Today’s post and design is inspired by Memphis.  Memphis has a big chunk of my heart due to the many years that we lived there.  The friend connections are priceless to our family and we are really looking forward to an upcoming trip to see all of the amazing people.

I was not born a “southerner,” in fact, I am routinely referred to as a “yankee” by my husband’s family and most native Memphians.   I didn’t realize how little I knew about the “Civil War” until I very abruptly learned that it seems to still be alive and “kickin” in a lot of southern people.  Since I did not speak the accent or even realize the differences in dialect, I was at a huge disadvantage when desiring to just “fit” in.  I quickly learned that “I”, have the accent!  A “yankee” accent!  Now that I am once again living in the midwest, I am told that I now have a “southern” accent!  So to sum that up….no one understands anything I say! (Insert big smile)  I am pretty sure I unknowingly offend on a daily basis.

This post is bringing back some fun memories of more differences specifically in the food category.   Growing up, both of my grandmothers were excellent cooks!  They always made everything from scratch and most of our food came from gardens they planted and took care of.  Tomatoes, carrots, peas, cucumbers, corn, cabbage, onions, potatoes, were all a part of the big half an acre garden plots.  Well, when I got to Memphis, I learned that peas were no longer a sweet little green ball inside of a pod.  Peas were now purple or had black eyes!  They were allowed to sit out in the sun until the pods swiveled up and the little purple and black eyed fellows became hard as a rock!  There’s even a special machine they throw them into to separate the crusty pods from the rock hard peas!  Then, you get to boil them until you have a pan full of the dirtiest water you have ever seen….then you probably get to boil then another hour or so because they still are rock hard.  Give me my cute little green balls of sweetness any day over purple hull or black eyed peas!  I will move on today but I do have to address cornbread, spaghetti, barbecue, fish, baked beans, turkey and dressing, pies and cake at some point.

See you soon Memphis!