This past weekend while I was home, I requested a homemade southern meal by my grandmother. She knew exactly what I meant by southern meal as this is a usual request when any of the grandkids are in town for any reason. For some reason, some meals just aren't as good as when your grandmother makes them - it must be the extra ingredients they put into every dish - a dash of tenderness, a heap of love, and a sprinkle of care, and a boatload of butter.
The usuals in our family meals are baked mac'n cheese & banana pudding. Another staple with any meal in the south is cold, sweet, iced tea. Sweet Tea is really simple to make - you just add cups (2-3 in our house) of sugar!!
While my grandmother is inside making the dishes, my grandfather is outside at the grill. Down South it is still just warm enough to grill outside without getting frostbite - although some southerners would beg to differ I'm sure. This past weekend he made perfect ribs which no one skipped over...Shadow was lingering in the background...hoping I would drop one!
This past summer, my grandmother made Strawberry Rhubarb. It is a delicious topping all year long on biscuits, cornbread, or toast - or you could just do what I did and have a spoon full! (as well as two biscuits covered in Strawberry Rhubarb with my meal - eek!)
Cornbread, homemade Biscuits, banana pudding, and fried okra - all staples down south!
We love anything sweetened or fried.
I didn't skimp out on anything...I was full for the next 24hrs.... :)
My grandparents have a daybed swing on their back porch. They simply cut off the legs to a daybed and hung it with chains that they spraypainted white. It is the perfect place to nap after my homemade Southern meal. I can only bare a few of those meals every now and then...although it had been 5 months...so I was long overdue!