"He always ate dessert first."

J. S. Hogg, who used to order a hundred pounds of ham at a time, and lard by the barrel, enjoyed every bite he took.

Ima recalled lavish menus for parties at the Governor’s Mansion:

        

         Chicken salad, baked turkey and baked ham, and beaten biscuits, of course, were the main dishes for receptions. Green olives were just being introduced, that is, as far as I remember. Celery was a scarcity but was served and lettuce was very different from what we have now. Salted nuts, especially almonds, were always used. There were many varieties of cakes – marble cake was beautiful and delicious. Spice cake seemed to be another favorite. In season, fruit cakes were made. But I recall Lady Baltimore Cake as being very frequently made with lemon layer cake as second best. Pies were ever ready and I imagine they were never allowed to become stale. The cookie jar was never empty and beaten biscuits were a necessity. I can remember hearing the beating of the biscuit dough and used to take a great delight in taking my turn with the wooden mallet. The Saratoga potatoes fascinated me more than almost anything because our cook took the greatest pains with them cutting them large and very thin then letting them soak in water for a long time, then carefully draining them and dropping them into a deep iron pot of hot grease.

Saratoga potatoes became better known as potato chips. They were first served in the 1880s at Moon Lake House, a well-known resort in Saratoga, New York.

         There was another thing which was very difficult to make and I do not know where they can be found anymore – a very delicate crisp sweetened waffle made on a kind of lacy waffle iron, This we often had for parties and it took a long time to make them. Father was very fond of salt rising bread and we always had this as well as light bread and hot rolls. Then there was a bread which he enjoyed, called Steam Boat bread, not a yeast bread, something similar to that which is now called Sally Lunn, I think.        

J. S. Hogg loved a good meal. He could never forget going hungry in his youth (when he was 16 and traveling across Texas, he once went without food for three days). When he was a young county attorney in Wood County in 1878, he was “thin and muscular,” but he soon began to put on weight. When he ate at the boarding house in Tyler he became famous for his appetite. He always ate dessert first, so as not to be too full for it at the end of his meal. 

By the time he was Governor in 1890 he weighed about 300 pounds. With his 6’4” frame, he was an imposing figure. As one Wood County resident remembered him, “Governor Hogg was a very large and powerful man, requiring four large napkins to cover him while he was eating, sitting well back from the table; he was always very jolly, very affable, and ate with a great deal of gusto.”

But then, J. S. Hogg did everything with gusto.