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from a 2017 visit
Kenny Hill’s Chauvin Sculpture Garden in Louisiana has been damaged by Hurricane Ida
Rural Studio Glass Chapel, from a 2009 visit
Rural Studio by Breadtruck Films has been shortlisted in the architecture video of the year category of Dezeen Awards 2021
At the ‘Luminous Lookout’ show at Baton Rouge Gallery Center for Contemporary Art, work by Dawn Black, Kathryn Hunter and Kelli Scott Kelley. Kathryn Hunter’s company is Blackbird Letterpress.
freight containers, Waco TX, 2021
A Short Autobiography by F. Scott Fitzgerald, at The New Yorker Classics
Rick Bragg has a Pulitzer, sure, and now he has the Fitzgerald Museum Literary Prize for Excellence in Writing
Missing it this weekend but planning for next year: the James K. Polk Home and Museum Dark Horse Dinner, with music, bar, and whole hog roast, which “makes homage to a dinner Polk once held in Murfreesboro as he launched his campaign for governor. The lavish political bash was said to include “40 fat sheep, 40 fine shoats, six beeves, 300 pounds fine ham, bread and vegetables without limit, the generous juice of the grape, whisky and old cognac.””
Graham’s Edgewood Market, Edgewood TX, 2021
Lane Cake, pre-icing, from 2010
This obit for an Arkansas native: Although she spent the last three years of her life in Colorado, Dot was the quintessential Southern lady. She could bake a Lane Cake, grow and arrange flowers, make biscuits from scratch, clean her already immaculate home, sing “My Old Kentucky Home” each year on Derby Day, and set a table properly, all without breaking a sweat (because, as she said, “horses sweat; men perspire, and ladies glow”).
first home of Tennessee Williams, from a 2017 visit
Strand Magazine is publishing a long-lost work of Tennessee Williams which was found in his archives at Harvard’s Houghton Library: his 1952 ‘The Summer Woman’. From The Guardian:
It follows an American academic who visits Rome each summer to continue his relationship with a woman he first met when she was working the streets. But as the years pass after the end of the second world war, he finds hostility towards Americans growing.
Robb Report mentions Dallas’ Emporium Pies ‘Fine Pies for Fine Folks’ and their “Lord of the Pies” in a feature on fruit pies around the country. This one is described as a “monster of an apple pie: a deep-dish delight boasting ten full chopped apples that get soft-baked with housemade caramel and topped with crispy cinnamon streusel.”
High Museum, Atlanta, from 2015
Really Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe at the High in Atlanta, through January 9, 2022
St Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Prairieville AL, 2017
An interview with Rev. Allen T. Stanton at DailyYonder on Changing the Way We Think about Rural Churches and he speaks to the permanency of these institutions
“Which leads to the other thing, which is the rural church is one of the few places where you have a large cross section of the community gathering each week. You’re your full self within the church. And that means that you can also do high impact, low-cost programs because you have your nurses, you have your teachers, you have small business owners, elected officials, and they’re gathering in a common space. They have common values. They care about the community and they’re in a place that’s already trusted.”
…and in that, he’s talking too about how nonprofit leadership is a natural fit here: rural churches are the perfect venue for things like summer literacy programs. Let’s think more about this. If you’re in N or Central AL and want to get this or similar started or it’s established and you’d like volunteer help, I’d love to hear more.
koolickle, 2006
There’s a restaurant in Denver, Split Lip, serving slugburgers and kooklickes, and yes, one of the founders is from Mississippi. And at Chicago’s The Delta, they’re doing fried koolickles and tamales.
Paradise Gardens, 2009
Finster Fest at Paradise Garden in Somerville, Georgia is on this year: October 9-10
Fireworks Stand, Wills Point TX, 2021
Super Random.
The State Fair of Texas’ winner for sweet foods Big Tex Choice is ‘The Armadillo’ which is a “semi-frozen cookie butter ice cream sandwich in the shape of an armadillo that’s been deep fried and dusted with buttery sugar.”
1stDibs features Memphis designer Sean Anderson
A Drink-by-Drink Tour of DC’s Most Historic Cocktail Bars and the Quadrant at the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton has an 89-page drink menu
Food things: If you’re thinking of making those Levain Bakery-style gigantic chocolate chip cookies, I used the recipe from Modern Honey and they turned out great // Made this 2020 Taste of Epcot International Food & Wine Festival recipe for ‘gourmet macaroni & cheese with Boursin‘ and we used rigatoni instead — was delicious // I have a friend who bakes gefilte fish in marinara for Shabbat; I didn’t have marinara so for first night RH, tried it with the only sauce in the pantry — sweet & sour — deciding it would either be amazing or atrocious, and it was pretty good! We named it ‘General Tso’s Gefilte Fish‘. I know, I know…
My wife wasn’t one for tradition, for formal. So I’m writing this instead of an obit by EJ Montini in the Arizona Republic.
Rollie-Pollie pendant and cicada from Mimosa Handcrafted
Prospect.5: Yesterday we said tomorrow in New Orleans is rescheduled a bit; the first wave of openings will be October 23, all open by November 13
fruit stand, Nectar AL, 2021
Yes yes yes, Tennessee Farm Table with ‘Tennessee Apple Butter Making in Appalachia‘
fruit stand, Athens AL, 2021
Growing heirloom okra across the country, at Modern Farmer
Our sweet Hilda Minter has joined the ancestors. We didn’t visit much at all over the last year because we were careful about not getting each other sick. So many of our visits, just gone.
We went to the visitation. Heartbroken. This is all I can say about it.
Lafayette County Courthouse, Oxford MS, 2017
Larry Brown’s Fire Notes from the 1992 first issue of Oxford American
a Jimmy Lee Sudduth at the Ogden, 2014
Sean Brock’s Audrey in Architectural Digest. I see Mose T, and a Jimmy Lee Sudduth riding his bike. Nick Offerman does woodwork and constructed the bar.
Two of the folk artists whose work he’s collected use mud and wild berries to create their pieces, a process Brock employs in his kitchen. He says, “It’s the same as what we do with lima beans and cabbage, sourcing and cooking them in a way that becomes a new, luxurious experience. It also speaks to our responsibility towards zero waste by respecting and working with the full potential of our ingredients.”
watermelon pickles, 2006
I’m dreaming about making watermelon pickles again next week. If you can or “put up” fruits/vegetables, this is big. Over safety and accuracy concerns:
Last August, the Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach—the arm of the land-grant university that works directly with farmers, business owners, and families on practical science applications—quietly informed 4-H members that canned goods made with recipes from the Ball Blue Book would no longer be accepted for exhibits at county fairs.
The next time I visit my friend Suzanne in Cambridge, we are doing this:
New Iberia, Louisiana, 2021
And now, Cicada Shells on her Shirt by Kiwicha
Ray’s Drive-In, 2016
KSAT Explains: San Antonio’s Deep Growing Taco Culture
Gómez (The Original Donut Shop) said part of the restaurant’s appeal is how traditional it is. They’ve kept the same recipe for their carne guisada tacos since 1954. And along with the papa ranchera, the carne guisada is one of the most popular. They’re also known for their toasted bean and cheese.
“It’s part of our culture now,” Gómez said. “The bean and the cheese.”
And, of course, the tortillas are homemade.
“We start here at 4 a.m. just to have everything fresh by 6 a.m.,” Gómez said.
…and their next stop? Ray’s of course.
Twin Eagles, Shreveport LA, 2021
Clicking through the places on this (pretty great) piece in the UK version of National Geographic, 10 of the best backcountry adventures in the Deep South. Would love to do the Land Rover off-road drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains they mention. It’s the Vintage Overland teardrop camper with — I’m not super clear — maybe one of these Biltmore LR programs? Also, being on horseback at Saint Helena Island, South Carolina sounds pretty great too.
Trying to get all of us on the boat as much as possible before the weather changes, and excited about football and other fall activities. Had my first sip of apple cider slushie from Isom’s Orchard in Athens, Alabama, so hello, autumn.
Two great things & maybe you can be a part!
*** This summer I contacted a couple of my Alabama state representatives — Rep Rafferty and Rep Rolanda Hollis, and they will be introducing legislation to repeal the “Pink Tax” which is the sales tax on feminine products and diapers. Can’t be more excited! Let me know if you want to stay in touch about this and I’ll make an e-mailing list for updates.
Working on submitting Alice Finch Lee to the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame. I need to do research & show my resources, so if you have information to share, let’s talk! ***
Sweetest wishes for a fun weekend and an interesting, fulfilling week coming up. xoxo!
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