@unk-p that is a great story. Maybe all that sharp turn circling combined with the negative fire energy threw some sparks.
I can't wait to make your tacos. Seriously, they sound delicious!!
@lovendures Excellent with a margarita, but if that's not cool, they're also good with a jamaica or a watermelon agua fresca.
Hmm...a new rooftop lounge, and it's filled with talk of shrimp and grits. Must be something in the water-that's what I fixed for dinner last night. Hot (chili oil) cheese sauce (swiss) on mine, with sauteed mushrooms & a little andouille sausage thrown in. Every restaurant in the south has a different take on shrimp & grits. Now I'm curious about the recipe Bubba Gump would use...
I have a confession. I have never before heard of a shrimp and grits meal and look how many people LOVE it?. I enjoy shrimp prepared many ways and I have had grits on multiple occasions but never together.
What southern food dishes does a non-southerner need to experience?
Here are some of the southern dishes I recall having in the past:
Gumbo
jambalaya
dirty rice
Pecan pie
Bananas foster
fried okra
hominy
frogs legs
fried catfish
collard greens
rhubarb
crawfish
black eyed peas
chard
sweet potato pie
Mississippi mud pie
cobbler
key lime pie
chicken and dumplings
succotash
Hello everyone, it's been a very long time since I last posted and visited. The forum is so beautiful! I mention it often to people I interreact with. I like coming back to my roots for a visit because this is where a new life began for me. I owe Jeanne and this community so much gratitude. I wasn't certain where to put this post so feel free to move it to where it might fit better. How is your 2021 going? Mine? CRAZY! In everyway...
Tarot has taken a huge part of my life in the last 6 months. I launched a few things, I am practicing reading with strangers. The more I learn, the more I realize I have to learn. I am working on creating my own deck. I've grown up and matured a lot. But my weird and sarcastic sense of humour that only I get is still there and I love it! I have been experimenting with the chakras, trying to find balance which is still a struggle. But I got to see my soul. My oh my, it is beautiful, I loved it. My light mixing with the Universal One, it was amazing the love and joy I felt. Amazing!
Jeanne, I owe this to you. You brought me closer to me, showed me the way to grow when I was stuck. You taught me healing. You taught me to feel. You taught me to open up to the world. It is a work in progress, but I get it now. I've grown up and matured a lot. But my weird and sarcastic sense of humour that only I get is still there and I love it!
I also came out of the proverbial closet. Nope, I'm not gay, but if I were I would be coming out of that closet too. I used to hide myself from everyone. You would have never seen my face on the internet in the past, you would have never been able to associate my name to that of my avatar's. Behind the name Bright Opal is Sophie Turgeon. On my Avatar is my picture. You will see me on my videos. I am not an illness or a disease, I am Sophie, a tarot reader, psychic and empath. A daughter, a friend. I am a spiritual being wanting to contribute to something bigger and greater than myself in spite of the risks that it entails. I could not have done that without you Jeanne.
Earlier this month, my aunt Denise passed away. My mother and cousin were with her, thankfully she did not die alone. The last time I lost someone really close to me was in 1987, my grand-mother. I was not by her bedside when she passed and was very unprepared for what I experienced when my aunt, someone I am very close to, someone very dear to me, passed away. This is what I would like to share with you.
I got there about 30 minutes after her passing. My mother and cousin gave me time alone with her. I had absolutely no idea what to do because in my mind I had already said my goodbyes. Then it came: this feeling, strong feeling of pure joy and love. It was so strong, beautiful and so peaceful! She was so happy, finally freed from all the bad health and physical suffering she had been enduring over the past 20some years. All the emotional upheaval she lived through where gone. Only joy and love. So while I was expecting to cry along with the others, I was happy. Happy she was transitioning to a better world and becoming one with God. It was amazing and beautiful. What a gift she gave me. This is a gift I would not have been able to receive had I not grown spiritually.
I have no doubts I will be crying along with the others on Friday when we celebrate her life. But what will remain with me is her beautiful ,welcoming and generous heart. Her laughter and bad singing. And the beautiful gift I was given as an inheritance: pure joy, love and peace now that she is on the other side.
In a way Jeanne, this is an open letter to thank you for your wonderful teaching and friendship. Without you I would not have experienced these last 6 months.
Namaste,
Sophie
@bright-opal Oh dear Sophie, you sound amazing. I am so happy to read how well you are doing! Thank you for this open letter. I will cherish it always and always cherish you, dear friend. Love, love, love! Your Aunt Denise is so lucky to have an angel like you sending her off. I pray your nieces are well.
Spoon bread!!! Hot, tons of real butter, maybe a drizzle of syrup.
Homemade coconut cake.
Hummingbird cake. Frito pie. Congealed salad. ?
My dad loved succotash. ? I can't choke down collard greens or fried okra. Never had frog legs, although, oddly enough, you can buy them at our Safeway. Don't like gumbo. LOVE sweet potato pie and chicken and dumplings and banana pudding.
@jeanne-mayell They are. Still some issues but, better than ever. And my parents get to enjoy them as well. My girls are growing too fast. As long as the mother isn't in the picture, they are fine.
BTW all those dishes you guys are talking about sound amazing. I'm going to get shrimps this weekend and try a few of those things!
@bright-opal that is a beautiful post. It’s it wonderful when we love and appreciate who we really are? We all hopefully will realize this before we transition to another place. Keep growing and glowing. Your light shines through your words. Sending you love and light Thanks for your story. Blessings to Jeanne for this amazing, peaceful, teaching place. I know it’s a balm for me. So grateful for everyone ❤️☮️
@polarberry I've never heard of congealed salad. It sounds like a really bad thing that is in fact a really good thing?
It's basically Jell-O with stuff (fruits and/or vegetables) suspended or stirred into it. Pineapple, buttermilk, whipped cream. Lots of people love it, I guess, but I hate Jello-O! Mom would make it sometimes.
Celery permanently immobilized in orange gelatin is what I'd get for dessert in Hell!
If you google it you'll pull up all kinds of delightful images and recipes.
@jeanne-mayell My mother and older ladies in the southern branch of my family made Jello concoctions all the time. My great-aunt had a recipe called "Sunshine Salad " which consisted of shredded carrots and orange slices in orange jello, served on a bed of lettuce. I never thought much of it but for some reason it was a big thing on special occasions. And I remember some fancy creation that involved layering cream cheese with lime jello. Weird.
Congealed salads can be served with a meal as a "salad" or , if you shoot some whipped cream on top, as a dessert. (Frankly I think they are a poor excuse for either one.)
Jello with coconut inside is super gross.
Extended family from Ohio sent us a community recipe book from their church a few years ago, and there were a number of “ambrosia-of-(fill in the blank)” desserts that sounded like lazy, awful-tasting concoctions from the 1950s and 60s. I’ve heard of their equally suspect jell-o and aspic counterparts, but never thought of them as being distinctly Southern. I think jell-o salads belong to a whole class of American dishes born at the dawn of the refrigerator era that we can forget about.
Separately, I think Southern comfort food will be our national cuisine pretty soon as plant hardiness zones and people migrate northward in response to global warming. I don’t mind that shift (as long as there’s no jello involved).
I'm wondering if you're talking about a recipe from the 1950's called Under-The-Sea-Salad. It had pears, lime Jell-O and cream cheese. The lime jello was like a green skating rink on top. ?
Lawdy, I am enjoying this thread. I'm a mid-century reincarnate when it comes to food and decor
Since we're on the subject of food, I just wanted to say I have really, really enjoyed my time here in Kentucky. The food is top notch! Here's a picture of me just after breakfast this morning after a week of southern cooking!
I'm really enjoying this food conversation. @jeanne-mayell, I laughed out loud when you said "I've never heard of congealed salad. It sounds like a really bad thing, that is in fact a really good thing?" I've seen, and unfortunately tasted, many of the "salad" concoctions you all have described. Whenever I would hear that aspic was on the menu, I would run in the opposite direction.
@polarberry @ana, thankfully the "Under the Sea" salad doesn't contain fish.
@dannyboy, I choked on my coffee when I saw your post! Thank you for that.