Hey, did you ever get your hands on a copy of “Being Dead is No Excuse”, the original compendium on Southern hospitality in the face of loss? I just discovered a new volume from the same authors, released in 2009: Some Day You’ll Thank Me For This, The Official Southern Ladies’ Guide to Being a “Perfect” Mother, by Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays.
The book jacket sets the tone of the volume with this introduction: “Southern society is arranged along matriarchal lines, since the Southern matriarch is a far more formidable being than the much nicer Southern male. She has to be this way; she was put on this earth with a sacred mission: to drum good manners and the proper religion – ancestor worship – into the next generation.”
More fun! The back cover of the book jacket lists a few
“Signs that you are the daughter of a Southern mother:
You never leave home without making your bed.
You speak to everybody, even tacky people.
You believe some undeserving Yankee family is still using the silver that their ancestors stole from yours.”
The book opens with a section entitled “You might be a Southern mother if…” including such hints as “You think ‘cheerleading’ is an honorable major for your daughter at the University of Mississippi, though you feel a double major in M.R.S. is best” and “You run into a friend and the first words out of your mouth are ‘How’s yo mo-thuh?’”
Here’s an easy Southern dish from the Stained Glass Manor, a B and B in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Stained Glass Manor Curried Chicken Breasts
Ingredients:
1 big apple (or 2 little apples), cubed
1 big onion, diced
Several tablespoons curry powder
1 stick butter
Rice
3 chicken breasts, cubed
Mix all but the chicken and the rice together and sauté in the butter. While sautéing, stir-fry the cubed chicken until it is completely done. Then combine the chicken and mixture in one big pan and cook for a few minutes over low heat. Serve over rice.
This being a Southern dish, measurements are made by tasting, not by numbers! Experiment, and enjoy. Some day you’ll thank us!
~Janet @ The Christmas Place
