49 
     
    
   
   
    
     was a staple. Covered with brown sugar, 
     
     or with molasses when sugar was scarce, 
     
     and coated with fresh cream, it was a 
     
     delicious first course. It was not 
     
     uncommon for this to be followed by a 
     
     plate of pan-fried steak or great slabs of 
     
     crisply rendered pork, accompanied by 
     
     fried eggs and toasted homemade bread. 
     
     The bread was toasted on a wire rack 
     
     over the coals of the kitchen stove. 
     
     Freshly baked biscuits, coated with 
     
     churned butter and cold, thick molasses, 
     
     were washed down with cups of sugar- 
     
     sweetened boiled tea. Coffee was not yet 
     
     in vogue. 
     
    

    
     The main meal was at midday, 
     
     sometimes as early as eleven o’clock. It 
     
     always consisted of potatoes, turnips, 
     
     carrots, and pork or beef smothered in 
     
     lots of gravy. Again there were plates of