Haven was wonderful, just beyond words!
We thought last year was great, well but this one was over the top fantastic. Everyone was happy and smiling the whole time and I can’t wait to share it with you. Right now, I’m crashed on my bed trying to recover from it all. Maybe I’ll be back to normal in a couple of days. Sleep, I need sleep!
In the meantime, our family doesn’t need a big occasion to get together for a meal. We eat together every chance we get. My niece, Lauren, and her hubby, Philip were home last weekend for a whirlwind trip from New Orleans. They just bought their first house down there and have already closed, but haven’t moved in. Lauren takes after her mom and does a lot of Craigslist wheeling and dealing, so they found some great things to fill their house with and came up to rent a truck to get their treasures back home. I didn’t take pics of all of that (forgot!), but I did take a pic of the family meal we had at my parents house.
We ate a big meal, then we all helped Lauren and Philip load the truck for the trip back to New Orleans. I’ll be going down there Labor Day with my sister, mom, and brother-in-law and we are going to help Lauren get some things done at their house, like painting and a few projects. So, of course I’ll be sharing all of that with you. They bought a really pretty house with a backyard pool, ready to grow into it for the future. She’ll have fun decorating her first house too and I can’t wait to help her!
So, let’s see how my mom puts together one of those famous Southern meals of hers. She’s a pro at it, even at 85. I did a video too of frying all of that stuff, so you will not want to miss that. We had a family friend here too, helping mom and I want you to hear Miss Sue’s Southern accent.
Mom is right at home in her kitchen and even though it’s small, she can turn out some fabulous meals in this kitchen. I wish she had a bigger kitchen, with all the cooking she does. It definitely is not big enough.
Mom and Miss Sue getting the eggplant and okra ready to fry.
Fried Eggplant is cut in strips (after peeling and salting), then dredged in flour, egg, and panko breadcrumbs, which I’ve shared before (see link). Then, deep fried in a big pan with Canola oil.
After flour and egg, then Panko breadcrumbs are added.
Frying in the pan.
Golden brown and ready to take out.
Don’t those look yummy? They are, believe me!
Fresh okra from the garden.
She mixes equal parts flour and corn meal, then adds buttermilk for a batter for the okra. Then it is dropped in one at a time.
Potatoes cooking for mashed potatoes.
Aunt Fannie’s Squash casserole, which you can find the recipe in that link.
Mom scurrying around the kitchen.
Making gravy from the roast beef drippings. She cooked the roast in the crock pot, then added juice to her black iron skillet. Then she mixes water and flour in a glass shaker and slowly adds that to the juice, thickening it up and adding a little salt and pepper. Yummy over mashed potatoes!
Does every Southern family have Tervis tumblers? Ours does!
Roast beef from the crockpot.
I set the table, getting us ready to eat. And I helped make the tomato, onion, cucumber, and avocado salad, while they were frying.
Here’s the spread of food, doesn’t that look fabulous?  I know, we are totally spoiled with this food my mom makes.
Everyone has always loved sitting down at her table.
My plate of yumminess. I have grown up on this food and never tire of it.
Peach cobbler for dessert, of course! It’s that time of year. Lauren was loving being home and eating at her Nana’s table. She misses real Southern food in Louisiana, ain’t nothing like your family’s home cooking!
Do you know how hungry you’ve made me? Everything looks fabulous! I’m so jealous.
Oh mercy! That looks wonderful Rhoda. That’s the way we eat when we get together too. 🙂
I am a northerner, but I must say I LOVE your southern recipes! Thank you for continuing to post them!
How can I get an invite? Honestly, that looks scrumptious. I sometimes think I like your food posts the best, especially those highlighting your southern specialties. Can’t wait to see you nieces new home; her apt was so cute.
Kudos to you on another fantastic conference. I hated to miss, but from the looks of Instagram all had a fabulous time! Your mother reminds me of my sweet MIL that live in Michigan. Tiny kitchen, but boy can she cook up a storm. Guess it is what they grew up with and know. That meal sure does look yummy, and very Southern! Hope you find some time to relax this week.
Rhoda – All I can say is YUMMMMMMMMM!
Judy
I’m drooling! Thank you so much for sharing how your sweet mother does it. I’m dying to know how she does her green beans too! It all looks so good.
YUM. I love southern cooking. I bet your mom makes a mean pot of turnip greens. But, truly, there is plenty of southern home cooking to be founr in the New Orleans area. I lived there for 49 years before moving to Texas and our meals at home revolved around southern staples. There are some restaurants that also serve it. They just aren’t the restaurants New Orleans is famous for.
Girl. . .you got me drooling!! It made my dinner tonight look lame. .lol. That is a typical Southern dinner and I have sat down to many of them, so I KNOW just how good it all is.
Seeing this brought back sweet memories of my mother’s cooking.
dadgum that looks good and I know it was yummmmmmmmy!!
Everything looks delicious and I love your accent.
Rhoda, if you grew up on this kind of food it’s no wonder you have been working out at the gym for years! If I lived in your mom’s house I’d be as big as her refrigerator!
Your parents remind me so much of my grandparents. They planted a garden big enough to feed their small town all summer. My grandmother LIVED to cook! They were great, hardworking people who loved God. Still miss them! They are beautiful just as they are, but please think about posting photos of your parents when they were dating or just married. I’ll bet a lot of folks would love to see them from “back in the day.” LOL! Love your blog! I’ve been a follower for quite a long time now! Great job as always Rhoda!
Hey, Karen, I have shared their young pics before, including their wedding photo, so go here to my dad’s birthday last year to see them all:
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/my-daddys-85-today/
And yes, I grew up eating this food. I guess it’s not so unhealthy after all! We are all doing pretty well.
I love the realness in this post. <3
Mmmm-mmmmm! That looks so good. Wish I could have a bite of that fried Okra. I grew up on that kind of food too, but live in the West now and we never see fresh Okra in the stores. Maybe I should try to grow some.
Looks so yummy!
Goodness gracious your Momma is AMAZING!!! Everything looks so GOOD, it has made me hungry and we just has supper 30 minutes ago. Thank your Mom for me I have picked up several pointers from her!!! You are so generous to share all of this with us!!
Oh.My. Goodness. Totally drooling. You are so blessed, Rhoda!
Cannot wait to see Lauren’s house!!!
Everything looks sooooo good! God bless you and your beautiful family 🙂
Can you share your recipe for the tomato, onion and avacado salad? It looks delicious too!
HI, Lorraine, it’s just cut up cucumber, avocado, Vidalia onion, and tomatoes. Mixed about 3 TBL olive oil and 2 TBL red wine vinegar together and mixed it all together with salt and pepper. That’s it!