By W.C. ABBOTT, Jr.

Some people dress up to look old-timey, and some look old-timey no matter how they dress. Some people are old-timers and there's nothing they can do about it. That's because they've been here a long time.

Not only people, but things are sometimes put in the old-timey category. A good example is old-timey ribbon cane syrup. I had a friend, Bobby Salter, who if he saw a sign on the roadside that said, "Syrup, the Old Timey Kind," would stop and buy some. He figured old-timey meant it was made like they made it back years ago, and it had to be good. That may be why antiques are so popular.

Old people, old syrup, and antiques are not what I'm thinking about right now. What I'm interested in is old-time cooking. Whatever happened to stewed Irish potatoes? My wife Edna tells how her mama used to fix them. She said she made a roux by browning some flour in a little grease - probably hog lard - then they'd put onion in and water and cut up potatoes in the mixture. Don't follow this recipe because it's just an outline of how the dish was prepared. I've eaten stewed potatoes and they are good. It's been a long time.

Back in those days, you did't have much meat, especially beef. Chicken once in a while on Sunday, and pork in the winter, and until it gave out in the spring. After that you depended on dried beans - my favorite was butterbeans - fresh vegetables were usually available, and of course Irish potatoes and sweet potatoes. When we got home from school we usually found a pan of sweet potatoes in the oven with syrup oozing out of them. Whatever happened to syrup running out of baked sweet potatoes?

My Grandma Josie Daigle used to make what she called hoe-cake. It was cooked on top of the stove kind of like hot cakes, only thicker. It was sorta like biscuits only it didn't rise like biscuits. Haven't seen or eaten any hoe-cake since I was a youngster.

What happened to homemade lye hominy? I remember when Mama made it, several of my aunts came and helped cause it took lots of work and time. They made a big batch so each family would have some. The process called for the use of lye and boiling the corn kernels, and handling each grain of corn to get the husk off. If I knew how to make lye hominy, that wouldn't mean I'd make some, but if I knew how, I could threaten to make some, and that's almost as satisfying as actually doing it. You can buy it in cans, and it's good but not nearly as good as Mama's homemade was. Old-timey probably has something to do with it.

Back when it was common to make lye hominy, it took about three women to make it, but that was all right. Time wasn't judged to be very valuable. What they would have been doing at home if they weren't making hominy they could do the next day. Several days' supply of hominy was more valuable that a day's time.

If you want to put a value on things, what's more valuable than a day with your sisters talking and catching up with family affairs and seeing your nieces and nephews enjoying a day together?