Thick as Molasses!

An annual rite of autumn concluded Saturday as Mr. Clyde Brown, our WHEO Critz weather spotter, and his freinds and neighbors made the last batch of molasses of the fall season. I attended three of the molasses making sessions under the sturdy shelter at Mr. Brown's Railroad Ln. residence and thoroughly enjoyed this nostalgic experience. The 83-year-old Mr. Brown and his friends and neighbors are doing our community and the Blue Ridge Mountains region a favor by laboring to preserve the dying art of making molasses. We need to carry onas man of the traditional folkways as possible. And there is nothing as sweet as the smell of molasses cooking on a blazing fire creating an aroma that fills the air on a crisp autumn morning.

In the final molasses cooking of the year on Sat., Nov. 24, Mr. Brown and his friends made about 18 gallons (it takes 10 gallons of cane juice to make one gallon of molasses) of beautifully colored, mouth-watering molasses that just beg for a biscuit. In all, 4 batches of molasses were cooked at Mr. Brown's house this year yielding about 65 gallons. If you'd like some, call Mr. Brown and 694-7608. The cost is $10 per quart but they are well worth it. That may sound like a high price but it is very reasonable considering the labor and expense of making molasses.

I am amazed at the amount of time and labor required to produce this syrupy sorgum used to deliciously smother a buttered biscuit or, as some prefer, buttered cornbread. The process involves planting, cultivating, and harvesting the cane...grinding the juice from the cane...and then cooking the cane juice over a wood-fueled fire, skimming the residue frequently, to produce the molasses. It takes about 8 hours to cook the cane juice down into the final product and to get it to just the right thickness. Then, comes another time-consuming process, pouring the molasses into the glass jars (which are quite expensive, by the way). Mr. Brown, his dear friend Wilbur Walker, and their friends, neighbors, and helpers make some of the finest molasses I've ever tasted. I appreciate the finished produce even more knowing how much work goes into it.

However, a molasses-making session at Mr. Brown's is not all work by any stretch of the imagination. A lot of good down home fellowship goes on under that cozy shelter beside Mr. Brown's farmhouse in Critz. Typically, Mr. Brown and a whole host of guests (many of whom hear about it on the radio) engage in fascinating conversation, joking, story-telling, and other merry making as the molasses is cooked and skimmed. Perhaps most enjoyable is the feasting that goes on around the fire. The "molasses makers" always bring plenty to eat. Sometimes, Mr. Brown cooks up a big pot of pinto beans and cornbread that is enjoyed by those who stop by. Often, someone will bring a pound cake, a pie, or another dessert to add to the meal. Yes, even though it is hard work, molasses making is a whole lot of fun, and a throw back to the past when neighbors took time to visit and to really enjoy life to its fullest. In these fast-paced, impersonal, and complicated times in which we live, we often neglect the best things of life, like our relationship to others, especially our neighbors. When it comes to good friends and neighbors, Mr. Brown and his friends from Critz and around Patrick County are "thicker than molasses"!

Until next time, may God bless you with a "great day"...one as rich and satisfying as a jar of Mr. Brown's slow-cooked molasses!

Richard