I have written to this list about Smithfield process ham before, when Johnny Apple of the NY Times wrote a wonderful column celebrating it rare distinctiveness. It was one of Apple's last columns before he died and that is exactly how I would like to go, with a thin piece of Smithfield ham on my tongue. Interestingly, I have found seafood and chicken and sausage gumbo with okra in Manhattan and all manner of southern delights for sale here but never Smithfield process ham. Maybe I haven't looked in the right place yet. I should check out Zabar's. Worse, my wife and I were staying at a hotel in Colonial Heights in the Southside for a conference at VSU. I asked several members of the hotel staff, black and white, where I could get some Smithfield ham and none knew, with most indicating they did not know about the ham at all. I finally used my ears. I walked around the hotel listening for the deepest southern accent in the place. I finally found it in a mechanic who did repairs on the hotel. I asked him and he pointed just across the street to a restaurant that specialized in serving Smithfield ham!! I still dream about a breakfast of Smithfield ham, grits, eggs, biscuits, and fried apples at the 3rd Street Cafe in Richmond. Virginia food was almost as much of a revelation to me as is Virginia's complex and rich history. Harold S. Forsythe ----- Original Message ----- From: "Excalibur131" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 11:11 AM Subject: Re: Speech patterns > Heck, come to think of it, I don't remember much about Coke until I was > probably 10 or 12 and I don't think I tasted coffee until I was a > teenager. > I do remember lots of Kool-Aid Popsicles in the summer though. As for real > Smithfield ham (yes, there are many pretenders out there) I'm not sure I'd > call them "rubbery," but I'd sure call them reallllllly goooooooood. Real > Smithfield ham is still around, thank goodness, and my family has it every > Christmas Eve. We used to have it with silver dollar biscuits, but good > silver dollar biscuits have simply gotten too hard to find and, if you > find > decent ones, they cost a small fortune. > > As a child I remember Granny cooking Smithfield ham. She'd start by > putting > the ham in a sink of water, and then scrubbing it down with soap and a > scrub > brush. And for those that don't know, yes, Smithfield ham is best eaten > paper thin -- the thinner the better. If you can almost see your hand > through the slice of ham you've gotten a true treasure! > > Tom > Eastern Shore & More Forum > http://www.easternshoremore.com/forum/ > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sunshine49" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 9:59 AM > Subject: Re: Speech patterns > > >> When I was a kid- pre air conditioning- we had summer curtains and >> winter curtains, a summer and a winter rug, all designed to keep the >> house cooler or warmer, as the case may be. Popular culture today is >> a bit hard for me to understand, because when I was a kid the word >> "heck" was considered too strong or dirty for children to say. I once >> got bit on a finger by our parakeet and blurted out that it hurt like >> heck. My mother was shocked. And we 3 kids were only rarely allowed >> to drink Cokes [and never coffee], Mama said we already had too much >> energy, we didn't need the caffeine. To drink some Coke- usually on >> summer vacation to the beach- was a rare treat. I guess the caffeine >> in sweet iced tea in the summer didn't factor into that equation. But >> the big treat was at Christmas, paper thin slices of real Smithfield >> ham. People who only eat those rubbery, wet hams don't know what they >> are missing. >> >> Nancy > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html