Collards Conversion

When we moved to NC I was introduced to collards. But we never clicked, collards and me. 

I tried; I bought a huge bunch of the most beautiful fresh leafy greens at the farmer's market and went home with a set of very specific and (as it turned out), optimistic instructions from a farmer's wife. But they were disgusting, somehow it failed to translate. 

But they're healthy. And verrrry popular here. So I tried them again, in restaurants this time. 

Ditto. It's just not working.

Healthy as they might be, they were not destined to appear on my table.

That changed this week. My friend Joyce invited 8 of us to her home to share her family's collards recipe. Collards would be the star of her meal. I really like these ladies so in spite of my acute collards disappointment in the past, I was pleased to attend. 

Joyce served wine, and cheese and crackers and we sat around in a circle in her living room and she told us all about her family. Starting with their collards recipe and how it has evolved over the years, from one cook to another. She described the garden that always included collards. She told us about her parents, especially her Mom and her siblings. She showed us some of her family photos while she did this. Joyce is very loving and that shines through when she talks about her family. As she’s doing this, it’s creating a sense of their presence. It was remarkable. Somehow, using her gentle stories and memories, Joyce summoned them and created a sacred space.

Other people began to reminisce, especially about their mothers, favorite dishes, family gatherings, various good memories, people we loved that are no longer here. It was quite touching. Julie got a bit teary telling us that she keeps a jar of mixed herbs in her cupboard that is decades old, but it belonged to her mother so she can’t bear to discard it. So there it sits, among its modern counterparts that come and go, reminding Julie of her mother every time she sees it.

The atmosphere that was generated and all those nice warm feelings transferred over to the dinner table and we had an exceptionally good night, with lots of laughter. Anita gave a hand waving impression of her first mother-in-law, the Italian Momma Leoni trying to teach the hapless young bride proper gnocchi rolling technique. Anita and gnocchi may have failed to click, but she mastered the accent and we couldn't stop laughing at her portrayal of sloppy gnocchi and intense mutual distress.

Joyce's meal was SO GOOD. It was like a really special holiday meal, Southern style…. the very best of Southern cuisine. Her starter was spinach balls. I could have made a meal out of just those. They were so delicious. Then she served cornbread – the best I’ve ever had, the famous collards – so good, in a class by themselves, I could not believe how good they were, I had given collards a bad rap. I discovered I actually love collards. We also enjoyed pork tenderloin with homemade chutney that was amazing, mashed rutabaga and roasted potatoes. She made it look so easy. No hustle. No bustle. I watched our hostess smoothly gliding around her kitchen... this meal a gift to her friends.

AND homemade banana pudding. I can’t even describe how tasty that was…. it was light and fluffy, oozing vanilla and bananas. Heavenly would not be too strong a word. It makes me sigh just thinking about it.

The evening was a perfect merger of food and friends wrapped in love and affection. One of those textbook alignments that rarely happen, like an eclipse. Proving once again that some of the very best benedictions happen at the dinner table.