Just a Pinch of South

For those of us who grew up in the South but have moved elsewhere, we love our roots and all they have provided. There's a lot that I've come to appreciate about the South. But let's be honest, most of us don't want to go back to "full Southern." We're happy with just a pinch here and there to add flavor to the life we live now. If you are not a Southerner, perhaps you'll come to better appreciate the little gifts the American South has given and continues to give our culture. This blog is written by Elizabeth Bloodworth. Photos are not mine unless specified. Email me at justapinchofsouth @ gmail dot com. I tweet at @apinchofsouth and my other tumblr is called "everythingthatdoesntfitelsewhere" which is just what it sounds like.

May30

I’m digging this fabric from Cotton Revival (@cottonrevival) over at Etsy. The motif is tobacco leaves. Tobacco is part of my roots back to my ancestors from North Carolina. Not because my ancestors grew it. From what I can tell, they grew wheat, had cattle, were tanners, doctors and the like. My grandmother started smoking at about age 13, and my mother and her sisters at about 15, but that’s not what I mean, either. My family on my mother’s side did invest a bit in that little local company RJ Reynolds that made cigarettes. When my grandmother got bought out in the 1990s it helped pay my college tuition. I went to Duke, another institution built on the sooty lungs of millions. In fact, when the weather is just right (usually when it is cloudy and humid) and the mill in Durham is producing, you can actually smell the sweet aroma of tobacco from the East campus of Duke.

I’m digging this fabric from Cotton Revival (@cottonrevival) over at Etsy. The motif is tobacco leaves.

Tobacco is part of my roots back to my ancestors from North Carolina. Not because my ancestors grew it. From what I can tell, they grew wheat, had cattle, were tanners, doctors and the like.

My grandmother started smoking at about age 13, and my mother and her sisters at about 15, but that’s not what I mean, either.

My family on my mother’s side did invest a bit in that little local company RJ Reynolds that made cigarettes. When my grandmother got bought out in the 1990s it helped pay my college tuition. I went to Duke, another institution built on the sooty lungs of millions.

In fact, when the weather is just right (usually when it is cloudy and humid) and the mill in Durham is producing, you can actually smell the sweet aroma of tobacco from the East campus of Duke.

4 notes #tobacco #fabric #decor #design #etsy

May29

Just A Pinch of South, also on Facebook→

I mean, this blog right here is the real thing, and all, but if you also want to keep up, make comments etc. and you don’t use Twitter (@apinchofsouth) then by all means, follow on Facebook. Major promise not to overwhelm you over there on FB. (Can’t promise that with Twitter!)

I have this Dolly Parton song, The Seeker, stuck in my head today.

I just found this video of the song (from 1987), and the mullets on the backup singers only add to the awesomeness. Enjoy.

#dolly parton #the seeker #video

It’s Eskimo Pie Season, y’all. This is the voice that comes to mind. Please insert Southern accent. “Okay, now, here’s your Eskimo Pie. Now, yer gonna need to eat that outside. You hear me? Outside. Because it melts. Now go on out there with it. Take your shoes off ‘cause yer gonna get drips of ice cream on the tops of yer feet. It’s gonna drip, so eat it fast. No, not just on the screen porch. All the way outside…”

It’s Eskimo Pie Season, y’all.

This is the voice that comes to mind. Please insert Southern accent.

“Okay, now, here’s your Eskimo Pie. Now, yer gonna need to eat that outside. You hear me? Outside. Because it melts. Now go on out there with it. Take your shoes off ‘cause yer gonna get drips of ice cream on the tops of yer feet. It’s gonna drip, so eat it fast. No, not just on the screen porch. All the way outside…”

(Source: time-n-space)

2 notes #eskimo pie

May28

I love New York on summer afternoons when everyone’s away. There’s something very sensuous about it - overripe, as if all sorts of funny fruits were going to fall into your hands.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

(via nypl)

[I know this is a blog about the South, but here I am today, back in NYC on Memorial Day. It feels just like what F. Scott describes, and I love it - JAPoS]

(via thatkindofwoman)

731 notes #NYC #New York #Gatsby #F. Scott Fitzgerald #The Great Gatsby #summer

May27

May26

I had brunch at West Egg in Atlanta this morning. I love the prominence of pimento cheese on the menu. I like the menu fonts, too. It’s one of the few ATL restaurants that reminds me of NYC. The biggest difference (besides the Southern inflected menu) is the fact that it’s got a ton more room. NYC restaurants pack em in. It was nice not to be elbow to elbow with other diners. I had the Peachtree Plate which comes with eggs, sugar bacon (two of my favorite things combined!), fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese grits (brilliant), and a biscuit. If it had been slightly later in the day, I would have tried their boozy shakes or a cocktail, but 10am is a tad early for me to do day drinking, and then have to drive a car. I get spoiled in NYC with the fact that I don’t ever have to think of the drinking and driving thing. It’s great. I head back to NYC tomorrow. It’s been a good visit home - spending time with friends in NC and family and friends in GA, but I’m ready to be home. My other home, NYC… It’s confusing.

I had brunch at West Egg in Atlanta this morning. I love the prominence of pimento cheese on the menu. I like the menu fonts, too. It’s one of the few ATL restaurants that reminds me of NYC. The biggest difference (besides the Southern inflected menu) is the fact that it’s got a ton more room. NYC restaurants pack em in. It was nice not to be elbow to elbow with other diners.

I had the Peachtree Plate which comes with eggs, sugar bacon (two of my favorite things combined!), fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese grits (brilliant), and a biscuit. If it had been slightly later in the day, I would have tried their boozy shakes or a cocktail, but 10am is a tad early for me to do day drinking, and then have to drive a car.

I get spoiled in NYC with the fact that I don’t ever have to think of the drinking and driving thing. It’s great. I head back to NYC tomorrow. It’s been a good visit home - spending time with friends in NC and family and friends in GA, but I’m ready to be home. My other home, NYC… It’s confusing.

1 notes #West Egg #Atlanta #pimento cheese #brunch

This photograph reminds me of the long drives from DC to GA back when I lived in Washington. There’s a part of VA that is very much the middle of nowhere one must drive on I-95. It was, by far, the most boring part of the trip, after about 5 hours of driving. But it meant I was heading towards home, and that was a good thing.

This photograph reminds me of the long drives from DC to GA back when I lived in Washington. There’s a part of VA that is very much the middle of nowhere one must drive on I-95. It was, by far, the most boring part of the trip, after about 5 hours of driving.

But it meant I was heading towards home, and that was a good thing.

(via kardasians)

42 notes

May25

I had a 1990 Jeep Cherokee for about 10 years. It was loud, bumpy, gas-guzzling and I loved it. It drove on beaches and in mud and through cities. I locked my keys in it a few times, and sometimes drove it barefoot. It was my home and office away from home and office. It finally gave up the ghost not long after I moved to New York City. I said the phrase “gave up the ghost” out loud today, and it made me wonder if that’s a Southern phrase or not. Any ideas? Loved that Jeep, though. Loved it.

I had a 1990 Jeep Cherokee for about 10 years. It was loud, bumpy, gas-guzzling and I loved it. It drove on beaches and in mud and through cities. I locked my keys in it a few times, and sometimes drove it barefoot. It was my home and office away from home and office.

It finally gave up the ghost not long after I moved to New York City.

I said the phrase “gave up the ghost” out loud today, and it made me wonder if that’s a Southern phrase or not. Any ideas?

Loved that Jeep, though. Loved it.

(Source: theadults)

1111 notes #jeep

I took my friend Katie for her first hot Krispy Kreme doughnut in her life last night. She’s originally from Pennsylvania, but has lived in San Francisco, NYC (with me!), DC, VA, and will be moving back to the Bay Area this summer. She may have traveled the world over, but I think we can safely say the good part of her life begins now, now that she’s had a hot doughnut. I’m sure I have my priorities straight when I say this. For the record, I just went ahead and bought a dozen last night. Why not, right? Woke my dad up when I came in, and he ate two right then, while they were still warm. Smart man. I get my intelligence from his side of the family.

I took my friend Katie for her first hot Krispy Kreme doughnut in her life last night.

She’s originally from Pennsylvania, but has lived in San Francisco, NYC (with me!), DC, VA, and will be moving back to the Bay Area this summer. She may have traveled the world over, but I think we can safely say the good part of her life begins now, now that she’s had a hot doughnut. I’m sure I have my priorities straight when I say this.

For the record, I just went ahead and bought a dozen last night. Why not, right? Woke my dad up when I came in, and he ate two right then, while they were still warm. Smart man. I get my intelligence from his side of the family.

(Source: forever-f00d)

34 notes #donut #doughnut #krispy kreme