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collard-greens-with-smoked-turkey-legs

My momma and daddy are both from Arkansas. Both grew up farming and raising the food that they ate. I grew up in Kansas City, MO with four siblings. Growing up my momma always had at least one garden. She grew the usual suspects: tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, carrots, green beans, and yes, greens….all three of them: collards, mustards, and turnips. So we ate whatever was coming out of the garden. Along with my brother and sisters, we were the little farm hands. We had to carry buckets of water from our house to the garden—a half a block up the street. We’d pick whatever was ready to come out of the ground and then carry it home and clean it before my momma would cook it. It was an all day deal! When the harvest was big, she would not only cook it, but also, can the leftovers, freeze them, and/or give them away to neighbors, friends and family. Today, I’m only growing and maintaining an herb garden, no vegetables. All my veggies are coming from the grocery store. And we are fortunate to have a Sprouts grocery store in Kansas City who locally sources a lot of their produce and has some of the best produce in town. I make my collard greens pretty much the way my momma made hers, with one exception. She used smoked ham hocks, smoked ham shanks, or neck bones. While I still love this flavor I have shifted and now substitute smoked turkey legs because some members of my family don’t eat pork. The flavor is still banging and I believe my momma and daddy would have still enjoyed these greens along with a few slices of cornbread on the side…and you will, too!

Ingredients