When I was about seven years old, I started cooking on my own without supervision. At that age I certainly did not think about the reasons why, other than the fact I just wanted to. The innate desire to cook was just in me, so I did.
My earliest masterpiece, or so I thought, was sloppy joes with grated cheese on top. I cooked them with great regularity, and they were pretty good too! I started cooking dishes with onions and mushrooms after that and I thought they were extraordinary. My desire to cook was overwhelming and I cooked as much and as often as I could.
I began to cook entire meals as well, replete with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese straight out of the box. I had hit the big time! I started working in our local grocery store at nine years old. I was taught to cut meat by an old school butcher and that really set me on fire. I learned so much about meat, the different cuts, cutting chickens up to fry and making sausage. In my mind, cutting meat and cooking just seemed to go hand in hand.
I watched my mama as well as my grandmothers and paid attention to their methods of cooking. I often wondered how in the world they ever made it before I came along, luckily for them I made it here just in time. I posed that same question to them with great frequency and it was met with them rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. I thought it was a legitimate question…..
I continued to cook, trying out new dishes and learning as much as I possibly could about food and the different methods of cooking. Being raised here in the South led me to frying things because you all know we will fry anything. By the time I was a teenager I was conducting fish frys for friends.
I remember at sixteen frying fish on the banks of The Mighty Ogeechee. I would set up at the “Bull Hole”, which is a landing on the river near Hendon. It has always been a favorite spot for many, so it seemed like the thing to do. It was so much fun with friends who came to eat. Back then I was using propane burners with old pots full of grease and judging the temperature by “feel” because I had on idea what a thermometer was at the time.
I continued to cook and entertain friends because it brought me so much joy. I was hunting and fishing, so there was always plenty of game and fish to be prepared. Somewhere in there I started burning charcoal and oak wood as well. Grilling meat on a charcoal grill and cooking hogs on a pit became great passions for me. I love to smell meat cooking over hot coals…..
I spent time with the old men, watching them cook and making mental notes for future reference. Those men could really cook and I was privileged to be in their presence. Even today, I still hang out with men who can fry, grill or go in the kitchen and bake a pie. I have learned much about cooking from many men who were quite proficient at their craft. Not to leave out all those sweet ladies as they too, taught me so much cooking.
As time went on, I continued cooking and serving large numbers of people because it all came so natural to me. Inevitably, the desire to open a restaurant entered my heart and my mind. At twenty seven years old I unlocked the door to my beloved restaurant which was located in the old block of buildings in downtown Midville.
It had once been the drug store and then later it was known as The Variety Shop and as a child I had enjoyed many treats there. There had been many things in that old building, but on the day I held the key in my hand, it became “Scotty’s Restaurant”. I had never worked at a restaurant a day in my life, I just somehow knew I could do it.
Shortly after I opened, “Mutt” Kennedy, who ran McKinney’s Pond Restaurant, walked in and promptly told me he would buy all of my equipment after I went out of business. I thanked him for the vote of confidence! I had already faced some great hurdles just getting to the point I was at. I was young, I didn’t have any money and I had very little credit, but by the grace of God and a man who was heaven-sent, I acquired a loan and opened the doors to “Scotty’s”.
It was not long after Mutt had assured me that I would never make it, he came back and offered me a job at his restaurant. I had proven to him, the bank and many others that I could do it. I ran my restaurant six days a week and cooked at McKinney’s three nights a week. It was a lot of work and long hours, but those were some of the best days of my life. I met so many people and made many friends by being in the restaurant business.
All of these years of cooking and entertaining folks has been so rewarding to me for many reasons. Although I don’t cook in a restaurant anymore, I still cook for groups of friends on a regular basis. I’ve always done it for the love of cooking and the love I have for people. I have always been satisfied with that knowledge. I didn’t need anything else.
As I’ve gotten older I have a great desire to know more about my family, about my lineage if you will. Last year I discovered something that was truly eye opening for me. My great-great grandfather was a Kitchens. William F. Kitchens was his name and I had already gathered much information about him, but what I read was truly profound.
The name “Kitchen” is English and Scottish: Middle English kychene ‘kitchen’, hence an occupational name for someone who worked in or was in charge of the kitchen of a monastery or great house. So, you see, it was bred in me in an inescapable way. It has been passed down from generation to generation. I’ve always done it without knowing why…….
