Remembering Granny and the Church Potluck

True art.

Per my last post, and also this amazing tribute by LA Times food writer extraordinaire, Jen Garbee, many of you are now aware of the passing of our family's matriarch, my dear Granny Boohler. For the past week I've been with my family back in Bluefield, West Virginia, where we gathered to share stories of her long and very fulfilled life along with remembrances of a lady (and dedicated nurse) who did so much for the people of Mercer County, West Virginia.

With the East River Mountain as our backdrop, we celebrated her with plenty of laughs, lots of tears, and in her honor, a whole mess of tasty Southern cooking. My granny was an amazing cook. In fact, she was so popular with the locals, even a certain Senator who was also raised in the hills of West Virginia, visited her tiny residence more than once just to get a spoonful or two of her brown beans and cornbread.

Granny would have wanted nothing less than for all of us to stuff ourselves silly on her behalf, because as she used to declare in abundance, "You still gotta eat!"

So, here's a couple of snapshots of some of the wonderful food we shared in Granny's honor, most of which was provided by the lovely ladies from her church in Green Valley, WV. It's often this kind of cooking, unadulterated yet prepared with love and honor for a lost soul, that is arguably the best in the world.

There's got to be fried chicken.

Macaroni salad (heavy on the mayo) and two kinds of potato salad.

Nanner Pudding.

Pea salad, strawberry salad, orange salad & those famous deviled eggs.

Had to get a West Virginia pepperoni roll for the road.

This what we did to that pepperoni roll...added Oliverio Peppers and cheese.

The view about a mile from where Granny is buried.

R.I.P.

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