It was pretty wonderful when my grandma would make chicken n’ dumplings. My mom, too. Sometimes we would have squirrel and dumplings. And if my grandmother made a pie with a latticed top, she would put the extra strips in the oven just for us. They weren’t hush puppies, but they served the same purpose. They gave us something to munch on and kept us quiet until the dumplings in the pot on the stove were ready. Oh, they were good. That would get us back from playing in the creek or down from climbing in a tree. Those were good ole days.
Sometimes I wonder when the kids of today grow up what their “good ole days” would look like. I guess some of their thoughts on the subject would be-
(1) they didn’t have to keep up with mama’s dumplin recipe because a meal service delivers a box full of microwavable black plastic trays of frozen food weekly.
(2) they didn’t ever have to actually do any homework because AI did it all for them in your own personal style.
(3) no need to watch what you eat because a shot every so often would make sure we kept our weight at an acceptable amount.
(4) they never really had to go to a store & shop for anything because you order from
the big warehouse with reoccurring deliveries of all life’s necessities.
(5) their mode of transportation was a self-driven airmobile that shuttled people anywhere they wanted to go.
(6) etc, etc, etc.
Most importantly to me is wondering where God & family fit into their so called “Good”Ole Days.
Let us all never forget…”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Squirrel was always a favorite of mine. My grandfather would always tell us don't kill something for sport. If you kill it be prepared to eat it. If we cleaned it mom would cook it, so squirrels were always a favorite.
Agree…but it takes a lot of squirrels to make a meal. We tried rat once…Bigmama figured they were eating her corn…so they were corn fed rats and they’d be tasty. Not much meat on rats either and they taste like squirrel.
A rural friend of mine once claimed that "country squirrels" tasted much better than "town squirrels." I asked how many squirrels were required to feed a family of four. His reply was that it depended upon how much biscuits and gravy you had to go with it.
We live a mile inland from the ocean and the squirrels here drive my husband nuts because they bother “his birds”. Wondering if “beach rats” would taste any different…😎
Any time I have a conversation with a young person, I actually tell him or her, “I can’t have a conversation with you until you look at me. And you will say ‘yes mam and no mam”. It works! I’ve had kids tell me nobody else does that. I don’t give this response, but it’s generally because the “adult” doesn’t want to be bothered; is too enthralled with his/her phone; probably doesn’t care. I do. Care
I tried something different with my 4th graders in Math class recently. Instead of them plugging in to an animated lesson on their laptops, I asked them to focus on me at the dry-erase board (formerly known as the “black board”). I told them that I was going to “teach” today’s lesson, putting problems on the board, and as we went along, I welcomed questions. We moved through the lesson TOGETHER, with everyone understanding. At the end, I asked them if they liked this engaged way of learning. Their answer? “No!! We LOVED it❣️” I rest my case.
Oh, I remember those days, Sean. I grew up in the 1950s, and there were eight people to feed in our home. Mom didn't make dumplings (we lived in California), but she kept our bellies full of delicious food—her tamale pie was unrivaled! When she told me to go out and play, the neighbor boys and me would head up into the Oakland hills and keep ourselves occupied for hours on end. Thanks, Sean, for this bit of nostalgia.
What fun, Sean, going down your Memory Lane. You pretty much described my own growing up in the ‘50’s. The more our world spins out of control, the older our memories become. Hard to believe how long ago the “good odd days” were! We shall never pass that way again 😥
It was super cute that you knew so early in life that you wanted to marry a tomboy. I figured you’d get your wish one fine day, and sure enough, you did 💞
My mom made chicken and dumplings sort of. Her dumplings were little homemade biscuits oh man there were good! I love your story more than anything I’ve read for a long time. I grew up then too, on a farm. My friend had a creek behind her house. It was the best of times. I miss a world without computers.
Oh my goodness, no, that Polaroid picture would have been way too expensive for that. Weren’t there only eight photos to a pack or something like that? And the lens was set up so that if you didn’t actually aim the camera down quite a ways you got a photo of people, or whatever your subject was, way down at the bottom and a whole lot of wall and ceiling or sky from the middle to the top of the frame. Oh, but we were proud of those. Pictures of dumplings? Oh, that would be so wasteful. But a group shot of your family, head to toe in the bottom third of the Polaroid, with the fireplace and all the stuff above it, complete with the painting and the Christmas decorations on top, that was going in the family album. Those were keepers.
I grew up in the 60's. We played on 'monkey bars' and swings with no padding underneath. We road in the back of trucks without any hint of a seat belt. We made brakeless 'cars' out of wood and wheels and careened down steep sidewalks. Best of all, we had a toy called a Vac-u-form. You could put a plastic sheet in, add a metal shaping mold and create cars and other fun stuff. It had a heating element that reached 400 degrees F--and we never got burned. That's because we knew better than to stick our hands on a boiling hot metal plate. Being a kid was much less stressy then.
Sean, too sweet that you married a tomboy. When you said that earlier in your essay, I somehow knew that Jamie was your tomboy! And I love that you called it Hush Now, because your mama had to concentrate on getting those dumplings just right. I don't remember my mother ever making dumplings. Her specialty was beef "hash," which was the beef left over from Sunday dinner (which was at noon after church) and paired up with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery for the Monday hash. Yum!
As a tomboy/mechanic's daughter who grew up in the country next door to three boys, the youngest a year older than me, it's only by God's mercy that I outlived my own childhood, but it was downright magical. There was a dairy farm across the back fence, a red fox in the woods, and real quicksand. Of course I got stuck in it, because the boys told me to walk across it. I jumped off a one-lane concrete bridge for the same reason, so my mama could never use the old "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you..." on me. If you couldn't keep up, you couldn't run with the boys, and the girls were boring. They were hard on me sometimes, but I never tattled, because then I'd be relegated to the ranks of the prissy little redheaded girl down the road. They made me tough, and I learned so much that still serves me well as a single 60-something who has her daddy's hammer and her own tool box. God bless the tomboys, and those of y'all who can keep up with us!
A friend of mines son shot a deer the evening of a school dance. He called his date, to tell her he would be late because he had to dress the deer. Her parents brought her over in coveralls, gloves and a hat. When they finished, they went inside cleaned up and went to the dance. When the girl came out, she looked great (with a little help from her mom). My friend told his son "Whatever you do, don't lose this one".
Yum ! Chicken & dumplings so comforting. We would stay outside untill supper time- no helmets or knee pads, no seatbelts. I watched a group of teens at the mall- they didn’t even look at each other- just stuck on their cellphones. We had dial phones and my dad would eavesdrop when I get calls from boys! I remember party lines- watching Andy, making chefboy ardee pizzas on Fri nites staying up late to watch Shock theater! Good memories. Hush now & eat the delicious meal the tomboy made just for you!
I have to admit though, Cheryl, that they don't compare to the pizzas nowadays. We thought they were great, didn't we?! 😂. A real treat. Of course, back then, what did we know?? We had nothing to compare them to. Lol. Looking back, comparatively, they were pretty lousy pizzas. 😂
Yep- mom didn’t cook on Fri nights! He would make those pizzas- I had nothing to compare it to so we loved it and he would pop popcorn on the stove- no microwaves back then. We loved Friday nights at home- we didn’t go out- it’s a great memory. It was a different time!
What a fun and wonderful memory, Cheryl!! My mom and dad both had full time career jobs, working Monday through Friday, so Fridays they were tired, so dad would always take the family out for a Friday meal evening meal. And then home to relax for the evening. Fridays were always special for us, too!
I one told one of my Granddaughters that she should try turning off her phone and leaving it her purse when she went on a date. She said she finally gave up because she was with a group, and no one spoke during supper.
I never see kids on bikes anymore. A guy or girl in a helmet wearing spandex shorts and shirts. But very rarely children riding bikes. Somehow seems a bit sad.
We roamed the neighborhood, riding bikes, climbing trees, exploring woods behind the houses, building tree forts, listening for the dinner bell that would ring out loud and clear, and off we’d run to our individual homes. Our parents didn’t worry where we were or what we were doing. Such a carefree life, 1950s-early 1960s. Except we had a couple of weirdos in the neighborhood: an exhibitionist and a peeping Tom. Mid 60s, the end of the innocence.
So far as chicken n dumplings, I think I’ll have a big pot on the stove tomorrow. Comfort food!
If ever there was the cutest story from yesteryear this is it!!! Rope swings, climbing trees and hours on bicycle adventures it was! I remember one of my best friends, and still to this day, walking into my yard, for the first time, asking, “Ya got any good trees ta climb?” Homemade cooked food was always served for supper, the perfect setting for all who gathered to share their day. Love the dumplings that began and ended this story…… thankful we hold on to family traditions in some way!
We still make dumplings and love them don’t we. If anybody in my family gets sick first thing we do or ask is who’s making the dumplings? Got get them some dumplings.
It was pretty wonderful when my grandma would make chicken n’ dumplings. My mom, too. Sometimes we would have squirrel and dumplings. And if my grandmother made a pie with a latticed top, she would put the extra strips in the oven just for us. They weren’t hush puppies, but they served the same purpose. They gave us something to munch on and kept us quiet until the dumplings in the pot on the stove were ready. Oh, they were good. That would get us back from playing in the creek or down from climbing in a tree. Those were good ole days.
Sometimes I wonder when the kids of today grow up what their “good ole days” would look like. I guess some of their thoughts on the subject would be-
(1) they didn’t have to keep up with mama’s dumplin recipe because a meal service delivers a box full of microwavable black plastic trays of frozen food weekly.
(2) they didn’t ever have to actually do any homework because AI did it all for them in your own personal style.
(3) no need to watch what you eat because a shot every so often would make sure we kept our weight at an acceptable amount.
(4) they never really had to go to a store & shop for anything because you order from
the big warehouse with reoccurring deliveries of all life’s necessities.
(5) their mode of transportation was a self-driven airmobile that shuttled people anywhere they wanted to go.
(6) etc, etc, etc.
Most importantly to me is wondering where God & family fit into their so called “Good”Ole Days.
Let us all never forget…”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Squirrel was always a favorite of mine. My grandfather would always tell us don't kill something for sport. If you kill it be prepared to eat it. If we cleaned it mom would cook it, so squirrels were always a favorite.
Agree…but it takes a lot of squirrels to make a meal. We tried rat once…Bigmama figured they were eating her corn…so they were corn fed rats and they’d be tasty. Not much meat on rats either and they taste like squirrel.
Didn't try rat even though my grandfather called squirrels "tree rats"
It was pretty weird….nobody but Bigmama and I would taste it. Trust me, not worth the effort!!!
A rural friend of mine once claimed that "country squirrels" tasted much better than "town squirrels." I asked how many squirrels were required to feed a family of four. His reply was that it depended upon how much biscuits and gravy you had to go with it.
We live a mile inland from the ocean and the squirrels here drive my husband nuts because they bother “his birds”. Wondering if “beach rats” would taste any different…😎
Smart man.
Any time I have a conversation with a young person, I actually tell him or her, “I can’t have a conversation with you until you look at me. And you will say ‘yes mam and no mam”. It works! I’ve had kids tell me nobody else does that. I don’t give this response, but it’s generally because the “adult” doesn’t want to be bothered; is too enthralled with his/her phone; probably doesn’t care. I do. Care
I tried something different with my 4th graders in Math class recently. Instead of them plugging in to an animated lesson on their laptops, I asked them to focus on me at the dry-erase board (formerly known as the “black board”). I told them that I was going to “teach” today’s lesson, putting problems on the board, and as we went along, I welcomed questions. We moved through the lesson TOGETHER, with everyone understanding. At the end, I asked them if they liked this engaged way of learning. Their answer? “No!! We LOVED it❣️” I rest my case.
I agree with you. I have been known to stop talking and walk away from kids that look at other things like phones when they talk to you.
Oh, I remember those days, Sean. I grew up in the 1950s, and there were eight people to feed in our home. Mom didn't make dumplings (we lived in California), but she kept our bellies full of delicious food—her tamale pie was unrivaled! When she told me to go out and play, the neighbor boys and me would head up into the Oakland hills and keep ourselves occupied for hours on end. Thanks, Sean, for this bit of nostalgia.
What fun, Sean, going down your Memory Lane. You pretty much described my own growing up in the ‘50’s. The more our world spins out of control, the older our memories become. Hard to believe how long ago the “good odd days” were! We shall never pass that way again 😥
It was super cute that you knew so early in life that you wanted to marry a tomboy. I figured you’d get your wish one fine day, and sure enough, you did 💞
My mom made chicken and dumplings sort of. Her dumplings were little homemade biscuits oh man there were good! I love your story more than anything I’ve read for a long time. I grew up then too, on a farm. My friend had a creek behind her house. It was the best of times. I miss a world without computers.
We did not use Dad's Polaroid to take instant photos of dumplings in Oklahoma. I think there was a law.
Oh my goodness, no, that Polaroid picture would have been way too expensive for that. Weren’t there only eight photos to a pack or something like that? And the lens was set up so that if you didn’t actually aim the camera down quite a ways you got a photo of people, or whatever your subject was, way down at the bottom and a whole lot of wall and ceiling or sky from the middle to the top of the frame. Oh, but we were proud of those. Pictures of dumplings? Oh, that would be so wasteful. But a group shot of your family, head to toe in the bottom third of the Polaroid, with the fireplace and all the stuff above it, complete with the painting and the Christmas decorations on top, that was going in the family album. Those were keepers.
❤️💕 My mom made the best ones….big fluffy dumplings!
My mom and my wife make great dumplings. I am lucky to have a wife that is an absolute great cook.
I grew up in the 60's. We played on 'monkey bars' and swings with no padding underneath. We road in the back of trucks without any hint of a seat belt. We made brakeless 'cars' out of wood and wheels and careened down steep sidewalks. Best of all, we had a toy called a Vac-u-form. You could put a plastic sheet in, add a metal shaping mold and create cars and other fun stuff. It had a heating element that reached 400 degrees F--and we never got burned. That's because we knew better than to stick our hands on a boiling hot metal plate. Being a kid was much less stressy then.
There were still kids who got hurt — or worse — because of the lack of seat belts, bike helmets, etc.
Some of them aren’t around to tell the other side of the story.
As far as toys with potential for hurting kids, well, we have adults who sue when hot coffee spills on them.
So manufacturers need to cover their assets when it comes to kids’ toys.
Sean, too sweet that you married a tomboy. When you said that earlier in your essay, I somehow knew that Jamie was your tomboy! And I love that you called it Hush Now, because your mama had to concentrate on getting those dumplings just right. I don't remember my mother ever making dumplings. Her specialty was beef "hash," which was the beef left over from Sunday dinner (which was at noon after church) and paired up with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery for the Monday hash. Yum!
As a tomboy/mechanic's daughter who grew up in the country next door to three boys, the youngest a year older than me, it's only by God's mercy that I outlived my own childhood, but it was downright magical. There was a dairy farm across the back fence, a red fox in the woods, and real quicksand. Of course I got stuck in it, because the boys told me to walk across it. I jumped off a one-lane concrete bridge for the same reason, so my mama could never use the old "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you..." on me. If you couldn't keep up, you couldn't run with the boys, and the girls were boring. They were hard on me sometimes, but I never tattled, because then I'd be relegated to the ranks of the prissy little redheaded girl down the road. They made me tough, and I learned so much that still serves me well as a single 60-something who has her daddy's hammer and her own tool box. God bless the tomboys, and those of y'all who can keep up with us!
A friend of mines son shot a deer the evening of a school dance. He called his date, to tell her he would be late because he had to dress the deer. Her parents brought her over in coveralls, gloves and a hat. When they finished, they went inside cleaned up and went to the dance. When the girl came out, she looked great (with a little help from her mom). My friend told his son "Whatever you do, don't lose this one".
Yum ! Chicken & dumplings so comforting. We would stay outside untill supper time- no helmets or knee pads, no seatbelts. I watched a group of teens at the mall- they didn’t even look at each other- just stuck on their cellphones. We had dial phones and my dad would eavesdrop when I get calls from boys! I remember party lines- watching Andy, making chefboy ardee pizzas on Fri nites staying up late to watch Shock theater! Good memories. Hush now & eat the delicious meal the tomboy made just for you!
Cheryl, you brought it all back to me!! Chef Boyardee pizzas on Friday nights!! I had forgotten all about those. ☺️
I have to admit though, Cheryl, that they don't compare to the pizzas nowadays. We thought they were great, didn't we?! 😂. A real treat. Of course, back then, what did we know?? We had nothing to compare them to. Lol. Looking back, comparatively, they were pretty lousy pizzas. 😂
Yep- mom didn’t cook on Fri nights! He would make those pizzas- I had nothing to compare it to so we loved it and he would pop popcorn on the stove- no microwaves back then. We loved Friday nights at home- we didn’t go out- it’s a great memory. It was a different time!
Cheryl, I remember Jiffy Pop!!
What a fun and wonderful memory, Cheryl!! My mom and dad both had full time career jobs, working Monday through Friday, so Fridays they were tired, so dad would always take the family out for a Friday meal evening meal. And then home to relax for the evening. Fridays were always special for us, too!
I one told one of my Granddaughters that she should try turning off her phone and leaving it her purse when she went on a date. She said she finally gave up because she was with a group, and no one spoke during supper.
I never see kids on bikes anymore. A guy or girl in a helmet wearing spandex shorts and shirts. But very rarely children riding bikes. Somehow seems a bit sad.
We roamed the neighborhood, riding bikes, climbing trees, exploring woods behind the houses, building tree forts, listening for the dinner bell that would ring out loud and clear, and off we’d run to our individual homes. Our parents didn’t worry where we were or what we were doing. Such a carefree life, 1950s-early 1960s. Except we had a couple of weirdos in the neighborhood: an exhibitionist and a peeping Tom. Mid 60s, the end of the innocence.
So far as chicken n dumplings, I think I’ll have a big pot on the stove tomorrow. Comfort food!
Sharon, my mom would ring a school bell for us to come to dinner and or to come in for the evening.
I like, I like and want to post and re post til all the Moms and Dads out there let their children out….outside to climb a tree!
If ever there was the cutest story from yesteryear this is it!!! Rope swings, climbing trees and hours on bicycle adventures it was! I remember one of my best friends, and still to this day, walking into my yard, for the first time, asking, “Ya got any good trees ta climb?” Homemade cooked food was always served for supper, the perfect setting for all who gathered to share their day. Love the dumplings that began and ended this story…… thankful we hold on to family traditions in some way!
We still make dumplings and love them don’t we. If anybody in my family gets sick first thing we do or ask is who’s making the dumplings? Got get them some dumplings.
I agree. Chicken and dumplings are the great cure all.
What is this "door bell" thingy ? With open windows and doors (no AC) they heared you come up.