By Michele Carylon
When it comes to food, I might be the pickiest eater in my family. I hate everything from meatloaf to goulash. My family on the other hand will eat just about anything. Recently I sat down with my mother’s mom, Wilma Kingsbury, commonly known as “Nanny,” to try and figure out some information on where my food choices come from. Nanny currently lives in Junction City.
Nanny was quick to point out that a majority of our ancestors were English, and she was extremely proud to say so. Nanny was unaware of when exactly the ancestors came to the United States, but somewhere along the line they ended up in Smith County.
Smith County was a very rural community that faced a lot of the same weather conditions as Kansas faces now. The summers were hot and the winters were freezing and occasionally Nanny and her family had to deal with dirt storms.
Nanny grew up in a family of nine. She was the youngest and by the time she came around in 1927 some of her older siblings were already living out on their own, creating their own families. Her father, Elmer Wilkerson, was farmer who raised livestock. Elmer also did the butchering of their cows and pigs. He made most of his living by selling the butchered meat to local stores, but saved the family money by providing all of the meat the family needed.
Switching from horses to tractors
When Nanny was growing up, her father was still doing a lot of his farming with horses. As she got older they transitioned into tractors, but she can still remember being out there and helping her family to farm. Along with having a fairly abundant supply of meat, they also had their own milk from their cows and eggs from the chickens that they raised.
My great grandmother’s name was Jenny Mable Wilkerson. While my grandmother was growing up her mother had a significant role in everyday family life. She was not only the cook, but she also cleaned, cared for the children and helped with the multiple chores that farm life presents. The family meals that Jenny prepared typically consisted of meat and potatoes as well as some kind of homemade bread.
Although Nanny’s father farmed, her mother had a difficult time making a small family garden work due to the incredibly hot and dry conditions. Nanny talked about remembering how much her mother would can. Apparently they would buy potatoes from the sale barn for $1.99 for a hundred pound sack, some of which would be used to prepare meals and the rest would be canned. Nanny also rolled her eyes thinking about the fact that her mother also canned vegetables, meats and the dreaded tomatoes.
One summer Nanny and her mother canned one hundred quarts of tomatoes, some of which were sold and rest was used by the family. Since the family struggled to get a garden to really grow they relied on buying fruits and vegetables by the bushel and then they would can them for later use. Nanny can still remember snapping and cleaning green beans by the bushel in order to can them. She hated it.
She loved her mother’s fried chicken
When I was talking to Nanny about her childhood, she was very eager to talk about her favorite meal growing up. The meal consisted of her mother making homemade fried chicken, roasted corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes, and occasionally they were treated to a loaf of bread that was purchased from a local baker for $.10 which was a family favorite. This meal happened every Sunday after church and it was one that all of the children looked forward too.
For special occasions like Christmas or Thanksgiving the kids were treated to a special menu. They would either have roasted duck, turkey or hen, and occasionally they would have ham. They would also have sweet potatoes, white potatoes, homemade pumpkin pie and a fresh fruit salad that consisted of bananas, grapes and oranges.
When talking to Nanny I kind of assumed that she had learned to cook from her mother, but she actually learned to cook from one of her older sisters, Ines. A lot of things learned were by watching and some of it was learned by trial and error.
One thing that Nanny did learn to cook from her mother was Chicken and Noodles. Nanny talked about how this was a rare treat, but one that was loved by all. After Nanny grew up and had children of her own, she started making Chicken and Noodles with beef instead of chicken. Her kids loved it and therefore Beef and Noodles was born and has been passed on the each of her kids and grandkids.
I consider myself very lucky to still have Nanny around and to have the opportunity to ask questions and learn from her. Although a lot of the foods that she cooked for her kids were never officially written down in recipes, the ones that were will always be cherished. It’s amazing to see how foods are passed from generation to generation and the changes that are made to make each dish a little better or different than the original.
Nanny’s Beef and Noodles
From Wilma Kingsbury
Serves 4 to 5.
1 pound stew meat
12 ounces of egg noodles (can be frozen or made from scratch)
4 beef bouillon cubes
Fill stew pot half full with water. Bring to a boil. Add meat. As water cooks out, add more. Make sure meat is fully covered by water. Add a bouillon cube every time you add more water. Once meat is cooked, add noodles. Bring noodles to a boil and then cook on low for 25 minutes.