Fresh spinach, whether from the garden or from the market, was liked by the whole family—even by the children. Grandma would wash a large bowlful of the leaves, swishing them well through lots of water several times to be sure every grain of the sandy soil was gone. She put the wet spinach into a large cooking pan with a little salted water, and let it simmer gently until it was tender. By this time, the big batch of leaves had condensed to a much smaller amount. She then put the cooked spinach into a large wooden chopping-bowl, (resembling a big salad-bowl) and chopped it up very fine. The chopping tool had a handle on the top, holding two sharp, curved blades, and made short work of the process.

While this was going on, several slices of bacon, diced, were slowly cooking on the stove. An onion, chopped into small pieces, was added to the bacon and cooked just a little bit. Then a bit of flour was stirred into the bacon-onion mixture to make a sort of roux, and a little liquid (sometimes cream, but usually bouillon and boiling water) was added to make a small amount of thickened sauce. The spinach was added to this and mixed, with salt and pepper to taste. At the table, it was always accompanied by gravy of some kind, either from the meat being served, or with leftover gravy from a former meal.

Frozen chopped spinach is readily available in the supermarket. Although it is not chopped nearly as fine as in Grandma's method, it can still give some of the same flavor we enjoyed in the old days.

Cook the thawed spinach with a small amount of water until it is tender. (This may be done in a microwave oven.) Drain well in a colander.Squeeze out the excess water with your hands.

Cut the bacon into small chunks. I find that it is easier to cut frozen bacon right out of the package, enough to equal a few slices. The rest goes back into the freezer.

Brown the bacon in a skillet.