Bena Mae’s Kitchen: A Christmas Memory from the 1930s

It warmed my heart and almost brought a tear to my eye when I read this account of a girl named Tipper who tells of the first time she saw Santa Claus. The times in which she writes are different from this world of today but may be familiar to those of my generation.
I hope it brings a special memory of a time when Christmas was devoid of commercialism and the madness we’ve become accustomed to around this time of year… back when the simplest of things really mattered. I remember the hardscrabble years she talks about, though my experiences were not quite as bleak as those she writes about. But many people lived this way in the hills of Appalachia and Christmas was always a special time of year.
Tipper tells her story:
The first Christmas I can recall clearly was in 1938. We lived in Cherokee County, NC along the Hiawasse River on the Harshaw Farm, where my Poppa was a sharecropper.
I remember Poppa bringing in a pine tree he’d cut in the woods – he’d even found one with pine cones-already decorated by nature.
My step mother, Carrie, allowed us children to use flour and water to mix up a paste to make chains of paper. In those days, flour was hard to come by – it still pleases me to know she wanted us to enjoy the act of decorating enough to allow us to use her flour. We also drew pictures of trees and stars and cut them out-threading a string through the paper for hanging on the tree.
We heard the John C. Campbell Folk School was having a Christmas party for children. The road to the school went along by the side of the river – it was about 3 miles in distance. I remember my step siblings, Mary Jo, Francis, Frank, Wayne, and I walked to the party. I can still see the beauty in my mind’s eye. The school had decorated a huge Christmas tree and they had a little play about the nativity – with Mary and Joseph and a little crib for baby Jesus. I sat there lost in wonder-trying to take in every detail so I could relive the magic over and over.
After the play, Santa Claus arrived. I’d never seen Santa before and could hardly believe he was there. Santa carried a toe sack instead of a fancy bag – and in the toe sack were dozens of small brown bags full of the prettiest hard candies I have ever seen. Santa handed out the little brown bags chug full of candy tied at the top with a string. To say we were happy doesn’t do justice to the emotion we felt.
On the walk back home, I wanted to talk about the play and go over every detail of the party, but the other kids were so happy they laughed the entire way home not wanting to talk-just wanting to celebrate.
After reaching home, I shared a piece of candy with Poppa and Carrie then I hid the rest-wanting to savor every piece of happiness I’d received from the party. The other kids soon ate their candy-but they never did find my hiding place!
Tipper

Eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and sometimes do). So while I’m sharing the recipe, I’m giving you fair warning and will not take the blame if you devour it in 2 days time!

An Estep favorite — RUM CAKE

Cake Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 box (18 1/2 oz) butter golden cake mix
1 instant vanilla pudding (3 3/4 oz)
1/2 cup light rum
1/2 cup water
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable cooking oil

Rum Glaze Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup light rum
1/4 cup water

Rum Glaze Directions:
Place all ingredients in small saucepan and boil for 2-3 minutes.

Cake Directions:
Place cake and pudding mixes in large mixing bowl. Add rum, water, oil and eggs; mix for 2 minutes. Grease and flour a bundt pan or a tube pan.
Pour chopped nuts in pan first and then pour batter into cake pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
Remove from oven and poke small holes in cake and start to pour some of the warm Rum Glaze on it. After a few minutes turn cake out of pan onto cake plate and poke more small holes around the top of cake and gradually pour the rest of the Rum Glaze over cake.

Best if made a few days ahead of time and let cake set in a cool place.
It gets better and better with time (if you’re able to refrain from eating immediately, that is!)