Chapter 4

Perseverance Pays

Young Adulthood

There were a few restaurants in King George at that time, along with a few small mom and pop stores. There was Stuckey's on the corner of the two main highways, Rt 3 and Rte 301. Stuckey's was a small town shop, which sold knickknacks and homemade jellies and jams.

However, the best food could be found in the homes of many of the residents of King George. The most popular southern-styled home cooked meals were fried fish, mashed potatoes, corn bread, greens, and chicken and dumplings. The mention of chicken and dumpling reminds me of Grandpa's homemade chicken and dumplings. Grandpa was a great cook, and Daddy learned from his father how to cook a good Southern meal.

In preparing to make chicken and dumplings, Grandpa bought two fresh chickens from the local market, cut them up, and put them in a large stainless steel pot. Grandpa filled the pot with water. Then, he added some cut up celery stalks, onion, pepper, salt, and other seasonings. As the chicken cooked, he prepared to make the dumplings from scratch. He walked into the pantry next to the kitchen. In the pantry, there was a large white freezer on the floor and around the perimeter of the room were shelves and more shelves. It also had a small window, which looked out into the back yard. From the window you could see the clothesline and the garage, as well as the remnants of the chicken coop.

To make the dumplings, Grandpa took down from the shelf a huge metal container, with the dark letters nearly rubbed off, labeled “flour.” Then after clearing off the table, he sat down with the flour, a bowl, and a rolling pin. He put some water in a cup and set it on the table as well. He spooned the flour into the bowl without even measuring. After adding a little bit of salt from the shaker, he stirred the flour and salt and gradually added water to the flour mixture. He stirred it until it was sticking to the spoon in a big lump. He put some flour on the table and dropped the sticky mixture onto the table. He kneaded the dough and added flour until the stickiness was gone. He took his rolling pin and rolled the dough until it was about 2 inches high. Finally, he cut out round circles of the dough using the round metal measuring cup.

When the chicken was almost done Grandpa added the dumpling biscuits to the boiling water with chicken. The dumplings floated on the top of the pot. He stirred the dumplings occasionally so they wouldn't stick together. He knew to cook them just to the point before the liquid turned floury.

Doc, no doubt, missed his father's chicken and dumplings when he moved to King George. He wouldn't have much opportunity to eat out at restaurants. Those were lean years for him, especially right after moving to King George