C'mere and Give Me Some Sugar

Y'all are sweet as pie. C'mere and give me some sugar. These are a few things my sweet grandmomma says all the time. My grandmother can bless your heart in the most sincere way. Completely different than the way folks are saying it nowadays. The minute you tell her something unfortunate, she's blessing your heart. Like a little songbird, she's going around making a melody with her southern sayings. When we were little she'd start singing "A Bushel and a Peck" or "Hush, Little Baby" as soon as she could convince us it was bedtime.

Sweet as Pie - Odd Daughter Paper Co.

I intended to write about cards, but these sayings are bringing up memories of visits to my grandparents house. It makes me want to whip up some creamed corn and butter beans. Or just make a giant glass of sweet tea. As for the cards, my granddaddy will be receiving the card with the jam jar on his next birthday. He's been putting up peaches and pears for as far back as we can remember. 

Belle and Union

Belle and Union is one of my favorite stationary companies. I featured them here last year, but they're still cranking out amazing pieces. The folks behind Belle and Union have a story that will make you want to grab your valentine. He's a soldier, and she's an artist. He's a yankee boy, and she's a Southern Belle. Together they make gorgeous cards in Texas.

The South Print - HardInk Calligraphy

I love this print by HardInk Calligraphy. I'm really starting to think I should make a gallery wall with my favorite southern prints. These pieces are way too pretty to send off and never see again. It'd make for an inspiring office wall, and day-dreaming of my sweet grandparents would be pretty awesome too.

Authentic South

I can get down with any podcast that starts with the sound of a grandma frying okra. Tanner Latham, a travel writer and mulitmedia storyteller in Atlanta, has recently launched Authentic South, a podcast celebrating Southern culture. 

In the first podcast you hear from the likes of Tanner's Mawmaw, the Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at Ole Miss, the former editor-in-chief of Southern Living magazine and a pair of chefs whose Southern-Korean fusion dishes are served at their Atlanta BBQ joint. 

Listening to these characters and their ramblings on the South makes me want to grab a tape recorder and head straight to my grandparents house in Statesboro, Georgia. This Christmas my grandfather told me about his first job pickin' cotton, his first speeding ticket in a town called Ellabell, and the 450 Vidalia onions plants he just put in the ground. I would pay money to have a recording of these stories. What Southernisms would you preserve if you could travel the South with a tape recorder?

Authentic South

Happy Spring!

This week my granddaddy turned 89. I can't look at an azalea without thinking of his garden in Savannah. When we were little my grandparents used to line all the cousins up for pictures in front of their big azalea bushes on Easter. Today I am grateful for the sweet memories that these flowers bring and the promise of warmer weather on the way. Happy Spring!

Mayhaw Jelly and Biscuits

A mayhaw is a fruit that grows in the swamps and bogs of South Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. The fruit ripens in April and May, hence the name mayhaw. It's a mix between an apple and a berry, if you can imagine that.

My granddad was raised in Donalsonville, GA just a couple counties over from the annual Mayhaw Festival. A good friend travels to Donalsonville each year for a family reunion and I always beg her to  bring back a jar.  They claim to have the best jelly on earth, and I am here to tell you it is amazing.

                                      

You can eat it on everything from toast to hoecakes, but the best way is on a biscuit. Sadly, I do not have the biscuit making skills of my grandparents... I guess when I am there age I will have it down pat. Nathalie Dupree just came out with a new cookbook called Southern Biscuits which will hopefully give me a good start. Do you have a good biscuit recipe? What's your favorite kind of jam or jelly?