TODAY THE WORDS are SOUTHERNERS TAKE OUR FOOD SERIOUSLY. If you want to get into a spitting match, tell a Southerner “Southern food is not tasty”. Boy, have you stepped on our toes! You might can say, “It may not be healthy” and get away with it. Yesterday I heard my husband say he had an errand to run by the location of where a local business, Hardy Farms, sells Hot Boiled Peanuts. Immediately, I asked him to pick up some boiled peanuts and he laughed. I didn’t ask for a rich, gooey ice cream dessert or cake or pie but boiled peanuts to satisfy my good ole southern heart. During the last couple of years, I have had to change my southern roots eating habits so trust me, when I think of a treat or cheat; I think Southern cooking.
Let me list a few of our Southern delights:
Good ole garden tomato sandwiches…..soft bread with your choice of mayo, salt and pepper, and only garden acidic tomatoes cut either thin or thick to cater to your individual taste. We call them fondly “Mater sammies”.Grits and eggs…..I remember when we moved to Chicago when I was little and Mom went looking for grits only to find hominy. If you ask a true southerner; hominy doesn’t replace our grits. We have to have them with our eggs mixed together and a true connoisseur will tell you to break your bacon or sausage into pieces and add to your grits. Slow and steady is how we cook our grits!
Fried chicken, fried pork chops, fried fish, fried cube steak, fried taters, fried pickles, fried okra….In other words if you can think it; you can fry it. I can remember the first time I ate “grilled” meat and wondered where the crust went.
Watermelon, peaches, cantaloupes, grapes (picked of the vine), strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, figs and any thing else on a vine or bush we can pick. We get a thrill out of picking our own and we love to can it so we can admire our handiwork from our labors.
Sweet tea….Sweet lemonade….Sweet, Sweet, Sweet is how we like our drinks and our desserts. If is not sweet, we look for the sugar bowl. I had to change my thinking and I gave up my sweet tea but I will say this. If for some reason when we are at a restaurant and they accidentally give me my husband’s sweet tea I become a bee drawn to honey. More sweets in our desserts….Ask any Southerner how he or she feels about desserts and unless they are like me, restricted; they will say “Gotta have dessert or the meal isn’t over”. Banana pudding, pound cakes, regular cakes, cookies, special concoctions Grandma made, etc, etc, etc. In other words, Southerners will figure out a way to slap sugar on anything edible.
I have given you a “taste” of how we Southerners are addicted to our way of life and especially our way of eating. For those of you who haven’t tried Southern cooking, grab your fork and spoon and come on down South. Life is composed of a lot of things; some good and some bad. This is where a good ole meal comes into play. You can’t be unhappy when you have a spoonful of Nanna Puddin’ in your mouth. You have to smile at least for as long as the pudding lasts.
LIVE LIFE; LOVE LIFE; and LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST by enjoying your most favorite delights. Make it better by sharing it with friends.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Genesis 1:29 ESV
And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food”
(C) Copyright 2012-2015 Arline Miller. All rights reserved.
