In the kitchen

Long before genealogy became a professional pursuit for me and long before I had done any reasonably exhaustive research of my own, I knew my dad’s Grandma Hirons, my great-grandmother, Ruth Ann (née Crawley) Hirons, although she passed in 1957 and I wasn’t born until 1970. I knew her for her love of comforting good food, her exceptional skills for baking and cooking, and her ornery sense of humor!

As I was growing up, and well into my adult life, at every Hirons Thanksgiving and Christmas get-together, or at spring and summer family picnics, I’d overhear my Nana along with my dad & uncles as they caught up with one another and reminisced and laughed with each other — about days gone by, funny moments, and precious remembrances. These are such wonderful memories for me to think back on those gatherings, to be a part of a family that was, and is, genuinely joyful to see each other.

Hirons family gatherings were (and often still are!) set around the kitchen — expanses of homecooked comfort-food staples: calorie-laden, carb-loaded, butter-rich, sugar-saturated delicious FOOD! Over the years, above the din of the dishes, the shuffling of the silverware and the clinking of the ice cubes in plastic cups, it was in the echoes of family banter year after year that I ‘met’ my great-grandma Hirons.

If someone complimented my Nana on her homemade pie, she would exclaim that she could never make a pie crust to compare to Grandma Hirons’ — well, you know she baked her biscuits and her pie crusts with lard! Or, if someone remarked at the considerable amount of food before us, another would contest that it didn’t compare to the spread at Grandma Hirons’ house.

Beyond the decadent descriptions of her baking and cooking, there were a few stories that made the rounds year after year, comical defining tales that told me far more than any census or vital record. The following are a few of those stories as I heard them:

“Grandma Hirons made a pie on April Fools’ day — filled a perfectly prepared pie crust from scratch with cotton wool and then topped it with a magnificient meringue. She placed the carefully crafted pie in the middle of the kitchen table, leaving it unattended knowing it would tempt her brother-in-law, Hobart, who was always sneaking a bite from anything left out. Just as she anticipated, he couldn’t resist the beautifully crafted pie that he saw there. Much to his disappointment, he cut into the pie only to find it filled with cotton.”

“Grandma Hirons was extremely supertitious! One time, while driving to town (Muncie), a black cat crossed their path. She made Grandpa Hirons turn around and go back home (near Gaston) and start their trip over to reverse the bad luck.”

“Once Grandma Hirons was out with Grandpa Hirons (my great-grandfather O.P. Hirons) in his Ford Model T as he went to visit a customer from his tinner shop. He left her out in the car, while he went in to chat with the customer, who was also a good friend. She grew quite impatient with the waiting, so much so that somehow she engaged the motor of the car. She knew nothing of driving an automobile — she did not know how to stop it! Upon hearing her screaming, the men ran out of the house only to see her driving in circles, but then she headed straight for the barn as she was yelling ‘Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!’ — as she knew to do to stop a horse! She finally managed to stop the car by running the car right into the side of the barn.”

Recipes

In recent years I have had the honor of learning more about my great-grandmother Ruth. In doing so, I have had the privilege of getting to better know her other grandchildren and great-grandchildren — to learn about their experiences and their stories. These connections are the true motivation — the reason to pursue genealogy — the relationships that are built in the here-and-now, the understanding that comes from learning about our shared history. In doing so, I have a few of Ruth’s recipes that her granddaughter Marcia wrote down. To my cousin Vicki, Marcia’s daughter, thank you for sharing them with me to include in this post!