|
|
|
Comment |
Sorted by
Date Written |
Im gonna pass out!! (Reply to this comment)
by caterguru
Excellent - I enjoyed reading this one since southern is my favorite. I agree with you, and am now dying for cornbread and fried chicken
Caterguru :)
|
Sep 10 '03
1:37 pm PDT
|
|
Howdy, Y'all! :o) (Reply to this comment)
by AinsleyJo
This Yankee (who also happens to have some Southern roots, as well) will go with the option of eating like a true Southerner on occasion (Chicken skin and all!) and behaving a little better the rest of the time!
Remember: A world without chicken skin is like a world without Jim Sci. . .never mind! :o)
|
Jun 06 '01
6:19 am PDT
|
|
Can it be good for you? Why, yes ma'am, it certainly can! (Reply to this comment)
by PianoGirl
My grandparents, great uncles and aunts, various church friends, parents, cousins, and myself--all cook the Southern way (or in some cases, past tense COOKED)--and have lived--very long lives-- to tell about it.
We frequently had all-vegetable meals three or four days a week, LONG before it was scientifically noted that eating lots of veggies was good for you, simply because we loved vegetables. (Typical meal at home, summertime: fresh sliced tomatoes, potato salad, corn on the cob, fried okra, pinto beans with fresh sliced onions, homemade biscuits and/or cornbread, blackeyed peas, green beans.) My granddaddy, a minister in Tennessee and Virginia and Alabama, always made sure he had at least an acre's worth of garden, wherever they lived, for his fruits and vegetables that he and my grandmother "put up" every year. Their basement was full of gleaming jars of colorful produce, which were shared with friends, family, and folks who were down and out. And let's not forget sorghum!!! AAAAH, sorghum, the most wonderful kind of molasses there is. Dark, sweet, thick--and FULL of minerals and vitamins. Sop it up with homemade buttermilk biscuits--mmm, mmm! (This reminds me of a sayin' :"How can you get MO'lasses when you ain't had NO' lasses? lol...guess you had to be there or be Southern, one!) The first--and last--time I tasted "Grandma's" Molasses, I spat it right back out. And now I have found a place online where I can get Benton County Sorghum, praise the Lord and pass it! (It's www.gritlit.com, for those inquiring minds.) Our food was fresh, tasty, and good for you. I live up North now, and my goodness, their idea of delicious food certainly is far, far different from mine! (That's all I'm going to say so that I can remain polite, which brings me to another of my mama's sayin's: If you cain't say somethin' nice, don't say anything at all!)I still cook Southern and Texan, and my Northern husband loves it. He has been converted from a veggie-hater to a veggie and salad lover. Now, that is the proof of the puddin', folks:).
My grandparents have passed on now, but this is a typical day's meals we would have at their house:
Breakfast--homemade biscuits; butter (real, not plastic-like margarine); homemade grape, blackberry, peach, strawberry jams; slivers of country ham; sorghum; fried eggs or scrambled, in a little bit of butter; coffee; milk; juice; iced tea.
Dinner--(yes, I retain the old way; "dinner" is at noon, and "supper" is at the evenin' time)homemade yeast rolls; butter; requisite jams; fresh sliced tomatoes; real mashed taters; fried chicken; cream gravy; green beans cooked with a little piece of hamhock; fresh sweet corn; fried okra; cornbread; homemade applesauce; cucumbers, onions and vinegar; picalilli; chow chow; peach cobbler and vanilla icecream, or chocolate cake with same; milk; buttermilk; ice tea; coffee.
Supper--considerably less than dinner, and that's how I do it also--cornbread with butter and jam; leftover veggies from dinnertime; pinto beans; ice tea; buttermilk; milk.
And that's just a typical day's worth, there are about a million variations, give or take a few:).
My grandparents lived to be very old, and my great aunts and uncles are still alive and kickin', cookin' and eatin' the same way: heavy emphasis on veggies, fruits, and breads, with really, meat being the secondary player--meat a lot of times bein' used as a condiment to flavor other things. But now, the key is HOMEMADE; I hardly use any prepared stuff in my cookin'--it's from scratch. No cake mix for me, or canned frostin'...or gravy mix...you get the idea.
Sorry to almost make another review here, and hope I didn't offend anybody. Wasn't my purpose, but only to state my point of view on the subject of Southern cookin' ...and to make my case as to why I do think it can be--and is--good for you.
"Y'all come!" as we used to say in my family, prior to eating a meal. (Everybody's scattered from here to Kingdom Come nowadays...)
I wish everybody could come to my house and eat at my table, and then I'd convince you for certain sure--make believers out of y'all.
Great thought-provoking article!
Bron
PianoGirl
iplay4hisglory@earthlink.net
|
Jun 02 '01
11:08 am PDT
|
|
Always a Pleasure (Reply to this comment)
by Lucky47
to read your thorough and "tasty" reviews Miss Tara. :)
Carol ~
|
May 07 '01
3:36 am PDT
|
|
Comment on Southern Cuisine (Reply to this comment)
by mousinround
I do agree to some point with Miss Tara. I agree that alot of the foods we ate growing up are high in calories and times have changed.We have learned to eat better without all the calories and fat content but there is no reason why we cant still eat our favorite foods with the great taste we remember.I still cook alot of the foods I grew up on,It is all in how you cook them.For instance we know that olive oil is good lower in fat and cholesteral.Lets take the fried chicken for example:Skin the chicken,use instant potatoe buds to roll the chicken in and season,then fry in olive oil(it dont take much).You then have wonderful fried chicken like grandma made with less fat and the great taste of your childhood.We do have to change some of the ways of cooking but not all.Besides I feel that all that southern food is what keeps me going and feeding my soul!!
I hope I didnt offend anyone that wasnt my intensions.
|
Apr 30 '01
2:02 pm PDT
|
|
Ah yes my little chicadee (Reply to this comment)
by ImThinking
First off let me agree with you that this new epinions is terrible (you would think with all the people that hate this new epinions, they would change it back?) and second let me say, great review!
|
Apr 20 '01
2:04 pm PDT
|
|
Awesome Essay (Reply to this comment)
by eharri3
Thought I'd sneak a comment in so you know I was here since it's a little hard to stand out among over 300 readers... I LOVE cornbread.
ed
|
Apr 13 '01
8:57 am PDT
|
|
Mmmmm. Reading this got me hungry. (Reply to this comment)
by radioguy
I'm going to make some french toast with lots of butter and maple syrup. With whole wheat bread, of course.
|
Apr 06 '01
2:43 am PDT
|
|
All the more famished having read this review.. (Reply to this comment)
by annexation
Miss Tara-
Many Southern women were trained well by their mothers that the way to a mans heart is through his stomach.
Well ain't that something. By that logic, I should move south. It seems to me that all the northern chicks were trained by their mothers to know that "The best way to a mans heart is to crack through the sternum".
Nice review. VH.
Tell Mr. Hendrix that Annexation says "Word up".
-Mark
|
Mar 22 '01
8:25 am PST
|
|
Hi (Reply to this comment)
by goodluckcharm
I am John and I am new here. When you say you are missing people who trust you, does that mean that you lost them? I'm still trying to get used to this web site.
|
Mar 21 '01
7:54 pm PST
|
|
Delicious Memories (Reply to this comment)
by DAnneC
Thanks for sharing your memories of Granny's cooking, and in a way of Granny herself. It sounds as if she provided you with a rich heritage--riches well beyond the quality of the food she served.
Best Regards,
DAnneC
|
Mar 13 '01
7:08 am PST
|
|
Hey there! (Reply to this comment)
by bigtrouble54
Cornbread sounds good to me too! Moving back to Texas in August...good job girlie!
TTFN...
Linda
|
Mar 09 '01
8:28 pm PST
|
|
Thanks (Reply to this comment)
by Lark729_89
for informing me of the south being more health-conscious now. That's more than what I can about the greasy foods here sold in some restaurants.
I do admit that the skin on fried chicken is the best...mmmm good but not healthy for ya.
Your review made me hungry. By the way, where are you writing now? I miss seeing your name on my reviews and all others too =(
|
Mar 08 '01
5:14 am PST
|
|
mmm... (Reply to this comment)
by ezreka
My granny ate like this everyday of her life and she lived to be 92. I sure miss her fried chicken! Nobody today can cook like our grannys did. Now my mouth is watering and I am going to have some fried taters for breakfast!
Angela
|
Mar 05 '01
12:34 am PST
|
|
Ah (Reply to this comment)
by casey215
You've brought back a lot of memories. I can feel my arteries hardening. :-)
Barbara
|
Mar 02 '01
1:25 pm PST
|
|
I SHOULD have checked "not" helpful 'cause (Reply to this comment)
by louanna
now I'm hungry for my sweetie (Ga boy) to make some collard greens/ham hocks, blackeyed peas/ham n onions, and fried pork chops! Soooo good! Oh well, not today. (c-ya on BI,twoloos)
|
Mar 01 '01
12:17 pm PST
|
|
It's good to see you writing again! (Reply to this comment)
by Yzerman
But now you have made me hungry! I don't know when the last time I had Mississippi Mud cake, but that sure sounds good. So does the red beans and rice with corn bread. uuhhmmmmm.
Diane
|
Mar 01 '01
5:21 am PST
|
|
Definitely not health food! (Reply to this comment)
by CyndiCM
My Mother-in-Law cannot imagine fixing a vegetable without putting it in the pressure cooker and using fat-meat to season it!! You are so right with this review. Thanks. ~Cyn~
|
Mar 01 '01
5:02 am PST
|
|
Welcome back (Reply to this comment)
by naphtalia
It's been awhile since I've seen one of your reviews here. Nice to have you back and nice to have you back on such a pleasant topic as southern cuisine.
talia
|
Mar 01 '01
2:41 am PST
|
|
Thanks, Ms T (Reply to this comment)
by LEDOMAINE
Now, I'm hungry for some real
Southern food. Boy, do I miss
my grandmother's Southern cookin'!!
Another "tasty" review, Tara.
E R
|
Feb 28 '01
3:45 pm PST
|
|
Argh! Time to head down South for a visit! (Reply to this comment)
by smiles33
Your review is killing me! The descriptions have me drooling onto my keyboard! I haven't had decent Southern food since my visit to a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in North Carolina 5 years ago. I just don't think Californians can cook Southern food.
Great to see you back!
Sincerely,
Anna
|
Feb 28 '01
11:14 am PST
|
|
The gravy was always the killer for me..... (Reply to this comment)
by NFP
...I mean, that glop! Pure starch filler! Biscuits and gravy, chipped beef and gravy. Aaaargh!
My favorite elements of southern cuisine revolve around what you can do with collard greens, mustard greens, basically any greens. That's the inventive stuff I've found most intriguing.
I'll leave the hush puppies to others.
cheers,
nick
|
Feb 27 '01
2:31 pm PST
|
|
Happy... (Reply to this comment)
by kevlog
to see you writing again!
I recently took up cooking and have a cookbook called "Hoppin' John's Low Country cuisine' featuring southern dishes from the Carolinas! I can't wait to try out some of the recipes.
I may pass on the squirrel recipe though!
Best from Boston
Kevin (kevlog) :-)
|
Feb 27 '01
1:55 pm PST
|
|
:) (Reply to this comment)
by disartain
Glad you are back.
Diane
|
Feb 26 '01
9:49 pm PST
|
|
well...... (Reply to this comment)
by mattjoe
its about time you wrote again!
|
Feb 26 '01
4:39 pm PST
|
|
It sounds delicious (Reply to this comment)
by grandgram
I remember all of this and still make a lot of it as well. The thing I am curious about is the chocolate gravy, I have to admit this is a new one on me.
My husband loves biscuits and gravy, when we are in Texas he has to have Chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy. They do not serve this in Iowa, so he gets his fill during winter time.
|
Feb 26 '01
4:34 pm PST
|
|
Finally you have . . . (Reply to this comment)
by gungian
. . . felt passionate enough to post another missive.
{{{Always passionate enough to read your postings.}}}
Write On!
|
Feb 26 '01
11:25 am PST
|
|
My own Granny (Reply to this comment)
by GinaHill
who is currently 84 years old, still uses a wood cookstove and makes biscuits and gravy (not chocolate, though), ham, sausage or bacon, eggs and sometimes strawberry jam, for breakfast. The evening meal often consists of pinto beans, fried taters', cornbread and summer meals are always delicious with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, greasy beans or leatherbritches, corn on the cob, etc. etc. CAN YOU TELL? I'm from the South? Smiles. Nice to read you again! Gina
|
Feb 26 '01
7:13 am PST
|
|
Our grannies must have lived next door to each other! (Reply to this comment)
by prettyinpink
While fixing dinner snack on a ham biscuit. For dinnertime: fried chicken, homemade biscuits, green beans with ham hock, corn on the cob, and fresh brewed iced tea. For dessert: pecan pie with homemade vanilla ice cream. Oh my god, I've got to go run 6 laps around the block just for THINKing about this!!
icu later!
|
Feb 25 '01
5:18 pm PST
|
|
I was born.. (Reply to this comment)
by bill8643
a Yankee (from Ohio) but now live in West Virginia, and my wife is from here. My favorite meal is fried potatoes with onions, cornbread, pinto beans (cooked all night in a crockpot,with ham scraps)...well, you get the idea! it's a wonder than I have only gained 20 pounds in 10 years! p.s.-welcome back!
Bill
|
Feb 25 '01
5:18 pm PST
|
|
|
|
