Don't Expect Much

I'm the worst blogger in the world. My suggestion to you, dear reader, is to drastically lower your expectations of me, and whenever I feel like posting a blog you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Really, there are two things I wanted to post today:

1. My niece is the most awesome kid in the world, and this is coming from a non-kid person. She has the most fun personality and is so outgoing, and I have no idea where this comes from. My sister (her mom) was the shyest kid on earth, and I was a close second. My sister used to cry at the drop of a hat when she was my niece's age, and was scared of everything. Her husband was never a super-outgoing kid, either. So who knows? But I feel like I should document here some of the quirky things that she says and/or gets into. Not to be yet another grownup letting the internets know how cute their kid is, but because I don't want to forget these things. And she might get a kick out of reading them in 20 years, if we haven't moved on to posting on holographic spheres attached to our bellies or something.

So Scottlyn, my niece, like most kids, goes through phases of obsession. The earliest one I can remember her having was either Dora the Explorer or The Wizard of Oz. Dora was pretty fleeting; The Wizard of Oz lasted much, much longer. She watched the movie every day for several months, it seemed. She knew all the songs, all the words to the movie, practically. She got some ruby slippers, she had to have her hair in braids like Dorothy, and she got all the Wizard of Oz Barbie dolls (!) (didn't know that existed before then). We took her to see the live performance at Thalia Mara Hall, and even though we were in the nosebleed section, she still loved it.

From the Wiz she moved on to Batman and Robin. The Wizard of Oz, even though it was filmed in 1939, is kind of a quintessential kids' film. But when she developed her obsession with Batman and Robin, it wasn't 21st century Batman (who would that be, Christian Bale? Please). She went for 1960s Adam West/Burt Ward Batman and Robin. She watched the old shows over and over, and I think developed a crush on Robin. And why not? There's nothing like a trusty sidekick. The Batman thing lasted a while, even though it's not a typical "girl" thing to like. She is also very much into the whole "princess" thing too though.

Lately her affections have turned toward David Bowie. I think it started with my sister playing his music and then showing her some music videos. My sister has good taste in music so she has started early in educating Scottlyn on the classics. Scottlyn loves Queen, too. When she saw/heard "Under Pressure," all bets were off. Two of her favorite things together?!

Scottlyn also loves the movie "The Labyrinth," now, which kinda freaked me out at 9 when it came out, so now I really know that she isn't scared of anything. So she's totally head-over-heels for the Bowie. When her blanket went missing recently? #1 suspect: David Bowie. She really hopes Iman will croak (sorry Iman) so she can marry David Bowie. We don't have the heart to tell her that DB could be her grandfather. Hell, we're kinda hoping it happens (once she is of legal age, of course) so she can get all the loot when he keels over!

And for "Rock Star Day" at school, of course she had to be DB as Ziggy Stardust. I hope to be able to post some pictures soon, but trust me, it was the cutest thing, EVAR. She wants to be his "Labyrinth" character for Halloween. I have already told my sister I'd pay her good $ if part of the costume is a sock down the pants.

For Christmas, I'd really like to get her this Space Oddity book. But it's caught all up in some legal troubles right now, so for the moment it is called "Picture Book Set in Space." Doesn't quite have the same ring to it. In the meantime, I've fallen in love with Kolb's artwork. Isn't it so adorable and retro?

2. The second thing is a totally '80s kid nerd thing. Way back in 1989, yours truly was 12 and therefore not really ready or allowed to hit the wild parties at New Year's. I stayed home with my family, watching Dick Clark's "New Year's Rockin' Eve" and terrorizing my sister with the help of my cousin, who is just a year younger than me.

It was the end of the 1980s, and looking back, I swear we knew that it was the end of an era. There was no way the '90s (or the future in general) would be anything like the '80s, ever. For New Year's Eve, the local radio station was playing a "Mix of the Decade," basically nonstop "remixes" of every '80s song, ever.

Remixes were a big thing in the late '80s. Every pop song that came out on cassette single or 45 usually had a remixed version on the B side. Friday and Saturday nights on the radio were dedicated to dance-remix parties. I can recall recording a song off the radio, only to be disappointed later, "Aw, I didn't want the remixed version." Because, let's face it, as with any trend, sometimes people are doing things just to do them, because it's cool. And a lot of the remixes were really shitty. But! For an event such as New Year's Eve, 1989, it was totally cool to hear all these songs mashed up together for the last time that they'd be played as "music." Beginning January 1, 1990, it was forever to be known as "80s music." And you know that there's a difference. Nobody says "90s music" or "70s music," not really. But when people say "80s music," you know exactly what they are talking about.

So since I was at home being a nerdy 12 year old, I popped in a cassette and recorded at least an hour's worth of these mixes. The show actually went on from some time that afternoon until midnight. In the years to follow, I wore that tape out. As anyone who ever made mixtapes will tell you, the order of songs are burned in your memory if you listened to the tape enough. I don't know what happened to my tape from that evening, but I still expect to hear MJ's "Wanna Be Startin Somethin'" followed by Gloria Estefan's "Conga" followed by The Commodores. I just do.

Fast forward 22 years. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, that was a long time ago! I'm running, training again for a half marathon, and bored to tears with my Ipod playlists. For some inexplicable reason, I start thinking about that tape from NYE '89, and "how cool would that be to have that mix to run to?"

The internet is magic, y'all. A flit of the fingers on the keyboard, and voila': WPLJ Mix of the Decade . And it took me a few listens to find out for sure, but this is the same mix that I recorded way back in the day. Around the 8:30-9:00 timeframe, which I got around to on my 6 mile run this morning, I heard the familiar order of songs from long ago. Hooray!

From the website:

Taped on TDK D90 (Type I) cassettes with Dolby C NR from 95.5 WPLJ-FM/New York by Ron Gerber. The "Mix Of The Decade" aired from 4 PM until midnight on New Years Eve, December 31, 1989. I managed to catch the last 6 hours and 45 minutes of the full 8 hours; I was taping Hot 97's Top Dance Songs Of The '80s countdown, and I switched from Hot 97 to WPLJ as soon as it ended at 5:15 PM. There are several breaks where I had to flip the tapes.

The Mix Of The Decade was put together by Hot Mix; from the Hot Mix website: "Before the start of the first weekly show of 1990, HOT MIX created an 8-hour program called "Mix Of The Decade 1980-89", which ABC agreed to distribute to kick off the new partnership on January 1, 1990. "Mix Of The Decade 1990-89" was distributed on Vinyl disc to over 100 radio stations."

I have never run across another copy of the Mix Of The Decade, and I would be very interested in a more pristine or complete copy; if you or someone you know has one please contact me through the contact link at www.crapfromthepast.com.

This is monstrously huge, and is utterly fantastic. Hope you dig it. -Ron
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A few things I noticed in this blast from the past, and then I swear I'll shut up and you won't hear from me for another 3 months:

1. All the shout-outs and well wishes for a Happy New Year to the NKOTB. People were seriously calling in to the radio station to wish Danny, Donnie, Jordan, Jon and Joey a Happy New Year. I forgot that this was when they were super HUGE. Of course, being a tween at the time, I was a huge fan. NKOTB was my first concert a year or so later.

2. Any runners out there who also like '80s music should really download this (you can DL it from the site above). It's a steady 120 bpm or so, shifts from song to song pretty quickly so your brain doesn't get bored. And it's from friggin' 1989.

3. I've only run across one set of commercials so far, but the ones I did were for the Navy, Doublemint gum, and Sears. Commercial jingles were very melodramatic in the late 1980s, apparently. I was nearly moved to tears with the thought of doubling my pleasure, doubling my fun with a stick of Doublemint gum. Ok not really.

4. There are several songs that I totally forgot about, or don't remember. Artists that were super popular at the time, I suppose, that didn't make it over the hump into the '90s and beyond. And there's a lot of pre-American Idol, pre-drugs-and-falling-over Paula Abdul.

One last thing

Ween proposed a jingle to Pizza Hut about 10 years ago, called "Where'd the Cheese Go?" - it was rejected. So they re-recorded the jingle. Here's both of them. (The second version is NSFW, by the way)



I friggin' love Ween.

Some old B.S.

I'm watching Twin Peaks again on the Netflix* via the Wii. I already know who killed Laura Palmer because of Jeopardy!** But I never actually finished watching the series, so I wanted to give it another go. When the show came out, I was about 13 years old, and either didn't get it, or my parents didn't want me to watch it. I'm thinking it's probably the former, because my P's pretty much let me watch whatever, within reason.

When I moved to Memphis for grad school (about 10 years later), my roommate and her boyfriend and I began watching the series on VHS tape, and got at least into season 2 before I had to move out because the aforementioned roommate was CRAZY. I'm looking forward to silly Kyle MacLachlan and the weird David Lynch-ness of the whole thing.

*I'm really disappointed in the lack of options on Netflix streaming. Anything remotely "new" is unavailable, so I've decided to say "Eff it" and watch old crap from the '80s and '90s until they remedy the situation.

**Can't spell it without the exclamation point! Alex Trebek totally spoiled the ending of this 20-year old series for me the other day. But there's gotta be some kind of statute of limitations on spoiler alerts, so I couldn't be mad.

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Work has been insanely busy lately. I feel like I hardly have time to think, especially to think about my personal life. I'm going to Boston in a couple of weeks to visit my cousin, and I haven't had time at all to think about what to pack, what I'm gonna wear, what we'll do, etc. My hair has grown so long from lack of time to get it cut that I'm giving Crystal Gayle a run for her money. And I've barely had time or energy to exercise, lending to an overall pudgy dough-girl effect. So, rather than find an Eddie Rabbit look-a-like to start singing duets with, I am going to attempt to get back on track within the next week. Chopping my hair, hitting the pavement and the weights, eating better, and (reluctantly) shopping for a swimsuit and other things to wear on my trip. I hear we will spend some time at the beach, and I'm interested to see how a New England beach compares to what I've grown up knowing - the white sands, green water and hot sun of the Gulf Coast. My cousin tells me that the water isn't even warm enough to get in, and that blows my mind. She's also told me they don't have air conditioning. I'm going to try to be a trooper, but I think that even if I lived up there and the weather never got above 90, I'd still like to have some fresh A/C going on. I can't fathom what we Southerners did without it in the past.

Gosh, Kyle MacLachlan looks so young! Gotta go... maybe my next post will be an update from the Boston trip. Or I may just post a bunch of Sifl and Olly links instead.

I need to remember this

I love Barry Hannah's writing, and I'm really sorry I didn't take the time to read his stuff before he died. Sorry! He slips things in to otherwise ordinary paragraphs that just jab you in the ribs and make you wonder why you didn't think of it first.

Like this:
"In this state [Mississippi] live men and women nostalgic by age eleven. For things rambling, wooden, rain-worn, wood-smoked, slightly decrepit. The heft of dirty nickels. They flee to lakes from hateful pavements, concrete and glass. They are certain the great wars were fought for cheap fishing licenses."
- from Yonder Stands Your Orphan, which I am reading now.

Also, he describes nursing home residents as "convicts of time." Brilliant!

Anyway, I enjoy the heck out of his books, and so I am trying to take it slow and savor each one, since I know he won't be writing any more. I started with Geronimo Rex and then read The Tennis Handsome. Geronimo Rex was really awesome - his debut novel and a great way to start reading Hannah. Bonus points for me because I went to Mississippi College and so did he, and the novel is loosely based on his experiences while a student there in the '60s. I never felt like I really fit in at MC, and I don't think he did, either. If you know anything about the school, you'll understand why.

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I keep saying that I'm tired of all the cool people leaving Jackson, and it's true. There are still lots of cool people in Jackson, but it seems like every other week or so someone else announces that they are moving away. I do get it; I left once too and thought I'd never come back. But I guess I just assume since I got my sh** figured out and have decided Jackson is the place for me, that everyone else has also figured that out. Of course, that is ludicrous.


The latest ex-pat is Johnny Bertram and his wife, Emily. The two were so beloved around town that it's hard to believe they weren't actually from here in the first place. Johnny's musicianship permeated the Jackson scene, to the point that he was playing with a few different groups of people before he left. The Bertrams are heading back to the Northwest, to Portland, from whence they came. Do I blame them for leaving the 100+ degree heat for the deliciously cool, laid-back Portland? No. I wish I had a summer home there, myself. But Jackson sorely misses them already. It's funny, the connection between PDX and JAN. Many Jacksonians have moved outhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif there and stayed, or moved out there and returned, and Johnny & Emily were the first that I know of who moved from PDX to JAN with no prior ties to the place. I'd love it if there were a direct expressway from here to Portland, really, and we could all visit each other from time to time.

The picture above was taken at Johnny Bertram & the Golden Bicycles' last show in town on 5.29.11. It was at North Midtown Arts Center -formerly known as 121 - and I'd never been outside for a show there before, but it was pretty sweet! One of those "This doesn't feel like Jackson" moments. Which hopefully those moments will eventually evolve into "This is SO Jackson" instead. It's people like Johnny B. that have helped make transform this town into the blossoming arts community that it is today. So I am okay with people like him and others leaving Jackson, just as long as they leave something good behind. Or - even better - come back eventually, and bring something good back with them.

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I have a new member of the family now. It happened a week or so ago, completely at random. This little pup appeared in my sister's back yard, and my sister couldn't take care of it along with her 3 dogs and small child, so she and my bro-in-law called me to see what to do about it. It had a hurt leg, and one of the local shelters (that is not a no-kill) had already said they would probably just have to put her down because of the leg. So I caved, went and got her, and took her to my vet the next day. She is scheduled to have surgery this week to see if they can save her leg, but even if they can't, she will be ok with 3 legs. She already runs around as if nothing is wrong. I have named her Lula Belle (after my great-grandmother, HA!), but call her Lulu 90% of the time. She is sweet as can be and gets along great with Sally. I have felt a bit guilty and worry that I am not showering Sally with as much attention as she usually gets, so I have been overcompensating big time. The BF feels the same way. We're constantly saying, "Oh Sally, you're a good dog too, we love you, blah blah blah..." I think she is really fine, though. She seems to like having a playmate, even if Lulu is 1/10 her size. I don't think Lulu is going to get very big, and this is weird for me. I've never owned a dog smaller than 30 lbs. or so. But it's been fun so far. I don't think I need kids now; I have 2 already. And I will try REALLY HARD not to dress Lulu up in ridiculous outfits. I can kinda understand why people do that, though. I keep wanting to put her in bags or boxes or anything small that she can fit in. I don't think she enjoys that as much as we do.

Here's Lulu and Sally, both sleeping after a hard day of playing together.

Good Times

What a crazy week. I normally wind up celebrating my birthday for a week or more at a time, but this year was really almost ridiculous! Not that I'm complaining! It started the night before my bday - the BF made delicious jerk pork chops with black beans. Then, on my actual bday, I went out that night with friends to Pi(e) lounge for drinks + pizza. It was great to see some old and new friends there. Thursday night, I went to Downtown After Dusk and then Babalu with another group of friends. Babalu has some of the best food in town, and great atmosphere + service. My friend Rachel took much better pictures and blogged about our night here.

Friday I went back to Pi(e) to see another old friend who came to town this weekend, and then later that night the BF took me to Spice Avenue, the best Indian restaurant in town. I'm disappointed that they don't have a website, but just trust me, it was delicious. They are a little overpriced in that you have to order rice and Naan separate, but you can eat well on the cheap if you know how to order. We got the vegetable biryani and chicken tikka masala, and the biryani comes with rice. It fed us for 2 meals!

Saturday, the BF and I met my sister, my niece and my parents at the zoo. After some convincing that it is safe to go to the zoo, that is. I'm too tired to re-hash it right now, but my conversation with my mom about meeting us at the zoo (instead of meeting at my house, which a year or so ago was considered in a "non-safe" neighborhood according to her - now suddenly it is the safe house?) started with her story about a "terrible thing that happened" one of the last times she was there, which was about 25 years ago when my sister was a toddler. The "terrible thing" that happened was that a strange man was trying to talk to them in the parking lot. Horrors!! Anyway, I grow weary of defending my city to my parents, particularly my mom, who is afraid of everything and has nearly no basis at all for her fears. It is smart to be cautious, to not be naive, but it's a whole 'nother thing to be so scared of everything that might possibly ever happen that you barely want to leave the house. I love my mom, but she wears me out with that nonsense. We did get to see the sweet baby giraffe though! Isn't she cute?

I also took a picture of the train at the Zoo:

It always reminds me of the opening credits for the show "Black Gold," which used to come on when I was a kid. A local version of "Soul Train," Black Gold was filmed here in Jackson and hosted by Lee King (who is still around Jackson and worked at the Auditorium restaurant until its demise a year or so ago). The train was featured in the opening theme, maybe as a nod to Soul Train, I don't know... if I can find a video I'm posting it here.

Anyway, I digress. Saturday afternoon I went to BeBop Record Shop for what was probably the last time. The BF got me a gift certificate for my bday on the day before BeBop announced it was closing its last remaining store in Jackson. It was a wonderful gift, but bittersweet. I loaded up with vinyl and wound up using the entire gift cert. + the same amount in cash. The store was packed when I went in, which was strange to see because even on Record Store Day a few weeks ago it wasn't this packed. I saw people that I never usually saw when I shopped in there, loading up on CDs. Now, call me crazy, but I decided to go vinyl-only. CDs just don't hold a lot of nostalgia for me, but albums are one-of-a-kind. Plus, most of the ones I bought came with a code to download the digital album for free, and one even came with the CD inside.

Here's what I got:

1. Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
2. Super Furry Animals - Dark Days Light Years*
3. An Introduction to Elliott Smith**
4. Jolie Holland - the Living and the Dead***
5. The Jam - This is the Modern World
6. El Obo - Oxford Basement Collection
7. Cheap Trick - Live at Budokan****
8. South Pacific - soundtrack

*(45! And a Double Album!)
**I introduced myself to Elliott Smith about 13 years ago, but this album has a lot of the greats on it, so I could not pass it up.
***My "twin" Jed-0 (we share the same bday, just a couple years apart) gave me a CD that he burned for me with some of Jolie Holland's music on it. I had not heard her stuff before, but oh my word. She is fabulous! I set out on Saturday hoping to find something of hers on vinyl, but was honestly shocked when I found this one. It's the latest album, but she's not uber well known, so I really didn't think I'd see it there. Thanks BeBop.
****If you aren't familiar with this album, you almost can't call yourself a rock fan. I haven't owned it until now, but I've been a Cheap Trick fan from the get-go.

While I was shopping, Prince was playing loud on the overhead soundsystem, probably a little louder than usual because, hey, they're going to be gone in a week, so who cares if it bothers anyone? People were bobbing their heads along with "Alphabet Street," and "Kiss," but when "Purple Rain" came on, it was hard not to tear up a bit. I mean, come on... BeBop. This is the end of an era. I remember shopping at the one by Metro in my college years, buying tickets to Jubilee!JAM and other concerts there, buying CDs at the one near Northpark, and of course in the last few years at this one in Maywood Mart. The BF and I could ride bikes there from his house. I was so happy to know they still had vinyl and even carried new vinyl. Now I don't know where I'll get the new stuff.

I'm thankful for people like DJ Young Venom (although I'm sad he's not on 97.7 anymore) who has organized a great record swap called 4 The Record, which is happening next weekend. There was one a month or so ago too, and I'm hoping this will be a recurring thing. My collection has grown since I got a record player a year ago (imagine that!), but I'm always on the lookout for some new stuff.

Saturday night, a group of us gathered at Parlor Market to celebrate a friend's birthday. His girlfriend arranged for him to be able to work in the kitchen for a night with the staff, which had been a dream for him. He's a great cook in his own right, just not professionally trained. It was fun to see him in chef's whites, and we could tell he was having a good time. The food was excellent, albeit pricy, but it was worth it to spend time with good friends and celebrate May birthdays. I joke about not liking to share my bday month with so many others (I used to hardly know anyone with a May birthday), but in reality it is a lot of fun.

After all of this partying, though, I am worn out! It has been nice to sit at home with the dog and listen to records. This week is going to be busy, but short. I'm definitely looking forward to the long weekend that awaits at the end.

Before I go, I also have to give props to my friend Anna Kline and her Grits & Soul band. They wrote a song about Ol' Man River, and it was featured on NBC affiliates throughout the country this past weekend! She is a super talented musician and has found some great people to play with. I'm proud to call her my friend.

I have a few famous friends. My friend Martha and her beau Mott Roland were featured in the Weddings section of the New York Times this week, too. The New York Times y'all!! It's all about Mott Roland moving cows away from the flood waters so's they can still get hitched. They're getting married next weekend and I am so happy for them. Martha is a new friend, but she is already one of my most favorite people in the whole world. Read their story here.

I'm also going to post some of my pictures of the river at Natchez from last weekend to close this week's post:

#34

So I didn't think there was a song, or any other pop culture reference, for my 34th birthday. But I was wrong. I should've just gone back in time a decade or so ago, to my Dave Matthews groupie days. Say what you want to about the DMB, they had me in a trance for my entire college/grad school existence. And they do put on a damn good show. And I still can't believe LeRoi (the sax player) is dead. Surreal.



Sometimes I want to go back to those days, where my only responsibility was an abnormal psychology exam and a phone bill or something. Some days I can't believe that was 10+ years ago, it seems like I should be cramming for something right now. Or shoving my books under my bed and heading to The Dock with the girls for ladies' night. Dock Rockers all the way!!

Trivia: I had never flown on an aeroplane ever before in my life, and I was 23 years old. The first time I flew anywhere was in April of 2001, 10 years ago, to meet up with a bunch of strangers I met on the interwebs, to attend a DMB "reunion" show of sorts in Charlottesville, VA. I didn't even tell my parents I was going. It was so much fun, and Neil Young opened, which was a total bonus. I don't even listen to DMB much anymore, but back then it was kinda like following the Dead around. I saw them 4 more times in the span of a year or so after that. I also caught the travel bug, and have tried to take at least one fun out-of-state trip every year since then.

God, was that really 10 years ago? It's weird to be this age, and I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it doesn't matter. It's here to stay, at least for a year (then you have to re-adjust all over again). I don't feel young and spry anymore, but I'm not an old lady yet, either. I still think that there's a lot I have yet to experience, and I am excited to find out just what those things are. At the same time, there's still that little something gnawing at me, saying, "Ok, you're really an adult now, and there's no going back."

Scary!

Anyway, I've had a wonderful day filled with friends, food and laughter. That's all a person can ask for, whether they are 21, 34 or 94. I talked to my 83 year old grandmother tonight, who can't even dial the phone to call me anymore, but she can still sing "Happy Birthday" to me. I'm gonna make "drunk chicken" for her next weekend, and we're going to stuff ourselves silly and have a good time. And that's what it's all about, really. Having a good time while you're here, with the ones you love (and enjoying some good snacks along the way).

Granny cookin'

I've had a hankering for my grandmother's "Drunk Chicken"* lately, and since I gave up meat for Lent, I decided to treat myself to this dish post-Easter.

I tried to make this once before and keep it healthy, and that just didn't cut it at all. No, the only way to make this dish is the same way Maw Maw made it: whole cut-up chicken, bone-in, skin-on, in a dutch oven.

First, I soaked the chicken pieces in a little milk to take out any "gaminess." Chicken shouldn't be game-y, but you never know. If I'd had buttermilk I would've used that (and that is a must for fried chicken), but I didn't, so skim milk had to do.

Next, I drained them and added salt & pepper, and then dredged in a little flour. After heating a bit of olive oil in the dutch oven, the chicken was ready to be browned. My dutch oven was not as big as I thought it was, so I had to brown the pieces a few at a time. No biggie - you're not cooking the chicken here, just browning and adding those great gribbenes (the yummy, crusty cooked parts) to the pan.


After all the pieces were browned, I tucked them all back into the pan, took it off the heat, and poured 1 cup of red wine + 1/2 or so of water over the chicken. Covering it with the lid, I put it into the oven at 350 degrees to bake for about 35 minutes.

In the meantime, I mashed some potatoes and fried up some green tomatoes. No big whoop. Hey, if I'm going to have Maw Maw's drunk chicken, I have to go all out.

After pulling it out of the oven, a familiar scent wafted out of the pot. There was the chicken I remembered from my formative years! Even though some pieces weren't touching the bottom, the whole bird was steamed with delicious flavors of the wine. The meat was so tender and nearly falling off the bone. I snapped a picture before I settled down to devour it!

I was so happy, it tasted almost exactly like Maw Maw's. I under-salted, which I usually do, but it was delicious otherwise. The juice in the bottom of the pan is good for pouring on the mashed potatoes, and if you were really ambitious you could make a thicker gravy out of it, but I was tired and hungry at this point.

I am thankful that I learned Southern cooking from my grandmother. She also taught my mom to cook so I picked it up from both of them. My other grandmother (who is no longer with us) was a good cook, but by the time I was born she didn't much care for cooking anymore and was enamored with newfangled TV dinners and fast food. I gained a love for junk food and fast food from her, for better or worse. But Maw Maw R. taught me that any vegetable can taste good when cooked with bacon and/or butter, she taught me the right way to make a fried green tomato, and bless her heart, she could never cook for less than 5 or 6 people at a time, so I learned how to make big meals too.

Mother's Day is coming up, and I plan to make a brunch for Maw Maw R., my mom and my sister, who is also a mother. I've learned to eat much healthier these days so some of my dishes won't be butter-laden - but if there's one more thing I learned from my mom and grandmother, it's how to cook with love and care.

Love on your mamas and grandmamas this weekend y'all - they deserve it. And Maw Maw J., I'm going to eat some french fries just for you.

(*She always called it Drunk Chicken, but I learned years later that this is really a simplified version of Coq Au Vin. Fancy!)

It makes me mad

...that there isn't a proper video for this song.



(P.S. I'm baaaack!!)