Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The phone rang yesterday afternoon...

...and it was Daddy.

Daddy:  Hey Andy, my pea guy down at Sligo called and said he had some purple hulls just out of the field this morning, and he's got 'em in the sheller now.


If I go down there and buy them, will y'all put 'em up?  I'll pay for 'em, and split 'em with y'all if you'll do it.

Me:  Yes Sir!  We will shift our work schedule, and do it tomorrow.

Now, if y'all don't know, let me inform you of a FACT.  There is not any thing from the bountiful plain of God's green earth that is better than purple-hull peas.  Nothing!  Nothing, I tell ya'!

Black-eyed peas...pfffffft!  Crowders...pretenders!  Lady Cream Peas...well, they're close.  But, nothing compares to purple-hulls.

Now, it is a lot of work to put up a couple of bushels of purple hull peas.  They've got to be cleaned & culled, washed, washed again, boiled  & iced, bagged, etc.  And, me and The Mrs. have developed a good cooperative system of putting up peas over the years.  So, we don't mind at all.

Daddy came back with this...


That right there is 5 bushels of purple hull peas.  

It's gonna be a long day...

17 comments:

  1. WANT!!!

    I still like Crowders better, though.

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  2. Can you feel the green-with-envy glow coming through the net? Pepper and I used to do the same thing early in our marriage, but we didn't have a sheller! Blue fingers for day! I'm with you -- purple hulls are the ultimate.

    You had posted about purple hulls a little while back and I got such a hankering that I actually bought and consumed -- gasp! -- a can of Bush's Best purple hulls. They were satisfying, but not soul-settling like fresh.

    *JEALOUS*

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  3. Paul, I've fought the crowder/purple hull war before with folks, and there's no good solution to it. I call crowders "pretenders," because they're similar, but my personal taste is the p-hull. To each they own!

    Moogie, you're right. Canned purple hulls just ain't the same. And, NEVER buy the frozen ones at the grocery store...canned are much better. The frozen junk is a total waste of money...very disappointing.

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  4. I don't think I've ever had a crowder or a purple hull. Mebbe I should try them?

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  5. Andy, when we lived in Center, my brother developed a liking for purple hulls. I never tried them. Something about the word "purple" didn't mesh with food in my brain. Is it too late for me to try them now, or would a purple hull obssession ruin the rest of my days?

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  6. I have to agree with Andy, nothing better than purple hulls. Throw in some sliced tomato, squash and cornbread and you've never eaten better!

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  7. Jim, what about the pork chops to go with that?

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  8. Paul, I have never met a pork chop I didn't like . . .

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  9. Staci, and Dan, I would encourage you to give purple hulls a try. Crowders are okay, too, but not my personal favorite.

    But, if you do not have a way to get REAL, out of the field purple hulls, you'll likely be disappointed. I mean, the frozen at the grocery store, or the canned ones are edible. But what they sell as "frozen purple hull peas" are really more like a hybrid of black-eye & crowder...not the REAL deal. The canned ones are passable, but nothing to write home about.

    Dan, I'm actually kind of surprised that you never ate purple hulls...being a Tennessee boy. Maybe it's a little too far north to grow productively.

    Staci, I'm not surprised about you at all. Our Okie kinfolks never ate them either. But they devour mass quantities when they visit.

    Red, Quack!!! Lucky, indeed!

    Paul, and Jim...I would love to see you two sit across the table from each other with just ONE pork chop left on the platter...It would likely turn into a YouTube sensation to film the little "meeting."

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  10. Andy, and no disrespect to Jim at all, I grew up with four of my first cousins that were all larger than me. I always got the last pork chop. Of course, I can never be a hand model either because of the fork wounds in the back of my hand.

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  11. Paul, Jimbo is no lightweight. It would truly be fun to see you and him mix it up over a pork chop. I'm guffawing, just thinking about it.

    Dude, knowing your history, I would bet that your hands are uglier than mine...and that's sayin' something! And, you ain't even had psoriasis all on 'em.

    But, you do have lovely feet. Just sayin'...

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  12. Paul, four first cousins that were larger - boo hoo.
    I had 3 older brothers and an older sister. What she lacked in gender she made up for in meanness. And I still managed to get my share of pork chops.
    Speaking of fork wounds in the back of the hand, and knowing that you are a big fan of his Andy - I saw Foster Campbell get forked in the back of the hand in high school, drew blood too.
    He was reaching for someone elses french fries. I guess he never got over the habit, considering he's a politician and all. That was at the Rose Inn on Traffic Street, remember it?

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  13. There is not any thing from the bountiful plain of God's green earth that is better than purple-hull peas. Nothing!

    Beg to differ. Snow peas. Finest kind, as far as peas go, which isn't all THAT far.

    Your mileage obviously varies.

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  14. Hey Buck! It has taken about a year now to find THREE things that you are COMPLETELY WRONG ABOUT!

    And, that ain't all that bad.

    Snow peas suck!

    But, as Shirley Q. Liquor always says, "To each they own!"

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  15. THREE? That many? Heh. It's not many men who have made such a statement and lived to tell of it. I HAVE been wrong once or twice in this life, but twice is on the absolute outside edge. Unless you're The Second Mrs. Pennington or someone like her. We all know women keep meticulous records about these sorts of things. Not that they're correct, of course. Perception... reality... some people think it's the same thing.

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  16. Buck, I am quakin' in my bare feet. Padnuh, I have lived through many a year with somebody tougher than you.

    Believe it, or not!

    Seriously, this is just the THIRD thing I can remember that I disagree with you over. The first had something to do with McCotter & GM (I think you know what I'm mentioning here).

    The second had to do with your disdain for David Gates.

    So, "Snow Peas" is #3. Man, do you really eat those things? Jeepers!

    Well, as I think about it now, I maybe should apologize for disagreeing. I mean, anybody that can stomach those wretched snow pea things could quite likely rip my heart out through my lungs, show it to me, and laugh a wicked laugh as I lay dying.

    So, I'm sorry. Really. Really, I am.

    Man, I'm gonna send you some of these purple hulls packed in dry ice...

    Nah...probably not. But, if you get anywhere near our locale...well, you know...

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Don't cuss nobody out, okay?