Family Roots

I was born and raised in Birmingham, AL. I have lived in the Deep South my whole life. In spite of my travels around the country and across the globe, the South is where I call home.

My father was born in a little town in south Alabama in Barbour County, outside of Eufaula, called Baker Hill. He lived there until he went off to college in 1967. Growing up I heard about his life of growing up a farm and all the things he learned and had to do to help. One of my fondest memories he has shared is picking cotton. I grew up visiting Baker Hill since I was an infant. I don't know that I always appreciated what I saw and learned about that little area of Barbour County, but now I view it as precious and so important to my family heritage. I am proud of where my dad is from.

My grandmother, Lura Bell, his mother, lived her whole life in the Baker Hill and Eufaula area. My memories of my grandmother are her creamed corn and car rides with a rag and thermos of water at her reach. I think it would be safe to say that she was ahead of her time with that thermos of water. My grandmother passed away when I was 6 years old in March 1993, just a few days before the infamous '93 blizzard. When I look back, I am saddened that I didn't get to know my grandmother better and did not get to know how she cooked or what she liked to cook the most.

On the opposite spectrum, my mother and her family are originally from Worcester, Massachusetts. The joke through the years is that my parents are still fighting the American Civil War. My mother's family moved to West Palm Beach, FL when she was seven and then moved to Huntsville, AL in 1968. My mom's exposure to the Deep South was not really until she moved to Birmingham, AL in 1971. My mother has lived in Alabama most of her life now, but growing up I always wanted to see where she was from. In the summer 2016, my mom and some of her siblings and other family members went on a road trip to Worcester. We drove through many states I had either never seen or had not been to in a long time. I saw the house she lived in when she attended the one-room schoolhouse a mile from their home. This was the school that she walked home from in the first grade because she didn't want to finish her math.

Since my grandmother, Frances, was born and raised in Massachusetts and then migrated to Florida, her exposure to the Southern cuisine was a gradual one. The story goes they stopped a diner on their way to Florida and it was clearly in the South, because grits were on the menu in this diner. My grandmother who lived through the Great Depression, mother of five children at the time and understandably wanting to save money, had no idea what grits were, but the price sounded good to her. So much so, she asked the waitress, "How many grits do you get?" I can only imagine the look on this woman's face. Bless her.

Because my mother was raised in a "Northern" home, I didn't grow up eating true Southern cuisine like my father had. And for many years, I had absolutely no appreciation for most of what Southern cooking consisted of and basically turned my nose up at it for the most part. Until sometime between high school and post-graduation. I grew up absolutely hating grits and stuff like collard and turnip greens. Then about five or more years ago, I had stone-ground grits for the first time and it was like eating something for the very first time. I had no idea that grits were supposed to taste like corn until then--I now love them! Then I tried greens and actually loved them as well. Those two items as well as sweet potatoes, buttermilk biscuits, and Conecuh sausage are my favorite things about living in Alabama.

About four years ago, I discovered something quite unique and beautiful on PBS one night. It was Season 1 of  A Chef's Life with Vivian Howard. Since then, four more seasons have been made and it is now one of the most inspirational sources I have come to know and love well. In October 2016, her very first cookbook, Deep Run Roots: Stories & Recipes from My Corner of the South, came out. She book toured on her own food truck, traveling throughout various cities in the Southeast. On my way to Beaufort, SC for my cousin's wedding, I made a stop in Savannah, GA for Vivian's book tour. This might be one of the most exciting moments of my life. She was such a delight to meet and talk to, and her book is one of my favorites now! I am thankful for people like Vivian who have instilled a deep appreciation for my family and Southern roots, a greater appreciation and love for cooking, and an inspiration to do something that matters in life. I had cooked and baked prior to Vivian Howard, but she has inspired me to be even more adventurous in the kitchen (which sometimes turns out badly...haha).