Isms: Views on life in rural America

I opened the wooden recipe box sitting on the kitchen counter the other day and was transported to my childhood.

It’s funny how reading recipes in your mom’s and grandmothers’ handwriting makes you long for certain foods.

The first recipe out of the box listed ingredients in mom’s seven-minute frosting: egg whites, sugar, water, white corn syrup, salt and vanilla.

I can see her standing at the stove, laboring over a double boiler, using a hand mixer to whip the concoction until peaks formed. It was a delicious final touch on her homemade chocolate cake to which she would add the secret ingredi...