

Condensed Milk Bread Pudding

Congealed Salad

Cook-Out Peach Cobbler

Cottage Cheese Cookies

Cranberry Salad

Now We’re Really Cookin

Daddy’s Favorite Lemon Pie

Divinity

Egg Pie

Fresh Fruit Cobbler

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Fried Cherry Pies

Gingerbread

Hicker Nut Cake

Hicker Nut Cake Icing

Honey Carrot Cake

Honey Pound Cake

Lane Cake

Lane Cake Filling

Lemon Ice Box Pie

Mary Ann Hill’s Tea Cakes

Mary’s Pecan Pie

One More Last Chance

Gathering Muscadines and Scuppernongs

Muscadine Jelly

Mission Bread Pudding

Oatmeal Cookies

Old Time Tea Cakes

Peach Cobbler

Pear Preserves

Pecan Pie (grandmother’s)

Pulled Taffy

Candy Pulling

Pie Crust

Pineapple Cake

Country Cookin Directions

Spice Cake

Sweet Potato Cobbler

Sweet Potato Pie

Bread

The Biscuit Maker

Biscuits The Old Time Way

Baking Powder Biscuits

Buttermilk Biscuits

Buttermilk Corn Bread

Cheddar Biscuits

Different Biscuit Ideas

Cinnamon Rolls

Cracklin Corn Bread

Where Crackins Come From

Honey Zucchini Bread

Hot Water Corn Bread

Hush Puppies

Jalapeno Corn Bread

Pan Fried Corn Bread

Refrigerator Rolls

Aches And Pains

Sopapillas

Spoon Bread

Spoon Rolls

Sweet Corn Bread

Sweet Milk Biscuits

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Tortillas

It’s Sundown, Lord

A Going Home Party

This is my story

I was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1936. My Daddy was a auto body man and painter. Daddy was also a Baptist preacher. At times he would be the pastor of a church, but he would also preach in other churches as needed. My Mama was a housewife and was also a great pianist and she played the piano many times where daddy preached. I had two brothers, Winston, who was older and Michael, who was younger. When I was seven years old, Daddy was offered a chance to be the Associational Missionary for Coosa County, Alabama. He would preach in churches that did not have pastors, help them to find pastors and establish churches in communities that had no church. So we moved to Equality, Alabama. We loved the country life. We bought a farm and started planting and harvesting crops, raising animals and all the other chores that go with the farm life. Mama started teaching school at the little school in Equality. Because Daddy still had to work as a body man and painter to make a living and now had the responsibilities for the churches in Coosa County he could not do the farm chores, so my brothers and I became farmers. Daddy taught us how to farm and helped when he could. It was a different life, but we enjoyed it. We took care of the cows, the hogs, the horses, the chickens, did the plowing, the harvesting, and all the work of the farm, in other words, we were farmers. Our days would begin at daylight, then we would go to school and then work after school until dark. Of course in the summer our days were all about farming. We raised food for our family, food to sell or trade for the things we needed. At the age of eight, I had to have surgery on my left leg for osteo mylitis, a bone disease. After months in the hospital, I went back to the farm. I could no longer do the farm chores that I enjoyed so much, but guess what. Mama and Daddy had a plan. I was given the job of cooking for the family. I was so happy, once again I was doing my part. So in 1945, at age nine I became the full time cook. I had always loved to watch Mama cook but now it was my job. After about a year I was no longer on crutches and could do other chores around the farm again, but I continued to cook. I enjoyed cooking and my brothers and Mama and Daddy acted like they enjoyed the food. I think they were just hungry.

the LITTLE BOY COOK is a collection of the recipes and memories from the past we have enjoyed over the years and recipes from friends and family.

Main

Dishes

Hanging Around The Stove

Joe Baxter Davis

Richmond, Texas

My mother was very special in my life. She always was very encouraging to me. My interest in cooking started early in life. My mother used to tell how as a toddler I was always under her feet when she was cooking. One day she was making biscuits and I kept saying Mama, Mama, Mama and I was pulling on her dress to get her attention. When she finally asked what I wanted, I pointed to the baking powder and said you didn’t put any of that in there. Sure enough she had forgotten the baking powder. I was so young when this happened that I didn’t remember it, but my mother did. But I know I have loved to cook all my life, and have had many chances to do so. My mother and my wife’s mother left us some of their recipes. They were both great cooks and they both cooked food that everyone loved to eat. I want to share their recipes with my family, and to pass on some of the recipes Irene and I have cooked and our family has enjoyed. Sometimes, someone will call and ask how did y’all cook that, hopefully, this will tell you how we did that.

My hope is that each of you who have one of these books will add your own recipes and share them with your family. I will continue to print other recipes and pass them on to you as I remember them.

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Baby Back Ribs

Joe Baxter Davis

Richmond, Texas

3 lbs pork baby back ribs

1 c ketchup

1/4 c apple cider vinegar

3 tbsps dark brown sugar

3 tbsps Worchestershire sauce

1 tsp liquid smoke

½ tsp salt

Place ribs in a large pot, cover with water, add 1 tsp salt, bring water to a boil at medium. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour or until ribs are fork tender. While ribs are boiling, combine all the other stuff in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring often until sauce is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Place boiled ribs meat side down on a broiler pan. Brush with half of sauce and broil 4 to 5 inches from heat for 6 to 7 minutes at 350. Turn ribs over, brush with rest of sauce and broil 6 to 7 minutes more.

Philippians 4:5 Let you gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

Baked Brisket

Joe Baxter Davis

Richmond, Texas

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp celery seed

2 tbsps black pepper

1 tbsp seasoned salt

2 tbsps liquid smoke

2 tbsps worchestershire sauce

1 large brisket

Mix all the seasonings in a small bowl. Rub the paste all over the brisket, wrap tightly in foil and bake at 300 for 5 hours.

1 Timothy 6:8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

Bean Soup

Joe Baxter Davis

Richmond,