According to Historycooperative.org, the inaugural Mother’s Day was initiated on May 10, 1908, in Grafton, West Virginia, by Anna Jarvis after the death of her mother. Anna was the daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis, a notable peace activist and community organizer, who laid the foundation of what would become Mother’s Day through her creation of “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs.” SouthernLiving.com says, “A pork butt is the ultimate multi-tasking meal. A 4- to 5-pound pork butt can feed a dozen folks at once or a family of four for a few meals. And the great thing about this one? You don’t need a special smoker or grill. Your oven will do the work. 

Carolyn Booth’s recipe for Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes comes to us from Apopka Historical Society’s publication, Preserving the Big Potato. 

From Emily Meggett, we have Stuffed Yellow Squash and Zucchini. 

Mark Sohn says, “I can’t guarantee that this recipe for Country Biscuits will yield a biscuit like those you grew up with, but I hope it will get you started down the right path – the path of homemade biscuits. 

SOUTHERN LIVING’S OVEN-ROASTED PORK BUTT 
Recipe from southernliving.com

INGREDIENTS: 
4 teaspoons seasoned salt 
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar 
1-1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar 
1-1/2 teaspoon paprika 
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/4 teaspoon pepper 
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard 
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin 
0.0625 teaspoon ground ginger (no kidding! Or about 1/16th of a teaspoon, or a teensy bit!) 
1 4- to 5-pound bone-in Boston butt pork roast 

DIRECTIONS: 
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir together salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, paprika, garlic powder, pepper, dry mustard, cumin, and ginger in a medium bowl. 2) Trim one (4- to 5-pound) Boston butt pork roast. Pat dry. 3) Sprinkle with seasoning mixture. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. 4) Place pork in an aluminum foil-lined (12 x 9-inch) pan. Bake 4 to 4-1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 195 degrees Fahrenheit. Let stand 15 minutes. Shred pork with two forks. 

CAROLYN BOOTH’S CHEESY SCALLOPED POTATOES 
Recipe from Apopka Historical Society 
Preserving the Big Potato 

INGREDIENTS: 
1/4 cup butter 
1/4 cup flour 
2 cups milk 
1 teaspoon salt 
1/2 teaspoon white pepper 
2 small onions, thinly sliced and separated (you can use chives instead) 
5 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 

DIRECTIONS: 
Melt butter and add flour stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute stirring constantly. Gradually add milk and cook over medium heat until thickened; stir in salt and pepper. Layer the sauce, potatoes, onions, and cheese in a baking dish beginning and ending with sauce. Reserve some cheese for the top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until tender. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes. Optional: You can add chopped cooked ham between the layers for a one-dish meal. 

EMILY MEGGETT’S STUFFED YELLOW SQUASH AND ZUCCHINI 
Recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by Emily Meggett 

INGREDIENTS: 
5 yellow squash 
2 zucchini 
4 slices bacon, fried until crisp, chopped 
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, plus more for topping 
1/2 scallion, thinly sliced 
Seasoning salt 

DIRECTIONS: 
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 2) In a 12-quart pot, bring 8 quarts water to a boil over high heat. (Add NO salt.) Add the whole yellow squash and zucchini to the pot and boil for 4 minutes. 3) After the vegetables are cooked, drain the hot water and replace it with cold water to cool the squash. 4) When the squash and zucchini are cool enough to handle, cut each one in half lengthwise, and cut off the narrow necks of the yellow squash. Chop the squash necks into pieces. Place the necks in a bowl and set aside. 5) Remove the insides of each squash and zucchini half and add them to the necks. 6) Place the halves in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. 7) To the squash mixture, add the bacon, butter, breadcrumbs, scallion, and seasoning salt to taste. Mix the ingredients together thoroughly. 8) Use this mixture to fill each yellow squash and zucchini cavity. 9) Sprinkle the top of each stuffed squash and zucchini with breadcrumbs. Pour 1/4 cup tepid water into the bottom of the baking dish to prevent the squash from burning. 10) Bake the stuffed squash for 20 to 25 minutes until the squash is cooked and slightly golden. 

MASTER RECIPE: BISCUITS 
From: Mark F. Sohn’s Hearty Country Cooking 

INGREDIENTS: 
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt 
1-1/2 tablespoons butter or lard, softened 
1-1/2 tablespoons butter or lard, chilled 
1/2 cup milk 

DIRECTIONS: 
1) Place the oven rack in its lowest position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. 2) In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups of the flour, baking powder, and salt. 3) Using a pastry blender, cut the chilled butter and the softened butter into the flour until the mixture forms crumbles the size of rice grains. 4) Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the milk. Stir lightly until mixed. Turn out onto a cold, floured surface, and knead five times. Do not over-knead. 5) Sprinkle some of the remaining 1/4-cup flour over the dough and pat out the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness, using the extra flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. Fold the dough in half and pat it out to a 3/4-inch thick thickness. 6) Using a 2- to 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits and place them 1 inch apart on a baking sheet. Press the scraps of dough together, pat out the dough, and cut until all the dough is used. 7) Bake for 10 minutes. When the biscuits are cooked and the bottoms are brown and crusty, broil the tops to brown them. 

Yield: 8 biscuits or 6 servings 

ALTERNATIVES: 

Buttermilk Biscuits: Replace the milk with 1/2-cup plus 2 tablespoons fat-free cultured buttermilk. 

Ham Biscuits: Also called Filled Biscuits. Cut 8 slices of country ham or Canadian bacon and put 1 slice inside each biscuit after baking. 

Sausage Biscuits: Fry 8 patties of pork sausage; fill each baked biscuit with 1 sausage patty. Serve with Fried Apples, or add several slices of Fried Apples to make a fried apple-and-sausage biscuit sandwich. 

Cheese Biscuits: In one variation of this biscuit, we roll the dough out as if we were making a cinnamon roll or jelly roll, spread cheese over the dough, roll, cut, and bake. In another variation, we cream butter and cheese, use an equal volume of flour and cheese, and add no liquid. No liquid! This dough melts together, and it comes from the oven rich and cheesy. More often we add cheese to the biscuit dough. To the Master Recipe, as you stir in the milk, add 1 cup (4 ounces) coarsely shredded or diced sharp Cheddar cheese or a mixture of Cheddar and Swiss cheese.