Today we have another great blog post from Kay Bess. Last week she wrote about the Pink Scarf Project. This is another post in a series about what life is like here in southern West Virginia. Of course, you don’t have to live here to get a feel for it; just come visit us. We can help with that.
The Secret To Grandma’s Magic West Virginia Recipe
I am a West Virginia woman, born and raised in one of America’s Coolest Small Towns, Fayetteville.
My grandparents lived on a working farm just across the New River Gorge in a tiny town called Edmond (home of America’s smallest post office!). We would go there for dinner every Sunday of my childhood. This was before the New River Gorge Bridge was built, of course, and our trip involved a drive down into the gorge and back up again. What now takes about 45 seconds used to take closer to 45 minutes!
My grandmother always baked all her bread and desserts during the week, because back in that time period you cooked very little on the Sabbath Day. Sunday was a day for church and visiting with relatives, and dinner was always a feast to behold: chicken, pork, or beef that they raised on the farm, vegetables and salad fixings from their two gardens, and at least three desserts and three kinds of bread. Everything was always fresh and delicious, in a way you can only get from a place you call home.
When we arrived my grandmother used to give us kids a small piece of homemade bread slathered with jam or jelly to “tide us over till dinner was ready.” Then, she would do her “magic trick”, which we loved and never got tired of seeing.
She would take a can of evaporated milk from the refrigerator and pour it into a metal mixing bowl. Then, she would get her rotary hand beater and start beating the milk at a rapid speed. We would watch her arms shaking and our eyes would get bigger as the milk doubled, then tripled in volume. It was an amazing sight for all of the kids, every time.
Next she would add sugar and vanilla. And PRESTO, the most mouthwatering whipped cream you ever tasted would fill the bowl to the brim.
There was only one thing that kept us kids from diving into that creamy topping: my grandmother. She had a strict rule that adults had to be served their dessert first (with the magical whipped cream on top) before the children could have any. If there was any left, that is.
So we stood around in anticipation, holding our spoons, impatiently waiting for that moment to arrive. Sometimes, we got a bowl of that sweet vanilla mixture, other times just a few spoonfuls. But it was always so worth the wait. To this day, I can still taste the creamy texture and picture my grandmother doing our favorite magic trick!
Recipe
Elizabeth Morrison’s Whipped Cream (makes 8 cups)
1 Can evaporated milk
½ to ¾ cup sugar, depending on taste
1 tsp vanilla
Place milk in refrigerator for 24 hours to chill. Pour into glass or metal mixing bowl. Beat with mixer until peaks form, and gradually add sugar until blended. Add vanilla. Serve on any pie, cobbler or dessert. Or just fill a bowl and grab a spoon. Must be used immediately, as it will become milk again if allowed to sit in a warm room.
I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that last part.
Tags: life in the new river gorge, west virginia recipes, whipped cream
Thank you, Kay, for that great trip down memory lane. Our grandmother’s cooking was definately something worth standing in line for. I can still see her working in that tiny kitchen, an apron always around her waist. Grandma (and her house) are gone now. But, the memories, and recipes, will live on through generations to come. I suddenly have the urge to make a dessert for dinner tonight. And so it goes……………….
My mother used to make whip cream out of can milk when I was a little girl. I loved it.Thank for the memory.
I think the memories from the recipes are like the memories you make from a vacation to Southern West Virginia. You will re-live them over and over for years to come and want to make a return visit with your children and grandhildren to make new memories. This is such a beautiful region with so many great opportunitites for outdoor activities, one of the many reasons I chose to remain here, raise my family and work in tourism.
My Mom and Dad were from Shady Spring and Hinton, respectively. When I was a kid, we would take the entire month of August and vacation on my Mom’s old homeplace. We learned about the “holler” and “snipe” hunting!!(lol)..Most of all, I remember the cooking!…My Aunt and Mom would be whipping up stuff all the time!!..and, oh, the smells!!…My Mom would cook some of the dishes back at home in Chicago, but my Aunt Ethel could REALLY cook!!…(only person my Mom EVER admitted could out-COOK her!!!…lol)…what GREAT memories!!…..they are at rest there in the mountains and I long to get back to West-By-God-Virginia!!…..It holds a very SPECIAL place in my heart!!….Rick Surbaugh…Mokena, Illinois
Thanks for the comment Rick. I am a WV girl and grew up thinking no one could cook quite like my Mother. Great traditions (and country cookin’) here in WV.
I was born and raised in Hinton, but left there as a teen and never really looked back. It has only been recently that I have begun to recall and appreciate what it was like growing up there. Both of my grandmothers were fantastic cooks. One was the wife of a coal miner from Beckley. The other was the wife of a railroader/farmer who owned a farm in the outskirts of Hinton.
Both of them could make the BEST fried potatoes and onions, brown beans and cornbread. The southern WV style of cornbread is to die for. It’s gooey, moist and sour with a thick crust (always made in an iron skillet), and is best eaten drenched with butter and stirred into a big glass of buttermilk, or stirred into pinto bean soup (flavored with bacon grease) and eaten with a slice of sweet raw onion.
My mother comes from a family of 12, all of whom have long since moved from WV. When we all get together once every few years the most oft requested meal is brown beans and cornbread!
FYI, our southern WV cornbread is not that overly sweet, dry “Yankee cornbread” they serve in the northern counties of WV
. I made that once and my mother discarded it and made me learn how to make it the right way.
Thank you so much for the comment. We know exactly what you mean about Southern WV cornbread! After reading your comment I think I may have to go home and make some.