saabsister
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posted on May 3, 2001 02:22:23 PM
Thanks, SNowYegRet. He's the one who gave me an appreciation of wildlife and nature. That appreciation is another thing I associate with the South, although it exists in all regions. Perhaps it comes from lazy evenings spent outdoors before air-conditioning became common.
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Linda_K
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posted on May 3, 2001 02:32:34 PM
Zilvy - You said, "Baptist church on every corner...couldn't find a gas station but you could pray[i]. I love the south. [i]And when they say closed for lunch, you can see 'em in the back of the store but they mean closed for lunch. Really laid back."
Have me laughing here as we've only been in the South for two years now, but there are no truer words that have ever been spoken. I've shared before, but don't know if you read it or not, that our town has 10,142 people in it, and we have 111 churches. One is always passing one no matter where you're headed. And I'd roughly guess we have 7-10 (if that many) gas stations for the whole town. Such a change from the big cities we've lived in.
Here, in northcentral Arkansas the people work to live. Not live to work. A joke for us out-of-staters is, "How long will it take to finish building my home?" Answer: It depends on how good the fishing is." They are laid back, and seem to enjoy life to it's fullest.
No hurry in the grocery line if the checker and the customer have something/someone they're discussing. Walk into a bank and you're usually the only one there, or have only one person before you.....but there are three bank clerks....waiting.
etc. etc. etc. We love it!!!
We've been trying some of the southern foods. So far the only one we can't swallow is the Okra. YUK!!! Must be something one has to develop a taste for.
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doxdogy
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posted on May 3, 2001 02:38:46 PM
My mother was born and raised in Kentucky. Hearing about all this southern cooking has me missing her fried chicken. Of all the dishes she made, this is the one I miss the most. She use to make pan gravy, which she called bulldog gravy. That was one of my favorite meals as a kid.
Theresa
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Linda_K
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posted on May 3, 2001 02:40:06 PM
OT - saabsister - Wishing only the best for your father's recovery.
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zilvy
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posted on May 3, 2001 02:47:28 PM
LindaK, I love the flavor that okra imparts to tomato dishes...but do not let one piece of that slippery stuff find its way into my mouth or I will have to leave the table. You are right...yeuch x 2.
Banks, were another contention, closed early a couple of days a week (like 2 pm) or not open on Wednesday...must have been golfing with the doctors.
The hymns at dinner were a little unsetteling for this Northerner...I'd never before cut my steak to "Just a Closer Walk with Thee." All told a very charming atmosphere but a little too laid back for a fast moving northerner.
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mybiddness
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posted on May 3, 2001 02:57:28 PM
I can't believe there are two pages of post about living in the south and not a single mention of chicken fried steak...
Surely I must've just missed it. Y'all hold on and I'll go back and take another look see. 
Not paranoid anywhere else but here!
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saabsister
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posted on May 3, 2001 03:01:05 PM
Thanks, Linda_K.
The only way I can handle okra is when it's crisply fried. Once it gets soggy - no way! And forget about it if it isn't fried or in gumbo.
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SNowYegRet
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posted on May 3, 2001 03:02:08 PM
You did miss my reference to it. 
Cat gravy = Drippings + flour + milk
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MuRiEl
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posted on May 3, 2001 03:04:00 PM
What general direction catty-wampus is. Oh my gosh! Two years ago my boss was showing me how he wanted some papers stacked, and he said "catty-wampus". That meant one this way, and one the other way, if you know what I mean. I thought that was so funny that I went around saying it all the time, until someone threatened to smack me if I didn't quit. 
Here's my favorite redneck joke: If your porch collapses and three dogs get killed, you might be a redneck. Hee hee.
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mybiddness
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posted on May 3, 2001 03:14:12 PM
Muriel LOL - them's fightin words girl... funnin 'bout my dogs.  I'll try to not have a conniption over it.
Snowy Yep, I did miss it. Sorely 'pologize fer that.
Here's some more southern 'spressions.
He's eating too much:
He's digging his grave with his spoon.
If you've eating too much:
I am fatter than a tick on a coon dog.
If you're starved:
I could eat a horse and chase the driver.
Not paranoid anywhere else but here!
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HEPburn
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posted on May 3, 2001 03:55:56 PM
Y'all fergot fried green tomaters
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zilvy
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posted on May 3, 2001 03:58:54 PM
Oooooh yeah, that'll get your gut in an uproar!! Acid reflux plus!!!
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Linda_K
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posted on May 3, 2001 04:24:53 PM
LOL @ that hymn before dinner.
Okay...you mentioned banks...brought a couple other experiences to my mind.
Six of decided to go to a movie here. Mind you, we have two theaters here in town...one (the old one) shows two different shows, the other (newer) one shows (WOW) five. Well, here the six of us were standing in the lobby after the show was over. (Ladies alternating (just one ladies room - one stall) taking care of their needs.)) We're all laughing and joking when all of a sudden the concession worker comes over and asks us (very kindly) to leave. We apologized if we were being too loud. "No," she said "It's just that we close up the theaters in between movies." Guess since the next show didn't start for another two hours, there was no point to stay open.
Then again, when we were first here, we all decided to meet for dinner on a Sunday late afternoon. Guess what? The restaurants aren't open on Sundays...but we didn't find that out until we had caravaned (three different cars) all around town trying to find just one restaurant open.
We're constantly saying why don't we go here (or there) and then one of us remembers it's Sunday and most everything's closed. Except the WalMart, of course.
Small southern towns....gotta luv 'em. Well, we do.
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zilvy
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posted on May 3, 2001 06:18:13 PM
Bumper stickers seen on the back of a Rednecks Truck.
Driver carries only $20 worth of Ammo.
Vegetarian: Indian word for lousy hunter.
Honk if my dog falls out.
Don't laugh at my van, your daughter may be in here.
If you can read this I've lost my trailer.
[ edited by zilvy on May 3, 2001 06:19 PM ]
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femme
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posted on May 3, 2001 07:39:48 PM
Snowy...Pig in a Blanket in southcentral Penna. is stuffed rolled cabbage.
-----
When I visit my daughter in North Carolina, we usually take in one meal at a diner that serves Dirty Mashed Potatoes (skin on).
Yummy.
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SNowYegReT
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posted on May 3, 2001 07:53:07 PM
femme, it sounds like another culinary delight of my new home. Just what is it stuffed with?
I leave the skins on my potatoes too.
La and Tx have Dirty Rice.
I should mix Dirty Rice and Dirty Potatoes to make a Dirty Dish for my next potluck.
Scrapple Free Zone
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zilvy
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posted on May 3, 2001 07:57:17 PM
Snowy have I told you, you're a nut!!
Femme this Pig in a Blanket reminds me of the flower identification problem when conversing with someone in another part of the country or overseas...we are going to have to set up scientific names in Latin to identify various "Pigs in blankets"
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bearmom
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posted on May 3, 2001 10:41:44 PM
Texas truisms:
Grits ain't worth shucks til they're fried!
Cornbread is made to mash up and dump red beans on top of.
If your steak don't fight you for the salad on the plate beside it, it's too well done.
Watermelon patches are made to be robbed.
Dead leaves are made to jump into.
When the sky turns green, it means tornado weather.
A switch is what Granny threatens to cut off the tree if you don't behave.
Nanny is a grandmother, not a goat.
Sow your wild oats on Saturday night-go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure.
Anyone of any consequence is in the Dairy Queen drinking coffee of a morning.
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Mybiddness
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posted on May 4, 2001 07:40:37 AM
I'm glad I had read this thread before going out for supper last night. It caused me to stop and appreciate my surroundings.
Has anyone ever had Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse Barbecue? Oh my! I had the smoked sausage with fried okra - black eyed peas swimming with onions and a few green beans mixed in for good measure. I poured my glass of tea from the large tin cannister that was marked "sweetened" - hubby had a Coors in the bottle. Sonny's homemade barbecue was served up in recycled beer bottles. Pile your plate high with all the fresh onions and peppers you want out of a couple of metal buckets in the middle of the room - you might call it the buffet. Top it off with a kick-ash peach cobbler with just a dab of vanilla ice cream. Crank up the hillbilly/progressive country music playing in the back ground. Surround yourself with cowboy boots, spurs, spokes and Bud Light signs used as decorations against a plank wall... yep, that was some gooooood eatin and a right good place to be doing it in.
Y'all come on in and sit a spell, ya hear?
Not paranoid anywhere else but here!
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HJw
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posted on May 4, 2001 11:53:26 AM
Linda,
You sound like a lifetime native of the south
[wink}
Speaking of okra...I like it slimy.
Helen
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immykidsmom
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posted on May 6, 2001 04:40:14 PM
I love okra! But it has to be fresh not frozen (it don't come CANNED does it? ewwwww!) I pick out all the small and tender young ones, trim off top & bottom, cut in half crosswise, pour a can a stewed tomatoes over and simmer gently just till tender. Yum!
Also like 'em fried but my hips don't.
Mom, wide enough to hide a couple small children behind!
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HJw
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posted on May 6, 2001 04:51:31 PM
And how about chicken 'n dumplings! It's good that I don't have
access to real southern food or I would be real fat!
Helen
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kcpick4u
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posted on May 6, 2001 05:40:56 PM
Helen
Stop it! Your making me hungry!
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HJw
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posted on May 6, 2001 06:28:38 PM
kcpick4u
I used to rely on my Grandmother to cook.
So, thank goodness, I never learned how to
prepare this really good food!
Just plain old salad and yankee food tonight.
Helen
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Baduizm
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posted on May 6, 2001 10:46:11 PM
How about some okra and tomatoes, stewed just right to get the slimiest out of em. Some cheese and bacon grits, pancakes, sausage and cheesy eggs?
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zilvy
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posted on May 7, 2001 05:49:54 AM
Baduizm Sausage and cheesy eggs, grits with cheese and bacon bits sounds sooo good and like instant Heart Stopper uppers!!
[ edited by zilvy on May 7, 2001 06:43 AM ]
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HJw
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posted on May 7, 2001 05:55:30 AM
Baduizm
Now, you REALLY know what's good!
OhhhhhYes!!!
Let's forget cholesterol and eat...at least
for a day or so.
I'm calling my Dixie relatives today and
when they say, "Come on down!" I think that
I will!
Helen
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saabsister
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posted on May 7, 2001 05:56:01 AM
After reading Baduizm's post, I had to make cheese grits. Okay, so they were the "instant" variety - better than no grits.
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Hjw
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posted on May 7, 2001 07:20:28 AM
saabsister
Better than nothing. I'll have to try those.
Helen
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saabsister
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posted on May 7, 2001 07:31:44 AM
Helen, I'm not a purist when it comes to grits. I have to have cheese in them - even blue cheese will do. My friends who use butter,salt and pepper just roll their eyes.
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