Southern adoption

We have been living in the south for nearly nine years now. In this time we have certainly adopted some of the prevailent culture that defines Ole' Dixie. As much as we sounded like yankees for the first few years that we were down here, some people seem to think we have developed southern accents. " Do What!" If that is true, Sheila is a bit moreso.....I think. I certainly have learned to eat my share of BBQ, the most frequently used meat at a variety of luncheons that I attend for the newspaper. Ribs are still prefered to the mediocre pulled pork that many places serve,for those contemplating a visit, Sticky Fingers is still my local favorite for ribs and a great stop during your southern vacation.

Aside from changes in slang and diet, we have loved to do the occassional daytripping to places that would make Jack Kerouac proud. Unfortunately due to those crazy @$$ Saudi's we will be doing less of that this year. But I did have a small magazine job that took me to South Pittsburg, Tennessee. I was there to photograph one of last years state champion teams. One of the coaches was going to take part in a cooking contest, at the National Cornbread Festival held a few days later. So I made a second trip to complete the assignment, and since I happened to bring the wife along we decided to sample the entries.

For the most part, prior to this festival. we have had cornbread stuffing and the more common hunk of cornbread with butter and honey. However this festival opened our eyes to a world of cornbread possibilities. Upon paying $2.00 you would get samples from 10 different organizations that are competing for the overall winner.

There were many varieties, sweet pepper cornbread, chicken-brocolli cheese cornbread, cinnamon cornbread, double chocolate cornbread, jalapeno cornbread and a few others that I can't remember. We enjoyed the ones that were sweet or casserole based.

Deputy Bubba here creates a Pimento and Cheese Cornbread, which is surprisingly popular by locals, we passed on it though.

Before leaving South Pittsburg we of course had to purchase some cast iron pans to try and recreate some of the many recipes on the events website. "We'll fix some for ya, when ya get here."