Feeding Folks

Jubilee

Marshall was my first crush.

I didn't go far to find him. His mama and mine had grown up together. I'd known him from birth and there was no mystery twixt us. We had been through chicken pox together, paddled round in the creek together, and been in the same class till fourth grade when he was deemed too smart for us and promoted to fifth grade a year early.
Every year, he played Joseph and teased me cause I never made it further up the nativity grade than extra angel status.

I was a better shot than him, but he could outride me blindfolded.

And then we turned fourteen, and one day he rode up, slid off his saddle and landed right deep in my heart.

I turned goofy that afternoon. Suddenly, my hair didn't curl right, my clothes didn't look right, and I required a thorough shellacking in layers of Avon and Maybelline at least three times a day.

It was high spring, and I spent a deliciously tortured amount of time wandering alone in the swamp, writing lovesick poetry that was far too embarrassing for even it's author to read.

During one of these bouts of unrequited passion, I found a goose plum tree.

Goose plums are rare, tongue-curlingly tart, little cherry-like fruit. They are prized for their beauty in sparkling jellies and candied fruitcake gems.

Now, I had just finished read'n bout a beautiful princess who had won the heart of her prince with a pie and,suddenly, my entire world revolved round the moment when Marshall's love would be won with one perfect piece of goose plum pie!

… But wait!.....

Was there somethin better? Somethin higher up on the love food list then pie?

A picture of flaming cherries darted 'cross my fevered, quivering synapse.

Jubilee!  Jubilee! 

The  very sound of the word carried my giddy joy across the swamp breeze…
I would woo him with Jubilee!

And what more fitting fruit than the rare goose plum?

Earnestly,I set to the task of picking only the reddest, ripest fruit.  Soon, scrawny legs scratched from thorn and bark, I  jumped to the ground holding a bounty of plums in a sack made from my skirt front and lit out for home.

No one has ever studied a recipe more closely than I studied the jubilee recipe on Google.

That even'n, I wrangled a full house for my grand gesture of devotion.
Marshall, his sister Fan, and their parents; my Uncle Ky, Grandaddy, and Theo, plus Uncle Ky's lady of the week, and my beagle, Chica.

After we had all enjoyed Theo's breakfast for supper - a rare treat to this day -  quickly as I could (while maintaining what I hoped was a sophisticated air of nonchalance), I cleared the table and wheeled out the Jubilee.

Fan offered to fill custard cups with ice cream, and Uncle Ky lit the Bunsen burner while I mixed my treasure of goose plums with the sugar, corn starch, and orange peel.

Quickly, the mixture  reached a boil, and we watched my first desert performance start to bubble and the plums popped open allowing each tart  jewel to eliminate one,tiny white-as-snow worm.

We silently  watched, as the worms boiled and became still… glistening in the thick, shiny plum sauce.

Theo reached 'cross my paralyzed arms and skimmed off the worms, while Uncle Ky quickly added the half cup of crystal fortification to the dish and held a lit match to the edge of the pot.

Blue flame shot up in a festive wave!

And, somehow, the burner was turned off. Marshall's mama hugged me while each cup of ice cream received its worm less sauce.

We ate every bit and no one died.

I still make a Jubilee for special occasions, but none of em has been as dramatic as the first time.

Jubilee Recipe

Half a pound of sour fruit
One cup of pure cane sugar
A teaspoon full of corn starch
And a few orange peel slivers
A pinch of salt
Homemade or store bought
Ice cream - vanilla flavor
A hearty half cup of fortification
And a Bunsen burner

Boil the fruit, starch, salt, and sliver
Till the sauce shines and glimmers

Pour the fortification!
Ooh and ahh!
At the pretty blue flame!

Ladle  hot sauce over each ice cream

(If worms come out… remember, they add protein :)))