We tell real stories about the South.
“No, my aunt wasn’t much of a gardener,” said the visitor.
“Oh,” I said, trying not to look disappointed.
Flame-haired and cheerful, the visitor chatting on my carport was the niece of the original owner of our 1960 home. She had popped by while driving home to Virginia from vacation in Florida. I wasn’t expecting her. I was in leggings and an old t-shirt and in the middle of laundry, but when she introduced herself I was curious to glean some house history.
I heard about the Violins of Hope about a year ago, but it wasn’t until I attended a presentation about the project two weeks ago, that I fully understood the significance it. The culmination of all of the work to bring Violins of Hope to Birmingham comes together this week when four days of concerts, educational programs and interfaith dialogue surrounding historic violins played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. Yesterday, I got a glimpse of the events when I attended Karim Shamsi-Basha’s Hope, Harmony and History exhibit at the Levite JCC of Birmingham. [Read more…] about Inspiring Violins of Hope events come to Birmingham, Alabama to spread messages of hope
This was written in 2015- so my grandma would have been 101 today!
Southern girls can learn a lot from their grandmas. Today would have been my grandma’s or as we called her, ma’am maw Kennedy’s 98 birthday if she were alive. And how I wish she were.
My family and I moved to Opelika, Alabama, at the beginning of my third grade year, which was two and half hours away from Birmingham where my ma’am maw and granddaddy lived. Right after we moved my grandparents moved to Blount County, Alabama, Highland Lake area to live full time on the lake. Up until that time and when we stilled lived in Birmingham, my ma’am maw would take my sister and me to dancing school and she would sit and wait on us until our classes were over. Dancing she felt was something we needed to learn and we loved it. After we moved, of course, taking me to dance class was not an option for her and it was something I missed.
Being so far away mean that I would only get to see her at Thanksgiving and Christmas and summer breaks. Those summer breaks spent with my grandparents on the lake were something I looked forward to every year. We waterskied and swam, and soaked in the sun. When I was old enough I began getting up early with my ma’am maw (5:30 or 6:00 am) and would sit at the dining room table with her while she smoked and drank a six ounce bottle of Coca-Cola; after awhile, the cigarettes went away and the cokes were replaced with ice water.. I would listen to her stories about growing up and she would share her wisdom about life. I learned a lot from those early morning sessions and I probably picked up some of her wisdom. After the coke and conversation, she would go into the kitchen and roll biscuits to bake and cook me, my sister and cousins scrambled eggs and sausage.
Later in the morning we would swim and sunbathe until lunch after lunch, my ma’am maw would have us shell butterbeans or purple hull peas while her stories (soap operas) were on. Those beans would be for dinner after which, we all would go waterskiing. The next day this routine would start all over again and would last until Labor Day.
I loved the time I spent with her. She taught me tenacity, told stories about my dad and uncles, and would always give me advice about boys. One of her most famous lines about boys was “In my day, guys were like buses, one came by the corner every few minutes. So stop worrying about them.” And for the most part I took her advice. I miss those sessions with her and especially her advice she so lovingly gave. She died suddenly May 24, 1987, four days before my birthday. Even though time has passed, I still miss those early morning conversations and the advice she would give me.
To this day, I can vividly recall our early southern summer mornings, drinking coca-colas and talking about life.
Let’s talk about staples. Those must-have food items you can’t live without in the kitchen. Since I’m an Alabama cook, of course there is always bacon in my fridge.
Did you know that when you cook down fatty pork with onions and jalapeños and add lots of other yummy ingredients, something magical happens? You get something more divine than bacon itself. You get Bacon Jam!
When you have Bacon Jam on hand, that means you have a little something extra special to add to your dishes when you want to make them fancy. I used some to top my Grit Casserole above, and I’m pretty sure I can never look back now! It adds a little punch of salty, sweet, savory and sour that’s seriously unforgettable.
I’ve used Bacon Jam on burgers, Brussels sprouts and for any last-minute appetizer I’m required to whip up for socializing. Just dump some on a block of cream cheese and go for it. You know, make it look pretty and buy some nice crackers, too, but you get the picture. I also love it as a vegetable condiment alongside chow chow. This stuff does wonders for peas, beans and it will change your mind about creamed corn. Oh, and steaks. Definitely smear this on that!
Although my recipe calls for jalapeños, it’s not super spicy. Just remember to deseed them, and once you cook the peppers down with the onions, the heat factor really mellows.
4 slices bacon, chopped (I like applewood-smoked)
1 1/2 cups Vidalia (or sweet) onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 jalapeño, deseeded and chopped
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon of Creole mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cook the bacon in a large skillet or medium-sized pot over medium-high for heat 6 to 8 minutes. Add the onions and pepper to the skillet and cook, stirring often, over medium heat for 15 minutes or until the sweet onions are caramel colored and the green onions are wilted.
Add the thyme, honey and mustard, stirring to dissolve.
Stir in the vinegar and cook for half an hour on low heat, or until it’s the consistency of jam.
Makes about two cups, and you can keep it for about three weeks in the fridge. It can also be frozen.
This New Year’s Day most southerners will be cooking black-eyed peas for good luck, and that includes recipes for Hoppin’ John. We’ll also be eating greens along with them, and don’t forget the hot cornbread, slathered in butter, ready for dunking.
While some southern folk claim that eating black-eyed peas for good luck are a throwback to the Civil War, we’d all be remiss not to know the true origin of this comforting staple. While it’s true that black-eyed peas were one of the only food sources left after Sherman’s March, their tale of origin stretches much farther back.
Black-eyed peas (or cow peas) were a major crop in Africa, brought to North America via slave ships. Check out the book “In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World,” by UCLA professor of Geography Judith Carney. In it she outlines the origins and trajectories of each of Africa’s major native crops that were brought over to the U.S. on slave ships.
The legumes were used as food on slave ships and, later, they were used to feed livestock in U.S. (hence, cowpea). The black-eyed pea first found its way to America on rice plantations (think South Carolina). The technique that combines cooking rice and beans together is also of African descent. So, there you have an origin story for Hoppin’ John, too.
There are so many incarnations of Hoppin’ John! As long as you’re cooking peas and rice with pork, you’re on the right track to a proper southern New Year’s Day meal.
Before you put your own spin on rice and beans, here’s a recipe for cooking dried black-eyed peas from scratch. Keep reading to find a bacon-filled version of Hoppin’ John, too. Both recipes serve two to four and are below:
Basic Black-Eyed Peas
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 sprigs thyme
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 Bay leaf
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cups black-eyed peas, soaked overnight, drained
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
Preparation
Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. The onions should have some color to them. Add the thyme sprigs, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper, black-eyed peas and 8 cups cold water and bring to a simmer over medium-high. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently. Skim any foam from the surface, until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and the thyme. Season with salt and black pepper.
Hoppin’ John 2 Ways
The first version of Hoppin’ John keeps your beans and rice separate, although this is a bit untraditional. Don’t worry, you can always combine it all together at the end, if you like.
Ingredients
6 slices of apple-smoked bacon, cooked and chopped
2 cups of rice (We used Basmati)
1 teaspoon of bacon grease, rendered from the bacon
3 ⅓ cups of water
Pinch of salt
Preparation
Hoppin’ John 1
After you’ve cooked your peas, rinse the rice: Using a strainer, rinse the rice under cold, running water. Cook off the bacon and set aside. Add one teaspoon of bacon grease to a 4-quart pot with a lid. Heat up the grease and add the uncooked rice, cooking for two minutes on medium heat. You want to toast the rice a bit without burning it. Add the water and bring to a boil, stirring to incorporate.
Stir in water and salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove the pot from heat the heat and let stand, covered, for about five minutes. Transfer the rice to serving bowls and spoon the peas over the rice. Top each bowl with bacon.
For Hoppin’ John Number 2, combine the peas and rice in a large bowl, reserving pea broth in a different bowl. Heat up a large cast-iron skillet with one tablespoon of olive oil or bacon grease. In batches, add the rice and pea mixture and cook it on medium heat, for a few minutes, stirring (use a wooden spoon) the whole time. As the rice sticks to the bottom of the pan, scrape it up with the wooden spoon and ladle pea broth into the skillet while continuing to stir. You can use as much or as little as you like. Add the chopped bacon and serve family style. This version is a bit thicker and stickier, but both ways offer a true taste of southern cuisine.
