WONDERFUL AROMAS

Fall brought with it many wonderful smells, Most of the crops would be harvested, and there were many forms of nourishment prepared for the long winter ahead. Patsy recalls opening the porch door only to be met by the marvelous smell of chow simmering on the stove. Another evening it was mustard pickles that appealed to her taste buds. Even the pickling spice floating around the cucumbers added a tingle to her nostrils.

Jam was a delicacy in our house, and often made a bedtime snack when smothered on fresh biscuits. Rhubarb, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries were picked when in season, and were stored in the deep freeze until we needed them. Then on a stormy day I would make some jam, and the aroma would fascinate everyone. It would be a different variety each week and that would make it taste even better.

We had a transparent apple tree, so, when the children perceived this luscious smell protruding from the oven, they knew that they were in for a

treat of apple pie. All the fruit was picked by hand when it was in season. We did not have

a plum tree, so we bought plums instead. As strange as it might seem, this jam was the most popular, and seemed to disappear before the others.

We grew our own rhubarb, so always had a bottle of rhubarb jam in the fridge, Blair’s friend, Kevin Hughes, who was our next door neighbor, loved to join us for meals. We had a large, round, spacious table in our kitchen, so everyone pushed their chairs closer together, and Kevin made the tenth member of our family to enjoy a meal together. Kevin really like rhubarb jam, so if it was not on the table, he would get up and fetch it from the fridge himself. It was a joy to have him join us, for he loved to eat.

Picking cranberries was one job that the children liked to avoid. They tried their best to have a reason to escape from the chore of crawling through the wet bogs to retrieve the red berries. Try as they may, they ended up joining us for the Sunday afternoon activity. Joe was not pleased with the job either, so when someone asked, “When are we going home?” Joe liked to hear that, so, he would answer, “That’s it for now”, and the happy car load all got on board and we left for home with enough cranberries to

last all winter.

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