A Momma’s Muse: Simple Kentucky Cooking with a Dash of Memories

Lately, I've been craving simplicity of just plain living. Sometimes my mind wonders back to growing up in Kentucky. Maybe it's the hot summer months here that remind me of the Appalachain mountains. Mostly, I miss looking up into the dark sky and seeing hundreds of stars shining like diamonds amongst a black canvas. The lightning bugs would flicker their yellow light as if to light the way to somewhere magical. And the sounds of Kentucky would fall asleep for another night...

At the present moment, we live nowhere near the country but not directly in the city. It has it's perks but sometimes it would be nice to be home again. Today I noticed two overly ripe bananas sitting on my counter. I was in clean-up mode and ready to trash them but something stopped me. I remembered Mamow Faye's Banana Bread. Nothing compared to the smell of moist banana bread filling her home. I wished I could ask her to make some but knew the eight hour drive was impossible for us. A sort of sad melancholy feeling arose in my heart. I almost threw the bananas in the trash. And then something said, "Remember Kim, if you don't like your situation then change it. Make it yourself. It won't be like hers but it will be pretty close."

So I opened up my favorite cooking website, allrecipes.com and typed in Banana Bread. The very first recipe was simple-exactly what I needed. I checked my pantry for the ingredients and found everything but the second cup of all purpose flour. But sitting right next to it was a small bag of whole wheat flour...maybe I could use that in place of the all purpose flour. I pulled it out and noticed a bag of walnuts and dried cranberries behind it-perfect! Mamow used walnuts in hers but not cranberries. Still the idea sounded appealing to me.

Baby Boy walked into the kitchen while I was mixing things up. I picked him up and sat him on the counter. A cooking partner...I love cooking with my kids. After I had poured the batter into the loaf pan, I put the bowl in between his legs and let him lick away. He was hooked after the first bite!

As I placed the loaf pan in the oven, my heart was beginning to warm again at the thought of sharing old southern traditions with my son. "How about a whole southern meal," I thought. "...with real mashed potatoes and corn."

I threw a pork loin in the roaster and began cutting up the red potatoes. In a separate pan went the canned corn (simplicity) and butter. I boiled the potatoes until they were nice and soft. I remembered my other Mamow, Mary Lou had once told me the secret to mashed potatoes... the trick was to save some of the hot starchy water in a coffee cup and microwave a little butter with milk in another coffee cup. When you are ready to blend it, use a little of both to keep your potatoes warm and fluffy. They were perfectly done. Paula Deen would have been so proud.

I plated the food and told everyone to come eat. They all filed in as if they were starved and sat down for the prayer. Before eating, I surveyed my family enjoying the food and it pleased me. I felt proud to have remembered and shared some of the Kentucky traditions of cooking with my family. For dessert, I took out the warm banana bread and cut each one a slice. Mmmm, so good. The inside was fluffy but not crumbly and the outside was golden brown. I'm not gonna lie. I still missed my Mamow Faye making it. You just can't compete with years of experience. But it taught me something very important; even though we don't always have our family close by, the memories and love we shared will last for a lifetime.