Hi Folks, Thought I'd let you reminisce for a while............... Sitting here writing a story on the early settlers into the new regions of the Jackson Purchase (c.1820) and discussing the living conditions with my spoiled-rotten, pampered teenage daughters of the 'gotta have a car to hangout at the mall crowd', when the question of 'what did they prepare for dinner' came up. I thought about it awhile, but realized I really don't know. I hadn't given it much thought. I know that when I was growing up in the country we didn't go to the store much, but grew & hunted much of our food, ie, chicken, goose, squirrel, rabbit, goat, hog, deer, pheasant, turkey, fish and homegrown vegetables. Canned most of the produce for the winter. Bought salt, pepper, flour and other staples from the store. Collected honey from the beehives in the summer along with wild grapes, apples and the such for jams & jellies. Didn't have any dairy cows so we had to buy butter, milk and the such. Not a bad diet !! Better than Mickey Dee's, KFC and Dominos of today. But in the case of the McKenzies who in 1818 were living on few acres of land on White Oak Creek in present-day Houston Co., I'm not sure what they did for food. They obviously hunted & fished. Grew crops and canned them. But what their diet consisted of, I don't know. In April of 1824, Malcolm McKenzie entered 20 acres on Sugar Creek near Big Sandy in Benton Co. He moved his family from White Oak Creek to their new home for Christmas. His wife, Nancy Beaton, must have been thrilled ( I would hope). Malcolm & Nancy must have worked their butts-off during that summer to get ready for the move. Malcolm setting-in and tending crops while cutting & setting logs for their new cabin across the Tennessee River. Harvesting crops in Houston county and clearing crop-land in Benton Co. Trying to do it today with cars, trucks, tractors, highways & bridges would be a chore. Try doing it 174 years ago in virgin forests with an axe, a boat and maybe a horse or mule. My muscles hurt even thinking about it. So........ Little Ole Malcolm (he was probably only about 5'6") is out in his forest cutting trees with his axe or saw for his families new home and is getting hungry, what do you think he had for breakfast, lunch & dinner ???? Let alone, where he slept those many nights ???? Think I'll send my bratty teenagers, in the car, to go get me a 'Egg McMuffin' with coffee !!! Dave