Eatin' purple Spaghetti

Marylou was the best Italian cook I have ever known . She has been a friend of the family since I can remember, and was more like an aunt than a friend. She now lives in Michigan now, and I still love her as much as ever.

Marylou made the absolute best spaghetti sauce I have ever tasted. She made it from scratch from tomatoes she had grown and canned herself. She used fresh herbs, mushrooms, and vegetables.

One day, Marylou called everyone, and invited them for a spaghetti supper. Only after she had called and invited about 15 people did she discover the only tomatoes she had left were yellow tomatoes. After thinking a little bit, she decided to go ahead and make the sauce with them, justifying it by saying it would still taste the same.

I don't know how many people make their own sauce anymore, but it is not something that can be done in 10 minutes. Marylou usually cooked hers about 5 hours. When she took it off the heat, she realized that it didn't look very good, but knew there was no time to make more.

When we got there, Mom helped Marylou cook the noodles.But at the last minute, Marylou came up with an idea. Instead of serving yellow sauce, she would simply add red food coloring , and fix everything. Little did she realize that the yellow of the tomatoes mixed with the red food coloring did not equal red. The sauce turned purple. Everyone ate it, and it tasted the same, but Marylou was so embarrassed I felt sorry for her.

I talked to Marylou the other day on the phone, and asked her if she remembered the purple spaghetti. Brought an instant laugh to her, then she asked me if I would ever let her live that down!

Big Piney 1

My father was a Baptist Minister, and preached at a small church in a community about 25 miles from our home called Big Piney. It was a town of good, hardworking people who enjoyed life to the fullest. Church was a small one room building. The pews were homemade with rough sawn lumber that were made by the men of the congregation in the 1920's after a tornado destroyed the original log building. There was no air conditioning, So in the summer, All the windows were thrown open to get as much circulation as possible. In the winter, the building was heated with an old pot belly wood stove. Winter meant that instead of Back-row Baptist, we were front-row Baptists, sitting as close to the stove as we could. Restrooms were provided, but were to separate privies at the back of the property.

There were no rooms for Sunday School, so when weather permitted, the children and young people had Sunday School on the lawn. We sat on the ground, and listened(most of the time) as the teacher taught from the Bible.

Once a month, we had dinner on the ground. Ladies would prepare their best dishes and desserts, and everyone ate, and visited with their friends. During the winter, they were held in the church, or at someone's house.

Almost everyone had electricity, but most had no indoor plumbing. While a couple had the hand dug wells, most had a modern type drilled well, but no pump. Water was retrieved by means of a well bucket.. Not actually a bucket, but a long metal cylinder that was lowered into the well, and then pulled up after it filled with water. Water was emptied into a regular bucket, and taken into the house. One bucket usually sat on a small table along with a dipper. Everyone used the same dipper. And no one died from it.

Indoor plumbing was almost unheard of here. Most had an outdoor privy, either a one or two hole model. But some just used the nearest tree. some chose not to use the privy in the summer, as you were almost guaranteed to have to fight off the wasps, and once in a while a snake or two. People become disturbed when a snake falls in their lap. Even heard of one man getting bit in the posterior by a copperhead when he sat down.

The town had an old country store that looked like the store from the Series, the Waltons. It was run by a man named "Boss" Page. He and his wife lived in a small house behind the store. Most of the items in the store were staples, as that was all most people could afford. There were several jars of penny candy on the counter, and a big crock full of dill pickles. There was lunch meat, but Boss bought it bulk. bologna came in 25 pound tubes. When you ordered it, he would slice it on a hand-cranked slicer, and put it on a old scale. He would always give you a little extra. A lot of the meat, eggs and vegetables they sold had been traded for staples like flour and sugar. When you went in to buy groceries, you didn't look around. You gave your list to Boss or his wife, and they got it for you. In front of the store sat a gasoline pump, one that had the hand pump where you pumped gas into a glass container on top, then it was gravity fed into your tank.

The town was very small, and the two room school went from1st -8th grade, then all the kids were bused to Plato to finish school. Plato was almost 25 miles away, and the kids got on the bus at 6 am every morning.

Most of the people in and around Big Piney were simple hill folk. Many did not hold a steady job other than farming. When they needed money, they might cut a load of wood for someone, or sell a pig. But Money was not a big concern for many. Most grew what they ate, and the only need for money was to pay taxes and buy staples like flour, sugar, and coffee.

To be continued........................