How it came to be in the family back in 1967. It was already over 75 years old at that time! That has been over 50 years, so now the table is at least 125 years old! Still sturdy and beautiful.

Our timeless treasure this week is the round table that Bella bakes on. It sat in my grandmother’s kitchen at the old farmhouse when I was a child. I remember the day she got it!

I was ten years old, and Nanny wanted a round table so badly. My mother had one of the old stainless steel–formica dining sets that were so common at the time. I think everyone had a set like that in their kitchen. Some were green. Some were red. And I have seen yellow ones. 

Nanny’s sister had moved from Memphis to Coldwater, Mississippi, and she sent word that her neighbor had a round table that she would trade for mama’s formica set. So the three of us loaded the dining table and chairs in Daddy’s 1964 Chevy pickup and headed to Coldwater. 

When we got there, my little 10 year old eyes bugged out. The round table was in terrible condition! It was over 75 years old–in 1967! I remember thinking, I hope Nanny doesn’t put that thing in the kitchen.

But Mama could always work wonders with old furniture. The table was good and sturdy, so she stripped the old finish off. Sanded. Put a layer or two of sanding sealer on top, and it looked beautiful.

I grew up eating home cooked meals on this old table. Nanny would get up every summer morning at sunrise and walk down the road to the garden that she grew in the corner of the cotton field. She would gather fresh vegetables for the noon meal (We called that dinner) and be back to the house by the time I woke up to cook breakfast.

The meals this old table has seen would make your mouth water! She would have purple hull peas, butterbeans, squash, fried okra, string beans, cucumbers and cantaloupe. My favorite thing was fried green tomatoes! They are my favorite to this day! I could just sit down to a plate of fried green tomatoes and call it good!

The table, in my eyes, was magic. I did not matter how many people were there for dinner, everyone would fit around. Everyone had their spot, and the guests were squeezed in between.

The table sat in the center of the kitchen, and Nanny would flit around making sure that everyone had what they needed–filling glasses with “more sweet tea please!” She would rarely sit down to eat herself until everyone was almost finished. 

There would always be at least 4 or 5 of these vegetables on the table every meal! And a pone of brown, crusty cornbread. We rarely had meat, but occasionally she would fry pork chops or chicken. Some Sundays we would have pot roast. 

One special memory I will share. An older cousin from Memphis was down visiting. She sat by me, and she ate, and ate, and ate. Finally, she said, “I could crawl under the table and cry, because I can’t hold another single bite!”

But there was another bite, because Nanny still had not brought out the chocolate pie! 

The old farmhouse (over 120 years old) still sits in the front yard of our newer farmhouse built in 2006. Nanny’s round table is in my kitchen today, but I am still struggling to be the cook she was. I think Bella is going to rise to the task! Nanny would be proud!