15 Alabama books to take to the beach

This story by Michelle Matthews appeared last week in the AL.com newspapers — and guess who was included? Yippee! What a nice surprise to be grouped with these amazing authors from Alabama! If you want to read the story at the AL.com site, click HERE. 15 Alabama books to take to the beach this summer…

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Old letters to grandmother

Some of you with sharp eyes and a curious mind noticed my tray I was using while gobbling up those great meals my friends brought me while I felt puny a few weeks ago. Well, let me just fill you in. This wonderful tray was created one day several years ago when  I was in…

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Fill The Plate Luncheon

  Prodisee Pantry was packed out for their Fill The Plate Luncheon last Thursday. I’ve been feeling much better since my heart procedure, but the morning I was supposed to speak at the luncheon, of course, something was wrong.  — What’s a girl to do? I hate to ever, ever, go back on a commitment,…

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Bless your heart, it’s a good thing!

“Bless your heart, darlin’!” Elinda Lou was so sweet when I told her of my ailment. Since we live in a fast-growing area of Alabama, it doesn’t surprise us anymore when we need to explain ourselves to friends who have moved here from far away, and this was no exception because Tina from Toronto was…

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The sister act

Although I never had a girl, my two boys have grown up with the large presence of a sister. We’ve never seen her, because she’s totally imaginary, but she’s helped my boys in many real ways. When I was a teen, I knew several families with boys-only, and while a few of their mothers had…

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Lessons from the farm and garden

I used to think the worst chore in the world was helping Daddy with his garden, so now, using the rule of what goes around, comes around, I’ve decided this is the year I’ll make a garden of my own. All these years, I’ve had the tiny required Southern lady small containers of tomatoes, a…

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Back to Birmingham!

  Its back to Birmingham for the second weekend in a row! What better place to be than in one of my favorite cities? It’s a BIG city to me, and I sound like a complete country mouse when I talk about the traffic there— although, I’ll have to say the drivers may be numerous,…

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Banging the bladders — a Mobile tradition!

Now admit it, isn’t this the cutest picture you’ve ever seen of me with cow bladders drying over my head?   Let me just say, I loved biology class, so this story didn’t bother me in the least. I also love the pageantry and tradition of Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, so to be invited…

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Birmingham, finally!

Not to bore you out of your gourd with more book things, but this is such a crazy learning experience for me and I have such good news!  Writing a book is totally different from marketing and selling a book. A publisher only does so much and I have to do the rest, which of…

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Atlanta bound? Home of the best greens ever!

Collard Greens recipe

Who would have thought the home of Scarlett O’Hara would give us the best-tasting collard greens ever . . . courtesy of a Mexican restaurant? I hate to admit it, but I haven’t always like collard greens. They were always too slimy or too bitter. I know, my Southern-ness is questionable now because I’ve also…

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