The southern palate

Food / Life in Madison / The southern palate — No Comments
3
Mar 12

Musing on Brunswick Stew and Barbecue. Helping out our friend Rick.

Brunswick Stew.

Did you know that it is made of pork, beef and chicken? I think it is anyway. I wasn’t taking notes — I was stirring.

So many of our community gathered in Bostwick today, to eat some barbecue and raise money to help our dear friends, the Spences, offset medical expenses they incurred while Rick, husband and father, was going through cancer treatment.

It’s just been a week since our friend Rick left us. So hard to believe, but all this cooking gave us a way to do something.

The Main Event.

 

Bucky Malcom and crew started these fellows late yesterday afternoon. They cooked over 12 hours.

And then this morning, lots of folks started pulling and chopping the dickens out of those roasted pigs.

 

I was on the Brunswick stir crew.

 

 

Keep it from sticking on the bottom. It became very clear, you didn’t want to be the one whose pot burned.

 

 

Inside they formed an assembly line to fix the plates and the to-go boxes.

 

 

 

Shannon and Cindy Spence. Rick’s much loved sister and mother.

 

 

And then the people came and came and came.

A few still trickled in an hour after the lunch was scheduled to end.

 

They fixed quarts of leftover meat and stew. So if you’d like some just leave a comment and I can contact my stew sources.

Though the rain affected the numbers for the ride, it didn’t dampen anyone’s appetite.

In Morgan County, people care about barbecue and more importantly —  they care deeply for each other.

 

Food / The garden / The southern palate / Uncategorized — 5 Comments
1
Jan 12

Musing on mulligans for resolutions.

Do you know they already have Valentine stuff in the stores?

Me in the garden at 9:30 this morning.

 

My leg anyway.

I was picking greens.

Lots of folks have been stopping by the garden lately.

 

 

Know what this is a picture of?

Lots of money given away by me.

 

 

These bushes have been providing lots of collards for folks today.

Greens are consumed for money in the new year and black-eyed peas for luck.

As a child I wondered why you needed to eat the greens for money, for if you were lucky – who needs money?

But today I wasn’t thinking about such esoteric January 1 questions. No I awoke, to realize we had invited all my husband’s family to have New Year chow with us.

This put me in quite a quandary.

My New Year’s resolutions this year?

Go to church every Sunday.

Poop.

There I was out in the garden in my pajamas when I was supposed to be in church.

Awake only two hours and I already failed at my one and only resolution.

Now I got everyone in the family off to church (except me).

Does that count for something?

I might have to write Tim Tebow and get a ruling on a do-over. He’d probably like a few do-overs recently.

 

 

 

 

What do you do with a resolution foul? Completely give up or try again?

Maybe I should shoot for four Sundays in a row or something like that?

Food / The garden / The southern palate — 4 Comments
23
Nov 11

Musing on cooking for Thanksgiving. It’s only part of the story.

I love Thanksgiving. It has always been my favorite holiday.

After hosting the family dinner last year, my children begged me not to. :(

They thought it more fun at their grandmother’s. So I thought it my duty to step up and do my share of the cooking and help out Nannie.

Funny. Cooking is only half the task. The other is planning and shopping.

I am not good planner or shopper.

Maybe that’s why I was making my list at 2 p.m. this afternoon. (I was supposed to be shopping by noon but life got in the way.)

I read the recipes.

 

Made my list and headed to the store.

So in middle of afternoon, I was in checkout line with loaded cart.

FYI, you early birds. It wasn’t terribly crowded. I guess for once it pays to be a tad off schedule.

 

 

That’s when it started dawning on me I’ve got lots to do between now and decent bedtime — for a 3:45 wake-up time.

Make sweet potatoes.

Make pecan pies.

Make corn casserole. (No, I’ll do that tomorrow.)

Go into garden and pick collards. Prepare collards.

Collard greens from the garden.

 

No one will eat these but my daughter, teenager and me. (And my father-in-law because he’s kind and feels obligated.)

Had friends stop by and pick greens and lettuce. That made it very fun and holiday. Nothing makes me feel more holiday than giving things away and getting a hug in return.

Here’s a picture of a head of Romaine that I will pick tomorrow for a fabulous new salad I’ve learned about. It’s his last night in the garden.

How beautiful is he? Tomorrow your mine, pretty.

 

Then I made pimento cheese with this new recipe I found for garden club. It was so fab, I’m making it to bring as appetizer with crackers just because I’ve been dreaming about it.

Saved last of the sweet potatoes from my summer garden for the casserole.

A little tradition I started last year.

Beauties too.

 

My pies are still in oven and I’m cleaning up.

Are you still cooking at 9 p.m. the night before Thanksgiving?

I need to turn in soon. Hope your feast is merry and bright. (Or is that for some other holiday?)

 

 

Food / Georgia / South / The southern palate — 5 Comments
21
Jun 11

Musing on peaches. And the dump cobbler.

On the way up to Athens yesterday, my young son wanted to stop for some peaches sold at a road side stand.

I agreed to do it on the return trip.

We went all over that town.

We ate outside at Dairy Queen. Yes. Outside.  (You know the one…with no inside seating right next to the Varsity.)  I lobbied for the Varsity but he wanted DQ chicken tenders. Honestly, I think his motive was to garner a Blizzard.

It was hot. Later he said, “It feels like I pee-ed in my pants I’m sweating so much.”

We went on a mission and delivered some squash to a friend. It took a little doing to find her office but we perserved with her squash. It was the perfect amount for a casserole. I have yet to make a squash casserole this year.

Very sad for me.

Then we hit Target looking for white clothing — maybe save that for a later blog.

Then we headed home.

We stopped for peaches.
They are on the verge of being soo ripe. You can tell they are going to be awesome.
 
We’re making a dump cobbler.
 
Here’s a recipe from the New Perry Hotel. So easy and so good.
 
* 3 to 4 cups pre-sweetened fruit. (in our case, peeled and cut peaches with sugar.)
* 1 cup self-rising flour
* 1 cup milk
* 1 stick margarine. (I use butter. Because I’m bad.)
* 1 cup sugar
Melt margarine (butter) in 2 quart casserole. Pour fruit over margarine (butter). Combine remaining ingredients. Add to dish and stir slightly. Bake at 350 degrees until crust rises to top and is browned.
Yay.
Columns / Food / Latest Newspaper Column / Marriage / The southern palate — 2 Comments
24
Mar 11

In Sickness and in Health. In French Fries and in Fruit.

Recently, my husband had an itsy health scare. One of those events that make you realize changes need to be made.

Perfect for me. Isn’t that what this year has been about? I’m up for changes in the way our family eats. I’ve been tending my garden and buying organic. Even though that makes a bigger dent each week in my tin cup, our family’s health is worth it right?

Good grief. This is work. Continue reading →

Columns / Food / Georgia / Latest Newspaper Column / South / The southern palate — No Comments
1
Jan 11

I’m Going Green in 2011.

“What stinks?”

“Your lunch,” I replied.

Continue reading →

Food / South / The southern palate — 2 Comments
22
Nov 10

Today’s Muse. Medicinal Chicken Fried Steak.

 

Leaving church yesterday, my neighbor asked my daughter to join them for lunch at Cracker Barrel. She ran down to me with big brown eyes and asked to go. Then my neighbor suggested we all eat lunch together.

My stomach started getting all flippy-floppy. Little fingers from mad demonic creatures started to thump on my skull.

“No..”  was what I wanted to scream.

My kitchen was a wreck. The house littered in bits of paper (toilet paper) because the dog has found my stash. Laundry. Dear heavenly father — how I hate laundry. And I was behind in my writing for the week.

“Sure, let’s go,” my husband said.

A slight wave of panic inched across my face. My neighbor standing two pews away in the emptying church said — “Come on. Don’t want to hear anything about stress…”

I swallowed the panic monster down deep and breathed. “Okay.”

~~~~~~~~~

We got to Cracker Barrel and I ordered Chicken Fried Steak because it makes me think of college and Texas. When I didn’t worry about gaining weight or stress about not handling a household of WILD CHILDREN.

The food was great. It was awesome talking with my dear neighbors whom I never see. Letting our kids play. Losing at checkers to my 7 year old.

As we were leaving I hugged my friend. “Thank you for not letting me bug out.” Was all I said, but I felt so much more.

Sometimes getting out of bed to go to church, then going out to eat — is good. To slam that stress monster flat and flippn’ step on his face.

Try to mess with me. Take my happiness.

Though  it took yanking me… kicking and screaming.

In my mind.

Columns / Food / Latest Newspaper Column / The garden / The southern palate — No Comments
26
Jul 10

What’s in a name? That which we call a tomato by any other name would smell as sweet.”

And taste as heavenly.

 Every now and then I fall hopelessly in love. I’ve tumbled hard for a spider, a redbird who chirps relentlessly when I forget to fill his feeder and a squishy pair of flip flops. (The latter being a painful subject having found one recently in my pup’s mouth.)

Continue reading →

Food / South / The garden / The southern palate — 2 Comments
24
Jun 10

Pole Beans. Not your average canned vegetable.

The morning's haul.

 

My children have been gone all week. It’s been odd. (Will leave that onion to peel in another post.) 

With all this free time on my hands, after prying myself out of bed in the morning, I get in the garden and poke around. 

Here are the goodies I found yesterday. 

I took all those green beans — pole beans, snap beans, whatever you call them — stringed ‘em, snapped ‘em and put them in the crock pot with a bit of water, salt, bacon and the extra special ingredient, a good sprinkling of sugar. 

Cooked them till they were good and mushy as all southern veggies are supposed to be. 

This was done at the suggestion of Michelle as she healed my torn-up backside the day before. During a most wonderful massage at the hands of Michelle, we talked of our gardens. She mentioned fixing up a bunch of beans in the crock pot (she didn’t add sugar, that was my addition).  Her husband and mother LOVED them, but when she tried them…Eeww! Michelle didn’t like them — at all. 

“They didn’t taste like canned green beans, did they?” 

“No ma’am, they sure didn’t.” 

I got it. There is something so very comforting about canned greens beans. Opening a can of green beans, sniffing that wonderful scent, transports me to school lunches on plastic green trays (with four compartments) at Audubon Elementary. 

Makes me happy. 

But so does the taste of pole beans stewing in their own juice, salt and bit of bacon all afternoon. 

Yum. When those beans have come out of your very own garden ~  that’s just plain good eating. 

And rather surprising for me. In fact, the whole gardening, cooking thing  is quite miraculous where I’m concerned.  Not that I’m complaining being the recipient of a minor miracle, especially one that tastes so good. 

Food / The southern palate — No Comments
25
Nov 09

Thanks for the recipes…and have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ve got to run.

 Photobucket

 

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving.

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday with family, friends and all those you love (or at least those with whom you have to be civil for 3 hours once a year.) No. This is the time of year to give of ourselves and open our eyes to the best in everyone ~ even those who might rub us a bit wrong.

And a good time to be honest about our faults.

Number one for me…I need a little maturing in the kitchen.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to share recipes. I have printed them all and made an oath to try each one out and share on this blog…(though not by tomorrow).

Deborah Montella won the side of cornbread dressing most generously donate by Madison’s own Ye Olde Colonial. Those of you not from Madison looking for some great Southern cooking  just drive to the square and look for the sign. You can’t miss it.

Deborah is a writer friend I met through a UGA Harriette Austin Writer’s Conference. I haven’t landed a agent yet from the conference, but have made two wonderful friends each year I attended…both who are now working with agents on their projects. What can I say? I seek out attractive, talented, fun women at these things hoping their talent will rub off on me. Deborah asked me to donate her hard earned dish to someone who might be in need of a side item tomorrow. I quickly thought of someone.

Me.

But no, thank goodness there is plenty of food to go on our table this year, and I did come up with someone who was very grateful to add that dressing to their all-give-thanks meal.

So now I’ve got to run look through my race packet. Don’t want to leave it till last minute like usual. Almost missed the start last year.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving…

And with my recipe post last week  through Nancy Wall’s comment I learned about another great web site … with loads of recipes to share: Necy’s Kitchen.

Nancy Wall and her husband grew up in Madison though they don’t live here at present. Her father, Woodrow Neal, was once principal of Madison Elementary. How cool is that? Her recipe blog is loaded with 40 years of her best recipes. YAY! Nancy’s blog… 

Necy's Kitchen
Necy’s Kitchen

 

 

 

 

Necy’s Kitchen. “I am the bread of life.”

http://necyskitchen.wordpress.com/