What's in a (nick)Name?

So nicknames happen all over, but the South seems to have a lot of nicknames.  How many Bubbas do you know?  I've known more than a few and I actually have one of my church friends that calls me Bubber and that's not my only nickname.  Over the years I've been called:

Rabbit
Nub or Nubbie (I cut part of my thumb in a freak fruit basket assembly line accident)
Jew (Rhymes with Drew)
Drawers
Bubber
Harmonica Guy
Harmonica Man (not a nickname but a character on a Catholic Children's show.  Yes, really.)

I'm sure there are more, a few one off names that are funny for a few hours, but that is a lot for one man of 30ish years.  The best part about all of them is that they were spontaneous.  I'm not a fan of meeting someone and then saying, "I'm Patrick but everyone calls me  JB."  If everyone calls you JB introduce yourself as such.  I introduce myself as Andrew but if somebody says, "yeah, but we all call him Drew" that's fine, I just feel weird calling myself that but I will answer to it without cringing or thinking twice. For some reason I've always rejected Andy...but Andy-B (a Church youth group nickname) is somehow ok.

What's worse is when someone nicknames themselves then tells everyone that is what they want to be called. I know you've met at least one of these people. It's awkward and they always end up looking foolish.

Do you guys have any weird nicknames in your family? Let me know in the comments.

A rant about cooking and food and other slightly related things

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!

Friday Fun - The Cleverly's

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!

Bacon!!!

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!

Beware Y'all!

Just a friendly reminder that it's the ides so beware and watch yer back.

Southern Style Sweet Stuff

Looking at a bottle of Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea it made me remember that we do like things sweeter in the South.  I even remember a rumor that Coke and Pepsi were made sweeter down here because that's how we like things. 

I add about cup and a half of sugar to one gallon of tea, my wife's family cooks green beans with sugar and sweet potato casserole might as well be a dessert.  Think about this though, if you even mention or kid about putting sugar in your grits you almost automatically get labeled a yankee.  I admit I don't like sweet grits, but do like a sweet cornbread and the same alligations follow.  Why do we like everything else sweet, yet look down on folks that like sweet grits or cornbread?

Talk amongst yourselves in the comments, and please be sweet to each other.

Friday Fun - Thread Count

Found a post on Consumerist.com about thread count.  This is Aziz Ansari from Parks and Recreation and this bit is pretty funny.  Southern content: He mentions Southern Living.

Aziz Ansari on Conan from Aziz Ansari

It's a little egdy, but very funny in my opinion.

Just for fun

After posting Hayseed Dixie's version, I decided that the Muppet version was too good not to post.



No Southern content but fits into the whatever I feel fit to post category.