Bena Mae’s Kitchen: A look back at yesterday

Unbelievable as it may sound, there are cities in the U.S. that do not have a Walmart.  Despite its being the biggest department store in the country, its presence in the largest cities is rather limited, including New York City.  And I’m thinking, what do these people do on a Saturday night or Sunday afternoon? Going to Walmart has become an American institution of sorts.  

Along with New York, there is Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Cleveland, and Minneapolis that do not have a Walmart.

I’ll admit it’s nice to have everything you need under one roof. And I’m not knocking the big super stores, but there is something missing. New Word:  In-person-ness.

By now you know me folks. And you know that I am big on nostalgia. Modern changes are good in many ways. But I still long for the familiar face, the clerk who knows me by my first name, the personal attention I get from a friendly salesperson. They know me, they know my family, we share the same values, love of community.

I have written many times about working at Newberry’s Five-and-Ten-Cent Store on Main Street in Corbin. It was in the late 1940’s, I was 15-years-old. I had just gotten my social security number, a rite of passage. I made $15 a week serving up milkshakes, sundaes, and grilled cheese sandwiches at the store’s fountain and I loved it.  

Our customers were a microcosm of any small town in America. And everyone who sat down at the long counter was a different personality, told a different story, and we fountain girls were listening posts to all of them. In those days, therapists were unheard of, so along with barber shops and beauty salons, Newberry’s fountain served as the psychiatrist’s couch. And some of the stories we heard were doozies. But our lips were sealed.  Confidentiality policy, you know.

We’re all familiar with the term As American As Apple Pie. It is interchangeable with the word Main Street and evokes images of mom-and-pop or family owned stores where everybody knows your name. It brings to mind the image of a row of stores up and down the street where you have to go outside to get to each one. And grab a bite of lunch at the dime store fountain, cooked from scratch, a meat and two vegetables for 35 cents. Chances are, you know every third person in the row of diners.

That’s the shopping experience I realize I’ve long yearned for and never forgotten.

Decadent but oh, so good.

House of Plenty Turtle Pie

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, divided

 1/4 cup chopped pecans

 1 Pastry Shell, baked

 1/4 cup caramel topping

 2 (8 oz.) packages, cream cheese, softened

 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

 2 tablespoon whipping cream

 Additional Whipping Cream, Chocolate Chips, Pecans, Caramel Topping for garnish

Sprinkle 1/4 of chocolate chips and pecans into pastry shell. Pour caramel topping over chips and pecans. 

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. In a saucepan over low heat, cook and stir cream and remaining chips until smooth. Gradually add to the cream cheese mixture; mix well. 

Carefully spread into pastry shell. 

Garnish as desired.