Most folks have enjoyed eating a tomato sandwich — but what about a tomato biscuit.
Both are prepared basically the same way and that’s with fresh sliced tomatoes, plenty of salt and pepper, Duke’s Mayonnaise and bread. I know I’m going to get a little slack from our northern neighbors on the kind of mayo to use but everyone to his own.
When I was a young lad, I spent a lot of time living with my grandparents on their farm in Richmond County. Both my parents worked at public work and I just loved staying with my grandparents and uncle who all lived on a small farm.
At the crack of day, my grandma was fixing breakfast for all of us. She cooked the food on an old wood stove and would you believe she made a pan of homemade biscuits three times a day? She made her wonderful biscuits with Southern Flour, buttermilk and homemade lard. How many folks do that today? By eating biscuits three times a day, my grandmother (whom I called Ma) never bought much “light bread,” as she called it.
When garden season came in, we always had fresh produce and lots of tomatoes. Ma would have sliced tomatoes on the dinner table morning, noon and night. Sometimes, when the tomatoes got real ripe, Ma would make tomato pudding. Now I know most of you don’t know what kind of dish this is so I will explain. You peel and cut up ripe tomatoes to fill a stew-pot about half full. Cook these till they come to a good boil and then start adding sugar, sampling as to the amount of sugar you need. Cut the heat down some and break cold biscuits into bite-size pieces, add to your tomatoes and stir. Cut the heat off and let the flavors of the ingredients mix and cool down. Ma called this tomato pudding and I have probably eaten my weight in it.
Also during garden season, we would have what some old folks called roast’nears of corn. Won’t much sweet corn around back then so folks would just plant a type of field corn or a brand called Trucker’s Favorite. This corn grew tall and would produce large ears. Early, before the ears of corn got so hard, we would pull a mess for dinner or supper. We would then shuck the corn and remove the silks, place it into a dishpan and carry it into the kitchen for Ma to cook. Ma would get out her butcher knife and start cutting the corn off the cob. With the kernels of corn being so large a lot of starch or juice would be in the bottom of the dish pan. This — plus the fact that Ma fried the corn in bacon grease, flour and water — added just the right flavor and creamery to the corn. Folks, if’n you have never sat at a dinner table with a bowl of homestyle cream corn and several slices of homegrown tomatoes between a biscuit you don’t know what you have missed.
To finish off our meals we would slice one of them hot biscuits into, place some homemade butter on each half and pour on some Grandma’s Molasses or homemade jelly. Folks this was a meal fit for a king.
Back in the day we didn’t know what cholesterol was. Why, people didn’t have that many health problems until they died. Older folks spoke of having a little rheumatism but they managed to keep on going. Folks got up at daylight and went to bed when the sun went down. Hard work on the farm was a daily thing, whether it was working in tobacco or cutting firewood.
I wouldn’t take anything for the experiences and memories I have from living with my grandparents — especially them mater biscuits. Yum, yum.
J.A. Bolton is the author of “Just Passing Time” and co-author of “Just Passing Time Together.” He is also a member of the Anson County Writers Club and the Anson and Richmond County Historical Societies.
