Sacred and Intimate: The Supper Table

When time was simple and less complicated we would gather around the supper table. Most of the time this was a place of comfort and replenishment but there were times of discord and discomfort. Looking back, there was more comfort and replenishment. The difficult times are more forgotten.

When we were all home, daddy sat at the head of the table, and I sat at the other end. Brothers David and Glenn sat to dad’s left with David next to him and Glenn next to me. Momma sat on dad’s right and sister Diane sat between momma and me.

Momma was last to sit on most occasions as she finished placing food on the table. When we were poor, mamma would stand at the sink and say she was not hungry. I realized she was sacrificing for us. During the good plenteous times momma fixed multiple dishes. There would be oiled taters for daddy who did not eat butter of dairy products and creamed potatoes for the rest of us. Mamma always fixed two pans of chicken and dressing. One did not have onions for David. We did not have much beef but had lots of pork when we started raising hogs. I can still smell momma’s pork roast she would have for Sunday dinners.

At one time mamma and daddy both worked evening shift. When my brothers, sister, and I got home from school, momma would have our supper waiting on the table. When momma went to working, she would buy us store bought cookies instead of having her homemade cookies, pies, and cakes. Most people call it progress we called it yuck.

Momma was a great cook. Our teenage friends discovered her cooking and the folks around the table grew exponentially.

The Hoppers are big eaters. I remember morning when daddy and my brothers are pancakes faster than momma could flap them. Hoppers often distain leftovers and daddy encouraged us to eat everything the first go-a-round. Our poor dogs and hogs suffered the consequences of our total annihilation of the food.

When times were hard, we ate fried potatoes, field peas, and cornbread. I once told momma that if I ever got grown that I would never eat fried taters, peas, and cornbread again. I was true to my word until I realized I missed momma's taters, peas, and cornbread. I wish I had some now!

Momma got used to cooking large meals and when she was alone after daddy died, she could not prepare a small meal. I remember her coming home from work and preparing a seven-course meal having to invite folks to have supper with her.

Supper time was family time. All of us were sharing life and discussing problems. Grace was always spoken. Daddy would usually call on one of us to say it. There were rules at the table. If someone asked to past a bowl or plate of food, no one could intercept food until after the one requesting got his or her portion.

Another important rule was if you dipped it, you ate it. There was no waste. Another rule was one piece at a time until everyone had a chance to get a piece. There was no reaching across the table. One politely asked to pass the food such as “pass the biscuits please.” If there was one piece left you had to ask, “Does anyone want that last piece of chicken?” If no one wanted it then you could have it.

There is a sacred bond and intimacy formed at the supper table. Hats at the table were forbidden. Shirts were mandatory. Before leaving the table, you had to ask, “May I be excused?” We were poor but tried to have good manners.

Slowly the supper included wives and husbands, kids and friends and another table. Eventually the family suppers dwindled and neither the table nor the house exists. There are wonderful memories of the supper table. Love and family traditions continue as we gather at family suppers. We all look forward to Jesus’ Supper.

 

And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God Revelation 19:9 KJV

Black-eyed Peas, Collard Greens and Cornbread

Black-eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, hawg jowl, and hawg tail sounds like granny’s menu for Uncle Jed, Jethro, and Ellie Mae on The Beverly Hillbillies. In reality is was the smell of New Year’s Day dinner by the Hopper family. It is a family tradition of the South. Grannie Hopper and Grandmoe Chapman were connoisseurs of Southern cuisine.

The black-eyed peas ensured that families would have plenty of coins. Collards meant folding money and cornbread meant gold. Some folks call it “Soul Food.” Well, as a history major it is “Poor Irish Food.” In Alabama, home to many Scot-Isish immigrants, Native Americans (Indians) taught Scot Irish how to cook indigenous vegetation such as cornbread and greens. Greens could be dandelions, pokeweed, or wild lettuce.

My University of Montevallo history professor read an early journal written by Irish that settled in Alabama. The journal described a family meal. When he read it most students said it sounded like soul food. Dr. Fuller said it was Irish. Africans were hunter-gathers, and the Indians taught the Irish which taught the Blacks how cook. Bottom line it is the poor people’s meal. Poor is not a respecter of color.

Granny Hopper was a sharecropping widow raising nine children during the Great Depression. Daddy said that when they killed a “hawg” they only thing they threw away was the squeal. They ate all the meat, used the hair for mattress stuffing, and bones for fertilizer. I have helped Granny “sling” the guts (chitterlings) when we killed hogs.

Grandmoe Chapman was faithful to cook black eyed peas, turnip greens, and cornbread. During the Great Depression, mamma said Grandmoe cooked racoon and opossum. It was special when the had hawg jowl to flavor the peas and greens. Grandmoe’s specialty was hawg head cheese. When we killed hogs, she wanted the hog’s head to make it. I never ate it on New Year’s Day or any other time. I didn’t eat chitterlings either.

Yankees had black-eyed peas to feed livestock. Southern soldiers cooked them to survive. Peas eaten with Johnnie or hoecake (cornbread) was a staple during the War of Northern Aggression. After the War of Northern Aggression, poverty-stricken Southerners ate the peas, greens, and cornbread as a sigh of resilience and hope.

After decades of eating black-eyed peas, I never saw many coins even though daddy received “pennies” from unemployment several Christmas’s and New Years. Collars, turnip greens, and mustard were delicious with homemade pepper sauce and pone crackling cornbread, but we never saw much folding money and no gold. We always had hope.

As 2025 draws to a close, let us have hope and share it. God blesses the United States, and we take if for granted. We waste so much in a world that needs so much. Lisa will prepare black-eyed peas, turnip greens, and cornbread laced with bacon grease for New’s Year Day. I’d rather grill some hawg. My reasoning is that pigs eat peas, turnip greens, and cornbread and by me eating pig I will have them converted into chops, ribs, or tenderloin.

For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. Mark 14:7 KJV

“Give Thanks” is one of my favorite songs. It has the line which says, “let the weak say, “I am strong” Let the poor say, “I am rich” rooted Joel 3:10 KJV

 “Let the poor say I am rich” shows the importance of gratitude and perspective. It reminds that true wealth is not just measured by material possessions but by our relationship with God and our attitude towards life.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 KJV

As 2025 shifts to 2026 and we make all the adjustments for a new beginning hope and resilience will help us face the uncertainties of life. With Jesus we have new beginnings, hope, and help.

Happy New Year tell a friend if you enjoy the blog.

                                                                

 

 

Collard Greens, Hawg Jowl, Cornbread, and Black-eyed Peas

Now that we have had time for our hawg jowl and blacked-eyed peas, cornbread, and collared greens to digest, how are our New Year’s resolutions coming? 

Momma always served the poor folks meal in hopes that the peas would bring more pennies and the collards would bring more dollars.  They never did but we did enjoy the food even though daddy said that cooking collards smelled as bad as a dead person did.

New Year’s resolutions usually last as long as the first piece of red velvet last with a cup of coffee.  They last less than trip to the gym and much shorter than the soreness from the exercise.

Have you ever thought who started resolutions?  New Year is the oldest of all holidays.  Ancient Babylon observed it about 4000 years ago. Around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon or Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).  The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year since it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical or agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

“The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.
The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.
The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new. The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune. (answerbag.com/q_view/39353)
In the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year's Day to December 25, the birth of Jesus. Then they changed it to March 25, a holiday called the Annunciation. In the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar, and the celebration of the New Year was returned to January 1.”

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:13-14 KJV)

Black-eyed peas and hawg jowl, collard greens, and cornbread are good food to eat, but as believers, our spiritual nourishment comes from God’s Word.  Resolutions are made to break, while sacrifice last.  There is no good luck, but God marvelous grace and the opportunity to press forward.