It appeared to be that type of day – hot and humid. The air was heavy making it hard to breathe. The sky hung over the earth like a damp washcloth. Occasionally the sun would peer through clouds in an effort to dry things out but that only made matters worse.  A nice cool bath was needed.

And daddy said, “Let there be boiled peanuts.”

Didn't I say the humidity was unbearable? And I was dying for a cool bath?   But who wants to share their bathwater with muddy peanuts freshly harvested? Not only were we suffering the last several days from not bathing, but the animals in the barn lot were in a worst predicament. Their water troughs were full of muddy peanuts soaking too.  I'm just thankful we didn't own a swimming pool.

Now, you see, my father is from the Mississippi Delta and grew up as a sharecropper's son with little or no money so when he decided to do something he did it in a huge way. Nothing could be half done with Cecil Blair. It was whole hog or die until he found something else to conquer.

This year it was peanuts, boiled peanuts to be exact, since boiled peanuts had been his favorite since he was young...so naturally it stood to reason that we (meaning family) would share his enthusiasm for growing peanuts and boiling them. We were OK about the planting and harvesting of them since this was mostly his work, but the cleaning and boiling part included us!

And there was evening and morning, the first day:

We didn't dare ask to have some of them parched or roasted...no that was not his plan...we had to boil them...all of them. And not just boiled any old way but boiled according to his mama's recipe:

Soak peanuts in water 12-24 hours. Drain and rinse.

Place 6 quarts water, 2 ham hocks, ¼ C kosher salt, ¼ C cayenne, ¼ C paprika

¼ C minced garlic, ¼ C coarse black pepper, 2 T onion salt, 2 T oregano and

2 T thyme to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 hours.

Remove ham hocks. Let cool then chill for 8 hours. Skim the fat.

Add peanuts, ½ to 2/3 C salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and cook

6 hours until tender. Let stand one hour before serving.

Of course this meant using mama's stove, both bathtubs and sinks, as well as 15 washtubs that we gathered, including a water trough or two. Plus all the pots and pans from the kitchen as well as borrowed ones from neighbors. Did you look at that recipe? Did you see the hours needed to make one batch?

We made dozens of batches!  Dozens of batches!! 

And there was evening and morning, a second day:

When the sun was trying to etch its way through the washcloth of clouds and beat its good morning upon the cold tin roof, we were exhausted. I would have loved being able to sit and quietly commune with the morning, but there was work still to do.  Day after day we brought new batches of peanuts to the bathtubs for their daily cleansing.  Day after day we rinsed and rinsed before hauling them to be boiled alive.

And there was evening and morning, a fifth day:

The peanuts seemed to be multiplying. The dirt was beginning to crust on our skin and we desperately needed a bath. We stank. Thank goodness this was summer because I'm sure we would have had to drop out of school because of our odor. I peeked around the corner, but unfortunately, there was daddy still bending over the stove with his overalls, straw hat, white beard and tobacco juice streaming down his chin, merrily laughing at his treasure of boiled peanuts.   There was mama bustling about as if she had lost her senses (her eyes were bulging and she had a far away look on her face) trying ,desperately, to find places to store all the jars and jars.   She sat and cried.  This madness had to stop.

And there was evening and morning, a sixth day:

Daddy saw all that he had made, and it was good. The jars were filled. The bathtubs were empty of muddy water.  The animals rejoiced at the fresh water and the peanuts were blessed and ready to be shared.  A boiled peanut party was planned for friends at the barn. 

By the end of the seventh day, daddy rested.

And we bathed....and bathed...ran hysterically through the house...and bathed...spent hours in showers. And it was good. Very good.

© Nippy Blair 2015.  Posts and pictures on this blog cannot be copied, downloaded, printed, or used without the permission of the blog owner, Nippy Blair.