–Breakfast at Amelia’s, May 30th, 2007, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
What could be better than fresh grits, hot from the stove (smothered in butter and cheese), scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, and French Roast? For lunch we had pimento cheese sandwiches, peanut butter pie, and sweet iced tea.
For the family gathering tonight, my brother made banana pudding. My sister made a turtle cake. There will be Southern potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and a pineapple angel food cake.
That doesn’t even scratch the surface. Food is grounding. And in writing, it’s something you can really sink your teeth into. Food shapes more than the body. Food is about culture. I bet if you listed all the foods in your family history, there would be a story in every dish.
Mom doesn’t cook much anymore. But when I’m home, I get as much in the way of homestyle Southern cuisine as I can.
It’s just hard to find grits in the Midwest. And it’s even harder to find sweet tea almost anywhere but South.
Wednesday, May 30th, 2007
Are these Amelia’s hands? This food looks delicious (more jealousy from me), and I am happy to hear you are wasting no time getting into the mood of the South. What is sweet tea? Obviously it must be something more that normal tea with sugar. Educate us Northerners, will you?
LikeLike
Sinclair: Yes, Amelia’s hands. I like that you noticed that. I often photograph hands, either intentionally or unintentionally. It’s the end of a very long day now and breakfast is long over.
What is sweet tea? Hmmm. The best thing ever on a hot sweltering day. We used to drink it year round Down South. It’s a staple with meals. It’s basically black tea sweetened with tons of sugar and served over ice. I grew up on Lipton.
Here’s a link to History of Iced Tea and Sweet Tea by Linda Stradley from the web site What’s Cooking America. Wikipedia (link) also has a pretty good rundown of iced tea. I’ve had it twice already today, once at Mom’s, once at my sister’s. I’m so full. Good eating.
LikeLike
I stumbled onto this website by clicking for haunting stories for the Timberline Lodge in Oregon.
I enjoy writing and have just finished a writing class which was a bit tortureous…
This story made me hungry!
What would you suggest on growing my writing brain?
LikeLike
Welcome! QM’s on the road, but I bet she’d recommend bacon and eggs and a side of grits. Although that side seemed more like the main attraction.
What did you find to be painful about the writing class, Claire? (I’ve been in a few tough ones, too, but it’s been a while.)
LikeLike
Claire: I love hearing how you stumbled on to red Ravine. There are no accidents!
Like ybonesy, I’d love to hear more about what it was that was torturous about your writing class. I hear stories like that all the time. It hasn’t been my experience for a while, either. I have found some good teachers.
I want to say – to grow your writing brain, maybe do some writing practice. Pick one of the topics off of 100 Writing Topics or I’d Rather Be Fishing and just go for 10 minutes. You can read Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, or maybe find a few hints on our Writing Practice page.
Otherwise, you know what? It’s kind of about connecting with other writers and practicing writing every day. Much easier said than done. I hope you’ll keep stopping by. Sometimes it’s just nice to have a place to hang out with other writers – day or night.
Oh, and yes, the side of grits – definitely the main attraction!
LikeLike
QuoinMonkey, Have you read the book, “Being Dead is No Excuse.” It is about Southern funeral ritual (which is ALL about the food and drink)…packed with recipes. Your post made me think of it immediately. I’ve just loaned the book out, but I’ll send it to you next, if you are interested.
Also, the photos made me hungry immediately for a really good breakfast. Yummy photos.
LikeLike
breathepeace: I’ve never read the book but it sounds great. the title reminds me of Southern humor. I notice it a lot down here. More laid back and easy going than I’m used to in the Midwest. (On the downside, the service is much slower, too!)
I had grits again this morning, this time cooked by my aunt. When she heard about this post, she asked me later today, “Okay, whose grits were better?”
“I’m not stepping into the middle of that!” I said. I took the diplomatic route – they were both delicious. Have you ever eaten grits?
LikeLike
yes, grits are yummy. I would order them in cafes as a kid when we took family driving vacations to Florida and Alabama. Actually, I don’t remember ordering them…they just came with whatever else you ordered, like other restaurants serve bread or toast. I haven’t fixed them myself for years.
LikeLike