Southern Word of the Week - 'Maters

(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!

Pocket Knife

Most Southern gentlemen carry a pocket knife.  Now just because you do doesn't make you a gentleman, and just because you don't doesn't mean you aren't one either.

It's a great tool to have.  You can whittle, open packages, cut food and make a kids size straw (a very handy daddy trick) along with other helpful uses.  I remember my Paw Paw cutting a BBQ in half for me when I was young with his.  My dad said he saw older guys outside the courthouse carving wooden chains out of a single block of wood.

I recently got a good small pocket knife from my father-in-law for Christmas that I keep in my watch pocket and I use it more than I thought I would.  I used to have a larger Swiss Army Knife, but it was a little too big, the one I have now is light and goes in my change tray at the end of the day.

Lady's, if you have a man in your life that doesn't have a small 2 1/2" to 3" pocket knife (folded) get him one, for his birthday, Valentine's Day or Father's Day.

What do you use your knife for?

Hot Sauce

I love hot sauce.  I put it on a lot of things especially steak fries at BBQ joints and leftover (warm) pizza.  I love chicken wings and plan on making my own sauce one day.  A basic wing sauce would be hot sauce and butter/margerine to taste to coat the fried wings.  One place I know smokes the wings then fries them until crispy, then tosses with the sauce.  Moore's makes a really good wing sauce as well as Frank's Red Hot.

I also want to make a BBQ sauce one day since I love my rub, and just don't wan to go through the trial and error on that yet, but I'm sure it will include Tabasco which is my brand of choice.

Found this via Lifehacker.com
I especially like:

15. Melt with butter and douse over your movie popcorn--yum!
20. Add to chutney for a little pep to the sweetness.
 5. Put a dash of heat/smokiness into ribs.
18. Dollop on raw oysters for fresh-out-of-the-sea heat.

There are 3 entries in the comments to add them to your grits with regular cheese and/or parmesan.
They list other everyday uses for hot sauce for nail biters and keeping squirrels out.  So what's your favorite hot sauce?  What do you use it on?

Here's the link at SeriousEats.com

Game Day Drinks

Here are a few drink recipes I thought some of you may enjoy.  If you are underage please only drink cokes and sweet tea!

Alabama Slammer (shots for 4)
1 shot Sloe Gin
1 shot Amaretto
1 shot SoCo
1 shot OJ

Shake with ice and strain into 4 shot glasses.  Enjoy!

Yellow Hammer
From: http://donyaua.blogspot.com/2007/08/gameday-101.html

The Mother of All Gameday Drinks, THE YELLOW HAMMER- This is the ultimate gameday drink for a real Bama fan. This is my ultimate favorite and I usually drank one before every game during my student days at UA. This drink can only be bought at a bar called Galette’s and since open container laws apparently do not apply during gamedays don’t worry about walking to and fro with your beverage in hand. The Yellow Hammers ingredients remain a mystery but as far as I can tell this is the list. Pinapple, orange, banana juice, Vodka, Light Rum, Geradine, a splash more of orange juice and a splash of Gin. Top it with a cherry and you are good to go! There is no better way to get pumped up to cheer on the Tide!

Just for fun:
The Bear Bryant

A friend of mine originally from Tuscaloosa said it isn't gameday unless you have some bourbon and Coke.  I have my Old Crow waiting.

What're y'all doing for the game?  Let me know in the comments

Barbecue - Part 1

If somebody tells me to come over for barbecue, or a barbecue, I expect slow cooked pork butt or ribs.  I have learned now to ask if it is a grill out with hamburgers, hot dogs or brats.  All too often the latter is what the gracious, yet somewhat misinformed host actually meant.

Barbecue or BBQ, in the South means to cook meat slowly in a smoker or via an indirect heat method outside.  Typically it is done in a pit or on a smoker usually with hickory in my neck of the woods.  If you are simply cooking burgers and dogs then that is a "cook out" or you are "grilling." 

Barbecue is barbecue and everybody thinks their recipe, or dad's or uncle's, is the best.  People take it seriously, very seriously.  If you don't belive me just check out the new TLC series starting tomorrow (12/03/2009) Barbecue Pitmasters. 

I really enjoy smoking.  I typically do ribs with my own secret rub but have not conquered sauce yet so to some racks I add Big Bob Gibson's Red Sauce to the ribs for the last 30 or so minutes on the smoker. 

So remember, if you are grilling out please use the appropriate term.  It ain't barbecue unless it's low and slow.

Everything I know about football, I learned from my Momma

It's true, and it may have some people wanting to pull my southern membership card.  My mom was cheerleader so she grew up watching football on the sidelines plus she had two older brothers who watched or listened to Auburn football.

My dad was a racecar driver.  Any given weekend you could find him on the streets of downtown Birmingham and later legally at Lassiter Mountain Dragway, an 1/8th mile track near Gardendale, Alabama.  He enjoyed racing and even though his dad played football as a child my dad took more after his mother and shunned the sport. 

You see she was from outside London, England and was born in India so her idea of sport was proper football (soccer) and cricket.  So when I was about 8 or 10 or whatever age I was, I was taught the rules of football by my mom.  I still don't understand all the stratergery in the game, but I appreciate the knowledge she passed on to me.  That knowledge probably helped me not get beat up for not knowing how football worked.  I did eventually gain a respect for soccer, but I only enjoyed playing it, not watching it. 

Later I went to a prominant southern college with a large history of football playing and learned to love it even more in college than in high school, and I did enjoy going on in the high school games and knowing what was going on.  Sometimes it gets monotonous, but when you get in a crowded stadium and your team is on top, there is nothing quite like it.

Corn Cob Pipes

There are few things more southern (some would say country or hillbilly) than a corn cob pipe, or at least a stereotypical person smoking one (usually a farmer in overalls). I found that the Missouri Merrschaum factory is the world's oldest and largest corn cob pipe manufacturer. They have many styles and amazingly they are suggested as a starter pipe by people who smoke  briar pipes which can become very expensive. Corn cobs can be had for less than $5!

Here's a guy with a lot of info on these pipes and shows us a bunch of different pipes made by Missouri Meerschaum.



http://www.aristocob.com/
http://www.corncobpipe.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/Aristocob

Harmonica & Orange Blossom Special

I play a folk instrument and talk about it any chance I get.  It's the harmonica and I found a girl on YouTube that does a killer version of Orange Blossom Special, usually a fiddle tune, but can be done well on harmonica.  The first person I heard do it was Charlie McCoy (Hee Haw music director and musician on Dylan's Blonde on Blonde).



Wow! Then I stumbled upon this girl the other day named Kaleena who was 16 at the time this video was made.



Wow again!  I just love seeing young folks pick up the instrument, plus you don't see many girls playing either.  I was 16 when I started playing (I'm 29 now) and discovered this song when I was about 20 and never have tackled it because it was a daunting task, but thanks to Kaleena I may try it!