Took me a while to get through this thread with all the stopping I had to do to listen to YouTubes, but it was worth it. Especially when everyone got back on topic and moved away from the flag.
All ya'll made me hungry for southern cooking. I was born and raised in Chicago. Moved with a GF back in my younger days to TN. I last 3 months there and wound up back in Chicago. It wasn't because I didn't like it. It was because jobs were hard to come by in that area in the 80's. I learned to eat grits with sugar and always like hot cereal. I would, however, not have a problem eating it other ways. In TN I learned what hillbilly steak was. Many places offered pit bbq and hillbilly steak, so my curiosity got the better of me and I had to try it. Later, I found out I'd been eating it my whole life. Only when my mom cooked it, she just called in fried bologna. I ate pulled pork with a clear sauce that was quite hot and I loved it. Fishing in the Smokey Mountains was wonderful and beautiful. I learned what a mudpuppy was as I pulled up a stringer of trout and one was sucking on the last one on my stringer. Scared the crap out of me. Made me veer back and as I was trying to stand slipped on a pebble and found myself in the cold creek water. I found out where I lived that they do breakfast, dinner and supper. There is no meal called lunch or at least ther wasn't back then. A sup is the same as a sip. I could go one and on, but I think I've wrote enough for now.
I adore southern women and have lived with a few of them. My biggest problem when I was younger was not with the women, but with the work in the south. The security of always being able to go home (Chicago). Since living in Oklahoma for nearly 3 years, I've not wanted to go back north for anything other than the types of food I miss that isn't as good or available here. I can finally say without a doubt, this is home for me and I feel comfortable.
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Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage --- Lao Tzo
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