Southern but not Old School Southern

Below is an article by Jenny Bradley published on Country Outfitter's website. I will add my 2 cents ** at the end of each rule :) There are rules upon rules in the South. Some spoken and some unspoken. It can be hard to keep up with all of them, and depending on where you live in the South (ahem, Mississippi), you might adhere to some rules more than others. Here’s a list of some old school Southern rules you may not know or have forgotten. 1. Miracle Whip is tacky. Only Yankees eat it. If you’re going to make chicken salad for a luncheon, you might want to avoid the Miracle Whip if you’re in the South. While this unspoken rule is fading out of relevancy, it’s one many Southerners espoused a couple generations ago. I’d never heard this rule till recently. I blame that on the fact that I’m one-fourth Yankee since my grandmother grew up in the North. Gramma may not have been born here, but as the saying goes, she got here as fast as she could. ** I love salad dressing. I also love to use the very Southern word TACKY. No Duke's mayo for this tacky girl. 2. Never reply to a formal invitation in anything other than black ink. I know it’s tempting to pull out the 24-pack of multi-colored gel pens you bought at Target to reply to that wedding invitation of your younger cousin, but please don’t. Just because you’re relieved she’s not going to be an old maid (since she’ll be 23 next year) doesn’t mean you can throw etiquette out the window. She probably would’ve told your grandmother anyway. Save yourself that phone call. ** I learned this lesson very early!! I handed my manager a blue pen and he 'threw' the offending stick at my big Southern hair and said "Don't ever bring me anything but a black pen!" Bless his heart. 3. Don’t dress your baby in anything other than pastels for the first year. Babies should look like babies, so avoid solid bright colors and stick with the light blue or light pink, depending on gender. If I’m honest, I don’t adhere to this one with my own kids. I think I have an aversion to pastels, but this one is still good to know for situational purposes. If I didn’t know it, I might buy my best friend (who has deep Mississippi roots) a bright red and blue Ole Miss onesie for her baby shower this month. She’d act pleasantly surprised and thank me (after all I crossed football lines since I’m an Arkansas Razorback fan and she’s an Ole Miss fan). Inwardly, though, she’d make a mental note to take it back and get something hand-smocked and, preferably, something monogrammed with her baby’s initials. Side note: She might keep a bright red and blue onesie if it had the traditional mascot, Colonel Reb. It’s hard to find anything with the traditional mascot ever since the black bear replaced Colonel Reb in 2010. ** I don't have kids but found the whole exception to the rule as long as we are dealing with SEC football hilarious 4. When approaching a door at the same speed as another person, it’s polite to step back and let the other person go first. Men give deference to women with this one, and younger people stand back for older people. However, if two people of the same age and gender are walking towards a door at the same speed, this rule could cause a politeness standoff with neither party wanting to be rude to the other. Time to stick your boots in the ground, make that other person go first. Always win a politeness war. Always. **Big one for me. I have been known to hold the door for someone that is still a mile away. HA. Nothing ruder than someone slamming a door in your face or a man not knowing elevator etiquette. Look it up if you have no clue or you were raised by the hair of your head. 5. Younger people should stand up when older people enter a room. I can’t say I’ve always stood up when my grandparents left the kitchen and joined me in the living room. But, I’ll say this. If my Grandaddy ever asked me to stand when he entered the room, I’d do it. He fought for our country in World War II, raised three kids on a cotton farm, learned to fly an airplane after his kids were raised and makes his own fishing jigs. For all that and so much else, he has all my respect. ** I have never done this but maybe I should. I can see where it is a sign of respect. 6. When walking as a couple, the man should always walk between his woman and the street. This one probably has its history in days of old when the man would walk on the side closest to the street, protecting his woman from getting muddied by passing buggies or hit by vehicles. This rule has probably been lost with the invention of the sidewalk. Now, perhaps these days as the genteel Southern belle spirit is fading away a lot of men don’t want to put themselves between traffic and an angry woman. Do you remember the Dixie Chicks song “Goodbye Earl?” Yeah, it’s just not safe anymore. **LOVE this one! Even when walking with male friends, I notice it when they do this. My husband always walks on the outside and my Daddy did too ❤ 7. Chewing gum in public is tacky. Keep the Bubblicious at home. Chewing gum is especially rude at business meetings, church, school, or really anyplace where someone might see you. Cows chew the cud, not good Southerners. ** There's that tacky word again but this is very true. As a gum smacka from way back, it is extremely rude. 8. Southern women don’t gossip. If you are going to talk about someone’s less desirable traits, always precede your remarks with “bless her heart” then you can pretty much say what you want. For example, you might say, “Bless her heart, her Mama never taught her not to chew gum in public.” ** I always quote Clairee from Steel Magnolias, "If you can't say anything nice, come sit next to me." 9. Men should take their hats off when they come inside Taking your hat off is a good personal hygiene rule. This one I get. Southern men love their hats, and when you wear your hat every day in the Southern heat, it tends to get sweaty and smelly. I kid you not; my husband has worn the same hat for the last 15 years. His sister gave it to him in high school, and he wears it all the time. My 3-year-old calls it “Daddy’s stinky hat.” I’m fine with him only wearing it outside. ** Totally agree. Especially during the National Anthem! 10. Wait until everyone is served before eating Our family’s rule growing up was similar to this. We had to wait until after the prayer before we could serve ourselves each other. The five of us kids waited like ravenous wolves to hear that “amen” before digging in. It felt like a matter of survival with that many kids. We were just too unruly; bless my Mama’s heart. ** The running joke in my family is if you eat before the blessing you will have either heartburn or diarrhea.

Funeral Sammiches

I have made these sammiches so many times, I have memorized the recipe.  The first time I had them was at a work.  They were one of the best things I had ever eaten!!!  My friend used Sister Schuberts rolls in the aluminum circular pan.   I immediately tried to make them but it was an epic FAIL. ;-p  I could never get the butter to roll ratio right and the rolls were always soggy.

A couple of years later, I was looking for football party recipes and saw one using hawaiian rolls and it was titled Funeral Sandwiches??? I read the article and the recipe submitter said that they went over well at funerals (bad choice of words- hers not mine :)  She also said there was nothing mournful about them. HAHA  

We do birthday celebrations one day a month for the coworkers whose bdays are that month. The last time I made them, one of the bday honorees had just had surgery.  When I said I was bringing Funeral Sammiches, she said "Because I had surgery??"  She's a hoot.

They are simple to make.  Course the men folk at work say that the only thing that could make them better would be bacon but they would add bacon to anything.   

Ingredients:

24 hawaiian rolls (2 packages)
1 pound thinly sliced ham
1 pound sliced swiss cheese
3/4 cup melted butter
1.5 tbl dijon mustard
1.5 tbl poppy seeds
1.5 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbl minced onion

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a large rectangular baking pan.  Recipe calls for 9X13 but I used a larger cake pan.
• In a small saucepan, mix together butter, dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, poppy seeds and dried onion.

• Cut the tops from the bottoms of the rolls and put the bottoms in the greased baking pan. Make sure you know how the tops go back on so that you can cut them correctly once they are baked.  I used a serated knife which cuts through the rolls better.



• Layer about half the ham onto the rolls.  Arrange the cheese over the ham, and top with remaining ham. 

• Place the tops of the rolls onto the the sammiches and then pour the mustard concoction evenly over the rolls.



 

• Bake in preheated oven until the rolls are lightly browned and cheese has melted.  Original recipe called for 20 mins but my oven only takes 10 mins.  Slice into individual sammiches through the ham and cheese layers to serve.

 

These are soo good.  I can't decide if it is the minced onion or the dijon mustard that make them so scrumptious.  NOM NOM NOM

 









 

 

 

Green Gunk

Starting these tomorrow!! My coworker gave me the recipe and then said "We can't have strawberries?!?!"  It says berries goofball :-P

FREE Monogrammed Stuffs

I LOVE LOVE LOVE free stuff!!! Bout the only thing I love more is free monogrammed stuffs.  Like all true Southern gals, I would monogram my paper napkins if I had time.  

One of my friends saw this website and passed it on to me.  I am HOOKED!   BLESS MY HEART hehe.  www.printablemonogram.com   
This site is awesome sauce!  They have binder covers, bookmarks, coasters, luggage tags and notecards as well  :)  I started off by getting some card stock to print calendars for work.  You have different font choices.  Just download, put your monogram in and print.

So then I got sassy and decided I needed to spruce up a box that I have use that just sits on my desk.  I love anything black and white- damask, chevron, polka dots!  So I snazzed up the box with this-

 

 

 

Then my mama's birthday was coming up and I needed a gift bag.  I took a plain paper gift bag and VOILA`...

 

 

I used modge podge the first time and it turned out rippled.  I used a glue stick the second time and it was completely smooth.  They have almost every color on the site that you can choose.  Side view...

 

 



 

They even posted downloadable monogram stickers for your iPod/iPhone chargers.  FOR FREE PEOPLE :)  So easy and I see some people charging $5 for these stickers. 

 

 

www.printablemonogram.com  is the site and it is AWESOME!!!   :-)

10K Superstar

So I have been wanting to run a 10k so I went on Races Online to check out my options.  The very first one was a Relay for Life in Alamo benefiting the American Cancer Society.  It was almost like a sign from God saying Do this one!  Do this one! My Aunt Frances lived in Crockett County and was a huge supporter of the Cancer Society.

She was such a great Southern lady and I absolutely adored her.   She was taken far too early but heaven received a beautiful angel!!       http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jacksonsun/obituary.aspx?n=lyla-frances-lilley&pid=153010365&

So I decided even though it was short notice, I HAD to do this 10K!!  I got up Saturday morning and it was pouring down rain. I drove to Alamo and was surprised that there were quite a few runners.
Let me say this... I will check elevation next time!! Do they put elevation on the course map??? hehe. I have never seen so many hills !!  First mile was fine even though it was a slight hill. I kept thinking I got this  :) By mile 4, I was dying.  I was thinking -Man I should have borrowed Bennett's Heely's !
By drink station # 3, I realized I was in very last place :(  the other 10k participants were a running team of youngsters who were most likely on performance enhancing drugs...just saying.    All I could hear was Ricky Bobby saying " If you ain't first, you are last!"   But I soldiered through and finished in 1 hour 12 mins. Not bad considering the course was Mt. Everest.

Much to my surprise & embarrassment, I got a 3rd place metal for my age group.  As well as this snazzy shirt!  ;-)   I am so happy I did this in honor of such a great lady who I truly loved.