Southern Favorites
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You’re So Vanilla
From my earliest memories homemade ice cream was a regular summertime treat. I don’t recall much of the preparation of said ice cream, only that I would “help” my dad as he hand cranked the bucket of sugary goodness- usually whilst sitting in the floor, working to the rhythm of whatever 70s rock was playing through his headphones- the cord of which was stretched from the console turntable across the room. I can see him sitting there in the shag carpet of the living room of our single wide trailer, back against the rust and green floral velour couch, bucket between his outstretched legs, head bobbing in time to the…
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@JoannaGaines Is My Spirit Animal
You may be living under a rock if you haven't heard of Joanna Gaines or Waco's Magnolia Silos, or even the HGTV show Fixer Upper. I'd venture to guess we might not even run in the same circles if this is the case. But, if you're like me, and Joanna Gaines is your spirit animal too, then we might end up being soul sisters. Read on for my review of our trips to the Silos and JoJo's newly released cookbook, Magnolia Table.
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Happy Birthday, Nanny
Every year for my birthday my Nanny would call me and sing to me- usually early in morning before I was all the way awake- and we would laugh and chat for at least an hour. Then in September, her birthday would come and I would return the sentiment... it was tradition. Until this year. This year, I didn't get a birthday call from Nanny, and I missed it. Today is Nanny's 85th birthday- and I actually picked up the phone and dialed the number before it hit me. I laid in bed and cried for a while, then heard her get on to me for wallowing. She told me…
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Biscuits and jelly…
So my grandmother passed away in November. It still hurts to breathe some days- but I do it anyway. When we cleaned out her house, I collected a few sentimental items mostly related to cooking because she loved to cook and I sincerely believe that I inherited that from her. Many of my favorite childhood memories include her and (me) in the kitchen or have food attached to them somehow. As mentioned in previous posts, we found several quarts of frozen muscadines in her freezer and I brought them home to my freezer. I knew when I found them she’d been saving them to make more of that yummy jelly and probably give…
