To Marcella Jones, cooking is a piece of cake – literally – and is as easy as (fried) pie.
Jones, 87, has been preparing meals since she can remember. The third of six children, she was responsible for cooking and cleaning while her parents worked in the fields. Her mother spent a month in the hospital. Her two older sisters were married and out of the house. As the oldest female, she took over many of the chores – cutting wood, making lye soap, milking the cows, churning the butter, sending the younger children to school.
“We lived a rough life,” she stated, but she admits that’s what made her strong and keeps her active today, despite a few minor health problems.
Jones’ daughter, Juanita Bartlett, says her mom lives life in the kitchen.
“I used to lock my brother out of the kitchen so I could make cakes,” Jones laughed, recalling her teenage years and how she loved to cook even then. “I don’t want anybody in my kitchen. I never have.”
It was easy for this McDowell News reporter to find Jones’ Cannon Farm Drive residence last week. Just follow the scent of fried pies.
Her blueberry, cherry, apple, peach, pineapple, mixed fruit and sweet potato creations, made from scratch with a secret homemade dough recipe, will melt in your mouth.
The pies are one of Jones’ specialties. She’s made them for dozens of people through the years and serves them up every Thursday night at the Marion Depot concerts.
“This house couldn’t hold all the fried pies I’ve made over the years,” she stated.
Bartlett agreed. “I would like to have a count of how many pies she has made.”
“I’m going to give it up one day,” Jones halfheartedly added.
She starts on her pies days ahead of time, thickening cherries, frying apples and mixing up a dough that “doesn’t stick to your hands,” Jones proudly points out. That dough recipe stays near and dear to her heart – and her brain. It’s the only recipe she refuses to relinquish.
Even though she’s an expert dessert maker, she’s not an expert dessert taster.
“I have never eaten them,” she stated. “I just don’t want them.”
Jones said her favorite dish to make is chicken and dumplings. She always has requests for biscuits, chocolate pies, pumpkin logs, coconut cakes, cream cheese pound cakes, sour dough bread and, another of her specialties, black walnut cake.
“The icing on that cake is so good it will make your tongue want to slap your brains out,” Bartlett stated, laughing but totally serious.
The 87-year-old also cans green beans, tomatoes, salsa, beets and other goodies; freezes corn and strawberries; makes homemade jellies; and cracks her own walnuts and pecans.
“I love to get in my kitchen,” said Jones.
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