Sabbatical -- Day 58: Eat Local, Y'All

August 22

Today is the birthday of my youngest sibling, Melissa. She was born on August 22, 1964. I was five when she was born and just about to start kindergarten at William McKinley Elementary School in Tulsa. As the youngest of four, Melissa had three older and eager caretakers, and rivals. In a house of about 950 square feet the four of us were always in one another's space, and while we loved each other, we also tussled. Melissa was the youngest and the smallest, and she didn't always get the best deal. My sister fought against learning disabilities all her academic days but accomplished something I dearly wanted but never could; earning a degree from the University of Tulsa. She also completed the work for a Master’s Degree at the University of North Texas. She and her husband, Jon Olav, live in Oslo, Norway. You can read about her summer 2018 visit to Tulsa in the first week of posts from the sabbatical portion of this blog. Happy Birthday, MGJWriter!

Before lunch my time was filled with relaxation, lots of coffee, and catching up on the news out of the courts in New York and Virginia. Just before lunch I got myself ready and headed to Stanton, KY to buy some Cream Candy. According to Kelly there is only one Cream Candy that approximates what her family made growing up, and it's Crabtree's Candies in Stanton. I will get back to my visit in a minute, but first, let me say a bit about cream candy.

Growing up in Oklahoma we had no such confection that I can recall. Kelly's mother's family introduced me to Cream Candy. Kelly's grandmother, Elsie Wells Dale of Mt. Sterling, made it in the winter only, and kept bags of it frozen in her freezer for the warmer months. According to Cindy Gibbs at My Country Table, the recipe calls for sugar, pure vanilla and heavy whipping cream. Ms. Gibbs further writes, "Kentucky Cream Pull Candy is cooked to a hard ball stage, poured onto a very cold marble slab and when cooled enough to handle, is pulled like Taffy and stretched into a long-twisted rope and cut with scissors. It is left overnight to cream.  Many years ago candy makers thought the only way to get this candy to turn out perfect was to stand outside in freezing cold temperatures to pull it." Granny, as Kelly's grandmother was known, was a devotee of outside in the cold only. She had a metal hook installed on her back porch so she could pull the candy without the aid of another person.

Here's a link to Cindy Gibbs', My Country Table story on and recipe for Kentucky Cream Pull Candy.

I was not a quick fan of the Cream Candy. When creamed it does indeed melt in your mouth. It was when I bit into the frozen candy Granny used to keep on hand that I discovered I liked it. For years we kept it in our freezer too. Granny had a twist on the recipe that she perfected -- adding a bit of Maker's Mark. That was pretty good stuff. The marble slab Granny used has been preserved and the hook still hangs on the back porch of the farmhouse near Judy, KY.

One can understand then, how Kelly would be discriminating about her Cream Candy. When she can't get Mrs. Crabtree's candy she will eat Ma Blakeman's out of Lancaster, but Crabtree's is the prime. So, I made my way to Crabtree's Candies in Stanton on a mission. 

First View of the Mountains on the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway

Crabtree's Candies is on College St. in Stanton, KY

The candy shop was bright, well-organized and spotless clean

When I pulled into the lot in a shiny Ingot Silver Mustang, I sat for a moment checking my phone before exiting. When I walked in the ladies behind the counter had a perplexed look on their faces and wondered aloud in a puzzled tone if they could help me. I clearly was not from around those parts. My tag is registered in Jefferson County (Louisville), so the kind ladies were curious about this guy walking in. I assured them I was in the right place and that I had been sent on a mission to buy Cream Candy. Their faces brightened, and we talked for ten minutes about Stanton, people we knew, Cream Candy and the difference between flatlanders and people from the hills. All the while they were putting 36 pieces of white gold into the box for Kelly. 

They thanked me for my purchase and off I went to explore Stanton a bit, having never been in the town before. It wasn't but a moment until I came across the beautifully renovated train station.

Renovated train station in Stanton, KY

 Honestly, there wasn't much else to see, and I headed out of town on KY 15 driving towards Clay City. Clay City is famous for its drag race track. It sits on a piece of land between the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway and KY 15. I could see it as I drove past it on KY 15 but I couldn't see a way to turn toward it or into it. KY 15 made its way through downtown Clay City, a place I had also never visited before, then winds along steep cliffs and flat pastures toward Winchester. There is much to see and think about when one drives the rural backroads of Appalachia. I am not equipped with enough knowledge to make many comments about the state of life in rural southeastern KY, but I will say this; the roads are fairly well-maintained as are the lawns of the homes along the highway. The foothills are beautiful. The towns are nowhere close to dead or dying. There are plenty of places in decay, but the streets of Stanton and Clay City were dotted with renovated street lamps, sidewalks and were clean. 

I enjoyed the drive.

The son of a church member passed away yesterday, so as I was going through Winchester on the way home, I stopped to see Bruce and offer my condolences. Bruce has always been kind to me. He has traveled a lot and always brings me some travel memento when he returns. I am humbled that he thinks of me when traveling, so it was an easy decision to stop and see him on a day when his child passed away. I am richer for having made the stop.

I am deeply committed to supporting local producers of food and products. Eating with Chef Ouita the day before, and buying candy from a small, local vendor today are acts I am committed to continuing. I serve with some fine people in Winchester as a part of ALFA, Alliance for Local Food Access. I share time with the Farmer's Market, the Homemakers, Community Services, the Greater Clark Foundation, and the University of Kentucky Extension System in an effort to help local producers market their products and to see that we get as much fresh, local food as able to people who are struggling financially to buy healthy food. My own efforts at Plant A Row for the Hungry in Winchester dovetail beautifully with the ideas of Wendell Berry, and my belief that local food production is better for the economy and our bodies.

 

Please. Eat local, y'all.

Peace and Love,

Jerry