Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1892-01-20
'POSSUM AND SWEET POTATO
Some Information .Nbont National Dish
of the south.

of the south.
\ clear. cold autumn morning! All is
stir and expectancy in the quarters
tor all night. long the young men Of the
| family have been out 'possum hunting;
sundrv favortes from among the in
! habitants OF these same quarters have
accoE panied them. Presently u merry
| shout, and the tramp Of approaching
| footsteps give warnings Of the return.
| Then follows sight nowhere to be seen
save in the south. The small Try dance
and caper about among the baving
| hounds; every negro who can find his
way thlther comes to swell the merry
crowd gathering around the successful
hunting party. Even the decrepit old
field hands. long since relocated to the
warmest chimney corner AID the nurs
| ing of the latest arrivals from negro
| babyiand, manage to hobbie to the
door, their wrinkled, ash-powdered
faces rejecting the common JOY. There
is an exciting squabble ior the honor Of
''toting" the ,pos6ums to the kitchen,
and small hands are stretched forth on
aiI sides, while cries of "Lemme tote
dis we're one, Mars Tom, please, sir !"
| fill the air. and proud, lndeed, are those
to whom preference is shown.
If there Is but one 'possum killed, Of
course, it is dressed Tor ''the house,"
and some other dainty provided for the
servants. But that day is truly marked
| with a white stone, on which all, both,
white and black, are permitted feast
| of 'possum and sweet potatoes. Aunt
| Chloe's face assumes an expression of
/ proud solemnity suited to the occasion
as she receives the plump denizen of
| the leafy woods and proceeds tC prepare
! him for the table. First of all, his hairy
coat II ust be scaled and scraped clean;
| this is accomplished by repeated plung-
/ ings into hot water in which a handful
of wood ashes has been dissolved, and
to one OF the children is relegated the
business of scraping, if the cook is over
whelmed with work, with earnest in
functions not to break the skin.
When the animal is ready for the
| kettle, he is rubbed thoroughly with
sweet lard, then spread open upon
bed of sweet potatoes which have been
not only washed clean but scra ped al
SO, to remove tine outer skin and tiny
root threads. The potatoes, placed
under and all around the 'possum
in the largest bake-kettle, become
crisp and burn in q short while,
| covered as they are with the
fat which comes from every pore of the
animal A large bed of glowing Goals is
logs, covered with layer of ashes, and
on this the bake-kettle IS placed its
cover being adjusted, another bed of
Goals and ashes is laid on it. only in re-
verse order, the ashes being placed on
| the cover and the Goals on them. One
of the older children row seats herself
! on the floor beside the kettle. pot
| cover litter ia one hand and a long iron
| spoon III the other: semi
! she raises the cover carefully, basteS
! the 'possum IN its own gravy Tor, lack
ing enCngh OF that, with melted lard
and replaces it, adding Goals from time
to time as needed. The cook, mean
while. Is not idle. Out of cornmeal,
| sOitened TO 4 thick paste with cold
water, seasoned with Il little salt, she
has made quantity of "pones" the
| breadth and length Of her hand: these,
| bearing the impress OF her five fingers,
she lays in another bake-kettle, re-
| moving when nicely Drowned on
either side to make room for another
supply. To keep them warm, she ar
ranges them in piles on the hearth,
! turning them frequently to prevent
| burning.
OF course they are sometimes Sprlnk-
led with ashes, but to eaters OF ashe-
cake what does that matter? and if
there were not plenty of ''cawn pones
TO wallup in de 'possum gravy" the ne
groes, at least, would rebel. The night
before Aunt Chloe washed a quantity
of dried apples and placed them in al
earthen crock" in a corner of the
fireplace; plenty of cold water was
poured over them, and as soon as thor
| oughly soft, sugar and spice were liber-
ally added; in the opposite corner,
crock of snowy rice has received like
treatment, save that, in place of sugar
| and spice, salt has been used for season
ing. At the right moment a large plat
ter receives the delicately Drowned pos
sum, the potatoes are piled up around
his shining sides, like faithful body
guard. With all due ceremony he is
borne 10 the table by no less dignitarv
than Aunt Chloe herself.
Placed on the table in front of the
master, he is fanked on either side by
the rice and apples, while the corn pones.
together with homemade pickles and
Catsups, are scattered here and there
about the board. The carver whets his
knife, with a pleasant smile, which
madame returns with interest, the
young men and women pass the merry
tests back ami forth the children Wrig-
gle eXDectantly in their seats, impa-
hentiy awaiting their share of the feast,
while behind the masters char the
walters ebony face beams joviaiv on
the happy group. All roast turkey is
good, ditto ducks and geese; oysters
and terrapin are not bad, but tor an all
round, merry, soul-satisfying feast,
south of Mason and Dixon's line, give
US possum and sweet potatO es.-G00d
Housekeepin0.