The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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I can remember not too long ago I started one of my articles with a statement that it was August and I was hot. It is no longer August and I am no longer hot. I am sitting in my kitchen in front of a wall-mounted gas space heater with all three burners going and I am cold. It is only 42 degrees outside but it has been rainy and gray for days and the forecast is for clearing which will bring the temperatures down to the twenty's at night. The preceding weather information has changed four or...
Being Southern I read a column in a local paper a couple weeks back titled "What being Southern means to this ol' gal" written by Jaine Treadwell. It is a touching piece and since part of the story was about food in the South, I want to share some of the column with you. She writes, "Being Southern is hog killings, chitlin' suppers, cane grindings and syrup makings. It's pulling corn and picking velvet beans. It's shelling peas on the front porch and drying peaches on the tin roof of the barn....
I belong to a social group called "Overseas Brats". The members were dependents of military parents stationed at military bases around the world. As a group, we get together for gatherings and reunions around the country. We share experiences about coping with living in a foreign country and coping with the different lifestyles when we came back to the United States. The members of the group are from a wide range of ages, so we compared what is was like living in, let us say Germany. Some of us...
It came to me while watching the news coverage of residents of Florida preparing for Irma. Of the homeowners that were staying and working to protect their homes from the wind and flooding, few mentioned that they had plenty of food and water to ride out the storm. Knowing that there would be no electricity and no water; did they think it out as much as they were concerned about the sand bags and plywood? Some locations in Florida may be without electricity for a week or longer. There will be...
Oh, the month of September! This month always keeps you guessing about the weather. Is it going to cool off a bit or just be another extension of summer? Since this has been a Bi-Polar summer, your guess is as good as anyone else’s is. Just last month I had high hopes that I was going to put up jars of figs and peaches from my garden. The strange summer could be the cause for my gardens lack of produce. My fruit trees did not produce as hoped. No peaches, which I heard was because we did not h...
The windows are rattling, the thunder is booming in the background, and the rain is as thick as fog right across the street. Any minute now and it will cross the street. It just did and I wish it had not. The wind is coming from a different direction than from the usual west. When the rain comes from the south, as it is now, the sunroom ceiling leaks. I have to move my chair and then lay towels on the floor to soak up the drips. I live in a home that is 187 years old, and I expect it to leak...
When I am doing research for this column or doing any web browsing, I have to pay close attention to what my original search topic was and keep notes of side items I find that I wish to go back to later. I find myself sidetracked and then forgot what I was trying to find in the first place. I am really sidetracked when I am on the app, PINTEREST. I keep going to look at related items that you find when you scroll down the page of the item that caught your eye in the first place. I find myself...
Did you know that the third largest household expense is for Food? I think the two largest are housing and transportation. I cannot help you with where you live and how you get about, but I have touched upon, in past articles, ways to save on food. Keeping a well-stocked pantry and purchasing fresh local fruits and vegetables are not just money saving practices but also healthier. I have stressed upon reading the fine print in the ingredients list hidden on the back of the food packaging. After...
You are ready to try a new dish. You went to the market and bought the freshest items you could find, and they were from a local farm. You get home and open the cookbook and the instructions are as complicated as the startup guide to your weather radio. You cannot plug it in and hope it knows where you live and which NOAA radio station covers your area. There is food you should not be eating if the instructions are as simple as "Heat and serve”. Likewise, if they are too complicated the "joy of...
To decide on the subject for my column, I do a great deal of research. I search through cooking websites, magazines, recipes I developed or modified from my chef days, recipes that were given to me, newspaper clippings friends and relatives have given to me. I have used my phone to video a TV show that showed how to cook something I wanted to try, so I could then write the recipe for it. In addition, I do a lot of shopping and I like to go out to eat. I started collecting recipes from the days...
I just got back from a trip to Texas after seeing friends, relatives, and seeing how the places where I use to live and hung-out have changed. My friends and relatives have grown older but they have not changed much. The places where I use to live have changed greatly. And in my opinion, the cities I visited have not changed for the better. They seem to have lost their character; they are no longer fun to be in. The roads are always under construction and the traffic is so bad that the roads...
I was doing my usual “surfing the net”, thumbing through old recipes, thinking of a restaurant I want visit, and watching cooking shows, trying to think of a topic for this month’s article. It came to me when one of our granddaughters opened the refrigerator, and commented about the amount of butter, cream cheese, and eggs on the shelves. She wondered why we had 2 pounds of butter, four packages of cream cheese, and two dozen eggs. Moreover, she wondered why we had six mason jars of soup. Good...
Even when I thought winter would never come, I did wish that it would come gently into the night. As I write this, I was wondering what happened to the gentle part. I wake up one morning and it is warm, 70, and the usual muggy. Then a breeze started up and the temperature started down. The temperature dropped 35 degrees and I still had shorts and tee shirts as my wardrobe. I was happy, in a way, for the change. It is supposed to be winter. I was looking forward to trying some new, heartwarming...
If you mark out every passing day on your calendar, you will notice there is not much left to mark out. The year 2016 is coming to a close and what a year this has been. In the culinary world, Sous Vide cooking is becoming mainstream and affordable for home preparation. Southern Cuisine is still popular and has the attention of the up and coming chefs trying to put their mark in the restaurant world. Putting attention on making dishes healthier and using locally source products. This is my...
I believe that Thanksgiving is one of the last bastions of family traditions in this country. A celebration when the different generations of a family gather for a meal that has been part of the landscape of America since the Pilgrims. A time to give thanks for the bounty that has been bestowed on use and a time to strengthen the ties that bind a family together. The stories, adventures, mishaps, and good fortune that are shared and retold every year. And this bond in some families is so strong...
I just returned from one of my "Escape the Summer Heat Tours." This time the escape was to Iowa. Even though it is further north than Alabama, they can have hot and humid summers but at least this time of year you don't have to worry that a blizzard will keep you from getting there or keep you trapped there. This trip was warmer than expected, highs in the low 80's, but low humidity and usually a good breeze. So coming from central Alabama it was cool and comfortable. Nothing compares to...
I packed my lunch for work this morning. It would be the usual mix of leftovers from a dinner my wife and I had earlier in the week or something my wife and I made to have for lunch for the week. My lunch came from me opening the icebox and putting together a meal from the leftovers. This time it was a pork loin that I stuffed with fruits that were grown in our yard. I made the stuffing from pears, frozen and dried figs, apples, and peaches, chopped into small dice of about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. I pu...
I downloaded a brochure from the luxury RV manufacturer, NEWMAR, titled "50 Plates in 50 States." A listing of their favorite regional dishes. I was curious just what dishes they picked from Southern states. And of course, the first state listed was Alabama. The dish was Fried Green Tomatoes from a cafe in Irondale. The next Southern state was Arkansas with Fried Catfish from Fayetteville. Then Florida, with a dish of Conch Fritters from Fort Meyers Beach. From Georgia, Brunswick Stew from...
I am sitting in the kitchen, looking outside and wondering how hot is. It doesn’t make any difference. I know it’s hot. My phone says its 97 and feels like 101. It is time to water my garden. I have to water much more than I did just two weeks ago. The plants are larger and require more water and it’s hotter than it was two weeks ago. I need more water! The tomatoes, basil, and blueberries need a good amount of water. The Carolina Reapers, the Ghost Peppers along with the Habaneros, Jalap...
Sign in a restaurant. I don't know where except I bet below the Mason Dixon Line. It reads, “ ALL OUR FOOD IS SEASONED. CUZ WE'RE IN THE SOUTH AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY.” I admit that I'm a hot sauce-aholic. I put hot sauce on almost everything. I don't use hot sauce because I think the food tastes bland or under-seasoned. I just like that extra kick. As some chefs say, “that extra dimension to the flavors.” What ever that means. There seems to be a general increase in the “heat” that is put in f...
No, I did not misspell great, I meant grate. I saw that sign below another sign that said “Ban Pre-shredded Cheese.” This is as far as I am going to comment on the political season we are now in. This is a much better season, Spring. This is the time to get out of the house, go to a farmers market, work in your garden and when you harvest the fruits of your labor, you will feel great. Let’s start right off with dispelling another myth. You do not have to soak your dried beans before you cook...
I like the month of April. It is a great month to celebrate FOOD. April is National BLT Sandwich Month, National Grilled Cheese Month and National Garlic Month. The week of April 12th to the 18th is National Egg Salad Week. Just think of all the meals that can be fixed celebrating these items. And don’t forget the food that has placed Southern Cuisine on the map. April 13 is National Peach Cobbler Day. National Pecan Day is the 14th. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake day is the 20th and two of my f...
I was reading about Southern cooking traditions, the standards that define a Southern kitchen and a Southern cook and realized that the knowledge on how to fix these staples, these meals, these time tested dishes, is slowly passing away. It is becoming a lost art in homes everywhere in America not just the South, where the children are not learning the basics of cooking, let alone, the traditional meals that bind generations. You have seen lists before, that tell that you have lost your...
We made it through the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, with the stuffing, dressings, casseroles and too many sweets. We ate until we were going to burst and then we ate the leftovers. We spent hours in the kitchen cooking and then hours cleaning up. We also spent time with relatives and friends, which was a good thing. But now is the time to spend with just one other person, your significant other. The holiday this month is about love. If you are inclined to go out to a restaurant for a...
The word of the day is Compendium. The definition of compendium is; a collection of detailed information about a particular subject. The particular subject here is Southern Cuisine and cooking in general. With the “cooking season” of Thanksgiving and Christmas behind us, now is the time to reflect on the daunting tasks you had before you and how you overcame the obstacles. Some problems we have in preparing large meals are logistical. Where do we cook the turkey and heat all the sides when the...
