Rum Raisin Sauce — The Copper Pot and What We Keep

Squirrel season opened. I went out Saturday and got two. Worked at the construction company in Lexington this week. The body holds. Most days.

Connie at the vet clinic, four shifts this week. Her back is tired. She does not say so. I see it. Mama is 86. She is the toughest person I have ever known. She still cooks every day in the company house in Evarts.

Apple butter. All-day cook in the copper pot Connie's grandmother left her. Cinnamon, allspice, cloves.

Travis called Tuesday. The landscaping company is busy. He sounds tired in a good way. Amber called Sunday. Things are good. James sends his regards.

Earl would have known what to say about that. Earl is not here. I said nothing. I went on.

Connie cut my hair on the porch Tuesday afternoon. She has been cutting my hair for forty years. The barber in Pineville cannot do what Connie does, which is also love.

I sat at the kitchen table Tuesday night working on the recipe project. Mama's soup beans. I cannot get the words right yet.

The dog — old Beau, fifteen years old — slept by the wood stove all afternoon Tuesday. He used to be a hunting dog. Now he is a heating pad with opinions.

I sat on the porch with bourbon at sundown Friday. The fog rolled into the hollow the way it has every fog of every year. The porch was the porch. The bourbon was the bourbon.

I went up to Earl's grave at the Evarts cemetery Saturday. Brought a beer. Drank half. Poured the rest on the dirt. Some traditions are mine alone.

Worked on a basement remodel job in Lexington. The work was good. The pay was good. The body is tired.

Amber sent the kids' school photos this week. Nadia is taller every year. Marcus has Amber's serious face. Little Betty has Mama's eyes.

Connie read aloud from a novel Tuesday evening while I worked on the bench. Some Appalachian writer she had picked up at the library in Whitesburg. The voice was the voice of where we live. We listened together.

Travis sent a photo of Earl Thomas riding on the mower with him at a job site. The boy is wearing a Hensley Landscaping T-shirt that's too big. Three generations on a mower. I saved the photo.

The creek was running clear Sunday afternoon. I watched a kingfisher work the riffle. Did not move for an hour. Some Sundays the watching is the worship.

The neighbor up the road — Old Roy, eighty-seven, lives alone — had a small heart scare. We took him soup beans Tuesday. Cornbread too. He cried a little when he ate. We all cry over soup beans eventually.

Drove to Pineville for parts Wednesday. The hardware store man knew me. We talked about the weather and the price of feed. Forty minutes for a five-minute errand. That is rural Kentucky.

Sunday service at Harlan First Baptist when we go. Pastor preached about Ruth and Boaz. The choir sang. Connie wore her gray dress.

I split a half-cord of wood Saturday. Slowly. The back does not let me work fast anymore. It got done. The wood was for the smokehouse.

My back was tight after the wood-splitting Saturday. Took an Aleve. Slept eight hours. Got up.

Read the paper at breakfast Tuesday. The county news is not great. The mines have not come back and they will not come back. The young people leave. The hollows empty. We stay.

Drove the truck to the dump Saturday afternoon. Saw three deer crossing the road on the way back. The mountains have been giving back this year.

Connie made apple butter all day in that copper pot — cinnamon, allspice, cloves, the whole house carrying the smell of it — and I sat at the kitchen table Tuesday night thinking about what we keep and what keeps us. This rum raisin sauce came out of that same current: something slow-cooked and honest, the kind of thing you pour over pound cake on a Sunday when the fog is in the hollow and the wood stove is going and old Beau is asleep on the floor. Earl would have taken a second helping without saying a word. That was always enough.

Rum Raisin Sauce

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 cup dark raisins
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of kosher salt

Instructions

1. Plump the raisins. Combine raisins and rum in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Warm gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the raisins soften and begin to absorb the rum. Do not boil.
2. Build the sauce. Add brown sugar and butter to the pan. Stir steadily over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar fully dissolves, about 2–3 minutes.
3. Add cream and spices. Pour in the heavy cream, then stir in the cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, and salt. Raise heat slightly to bring the sauce to a low simmer.
4. Reduce and thicken. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 5–7 minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon and has deepened in color.
5. Rest and serve. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving. Spoon warm over pound cake, vanilla ice cream, or bread pudding. Reheat gently over low heat with a splash of cream if storing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 185 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 45mg