America's Kitchen
Lovingly Dedicated to America Elizabeth Hatfield McCoy
There's something about an old-fashioned kitchen
That takes my mind back to times long ago
Where there were homemade apple pies and mothers
Clad in long aprons and kneading bread dough
The room smelled of spices, of yeast and fresh fruit
And the canned goods that lined the pantry shelf
Nothing compared to the aroma of freshly baked bread
Slathered with butter that she had churned herself
Hot biscuits for breakfast and cornbread at night
Over the years, made for lots of good eating
Bacon, eggs and gravy and soupy pinto beans
She made while holding the baby she was feeding
Every Friday was set aside for baking and desserts
And she made enough to feed the family for a week
Pies cooling on the windowsills and cookies on racks
We licked the bowls then a few samples we'd sneak
Many a hot, summer day was spent in that kitchen
With canning fruit, homemade marmalade and jellies
But on the cold, long and blustery days of the winter
All that canned stuff brought satisfaction to our bellies
Holidays were always special and there was plenty of food
Eight children, parents and friends could eat their fill
Baked ham from the smokehouse, roast turkey fresh plucked
Fresh milk, apple cider and moonshine from the still
She never went to school and couldn't read any books
But had more knowledge in her head than a computer
Life surely wasn't easy in the early nineteen hundreds
When America Hatfield had Frank McCoy as her suitor
Feeling so privileged to have been part of her family
I benefitted from the fine examples that she set
A hard-working, god-fearing Christian mother and wife
Good times in America's kitchen are ones I will never forget
Kathleen McCoy EldridgeŠ
March 31, 2007
All Rights Reserved
|