How To: Make Any Fried Green Tomatoes Taste Like Momma’s

I have a little secret. 

It’s a problem. 

It’s an addiction really.

Well, maybe it’s not that serious. 

It’s more of an ode to my mother and her fried green tomatoes (FGT’s).

What’s that little cylindrical shape bulging out of my purse you ask?

It’s not mace, or hairspray, or any other normal thing found in a purse.

It’s….

Ok. Are you ready for it?

Here it is…

It’s….

Lawry’s Seasoned Salt!?!?!?   

When I know I am going to a meat and three type of restaurant or somewhere I know serves fried green tomatoes, I grab the Lawry’s Seasoned Salt out of my spice cabinet and put it in my purse to take with me. 

I know you are all now convinced I’m like one of those little old ladies who keeps food rolled up in napkins in my purse.  I’m not.  I promise.  I just carry seasoned salt in its container.  That’s not weird at all, right????

Once you try Lawry’s on your FGT’s you’ll be doing the same thing.  And if you don’t, you will be really missing out.

My momma’s fried green tomatoes are seriously the best I’ve ever had.  Hers are so thin and crispy.  She always seasons them with Lawry’s when they still hot from the frying pan.  Y-U-M-M-Y!!!!

This little seasoned salt habit started when I went away to college.  You see, it’s difficult to make FGT’s in a dorm room.  It’s actually nearly impossible.  The housing folks don’t think too kindly of kids who cook things with hot grease in their rooms. 

So, when I lived in Auburn and attended Auburn University as an undergraduate and graduate student I had to get my FGT fix at a local restaurant called Veggies-To-Go.  Once I learned that they had fried green tomatoes on their menu I always tried to stash some Lawry’s in my bag or purse to take with me.

My sorority sisters, college friends, boyfriends (that would include Judd), etc. all got a big laugh out of it.  This little secret has been happening for years now.  Judd still gives me the crazy eye when I do this; although, he has been known to partake in the seasoned salt goodness himself.

The thought of doing a blog post about this little secret came to mind this week because Judd and I ate at a local Mtn. Brook, AL. diner, Tracy’s.

Tracy’s FGT’’s are good.  They still don’t hold a candle to my momma’s, but they are good.  I recommend them (with Lawry’s on them of course).

I already had the Lawry’s in my purse and had already ordered my food when the idea of blogging about this popped into my head.  I borrowed Judd’s phone to capture the moment.

I just thought this little tip was something you couldn’t live without.  It’s life changing.  Ok, maybe that is a slight overstatement.  But it does make your FGT’s taste delicious.  I don’t know how or even if your momma makes FGT’s so I can’t guarantee that the addition of Lawry’s will make them taste like hers.  But as a consolation, I can guarantee it will make them taste like my Momma’s.  :)

Maybe if we all start doing this it will become a trend and it won’t be any weirder than carrying gum in your purse.  Who’s with me? 

A Salvation Army Treasure

Hi Bloggers,

I couldn’t wait any longer to share this with you.

I feel so excited, proud, and blessed to have this treasure in our home.  My mother and grandmother found it for me while treasure hunting at the Salvation Army store in Hoover, AL. 

I received a call from my mother while she was at the store.  She said she knew I had been looking for a queen sized bed to put in our guest room and that she may have just found one at the Salvation Army.

I wasn’t sure at first.  Although I trust my mother’s and my grandmother’s tastes, it is hard to agree to something over the phone that you have never seen.  Especially since it was at at thrift store.  I mean, there is just no telling what it looked like and what kind of shape it was in.

While on the phone with mom, three other customers walked by and looked at the bed.  Mom chimed in without even knowing for sure that she was going to get it.  I overheard her tell them all that she wanted it and that it wasn’t for sale anymore.

She said she thought I would love it.  She told me it is a four-poster wheat bed that looks to be in great shape.  And, the best part, it was only $149.00.  I knew she would use her good judgment and make the right decision.

My grandmother, was visiting last week.  She lives in Rome, GA.  I’ve posted about her several times before.  Mom drove Grandmother to Birmingham in grandmother’s blue Ford van with a handicap parking tag.  Those two sweet women agreed that they would regret not purchasing it.  They knew it was too good to pass up.

Mom bought the bed for me as a 26th birthday present.  I didn’t know it was a gift.  I tried to pay mom back and she insisted that it was my birthday present.  I am so lucky to have a mom like her.  They helped the men at the the Salvation Army store load the bed into that big blue van.  I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall as all of this was happening.

Mom and Grandmother met me for lunch the next day.  They came to pick me up at my office.  Only, they forgot that there were no extra seats in the van because the bed was in the back.  I crawled in and squatted in the space between the bench seat and the door.  Too funny!  We were quite the sight heading back to my house to deliver the bed.

Judd came home during his lunch break too.  He wanted to help us unload it.  Isn’t he great???  I sure think he is. 

We moved the old full sized bed into the other guest room (which was completely empty) and set the new bed up in the current guest room all on one lunch hour. 

Judd and I have patiently waited for a new bed.  We’ve priced several over the last year.  I even looked at a bed very similar to the one mom found.  If I remember correctly it was about $1000 at an antique store.  Let me reiterate that mom found it for approximately $150!!!!!

Here are some close-up shots of the bed’s detail. 

 

      

Judd and I are so fortunate to have family who loves us and who do such thoughtful things for us.  We love this bed.  The price was right for mom; and because it was a birthday present for me it was the PERFECT price for us!!!!! 

I have two round tables with floor length skirts that will flank either side of this bed.  We are currently using them in our living room.  So here are some of the next home purchases and furniture shifting we will do.

• Find two small end tables for our living room to go on either side of the sofa.
• Move the current round end tables into the guest room as nightstands.
• Move the little night stand into the other guest room next to the full sized bed.
• Purchase a queen mattress
• Purchase queen bedding
• Find two new lamps for the guest room (or use two we already have and buy new shades for them).

Thanks Mom and Grandmother.  We love you and appreciate you more than you could ever know.  I could not have dreamed of a better birthday present!!!!!

Here’s a quick clip of the bed in our guest room.

I got legged

As you can probably tell from my lack of blog posts lately, I’ve been extremely busy with work, school, and life in general.  The blog has taken the backseat to my real world responsibilities.  Every part of my body has begun to ache from fatigue.  When I was just starting to feel ill and like I couldn’t muster up the strength to meet all of the challenges set before me, I was reminded that sometimes friends know just what you need without having to be told.

Hence, I was legged this week by a phantom fab friend.  Yes, you read that right…legged. 

What you are about to see is not nearly as inappropriate as it may first appear.  Ha.  It’s all in the spirit of clean fun.

I arrived home from class the other night at around ten pm.  I had been at work on campus since 8:00 am.  The days that I have class are always so ridiculously long.  I drug my tired body out of my car and slumped up our driveway with a load full of books on my back.  

As I approached the porch I gasped and jumped back a few steps.  I thought I saw someone hiding in the dark corner.  Upon further review, I realized, no, there was not a stalker lurking to attack me.  Instead, I had been legged.

Let me give you the back story on the legs.  The legs came into the picture when we (the fab) were undergraduate students.  I think it was around 2002 or 2003 when the legs came into our lives.  One of my fabulous friends, Amy, found the legs in her parent’s basement.  The legs began making appearances in dorm rooms across the country because we were scattered across multiple universities.  Each girl who received the legs signed her name on them.  We’ve had some big fun with that pair of legs over the years.  Here is my signature with my maiden name.  I signed the legs on the hill at Auburn University while aiding in a leg delivery.  Judd was with me.  We were dating then.  His signature is on the bottom of one of the feet.

The legs have been hidden in dorm showers, in beds, in front yards, on front porches, in cars, and several other places I can’t think of right now.  Delivering or receiving the legs is always fun. 

As we matured and grew into adulthood the legs made guest appearances in the honeymoon suites of the most recent bride.  Judd and I, being the first fab couple to wed, were the first wedding night recipients of the legs.  Don’t worry, no one interrupted our honeymoon.  They were strategically placed in our honeymoon suite before we ever arrived.  I’ll never forget when I first saw them that night.

Judd and I had just left the reception in our get-away 1939 Rolls Royce royal limousine (which was incredible by the way).  We arrived at the Tutwiler, a historic hotel in downtown Birmingham, AL.  As we approached our suite, Judd scooped me up in his arms, only the way a groom can do, to carry me across the threshold.  The room was dark as we entered.  I checked things out as best I could in that brief moment.  I spotted a human form in the bedroom.  While still in Judd’s arm I said, “Wait, Judd, there is someone in here.”  Of course, then we (I) felt silly because I realized we were legged on our wedding night.  Not punked, legged.  That’s the way the fab does it. 

The wedding night legging tradition has continued ever since.

Here’s what I saw when I walked up on our front porch the other night after class. Note: it was too dark to photograph them that night.  I carried them back out the next day to recreate this funny scene for you my fellow bloggers. 

  

 

I’m going to leave you with this one.  I truly didn’t mean for it to photograph the way that it did.  When I uploaded it I couldn’t help but laugh.  Hopefully, reading about friendship and something funny will help to lighten your load as it did for me.

Fab Takeover-Atlanta Style

My special friends, The Fab, recently spent a fun weekend together in Atlanta, GA.  A few of us have ended up there over the last few years.  Most recently, our dear and FABulous friend, Jamie, and her husband Michael moved to ATL. 

We tease about Fab takeovers because somehow several of us have moved to various regions of the country all at the same time.

Around 2007 Jamie and Michael moved to Boston at roughly the same time that we moved to Philadelphia.  Our friend, Terri, was already living in New York.  And at the time our friend, Susan, was in Washington D.C.  We teased then that we were having a Northeast Fab takeover.

Well, now we are having an Atlanta Fab Takeover.

I have already done a few posts about Jamie and Michael.  The posts were about when we visited them in Boston and when they visited us in Philly. 

Click the links below to read about those trips.

Philadelphia-Special Visitors-Jamie and Michael

Boston-A Great Visit with Jamie and Michael

They originally moved up north because Michael was starting medical school at a university “in Boston. Well, not in Boston, but nearby. No, not Tufts.”  (I just had to throw that in there.  A little 30 Rock reference.) 

We are so proud of him.  He just graduated.  He matched at Emory for his residency, which for those of you who don’t know, is in Atlanta. 

A FABulous couple, Stephanie and Chad, hosted all of us for the weekend at their house in Powder Springs, GA.  This is one of the first times we’ve had a Fab, plus significant others, sleepover.  It turned out to be so much fun!!! 

The reason we were all together was to have a “welcome back to the south” party for Jamie and Michael.  We cooked out, visited and caught up with each other, ate a pig cookie cake (click the link for an explanation on that one), and attended a Braves game at Turner Field.  I didn’t have my camera so I don’t have any real pictures to share.

Our FAB friend, Susan, did manage to commandeer Judd’s iphone during the game.  I didn’t know Judd’s phone took videos.  The clip below is funny to me because Susan caught me posing for what I thought was a picture…NOT A VIDEO. 

We had such a good time.  By the way, Susan is a pretty funny girl.  You might pick up on that at the end of the video.

Update: Jamie also did a post about the weekend.  You can read it here.