May 2010 • Deep Fried Kudzu

I ran into Southern Accents for a few minutes – it’s one of my favorite shops in town, and they have some of *the* most interesting architectural antiques.

Over the years, I’ve dreamed about the copper bathtubs they’ve had, the section of boxes from the Selma post office, and once it took everything I had not to bring home a marble-topped work table from a Memphis chocolate factory.

It sure is fun to look at everything – antique doorknobs (those porcelain and heavy leaded crystal ones), the giant wooden and marble mantels, stained glass windows, old lighting fixtures…

A few years ago they started heavily promoting replicas: things like reproduction doors and bathroom fixtures which I didn’t care for. I like it when people stick to authentic items. And of course that’s the best part of their inventory.

Outside is a menagerie of bathtubs that one day someone restoring an old house will take and sand and refinish – and no one will ever know it was once resting sadly off-kilter, collecting rainwater on an old tarp in downtown:

Sinks, radiators, fencing awaiting a new life:

…and a section of *beautiful* old bathroom tiles:

Pottery Barn and Wisteria have been selling industrial-inspired coffee tables but Southern Accents has a selection of original, old factory dock carts in stock that have so much character…

May 26, 2010

Thursday

See you on Thursday!

May 25, 2010May 17, 2017

Beautiful Gardens

When it comes to plants, there are two people who I believe every word they say: Felder Rushing and Steve Bender.

For one, neither of them is the least little bit motivated to promote any thing because neither of them sells anything.

Felder does appearances and writes books – his MPB radio show podcast is *the* best; and Steve writes for Southern Living as the Grumpy Gardener (which…once you meet Steve, he really is the Grumpy Gardener. But in a good way. Hi Steve!); still and thankfully, neither of them is selling anything, especially McRoses or ice cube orchids. Thank goodness.

Last week, Steve wrote at his blog about his friend and former Southern Living co-worker, Charlie Thigpen Charlie has a new garden center at Pepper Place in B’ham, so of course I had to visit. It’s called Garden Gallery.

Ideas, ideas, ideas:

We already have our garden in but there was plenty else Charlie had that I would have loved to have brought home – both for the garden and in landscaping plants. I think we’ll be visiting him several more times this summer.

The one thing I did get on this visit was a Bhut Jolokia anti-terrorist (really!) pepper plant: it’s the hottest pepper on earth (over one million on the Scoville scale). It is going in a container far behind our retaining wall so there’s no way anyone but Av can get to it; once it starts producing I’d like to take one zillionth of an ounce and make some hot pepper jelly…we’ll see…

—

A couple of interesting garden pics from other people:

Image by mikecogh used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic – thank you!

My beautiful, creative friend Cindy in Oklahoma came up with the idea of making old purses into planters by poking holes through the bottom for drainage:

That goes for some people and their shoes too.

And this: yes, yes, yes.

May 24, 2010

Fruit Stand Season

It’s fruit stand season, people with tomatoes in the back of their pickup truck season, honor system melon patches (like the one I grew up close to) season, and full-fledged farmers market season.

It’s a good season.

It’s hard to beat the State Farmer’s Market in Montgomery for plants, especially. And the Curb Market in Montgomery has jams, jellies, and all manner of fruit, vegetable, soup, and stew put up in Mason jars. Plus, I can’t wait to go there each time and see how a certain vendor changes their signs:

We like going to Pepper Place Saturday Market in B’ham too. Local fruits, vegetables, old-Alabama plants, strawberry cupcakes, driftwood birdhouses, someone Av knows that makes lamps out of musical instruments…

She-she’s art:

Art by She-She at Pepper Place Market, Birmingham AL

…and ‘ASAP’ explained:

ASAP at Pepper Place Market, Birmingham AL

The old, open year-round farmer’s market on Finley in B’ham is a favorite too:

Jefferson County Truck Growers Association Farmers Market, Birmingham AL

Graves' Watermelon Man, Farmer's Market, Birmingham AL

You can bring in your peas/beans to be shelled:

Shelling Peas, Farmer's Market, Birmingham AL

Peas and Beans, Farmer's Market, Birmingham AL

Oh those gorgeous pink-eyed peas I brought home:

Okra. Green tomatoes. You know what happened next.

The USDA has a pretty spartan database of farmer’s markets in every state, but the nice one is at LocalHarvest, which shows CSAs too.

If you’re in Alabama, the Farmers Market Authority even breaks it down into farmers markets, roadside stands, and U-pick operations by county. The people that ate only food grown or raised in the state of Alabama for a year (April 2008 – April ’09) are working on a documentary of their project and have a nice map of farms they like here.

May 21, 2010May 17, 2017

Things, Things, Things

This week’s list of random things…

I love going to the movies in New Orleans because they serve daiquiris (I grew up in a dry county, and the theaters here in Alabama don’t serve alcohol, so it always seems a little indulgent). Well, not only can you get a daiquiri, but the new Theatres at Canal Place are partnering with a restaurant called ‘Gusto’ and are featuring reclining seats with pull-up tabletops. This is from the Times-Picayune:

Starters include popcorn tossed with parmigiano and black pepper, white truffle, or pimenton and garlic. Other appetizers include caponata, flatbread pizzas, a hummus-and-tzatziki duo served wtih flatbreads and, as at Garcia’s RioMar, a Spanish muffuleta and salumi from A Mano. Paninis, salads and a cheese plate are planned, along with pralines and chocolates from Southern Candymakers, Hubig’s pies and cookies from Angelo Brocato.

Several $7 wines by the glass will be offered, along with other pricier ones, cocktails and imported and domestic beer.

***Update: oops! Apparently there is at least one movie theater in Alabama that serves alcohol – Monaco Pictures in Huntsville has a private glass elevator that takes guests to their ‘Prive‘ level, “an elevated lounge featuring a Wine Tasting Bar, appetizer dining, and upscale concessions” with reserved seats, which are high-back leather recliners. Thank you, Julie, for letting me know!

—

(image for press use)

A castle is being built right now in Arkansas, and it’s going to take twenty years to complete it. Seriously. This is part of the press release:

The creation is the brainchild of Michel Guyot who launched a similar and very successful project in Burgundy, France, ten years ago.

A team of architectural experts, working together with historians of the Middle Ages and dedicated artisans, is raising a genuine, full-sized, fortified castle, with 24-foot high towers, a drawbridge, and 6-foot wide stone walls surrounding an expansive inner courtyard, using the materials, techniques, and rules of the 13th century.

Thirty masons, carpenters and stone carvers authentically dressed, will work all year round for twenty years, the time required to build a fortress in the Middle Ages. Imagine a place where you leave behind our technically advanced society to hear the clang of hammers on chisels as stones are being carved, and to hear snorting cart-horses pulling heavy stones on creaking wooden wagons. The blacksmith, the rope maker, the woodcutter will work right in front of you as they practise medieval techniques of construction.

They’re going to be open seven days a week, rain or shine, from May 1 – November 30. All the details are here.

—

Remember last week’s fence? Here’s this week’s fence.

—

Is it wrong that the 2010 winning recipe for dessert-cake in Mississippi Magazine is one that’s first ingredient is “1 box (18-1/4 oz) box orange cake mix” especially after last year’s Grand Prize started with a box of Coconut Supreme Cake Mix? (yes.)

—

The Montgomery Advertiser has a regular feature on beautiful local homes, complete with sideshows. Some of them are fantastic. I wish Av were better friends with Morris Dees because I would *love* to visit his and Susan’s home. Where can I get a rickshaw (pic 44)!? And those costumes displayed in the bathrooms (pic 7, 38)…

—

Piggy Popcorn from Loveless Cafe. And it is good.

—

Wow I like this menorah.

—

Henk van Es has a *fantastic* website called Outsider Environments Europe.

I’ll post a new North American environment next week!

—

For the second time in about a week I am so happy to mention something about my sweet friend Bethanne Hill – the Alabama Folklife Association has just released ‘Traditional Musics of Alabama Volume 5: New Book Gospel Shapenote Singing‘ and it feature’s Bethanne’s art on the cover:

—

Festivals this weekend:

In Alabama:

Heritage Festival, Northport

Sunrise Community Hot Air Balloon Race, Tuscaloosa

Lakewoods Arts & Crafts Show, Arley

In Louisiana:

Bayou Boogaloo, New Orleans

Crawfish Festival, Abita Springs

Soul Survivors Festival, Ferriday