Wednesday's Walk with memories of Candyland!

Another "Wednesday's Walk" day, sharing some fun memories! Please join us each week! You can click on the link on the side bar and join in the fun!











I was born in Bowling Green, KY., so I claim that as my hometown. My grandmother and some cousins lived in BG.; my parents went to Bowling Green Business University; Dad later taught at BBU, which became Western Ky. University (WKU). My sisters attended WKU; our middle daughter graduated this past December from WKU. So, my Kentucky roots go deep.

Shortly after I was born, we moved to Nashville. The bittersweet experience of watching the progression of growth of “Country Music USA”, includes the demise of several local landmarks for bigger better buildings (and that, friends, is alliteration! 3 words in a row beginning with the same letter: bigger better business) Sounds like my figure ~ from medium to a bigger (not better) building called my body (another “b” word!) OUCH!

One such treasured landmark to my sisters and me, Candyland (whose latter owners renamed it to Vandyland), opened in 1928, served diner food to everyone from neighborhood denizens to governors and country music stars until just a short few years ago.
Serving fabulous sodas and sundaes for two decades from a shop located near the Vanderbilt University campus, they made their own caramel and chocolate sauces (they called it "chocolate moonshine"). The ham biscuits were not to be missed. The doors officially opened at 8:00 a.m., but locals showed up for a private breakfast of sorts starting at 7:00. Our favorite treat of all was a “Chocolate Drift”: chocolate ice cream, smothered in heated and thinned marshmallow crème, and sprinkled heavily with chocolate sprinkles! Delectable!




Mr. Mack McGee, the famed restaurant's long-time cook from 1963 and dispenser of positive thoughts, always waited on us! He always wore a white cook’s jacket and a white paper “toque” on his head…the kind worn in old timey diners. Oh, please forgive me. You’re probably way too young to remember that…OK, so I’m antique! I just get better with age! Hehehahahohohum!

In memory of Candyland and in memory and honor of “Mac”, I give you this famous recipe of his for “Country Ham Biscuit”:


Country Ham Biscuit
Recipe Source: Vandyland
Preparation Time: 1 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Servings: 1

“Vandyland was a counter-and-booth sweet shop near Vanderbilt University in Nashville; a staff member once told us that its name came about when the owners bought what was then called Candyland and wanted to change signs with minimal expense. It was the ham biscuit that first won our hearts to this place, which finally closed its doors in 2006: classic buttermilk biscuits sandwiching sizzled pieces of quarter-inch thick country ham, each slice rimmed with amber fat.”
Ingredients:

1 piece country ham with a rim or veins of fat, sliced 1/4-inch thick and 3 to 4 inches across
1 buttermilk biscuit

Directions:
1. Place the ham in a medium hot cast iron skillet and cook until its fat is partially rendered and the surface begins to turn red-gold.
2. Pry the biscuit into two halves, top and bottom (never cut a biscuit with a knife) and insert the piece of ham.

What was your favorite place to visit for a treat as a child?



And, don’t forget to enter my contest to win a fabulous piece of Magazine Art from kenzartcreations.



I’m grateful for taste buds that can differentiate between sweet and salty, sweet and sour, hot and cold, hard and soft…so I can thoroughly enjoy the food I eat! I’m also thankful that I grew up in Nashville, TN., and had many delicious experiences with Chocolate Drifts...and Mr. Mack!