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So you aren’t confused as to who I am referring to, this story deals with my grandmother, Hattie Leach, whom I called Mama.

I was born at 205 Underhill Ave., the home of my grandparents Mayfield and Hattie Leach.

After a year in Daniel Brooks Homes, my mother and father moved back in with my grandparents, where we stayed until my father bought a home on the corner of Normal and West streets.

After my grandmother moved her beauty shop from the Kilby Hotel, she and my mother opened a shop together in a newly built addition to 205 Underhill.

This meant we were back and forth all day between Mama’s and my parents’ home. It also meant that I got to taste some mighty good cooking by a lady who came from that old school of good cooking.
Once Mama cooked something a couple of times, from then on it was stored in that place in her brain called finger-licking good recipes.

A pinch of this, a dash of that and the palm of her hand that could sense anything from a teaspoon to a cupful of needed ingredients was an inherited quality that was passed down from her mother.
I don’t have enough space to mention all the different dishes that Mama cooked for us over the years.

However, one of my favorites, and one that I cook to this day, would be a dish she called Porky Potatoes. This is a quick tasty dish that isn’t expensive and the leftovers taste the same days later.

For those of you who love good cooking, I want you to try my Mama’s Porky Potatoes recipe. You will need the following items: deep CorningWare dish, large white onion, extra sage sausage and white potatoes. Personally, I prefer Neese’s extra sage or their hot sausage. If you don’t eat pork, then get a well seasoned turkey sausage. In other words, buy what suits your taste buds. I switch up constantly. As for how much to cook, just buy what you think it will take to feed your family.

(Preheat your oven to 350°.)

Step one: Wash and peel your white potatoes. Slice them into ¾- or 1-inch pieces. Spread slices in the bottom of the Corning dish.

Depending upon how much you are cooking, you will have several layers of potatoes. Don’t stack the potatoes directly on top of each other so as to allow the juices to flow easily over the potatoes.

Step two: Peel your white onions. Slice them no wider than 1/4 inch. Punch the rings out and place them all over the potatoes.

Step three: Sprinkle salt and pepper on the potatoes according to your taste. I have been known to sprinkle generously with garlic powder.

Step four: Fill the Corning dish about a quarter of the way with water.

Step five: Unwrap your sausage and cut the size patties you prefer. I like my patties ½-inch thick. Place your sausage patties on top of the onions being careful not to stack them on top of each other.

Step six: Once the dish starts cooking, stick a fork in your potatoes periodically to see if they are done.

The key to this dish is letting the flavor from a well-seasoned sausage cook into your potatoes. Now all you have to do is fix a nice green salad, and you will be in seventh heaven.

After working on this story for a few hours, I guess you know what I am having for dinner — Mama’s Porky Potatoes. Today, I am going to mix a heavy sage sausage with some hot sausage. Thanks, Mama!

Glenn Chavis researches and writes about High Point’s black history. Contact him at Storytime40@aol.com