July 3, 2008
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Poke salad
Yes I said poke salad. I am one of those southern poke salad eating people. Or should I say poor southern poke salad eating people. Now for you folks who think we are eating weeds. You just don’t know what you are missing. Hey turn us out in the woods and we wouldn’t starve to death. My husband developed his love of poke salad from my Mom. One day while visiting us she told him that she would just love a mess of poke salad. Just happened at that time some had shot up in my unattended spice bed. So he told her he had some if she would teach him how to cook it. (What a Catch and he loves to cook too. I love this man) So now years after my Mother has passed on my husband allows the poke salad to grow wild in his garden. I don’t have pictures of this today. But here is the recipe that my husband has adapted to his own taste.
Fresh picked poke salad ( you will learn to adjust the amount to your families size) Enough beef, chicken or vegetable broth to cover the poke Several eggs ( this too you will learn to adjust according to preference Salt and Pepper (the same) Wash the poke well. We let ours set in water for a while. Remove stems. Tear or chop into medium size pieces. Add enough broth to cover. Plain salted water will do. The broth is my husband’s adaption. After leaves are tender and shriveled down (like spinach) drain well and add to skillet. While the juices cook down on the spinach. Beat your eggs and add some salt and pepper. You can adjust this after it is cooked. When the juice is cooked down to just a little add the eggs and cook until the eggs are done. Just like you would do scrambled eggs. My husband sometimes adds a little ms dash while it is cooking. Sometimes he also adds cheese and bits of ham after it has finished cooking. And the good news for you non weed eaters is that you can substitute spinach.My sweet Mother left us 5 years ago one day before I lost my leg. I didn’t get to attend her death bed or her funeral. She passed on sunday January 12th. The last time I had with her was in the hospital a few days before Christmas. Then as my health deuterated my husband and daughter insisted that I come home. But I cherish those few days. I remembered propping on the rail of her bed just memorizing her sweet face. She asked what I was looking at. I told her I was looking at her because she was so pretty. She told me ” Child I always thought you were blind!” This was something I told her often. Because of her weight problem she never felt pretty. But to me she was the most beautiful woman I knew. She was a warm lap and shoulder when I needed to cry. As an adult I still liked laying my head on her chest to hear the comfort that was her heart. Her hand was the cool one that soothed my brow when I was feverish. She was my best friend. The one I went to for advice when I needed reassuring that I was doing okay as a wife and mother. I miss her everyday of my life. And if I had a choice of her or my leg back I would want her.
Below is a picture of her and my children when they were small. It is on the porch swing of the old land mark house I grew up in and my sister lives in today. Every child adored her and she them. She could quiet babies when on one else could. They loved to snuggle in her arm on her warm bosom. God Bless, Patty
