Grandma was up early to get the fires going and the cook stove loaded with wood and lit so she could get breakfast going.  Grand-daddy left early for work in the mines, so grandma had to get up at 3 a.m.  I can still see her moving around with her head tied up in a rag and always dressed when she came to the kitchen, no matter what time it was.  The stove was hot and she started the cooking.

First, water was put on the stove for coffee and washing dishes.  There was a big coffee pot that was loaded with coffee and water.  That was first on the list.  Next, grandma brought out the big bowl to mix up the biscuits.  The cabinet that set in the corner had a pull out work area and a flour bin made right in it.  Grandma got the fresh buttermilk out of the Majestic and the big bucket of lard came out of the bottom of the cabinet.  With agility and speed that I have never seen duplicated, grandma had those perfectly symmetrical and equally-sized biscuits in the pan and ready to go into the oven of the cook stove.  

Now grandma got out the sausage, home made of course, from their home grown pigs, and loaded the big cast iron skillet after it had been heated on the cook stove.  Before long the smell of coffee and sausage started to bring everyone in the house to the kitchen.  Grandma knew just when to turn that sausage, and it only got turned one time.  It always came out perfectly browned and done to perfection.  

The biscuits went into the oven and the flour was added to the lard and sausage grease in the iron skilled for gravy.  She had an old wooden spoon that had seen its better days, but it still worked like a dream.  She stirred that flour until it was dark brown, but not burnt.  Grandma knew just the right moment to add the fresh milk and stir like crazy.  She never sloshed it out on the stove or made a mess.  She had each step down to perfection that only came from experience and love for what she was doing.  

Grandma cooked the eggs, and not made to order like we have them today.  She fried the eggs and we ate them that way.  Not scrambled, no omelets, no over easy or light, just fried eggs grandma's way.

We set the table, starting with the oil cloth that protected the table top.  The food was taken up and put on the table.  There was no buffet line in grandma's kitchen.  Everyone sat down, we blessed the food, and dug in!  We added home churned butter and home made jelly to those big ole' biscuits and I can't describe the taste, it can't be duplicated.

Grandma had a special gravy bowl.  It was a gray bowl and after years of service as the gravy bowel it had some cracks and chips.  Now grandma would take the biscuits and sausage that were left over and put them on one plate, then set the plate on top of the gravy bowl with the left over gravy.  She would set the bowl with the plate on top of it in the dish cabinet for another meal later.  You could go into the kitchen and open up that dish cabinet later in the day to get a glass or some other dish out, and the first thing you noticed was the smell of grandma's biscuits.  Those were the days!

I am fortunate to still have grandma's gray gravy bowl, and the dish cabinet I spoke of was made by my grand-daddy and is still an original piece in my kitchen, used to hold my dishes today.  There are times when I can go to the kitchen and open up the cabinet to get a dish out, and I can smell grandma's biscuits!  How blessed I am to be able to cook my family's breakfast in that same kitchen every day.