Summertime, and the livin's easy...

Fooled you all, didn't I? Just so you know, it's really not summer yet. (Although I DO have a few Aussie followers.) Heck, it's not even springtime yet! But this song reminds me so much of the south and my childhood. And over the weekend, my husband and I traveled back to those times, if only for an afternoon.

Knowing my southern roots, Kristine, from Beyond the Attic Door, told me about a southern restaurant down in Tacoma that she use to drive by when she lived there. The restaurant, Southern Kitchen, was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Well, since hubby and I are always trekking out on the weekends for new breakfast joints, and since I'm always looking for new antique and junk shops to explore, I decided to combine the two and head "down south". South about 25 miles, that is!

After my GPS took me down my back, around my waist, and then back up my back again, we finally found this diner. Some may even call it a dive. I called it "HOME"! We sat down, took one look at the menu and decided "No breakfast for us!" For on the menu we saw a whole conglomeration of nothing but good ol' southern food. There were collard greens, and fried okra, there were candied yams and homemade macaroni and cheese. Buttered corn and mashed potatoes. Black eyed peas and red beans and rice. And there were HUSH PUPPIES! And we hadn't even gotten to the meats! Matter of fact, we never did! We both went with a four veggie plate and ordered a big ol' basket of HUSH PUPPIES! Wasn't long before they brought out our quart size mason jars of SWEET tea, our basket of HUSH PUPPIES and our plates of nothing but "sides". As we both sat there eating, our grins spreading from ear to ear, I was reminded of something I'd heard here recently and realized the total truth in it. Most of the people in this world eat to live. But people in the south LIVE TO EAT! As I munched on the collard greens, I could just see that big bowl sitting on top of my mother's stove. I could see the round cornmeal dumplings nestle among the greens with the new potatoes she had boiled with the rest sitting on top. As much as I loved those collard greens, these were every bit as good! And I couldn't help but hold back a tear as I was reminded of those days. Food has a way of stirring up memories for me. And as I was getting up to leave, the lady whose picture I'd seen up on the wall standing next to Guy Fieri came over and asked how everything had been. I told her that I had died, gone to heaven, and my mama was cooking for me once again! She told me "thank you" and then reached over and gave me a big hug. Now THAT'S the SOUTH for you! I left with a TO GO box filled with homemade peach cobbler. Needless to say, my car will be making that trek again and again! Next time I can't wait to bring home the sweet 'tater pie!

See y'all later! ~~Annie

...Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy's rich
And your mama's good lookin'
So, hush little baby
Honey, don't you cry.