Friend Mark’s comment about Cornell Chicken Barbecue reminded me of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, administered through the land grant colleges. In Greensville County we had a County Agent, and a Home Demonstration Agent, now called Extension Agents. According to the website, they are responsible for outreach programs regarding "agriculture, natural resources, family and consumer sciences, 4H clubs and community viability."
Mother belonged to the Home Demonstration Club. The women met monthly to socialize and learn from the educational programs. Before I started school, I went with her. I remember that we packed lunch, and I carried a little bag with books or my doll, often naked. despite Mother's best efforts. The doll, not me. We always stopped on the way to pick up Mrs. Janski. She was an older lady who was a talented artist. She often brought a fig preserves and butter sandwich with the crusts cut off for her lunch, and when she did, she always made one for me. I don’t remember if I really liked the jam or if I liked the fact that she cut the crusts off. Mother only did that on very special occasions, claiming that the crusts made you pretty. I understand that some children were told the crusts would make their hair curly. I’m pretty sure the former is not true, and my hair is straight as a stick, so there you are.
I don’t have Mrs. Janski’s fig preserves recipe, but I do have Mrs. Williams’ strawberry fig recipe. They had a huge fig tree outside their side porch, and she did love figs. I prefer mine in Newtons, to tell the truth, but her jam was really popular.
Recipe:
3 cups mashed figs
2 pkg. (3 oz.) strawberry gelatin
3 cups sugar
Mix together in large saucepan. Boil 3-4 minutes. Pour into hot, sterilized jelly jars and seal.
Note: This is the recipe as I was given it back in the ‘70s, but food safety rules for canning may be different by now. If you are not an experienced canner, it might be a good idea to consult a recent canning book.
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