Blogging from A to Z: April – 2016: I

The Blogging from A to Z challenge is to post everyday during the month of April 2016, except Sunday. I will start with the letter A and hopefully make it all  the way to Z. I hope you enjoy the read!

Come sit a spell with me and learn about the foods and memories of my Southern heritage, and enjoy a little Southern talk along the way… I grew up in the heart of Georgia, married a  Yankee in Connecticut and suddenly became displaced from my roots. But one thing is true – You can take the girl out of the South – But you can’t take the South out of the  girl! I’ve learned to eat differently over the years, but I’ve never given up the foods I grew up on. When I left Georgia, at the young age of nineteen, I knew how to cook nothing! I pretty much learned to cook by asking mama over the phone, how do you do make this, and how do you make that; thank heavens for my Southern mama! Even though mama doesn’t cook too much today, she still remembers the recipes and she’s been my go-to person every night in chatting about my Southern foods and many of her memories.

Southern Food and Memories

Good Morning, come on in, I’m writing on the letter “I” today. How about a nice cold glass of Iced Sweet Tea – everyone’s favorite Southern drink!  What Southerner doesn’t have a cold pitcher of Iced Tea in their fridge at all times – it’s the drink of the South!

Love Sweet Tea served in Mason jars!!!

My first job when I turned “sweet sixteen” was as a waitress. It was a Friday night at Risher’s Restaurant in Perry, Georgia and it was busy as all get out. Here I was, not knowing one cotton picking thing about being a waitress, and what does my first customer want – tea. I was excited – I knew I could handle that. I brought back to the table a nice tall glass of iced sweet tea –  the woman looked up at me and said, “that’s not tea.” Well I stood there thinking, now what’s the matter with this woman, doesn’t she know what iced tea is. I learned about a whole new tea that night –  hot tea! Give me a glass of sweet iced tea any day!

Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, Georgia! Enjoyed good food and delicious sweet tea! They filmed Fried Green Tomatoes here!

Mama tells me that my grandmother never liked tea – imagine! It wasn’t served everyday in their house either, but she did make it for Sunday dinner. They drank milk every night at supper – why – because they had dairy cows and milk was plentiful. Grandmamma said tea tasted like medicine to her and just didn’t like it. Granddaddy always bought a block of ice on Sunday morning to chip up for the iced tea – and where did he store it – under the pile of sawdust in the yard. Believe it or not – that ice never melted!

I love iced sweet tea and it doesn’t matter how good I can make it – it just takes better in Georgia! That’s another thing I always want when I go home; I love ordering it in restaurants as they constantly keep your glass full. Just take a few sips and someone will show up to replenish your glass – I don’t understand why the iced tea glass is hovered over, but I love having my glass always full; a slice of lemon in your tea is good too.

Mama didn’t remember when I told her about daddy making ice cream. Why I have this vivid memory of him making banana ice cream, well I don’t know. I can see him mashing bananas,  stirring in condensed milk, or that other canned milk, and then freezing it in those aluminum ice cube trays – remember those? Mama is still insisting that she remembers nothing of this ice cream memory of mine – so where does this memory come from?

The other ice cream treat in my memory is going to the Dairy Queen for a curly top! Mama often piled all the neighborhood kids in the back seat on a Friday night; she never left anybody out. How the heck did we all fit back there – well that was before seat belts, so I guess we literally were all piled in. She had a seat belt in the front seat when she drove – it was called her arm! Who remembers that?

Daddy was more of a breakfast man – Sunday morning was his time in the kitchen cooking the bacon and eggs, but mama always made the biscuits! And whenever we went to Lake Sinclair for a camping weekend – daddy cooked breakfast in the cast iron skillet over the open fire. Oh Boy were those times good…. We had Saturday night dances there for all the teenagers – I can still hear the juke-box playing “Wooly Bully”. Who remembers that tune?

So happy you stopped by – Bless Your Heart…

Need More A to Z -then  you know what to do…2016: Blogging from A to Z Challenge

 © 2016 Jeanne Bryan Insalaco