Cousins and Cabbage
To
understand that last statement, you need to understand a different era in a
place called Kansas; a time when families gathered for Sunday dinner following
church. There were no weekend activities
like volleyball or softball tournaments for the kids. No television, so certainly no Sunday
football games to watch. Instead, the
women hustled around preparing Sunday dinner, the men sat around discussing
farm prices or whatever else men talked about in those days, and we children stayed outside, spring, summer, fall and winter, playing games popular at the
time. I could not for the life of me
tell you what games those were, but I do recall a lot of running.
When a
shout from inside signaled dinnertime, we scrambled into a house filled with
the smell of food and the voices of aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents,
teasing and laughing. After dinner, the
adults remained seated around my grandmother’s round oak table to let dinner
settle as they replayed the events of the week while the children returned to
the yard to resume their games; all, that was, except my cousin Faye and I who
happened to be the eldest girls and thus the designated dishwashers. Truth be told, I think Faye and I really
enjoyed that time together to chat and moan our mistreatment. That grumping, always with an underlying
laugh, continues today anytime we get together.
While my
mother and each of her siblings brought something to the party, it was Faye’s
parents, Uncle Frank and Aunt Jean, who seemed to fill up a room. Uncle Frank, now deceased, was ever the
prankster and tease, while Aunt Jean brightened every event with her Texas
charm while giving as good as she got from her sometimes dark-humored Kansas
in-laws.
Attending
this cousin reunion and watching my Aunt Jean enjoy her children, grandchildren
and great-grandchildren, it dawned on me that this wonderfully charming woman
from Texas continues to give as good and she gets and much more. The room around her absolutely vibrated with
love and I felt honored to find myself wrapped up in it.
I hated
telling everyone goodbye when the reunion ended, but Ida Mae made up for it on
my return to Colorado. True to her
promise, she led me through her garden pulling and cutting, and I came home
with bags of beets, turnips, onions and a lovely head of cabbage. I turned a portion of that cabbage into a scrumptious
salad based on a recipe I found in the Pony
Express Cookbook, Gothenburg Women’s Club, 20th Anniversary Edition,
that I picked up at the historic Pony Express Station in Gothenburg as I made
my way through Nebraska on my return from Iowa.
Since the
cabbage stays fresh and crisp for several days, you could easily double this
recipe.
¼ Head of cabbage, shredded (3-4 cups)
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ Cup white vinegar
2 Tablespoons Canola oil
¼ Teaspoon prepared mustard
¼ Teaspoon celery seed
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Place
shredded cabbage in a glass bowl.
Sprinkle sugar over cabbage and let stand at room temperature while
making dressing.
2. Combine
vinegar, mustard and celery seed in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over
medium heat.
3. Remove
mixture from heat, add oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place saucepan back on heat and return mixture to a boil.
4. Pour
hot dressing over cabbage and toss to combine.
5. Store
tightly covered in the refrigerator for at least eight hours or over night
before serving.
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