Friday, January 14, 2022

52 Ancestors 2021: Week 49: Homemade

I think most of my ancestors were renowned for one thing or another - but probably none were more known for something than my Great-Grandpa and his apple cider or apple butter. After all, he did run an apple orchard. Just as renowned as he, though, was my Great-Grandma for her Jam Cake.

Apparently, every family has their own Jam Cake recipe and the Blanford family is no exception. There's variations of the recipe, too, depending on which daughter of Lorene's makes it. One uses pear preserves, and one I believe uses peach preserves. 

In the recipe box in the closet on the top shelf is the recipe for Jam Cake and Jam Cake Icing, which is almost more labor intensive than the cake itself. There also lies a recipe for apple cider and for apple butter. 

Apple butter is my personal favorite - I love it more than peanut butter, more than any jelly, jam, or preserve. I love it so much that I took a jar to school in first grade to share with my class. These days, you can't do that - the school would automatically assume you're trying to poison all the kids. 

My Great-Grandma also made a lot of pies and cobblers - as fruit was fairly plentiful when other things were not back in the Great Depression days. They would buy flour in huge sacks so homemade biscuits were a regular staple at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Blanford family also drank coffee and sweet tea in copious amounts - matter of fact, I'm pretty sure we drank it in our baby bottles. 

No, my story is not unlike any other farming family. They all survived on what they could and made what they had. In his later years, I hear my Great-Grandpa threw quite the fish fry. He had a lake that he kept stocked with catfish, bass, and other goodies. I've also heard tale of a few barbecues throughout the years. 

I wish I had some photographs of Great-Grandma Lorene cooking, but I do have a few of Great-Grandpa Dick and his apples and also cooking on the grill that I'll share. 




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