Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Gimme an RC Cola and a Moon Pie

The Moon Pie and R.C. Cola combination is till popular today in our southern states. Every southerner has fond memories of this delicious confection. The occasional afternoon walk to the local store to get a Moon pie and an R.C. was once commonplace. The hurried traveler while stopping for a gas fill up, would regularly purchase an R.C. Cola and MoonPie to tie him or her over.
“Gimme a big ole R. C. Cola and a Moon pie” is as fixed in my memory as fried chicken for Sunday dinner in those days when a dime could get you the satisfying delight of this round cream marshmallow confection along with a big R.C. It goes without saying that the request of a moon pie was always followed by “and a big R. C to wash it down with.” One without the other was considered heresy.
Moon pies have been made at the 100-year-old Chattanooga Bakery since 1917. Earl Mitchell Jr., who died several years ago, said his father came up with the idea for Moon pies when he asked a Kentucky coal miner what kind of snack he’d like to eat. The answer: something with graham cracker and marshmallow and dipped in chocolate. When Mitchell’s father asked how big it should be, the miner looked up in the night sky and framed the full moon with his hands.
It’s hard to find someone in the South who doesn’t get nostalgic just thinking about them. In the 1950s, Big Bill Lister sang about them in “RC Cola and Moon Pie,” but no one knows exactly why the soft drink and chocolate snack became famous together. The most popular theory: During the Depression, they were both cheap (a nickel apiece), and they came in bigger servings than their competitors. For a dime, a Moon pie and an RC Cola quickly became known as the workingman’s lunch. Today, Moon Pie Festivals are held in towns throughout the south.
Jennifer Crutchfield, who was interviewed on the banks of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, has eaten Moon Pies all her life. “I’m just not sure how to describe it. It’s got to be tasted. It’s a dollop of heaven,” she says with a laugh.
On one of her programs, Oprah Winfrey fondly remembered Moon pies and RC Cola from growing up in the South. The audience also had the chance to sample the classic treat. The memory of them strikes a nostalgic chord for many us, made even more memorable because they reflect the times when money was tight and a dime could buy us such a satisfying treat.
And like other things like apple pie, hot dogs, and hamburgers, they are uniquely American. Long live this symbol of Southern culture.

Nothing could be easier.

Forgotten Chicken and Rice Casserole

2-3 lbs Boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups minute rice
1 package onion soup mix
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of celery soup
1 can of chicken stock (or water)
 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together the minute rice, cream of chicken & celery soup, and chicken stock in a medium size bowl.
Add mixture to a buttered (or nonstick sprayed) 9 x 13 baking dish.
Lay raw chicken breasts on top of rice mixture and sprinkle the onion soup mix over the top.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Serve with a side salad and potato rolls!