Breakfast with Georgia- The Georgia Peach Cobbler

Picture a little white country home set in Booneville, Arkansas...This is where my favorite story from Georgia takes place.
The house was filled with a lot of people on this particular day, however I assume that this was nothing out of the ordinary. Georgia's husband Hack, was the youngest of thirteen children. Can you imagine? Their family gatherings were always loud and filled with people. In the beginning of their married life, Georgia was always extremely intimidated by going to see Hack's family. Being the youngest bride in the bunch, the brothers found her to be an easy target for teasing and joking. The teasing was nothing mean of course, but all in a brotherly fashion. Needless to say, it was all a bit much to take in at first.
On this day you can imagine Georgia's alarm when after she and Hack
arrived, Hack's mother made the grand announcement that Georgia could make the peach cobbler. "Peach cobbler?" she thought. She had never made a peach cobbler! Her mother -in-law was set on the idea, Georgia would make the peach cobbler.
Georgia entered the large kitchen which was filled with all of the women of the family. The men were in and out joking around loudly, which made her feel even less at ease in approaching her new task. Eventually the men left the kitchen. Some shifted to the living room to play dominoes and some to the local coffee shop as they waited for the dinner that was being prepared. Georgia shuffled up to the large flour barrel, which held a hundred pounds of flour along with a sifter and other utensils for measuring out the white powder. Her heart was beating quickly. As she took a scoop of flour she could hear laughter from the living room along with the sound of two football games, one on the tv and one on the old radio. Sprinkling the flour over the large table in front of her, she closed her eyes. She pictured watching her mother as a little girl making peach cobbler. What did her mother do? She pictured each step in her mind and began to follow each one carefully. As she worked, she hoped and prayed her cobbler would turn out. Before she knew it, she was done. She laid the strips of dough across the top, sprinkled it with sugar, and placed it in the oven. When the time was up she could barely breathe. She slowly opened the oven door and removed the cobbler. It was beautiful, a slight golden brown and it looked just perfect! She was filled with excitement! Everyone ranted and raved over how wonderful the cobbler tasted. Hack swelled with pride at how wonderful his new bride had done. He stopped on the way home to buy more peaches because of course he needed one baked just for him! Georgia cannot remember to this day how she pulled off the pie baking so wonderfully. She told me she had to work very carefully and remember every step her mother used. In my opinion, that takes a pretty smart woman to bake a cobbler off of memories of sitting and watching your mom as a child. I've asked Georgia for the cobbler recipe. She is sitting at home at this moment trying to remember the steps. If she does, I will share the wealth of an Arkansas mountain girl!

Breakfast with Georgia..

Georgia Ruth Orrick is a very important woman in my life. I feel it necessary to include a weekly feature on my blog just for her, as she is such a perfect example of strength and grace. She deserves to be honored and to have her stories told.

Georgia is actually known by everyone in our family as Ruth. She chose to go by Ruth after enduring much teasing in her younger years, as no girl really wants to be called Georgie porgy by the boys. Needless to say, I've always loved her first name and felt the strong desire to use it when I finally did start writing about her. On one of our many Saturday morning breakfasts I told her that someday I wanted to write about her. I ran the title for my now feature "Breakfast with Georgia" by her, to see her reaction. She smiled her mischievous smile that she often gives, held up her finger decisively, and said a simple "I like it!"
So it was decided, I would start sharing with the world about this incredible woman.

As for today, I will give the key details that have shaped this woman, for she has been on quite a journey!

Georgia grew up in the Arkansas mountains during the great depression. A fiery young woman that helped care for her siblings after her mother's death at a young age. While living in a boarding house in Little Rock she met a strapping young soldier, and they married. She journeyed with him through life until he passed away from cancer at 62 years old. Today, 19 years after the death of her husband, Georgia has been through quite a battle. She has survived learning to live on her own again, 2 rounds of breast cancer, caring for her elderly sister until her death, the death of two brothers, back surgeries and diabetes, yet her fiery spirit still remains. This woman does not let things keep her down or hold her back. Her resilience and strong faith in the Lord has carried her through the many trials she has faced. A once young and exquisite beauty has now faded into an older more weathered version of what was. However, when I first see Georgia I can't help but think she is absolutely stunning. She walks a little slower now, and she carries with her some wrinkles, but her presence is graceful and beautiful. She is a true conqueror...

For the past 2 years Georgia and I have had breakfast every Saturday morning at our favorite little joint known as Cracker Barrel. It has been a precious time for me to get to know my grandmother as more than just a grandmother; but as a woman with hurts and pains, with dreams and desires. Our time together has consisted of stories, exchanging of recipes, laughing and encouraging each other. I look forward to sharing all of the interesting things I've learned from her life, so stay tuned....