Okra Cola

Accent Modification

2011-09-05T18:01:00.001-05:00

I have a confession y'all...

Sometimes, around certain company...I change my accent. Yes, I know. It really is against everything I preach but it has been pointed out by others (namely my wife) that I do it. I'm aware, but not really ashamed. No matter what I do I'll always have a bit of an accent. It shows my roots and my heritage. Sometimes I do it because to some people in some parts of town find a drawl like mine hard to understand. Sometimes I do it to show that the perception of people from my neck of the woods isn't always true. Sometimes I just want to sound a little classier normal. It's not like I'm a 14 year old girl sporting some generic/fake British accent; I'm not pretending to be someone else, just something different. It's like putting on nice clothes before meeting important people.

Other times when I'm around old high school friends I notice my accent is stronger. It also seems to happen when I'm out and about and someone makes mention of my Southern heritage or talk about how they think I live in the meth capital of the greater Birmingham area.

Do you change your accent up depending on the situation? Has someone else pointed out that you inadvertently do it? Let us know in the comments.

Southern Word of the Week - Hot Mess

2011-06-14T09:20:00.000-05:00

(adj.) I know she thought she looked good, but she looked like a hot mess.
(adj.) After partying last night I feel like a hot mess.
(adj.) You can't spell hot mess without me.

Is it Southern? I have no idea, but I've heard it a lot lately. Bascially a hot mess is something that went awry somewhere whether it be the way someone looks, feels or acts. The final example listed above came from a friend and I thought it would be the perfect t-shirt at one of those stores that has all the t-shirts at the beach or whatever.

So make sure you aren't a hot mess, but also be sure you know what a hot mess looks like because you know you want to point them out to your friends.

Shameless Plug

2011-04-13T05:20:00.000-05:00

So I found out about this amazing job at Hopscout.com. They are taking video submissions and the top 20 with the highest votes move to the next round where 5 of them will become Hopscout editors.

Here's the job description:

Work at home, in your jammies!
Write guest blog posts
once every five weeks
Test out our products and make video reviews
once every five weeks
Be a social butterfly - host twitter parties, social contests and ask questions on our community forum
Be a hero - find one special child in your community that we'll host a birthday party for
Be a buyer - attend exclusive trade shows at our expense!

And here's the compensation:

We offer a competitive salary of $40/hour for your time! Holy wow!
Did we say "equity?" I think we did! You'll get your fair share of our great company.
An apple - not the crunchy kind - the Macbook Air kind.
hopscout business cards, email address and all the works.
Travel expenses related to hopscout (as specified by us)
A $200/month contribution to your kid's college fund
A $200 monthly grocery stipend
A fully paid family vacation one week per year!

So I need your help. Please go to the Lilluxe fansite on Facebook and "Like" them. Then find the Millionaire Mom link on the left hand side of the page and click it. My video should be easy to find, look for Andrew B. Right now I think I'm the only dad entered.

You can find out more about the full rules and how you can enter at Hopscout.com/Careers

Thanks y'all!

Southern Word of the Week - Eat Up

2011-04-11T11:11:00.001-05:00

ex. (adverb?) That boy is just eat up with stupid, bless his heart.
ex. (adverb?) She is eat up with meanness. She don't never say nothin' good about nobody.

Eat up is something you use when the person you are talking about is basically just inundated with whatever affliction you put after it. You can also get eat up with mosquitoes or ticks, but for the most part being eat up is how you diagnose someone elses shortcomings.

A rant about cooking and food and other slightly related things

2011-04-06T09:15:00.001-05:00

I have talked with far too many people, women in particular, that mention their shortcomings in cooking. And I'm not trying to be sexist saying, "they aren't cooking for their husbands and food should be on the table at 6pm sharp, and dessert better be involved." I'm just kind of shocked by what seems to be a lack of cooking happening in homes. I also mentioned to a friend that I was stoked about making biscuits for my wife's birthday earlier this month; her response, "You know those come in a can, right?" I will say she wasn't from the South and may not fully understand the taste, mouth feel and satisfaction a homemade buttermilk biscuit means to a Southerner but come on! I love cooking dang near anything and I just happen to have a great biscuit recipe that gives me a sense of accomplishment every time I pull a batch out of the oven.

Food is just too easy. We have everything served to us as we ask for it nowadays. Fast food, television, music, nearly everything we used to have to go out and buy that took time and effort to prepare for is now ready for us to consume, throw out or toss aside. If my dad wanted music he had to go to a record store. Not only that but he had to go into town for it! If you want fried chicken KFC can have a bucket ready for you in minutes. No need to marinate, batter or fry your own.

Am I the pot calling the kettle black? Yes, I am but I also make a conscious effort to do more cooking from scratch and learn the way things were done. I'm the kind of guy that watches food shows and wants to attempt cooking it rather than watching it for the food porn others do. You don't have to wish you could make that from scratch, you can! The recipes are on the internet waiting for you to dive in a tackle them!

Southern Word of the Week - Hissy Fit

2011-04-04T07:17:00.002-05:00

Hissy fit: a temper tantrum.

(n.) Nadene is gonna throw a hissy fit when she finds out you got bleach spots on her new dress
(n.) That kid laid down in the floor of the T G & Y and had a hissy fit like you've never seen!

Kids often throw hissy fits, and often it applies to adults that become unreasonable when faced with a certain set of facts. There is a time and a place for hissy fits, but they occur far more frequently than they should. You can also just have a hissy, which is practically the same.

Southern Word of the Week - Tag

2011-04-01T07:15:00.001-05:00

The registration plate for your automobile
(n.) Did you go to the courthouse to get your tags yet?

I asked one guy from New Jersey about his tags once. He didn't know if I was talking about something you wear (i.e. credentials, press pass, etc.), or what. Then I said, "No, a car tag." He still had no idea. He thought he was supposed to put something in the rental car. I explained that it went on the back of a car and he said, "Oh, you mean my plates." I honestly had no idea that anyone would not know what I was talking about when I mentioned a car tag. Just another reminder of how wonderfully different the language is in different regions of the United States.

Friday Fun - The Cleverly's

2010-12-03T09:00:00.005-06:00

I guess I stumbled upon these guys on a Neatorama post a while ago. I thought they would be one trick ponys and not have anything more to offer . . . boy was I wrong! They are really talented bluegrass players that do modern covers. And not just like Hayseed Dixie that I've talked about before, they'll do hip hop, 80's, Motown, dang near anything. I won't go into their backstory but you can go to their website at TheCleverlys.com and click about to watch the video of their backstory. I suspect they are studio musicians that wanted to do something between sessions or when times got lean and came up with their schtick. My Facebook friends will vouch that I have spammed their News Feed with videos from these folks.

I couldn't decide which to post so here's Billionaire followed by I Gotta Feeling. For more check out their YouTube channel.

Word on the street is they're supposed to be available for show dates soon so check out your local music establishment to see if they're performing near you!

Lemme know how you like 'em, or if there's new music I need to discover out there in the comments!

Holiday Charities

2010-12-02T10:30:00.013-06:00

We see the Salvation Army volunteers ringing the bells every year and sometimes we put a few coins in or maybe some cash and that may be most of the charitable giving we do for the season. I'd like to know what you are volunteering for or what you are donating and to whom this holiday season.

Personally my band is doing a toy drive for Jesse's Place. You can read about the show here.

So let me know in the comments or email me at drew [at] Okra Cola (dot) com to let me know about how you are giving back. Even if it was last month at Thanksgiving it would still be good information for people. Thanks and Happy Advent, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Southern Word of the Week - Ignernt

2010-12-01T06:10:00.000-06:00

Lacking knowledge. Pronounced IG-nernt
(adj.) Some folks is just plain ignernt.

My daddy always used to say, "Everybody's ignernt about something." Of course he didn't pronounce it that way, but I think I'm embracing more of my Southern roots than he did. I sound extremely Southern when around my high school/grammer school friends. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, ignernce.

There are many people in the South that are ignorant about many things. But do you wanna know how to clean and butcher a deer? That same person you thought was ignernt, will be able to not only how to properly clean that deer, but probably be able to tell you the why's and what for's too.

Southern Quotables - Dolly Parton

2010-11-30T09:12:00.001-06:00

"It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."
-Dolly Parton

The Grand Ole Opry

2010-11-29T15:57:00.001-06:00

85 years ago yesterday the WSM Barn Dance aired on AM 650 in Nashville, Tennessee. That may not sound very exciting, but on December 10, 1927, it was renamed The Grand Ole Opry. Before doing a little research I had no idea that after an artist passes he or she is no longer a standing member of the Grand Ole Opry. I assumed it was like a Who's Who or a Hall of Fame, but Nashville already has the Country Music Hall of Fame. At one time they had to make 26 appearances a year and only got paid $44 which made being a member a hardship on some performers. Things have changed since then.

Anybody that has been to Nashville knows that the Ryman Auditorium is the most famous former home of the Grand Ole Opry. If you know that you probably also know that there is a circle of the stage, about 5 feet in diamater, that was taken from the Ryman and was installed on the current Grand Ole Opry House stage. That circle, as well as the rest of the stage, was submerged under 46 inches of water during the May 2010 flood. The circle had to be refurbished but was reinstalled on August 25, 2010 with help from Little Jimmy Dickens and Brad Paisley.

Speaking of Little Jimmy Dickens he is the oldest living member of the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry website says his mailbox is the only one out of alphabetical order at the Opry House to cater to his 4'11" stature. You probably saw him at the 2010 CMA's and if not check out the YouTube video.

Other members include, but are not limited to (in no particular order): Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Trace Adkins, Loretta Lynn, Blake Shelton, Vince Gill, Roy Clark, Emmylou Harris, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton and many more.

Shows are still played at the Ryman and of course you can see a show at the Grand Ole Opry House too. Click the links, take a visit to Music City and take in a show or two while you are there.

Got a Nashville or Opry story, or see something I overlooked/left out/got wrong? Lemme know about any and all in the comments.

The Great (cheap) Bourbon Discovery

2010-11-26T09:37:00.000-06:00

I'm cheap and I like bourbon, and I was out to find the bourbon that gave me the best bang for the buck.

Jim Beam 750mL - $14.99
Jim Beam is the old standby; currently the most popular bourbon in the U.S. For smoothness and all around flexibility Jim beam is pretty awesome, but I was interested in how some cheaper alternatives tasted.

Evan Williams (Black Label) 750mL - $11.99
Evan Williams was just a little to harsh for me. Something didn't hit me right, it would probably work well as a mixer.

Old Grand Dad 750mL - $11.49
Old Grand Dad had some kind of interesting character that I couldn't put my finger on, but it wasn't a good kind of interesting. It reminded me of amaretto or some other kind of nutty liqueur. I say pass.

Old Crow 1 Liter - $10.29
For my money Old Crow is the winner. It's a little harsh if you drink it straight (I still do it after adding a touch of water) but it is awesome when mixing with coke and probably even with Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale (I'll have to try that combo soon). It was once the most popular bourbon in the U.S.

Bourbon facts from Wikipedia:

Bourbon must be made of a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn (maize).^[1]
Bourbon must be distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume).
Neither coloring nor flavoring may be added.
Bourbon must be aged in new, charred oak barrels. ^[1]
Bourbon must be entered into the barrel at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume).
Bourbon, like other whiskeys, may be bottled at not less than 80 proof (40% alcohol by volume.)
Bourbon that meets the above requirements and has been aged for a minimum of two years may (but is not required to) be called Straight Bourbon.^[2]
Straight Bourbon aged for a period less than four years must be labeled with the duration of its aging.
If an age is stated on the label, it must be the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle.
Only whiskey produced in the United States can be called bourbon.^[3]

All whiskeys reviewed above are legally bourbon.

*All prices are from the Alabama Beverage Control Board PDF.

My (Eastern Euorpean) South

2010-08-17T10:20:00.001-05:00

It seems I was working harder on this My South post than I had to. This was from the very first OkraCola.com post:

My paternal grandfather's family came over from England before this country was founded. He married a lady who was born in India to a very posh British family. So I'm only half Southern by blood. My maternal great-grandparents (all 4) came over from Slovakia in the past 100 or so years so I grew up on fried okra from her backyard as well as pirogies. So I'm only 1/4 southern by having family down here for a long time depending on how you count it, but my Slovak grandparents adapted quickly to southern living and ideals so I consider myself 100% southern!

That was eaiser than I thought; but wait, there's more!

Brookside, Alabama is not known to everyone as an Eastern European treasure trove of delicacies and traditions, but that’s what I think of when I go there. My Great-Grandparents immigrated from what is now the Republic of Slovakia and raised 10 kids in Wylam, Alabama. My maternal Grandmother married another son of another Slovak immagrant family and they settled in the small town of Brookside. It is such a small town that when there was still a Catholic Church there my Mom and her whole wedding party got ready at my Grandparents house and walked to the wedding.

I would always go to my grandmother's house (My grandfather died before I was born) where she would fix fried okra from her garden, make meatloaf and banana pudding, fix me chocolate milk and bake tradtional favorites from the old country. Most of them involved cheese, potatoes and onion; plentiful and relatively cheap staples. Pagachi, halushki, pirogies, real food. Every Christmas she would pack a paper grocery sack full of baked goods and remind us that if we left hungry it was our own fault.

Pagachi is everyone's favorite. (Here's a recipe that looks close. Scroll down 2/3rds) It is a yeast bread dough filled with a potato and cheese mixture (sharp cheddar) then rolled flat and round like a pizza, and brushed with oil that had been cooking with onions. She would always make a special batch for my Uncle Joe because he liked dill baked in his. To this day pagachi is still part the traditional dinner in our family after Christmas Eve Mass. We go to my mom's and eat ham and pagachi sandwiches. Once I made a huge mistake by saying I didn't like the pagachi that was served at a cousin's wedding. It was too thin and nothing like my grandmothers. My mom's first cousin heard me say it and said, "don't let Momma (my Great-Aunt) hear you say that." Oops.

My Paternal Grandmother was born in colonial India to a physician, so it was a whole different vibe. She never really cooked. We call it the Allan gene. People say, "what is the Allan gene?" Well, it took 6 Indian servants to run the Allan household of 4, so the Allan gene is laziness. If you visit this blog with any frequency you can attest to the presence of this gene. My love of sweet tea obviously didn't come from that side of the family.

Eating Christmas Pudding with brandy butter and having Christmas crackers were also normal and expected during the holidays in our house in Walker County, Alabama. Not only that but also weekly calls from my father's first cousin in Edinburough and yearly visits from him with the cool and tasty stuff we couldn't get. Now we can get most of it from World Market and Whole Foods.

Thanks again to Wade and Rachel to their contributions and let me know if you have a uniquely Southern raisin'! drew [at] okra cola (dot) com

Buffalo Rock update

2010-08-15T11:45:00.003-05:00

Wade has been doing a series on Birmingham's Best Eats and has a brief history of Buffalo Rock as well as some libations made with the stuff. He even used the photo featured on this blog.

Link

Bacon!!!

2010-07-28T10:57:00.000-05:00

The internet has some new found obsession with bacon, I think the bacon explosion may have given the movement momentum. Neatorama even has a bacon section in their store!

In the South it's always an obsession. We use it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We even use it for our vegetables and the bacon grease is as valuable as the bacon itself.

The other day on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives I saw two things I love melded into one. Bacon infused bourbon. Oh yes, tis true....it exists. Not only that but you can make your own!

Basically you cook 4 or 5 strips of bacon and drain the fat off to cool to near room temperature. Then take a 750ml bottle of bourbon, pour the bacon grease in and let it sit. I've seen times for as little as a few hours and as much as 48, so you make the call. Then you put it in an ice bath or in the freezer to let the fat rise to the top and solidify. Strain off the fat and viola, Bacon-Boubon. Wow!

Here's an article from New York Magazine which includes the recipe from PDT.

What's your favorite thing to do with bacon or some other smoked/cured meat? Do you have recipes to share? Post any and all in the comments!

My South: Greek and Proud of it!

2010-07-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

By Rachel

My Great-Grandfather immigrated from Greece near the turn of the century into our country that, at the time, was quite prejudiced against Greeks. Despite the general feelings of animosity, however, he must have been somewhat charming – he convinced my Great-Grandmother to marry him before he knew a word of English or she knew a word of Greek.

I never knew him, but his belief in the value of Greek culture must have been magnificent. they had five children, all who had a very firm grasp on what it meant to be Greek, and how to pridefully carry on the traditions of our culture.

Our holidays, especially Easter, were always celebrated with Roasted Lamb, Spanakopitas, Greek Easter Bread, and Kalamata Olives and Feta Cheese.

(The real olives and Feta Cheese, bought where they should be, in a plastic bag from Nabeel’s Imported foods.)

All of this was delightfully mixed with my Great-Grandmothers truly southern Macaroni and Cheese, my Grandmother’s famed biscuit recipe, Chocolate cake, and Chicken and Dumplins’, of course. I found that Greek Food and Southern food made a delightful combination.

My Aunt Helen was infamous for her ability to read your fortune from the coffee grounds in the bottom of your cup, and loved to spice up a family gathering by cranking up the Greek music and breaking out into dance.

My Granddad, while being truly proud of his Greek heritage and sharing his Greek roots with anyone he was around, was also in the Hillbilly Brigade with the Zamora Temple Shriners, where he dressed up in overalls and a straw hat and drove around acting as southern as possible in his 1920’s Model T.

In proper Greek fashion (and made famous by the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”), I was made to go to Greek School. Despite several years of study of the Greek language, I don’t remember much, except for the Greek girl Penelope who sat next to me, and the boy who sat on the other side of me with thick, black, oozing earwax.

(Sorry for that. I don’t know if thick, black, oozing earwax has anything to do with Greek culture or not, but it is certainly associated in my mind.)

But, much more than earwax, Greeks are known for their food.

My Father went into the Air Force as a teenager, and when his platoon formed, the commanding officer yelled out, “Who in here is Greek?” Dad was the only one to raise his hand, and so was immediately assigned the job of being the cook for the entire platoon.

My Mother is not Greek and did not know how to cook when they got married, but my Father taught her well. I am so thankful that she learned to cook like a Greek woman, and taught me all of those amazing recipes as well.

(Some of these Famiy Recipes can be found on my blog, if you’re interested.)

Besides cooking Greek, I am thrilled beyond measure to live in a city that is full of amazing Greek and Mediterranean restaurants, such as Dodiyos, Nabeel’s, Taziki’s, Zoës, The Fish Market, Jim N Nicks (did you know they were Greek?? I told you all good cooks are Greek.), all of the Sarris family restaurants, and I’m sure a ton of others that I’m not thinking about right now.

So, if you haven’t tried some Greek food lately, you might want to. I promise – you’ll want to get up and dance, and maybe even read someone’s coffee ground fortune.

Rachel writes at Grasping for Objectivity . . . and Alabama Bloggers.

Southern Quotables - Fannie Flagg

2010-06-22T11:07:00.000-05:00

"Remember if people talk behind your back, it only means you're two steps ahead!"
-Fannie Flagg

My South - Wade Kwon

2010-06-21T09:00:00.002-05:00

East meets South: The Korean-redneck dinner table

By Wade Kwon

Most of you did not grow up as I did. Asian. American. Southern. Non-Baptist.

Perhaps the best way to show a glimpse of my unique childhood is to have you sit at our dinner table at our suburban home in Hoover, Ala. One night, we'd have American food. The next night, Korean food. This is how I thought other families ate, until I noticed a distinct lack of kimchi at friends' dinner tables.

So we'd have spaghetti, with sauce from a jar. Or tacos, from the kit. Or roast beef, scalloped potatoes (from the box, which I loved) and green beans (from a can).

Other nights, we'd have bulgogi (marinated barbecued beef) and rice. Or mandoo (which you probably call wonton), or ttok kuk (rice cake soup).

We ate in the kitchen, almost never the dining room. And the TV set would be on.

Keep in mind that my mom prepared just about all the meals, and that was after a long day of work and sometimes a 2-hour round-trip commute. Dad was not in charge of the grill; we didn't have one, save for a small hibachi that was never used. We didn't cook out.

And sometimes, we'd have both Korean and American at the same meal. I thought nothing of it, just enjoyed eating and eating and eating. Saturday nights, we'd go out to eat, and every so often, we'd bring home two Little Caesar's pizzas.

I didn't eat kimchi as a child, nor did I ever learn to speak or read Korean. A friend's mother insisted I must have picked up some by linguistic osmosis, until I pointed out that I didn't speak dog either despite having our family pet bark at me enthusiastically for years.

Sometimes, my friend Kenn (who blogs at Dairy of a Madman) would join us for dinner. He was game, despite the odd sights and smells on the table (and the occasional surprise tub of tiny dried fish heads in the fridge). He best recalls what I took as normal.

When he and I go out for hot pots and rice (sadly, I don't know how to reproduce the dishes of my youth), the experience takes him back to our Korean-redneck dinner table decades ago. It is a needed reminder that Southern hospitality extended across ethnicities for a shared experience.

Wade Kwon is a communications consultant and writer. He shares news and features about his hometown on his site, Wade on Birmingham.

My South

2010-06-19T09:46:00.000-05:00

My South is a series I've invited a few bloggers to take part in. (So I stole the name from Turner South, but it doesn't exist anymore so I'm gonna use it.) Many people in the South have a normal Southern heritage. Many have Native American blood, others are just generically German or English. But there are a few that grow up with a very unique heritage. I am one of those Southerners and I wanted to hear about everyone else with an interesting background that grew up in the South or have spent a great deal of time here.

Next week, Okra Cola is proud to have Wade Kwon as the first guest post! This is big for me because it was an idea I pitched and somebody dug it as much as I did and actually wrote it!

If you are interested in telling the world about your heritage and growing up in the South drop me a line at drew [at] okra cola [dot] com and we'll see what happens.

Southern Word of the Week - All over hell and half of Georgia

2010-06-15T08:27:00.004-05:00

"Boy where have you been? We've been worried and looked all over hell and half of Georgia for you!"
"Where are my car keys? I've been all over hell and half of Georgia looking for 'em!"

There are many different ways to say it but it often involves hell and not more than half of the state of Georgia. I honestly haven't heard it much, and have only really seen it in print, but I did use it honestly this morning. It obviously means what it says, just in a Southern storyteller kinda way.

Have you used this phrase or have one similar? Lemme know in the comments.

Sorry y'all!

2010-06-15T08:18:00.002-05:00

Hey everybody! I really appreciate you all supporting the blog this year and I apologize for not keeping it up that much since around March. I've been busy at work, with playing music in smokey bars and dealing with my Mom being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Her last chemo treatment for her first round is today so prayers would be appreciated.

I'm going to at least try to do one post per week and your comments and suggestions are most welcome. I'm down for guest posters too, just pitch an idea to drew [at] okracola [dot] com or on Twitter @OkraCola.

I'll have a new word of the week up shortly!

Thanks again for your patience and prayers.

Poke Salad

2010-05-12T06:25:00.001-05:00

For those who don't know poke salad is not something you grow in a garden but a poisonous wild weed that is picked for its young leaves (before they get a red hue) then boiled at least twice to get the toxins out of it. One scientist says that no part of the plant should be eaten no matter how many times it is boiled.

I don't eat poke salad, and I don't know anyone who does anymore, but I do remember going with a friends parents, grandparents and their aunt and uncle to go look for poke salad. One of my other friends had a school bus driver that occasionally stopped if she saw some "good poke salad."

Many of you have heard the Tony Joe White song Poke Salad Annie which was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (they've been known for a song or two) in 1969 and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Do you have a poke salad story? Share with us in the comments section and don't forget to follow @okracola on Twitter!

Southern Word of the Week - Drawers

2010-04-27T09:52:00.000-05:00

(n.) That boy would look a whole lot smarter if he'd keep his drawers pulled up.
(n.) You'd 'a never gotten in trouble if both of y'all would've kept your drawers on.

Drawers are either jeans, pants, shorts or underwear. Plumbers are notroious for having their drawers slip down while they are on the job. Kids often pull off their drawers and run around naked.

I really don't know where the term came from but I have used it a lot since I've had kids. I'm constantly asking my 4 year old to pull her drawers up.

As a side note, I was known to my best-friend Micah's family as Drawers because his father would announce me when I called as Drawers rather than Drew.

So pull up your drawers and let me know the best line you've heard using this word in the comments!

Southern Word of the Week - 'Maters

2010-04-22T11:48:00.002-05:00

(n.) Son, go out and cut me two of them 'maters from the garden
(n.) These 'maters sure are juicy.

'Maters are tomatoes. Just about every Southerner I know has their own 'mater plant whether they have a green thumb or not.

And why not? They are really easy to grow and you can do it in a large pot on your back porch. Just give it lots of sun and lots of water and you'll be growing 'maters in no time! We recently bought a Topsy Turvy so I'll try to let y'all in on how that works after the first few tomatoes are harvested.

Last year I did a Brandywine heirloom tomoato and it was one of the most flavorful ones I'd ever tasted! Some people have their own favorite variety so just get what looks and sounds good. If you're patient you can make one of the best things to eat on a summer afternoon or evening, a 'mater sandwich.

Got tips for growing tomatoes or any other tomato facts? Put 'em in the comments!