Kentucky Food: Delicious AND Much Closer than You Think!

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits and Yoder’s Jam… Delicious!

As you may know, one of my favorite things in the world to do is cook for my family. Today, for example, I knew my daughter Brittany had to get up early for work (something she HATES to do).  I knew she’d get off around noon, so I timed a batch of homemade brownies to be ready to come out of the oven just as she poured herself into the back door.

The look on her face when she opened the back door to a kitchen filled with the unmistakable aroma of chocolate made my day.

Actually, I think it made my month.

Whether it’s brownies, spaghetti, pancakes, sourdough bread, roast beef, tacos, or something completely out of left field, cooking special things for the people who make my world go round makes me happy from the inside out. So I guess you can imagine how important great ingredients and condiments are to me, right? I’m always on the look out for fun, delicious new lovelies to serve up.  One of my favorite things to bake (and one of my family’s favorite things to eat) is bread. Whether it’s my world famous (okay, maybe not world famous) buttermilk biscuits, cornbread, or sourdough bread – we LOVE bread in this house.

One of the funnest parts of eating bread is, of course, what you put on it. As far as I’m concerned, nothing… absolutely nothing... beats Kentucky jams, jellies, preserves, and honey.  If you don’t think they’re 100 times better than the stuff you buy in Kroger (or Wal-Mart, or Winn Dixie..)  – then you simply haven’t had the same Kentucky goodies I buy.

When I’ve told people before about the Kentucky made food I’m so fond of, they’ll always ask, “Where in the world do you find it?!” The answer’s always the same:  I find them at Kentucky State Parks’ gift shops and a very charming, fun, outrageously cool country store in Aurora, Kentucky: The Hitching Post & Old Country Store.

At The Hitching Post in Aurora you can find Kentucky jams, jellies, preserves, honey, red pepper jelly (HEAVENLY on cornbread and spread over a block of cream cheese, served with Ritz Crackers… yum! ), barbecue sauces, sorghum, and a heckuva lot more.  Click the link above and you’ll even find a few things you can buy on their website. Of course, it’s a lot funner to actually visit the store in person. It’s really a special place.  If you time it just right, you can enjoy a Chicago Style Hot Dog from the venders out front – truly the best hot dog in the world. I could eat one every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of them. They’re awesome.

When you visit The Hitching Post, be sure you try the Apple Butter, Blackberry and Boysenberry Jams, and Sweet, beautiful Kentucky Honey!  I wouldn’t dream of serving biscuits without these delicacies.

As I said, Kentucky State Parks are also a perfect place to find Kentucky food (as well as Kentucky crafts!). On a recent trip to Cumberland Lake State Resort Park, I found something I’ve been looking for forever – Plum Jam.

Holy cats, I love Plum Jam!

It’s so incredibly delicious, but can be tough to find.  When I saw it on the shelf in Cumberland Lake State Resort Park’s gift shop, I nearly let out a whoop.  I’d gone in there for Kentucky honey (which I also found, by the way) – but, as always, I scoured the jams and jellies for blackberry and plum.  I couldn’t wait to show my husband the treasure I’d found!

Yoder’s Plum Jam: Extra, extra, extra, extraordinary!

Ironically, on the front of my beloved Plum Jam, the label says, “It’s like going home to Grandma’s.”  It was actually in one of my grandma’s kitchens I fell in love with plum jam.  My dad’s grandmother, “Grandma Sarver,” was a sweetheart who lived in Scottsville, Kentucky.  My mom, dad, and I would make the trip from Madisonville to Scottsville to visit her as often as possible.  She’d make enough food to feed an army! She knew how much I loved plum jam, so she always had plenty on hand.

The problem was, we could never find any in Madisonville or anywhere else for that matter! It was always a mystery how Grandma Sarver always found a stash.  I think she had elves in her basement.

Anyway, as soon as I open a jar of plum jam – to this day – it takes me back to being a little girl in my grandma’s kitchen.  When I opened this jar from Lake Cumberland’s gift shop, the aroma had already whisked me back to the 1970s in a Scottville, Kentucky kitchen. When I read the words, “It’s like going home to Grandma’s,” I just thought, You have no idea how right you are.

Nobody makes honey quite like Kentuckian bees… know that.

Did you know that locally made honey helps ease seasonal allergies? It’s the gospel truth. I have ridiculous allergies and have found that since I fell in mad love with locally made honey, I buy a lot less Benadryl. There’s magic in them there bees!

As one cook and lover of food to another, I urge you to visit The Hitching Post in Aurora as well as Kentucky State Park gift shops and load up.

More of the Hitching Post on Genuine Kentucky:

• Step Back in Time at the Hitching Post and Country Store in Aurora, Ky.
• Handsome Gentleman Hanging Out in the Hitching Post
• Homemade Fudge at the Hitching Post!
• Endless Kentucky Nostalgia at the Hitching Post in Aurora, Kentucky
• Classic Sign on the Hitching Post’s Porch!
• Delicious Kentucky Food at the Hitching Post