My mother and grandmother were born and bred in Kentucky, something that I am most proud of. Having a Southern heritage is something that I wear like a new suit on Easter Sunday morning – with my head held high. We didn’t always have a lot at our house, but my mother’s five children were clean, well dressed, and well-mannered – or we didn’t sit very well the next day!
My Grandma Becky – everyone called her that, from the neighbors to all of the folks at church – was a wonderful cook. I can still taste her homemade chocolate pies and pumpkin cake! My mother learned from the very best! At our house, we learned to waste nothing. Before the fancy silver can with the black lid that said “Drippings” on it, there was just a coffee can – but there was always a can that sat near the stove, and each time bacon was fried, the bacon grease was carefully poured into that coffee can for later use in green beans, black-eyed peas, greens, almost anything.
Another tasty treat that we southerners love is butter! I learned that butter makes everything better! I put butter on everything from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to pop tarts (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it). I’m not talking about that yellowish, artificial “can’t believe it’s not” stuff that I can instantly tell isn’t, but I am talking about the REAL thing. Good, softened, melted butter just makes everything taste so good. I guess I should probably interject here that you should not talk to your doctor about their opinion on this subject because I am sure it would differ from mine!
Oh, and iced tea! Nothing that comes from a can or a bottle, but tea that has sat out on the porch steeping in the sun, and then has a couple cups of white sugar poured into it – just puts a smile on everyone’s face.
As you can tell, I am so proud of my heritage. But everyone should be – for that is where we came from. It doesn’t matter what part of the country you call home, it is the memories that truly make us who we are. Another thing that I love about being Southern is the music. I grew up listening to country, country gospel, and southern gospel music, and I have often said that it runs deep in my veins. Music is such a huge part of my heritage, just like butter and green beans with bacon grease cooked in them!
J.W. Pepper offers a wonderful service called e-Clubs where we send complimentary e-mails to music directors that highlight new and best-selling music as well as go-to classic repertoire to assist you in choosing materials for your choir, band, piano or whatever musical interests you have. We have e-Clubs for instrumental directors, piano teachers, and school directors, and we have them for Church Choir directors too! We offer this great service for traditional worship, contemporary worship and blended worship, and now I am so excited that we even have one for SOUTHERN GOSPEL too! How about that! So it doesn’t really matter what your heritage is, we have something just for you – and all you have to do is sign up here! Go on now… oh, and before you go, would you pass the butter?
