HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Happy Mother’s Day to all my women peeps! Whether we have a child or not we are all mothers in some regard. This mother’s day, I would like to honor my very colorful Grandmomma.

I probably got more “kitchen talent” from grandmomma than mom – PROBABLY!?!? Mom hated to cook and was bad. At. It. But several of my recipes are derived from my grandmother’s kitchen – not the least of which is FRIED CHICKEN. This was a Sunday staple, but mostly I remember that it was picnic food. Every summer, Riverside Baptist Church had a picnic at Buckroe Beach. (Think Coney Island New York, or one of Gordon’s and my favorite places on earth – the roller coaster capital of the WORLD … Cedar Point). Her many secret spiced and floured pressure cooked fried chicken predates the Colonel’s and is BETTER. (even better than it USED to be). Hot, room temperature or cold…she WINS. I try to emulate and add my spin, and it’s darned good, but not HERS! She had a “wild and crazy” streak (sound familiar?!?) and one time when we were riding the roller coaster her WIG flew off! We laughed until we cried. We stopped the park and a guard went in to retrieve the rug.

Every summer I got to spend a couple of months with my grandparents after we moved from Virginia to South Carolina. They would pay for a ticket, put me on a plane (7 years old!) and National Airlines would babysit me and give me wings. When I got there, we went shopping. I wasn’t allowed Fruit Loops at home so that’s what I ate all summer if I wasn’t eating hot eggs with all accoutrement.

Each summer we took a little trip somewhere kind of close – like Luray Caverns or Mt. Vernon. Grandaddy didn’t like pizza but Grandmomma loved it. She didn’t make it at home so we got some on vacation. Grandaddy would always find a steak house and Grandmomma and I would find the pizza joint. This is one of the times I was regaled with her fabulous colorful stories (because we didn’t want Grandaddy to hear them – she could even be kind of racy!!) She was a 2nd grade schoolteacher and storytelling was a requisite talent.

I never liked Corn Pudding growing up (too sweet), but because OTHERS like corn so much, I had to develop something I could find palatable – hence, White Cheddar and Basil Corn Pudding was born. The only time I look forwards to corn is when I make THIS!

When I have a call for something gluten free and vegetarian, my grandmother’s SPOON BREAD answers. If you’ve ever had Lula’s Black Bean & Sweet Potato or Chorizo & Sweet Potato Spoon Bread (it’s a corn base in case you didn’t know) it comes (loosely!) from my grandmother’s hands.

All southern ladies have their version of Vegetable Soup – a loaded summer/fall garden makes it famous. Tomato heavy, everything but the kitchen sink goes in it, usually with a used up ham hock. My Uncle Blair misses Grandmother’s Vegetable Soup and I have never been able to replicate it. I come close, but…

Last but not least ( and not last either but you can’t read forever) is my grandmother’s Oregano-Mushroom Pork Chops. I’ve lightened it up and contemporized it, but for ME…at home, I always go back to the heavy creamy unctuous version

SCRATCH. SEASONAL. LOCAL.

As a THANK YOU! For reading this little culinary trip down memory lane, I am gifting you my Basil & White Cheddar Corn Pudding recipe…click HERE.

About Chef Lori

Chef Lori Pierce, owner of Lula's, creates unique, boutique cuisine to impress your guests and clients in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area. Our custom recipes and menus delight an intimate gathering of 10, a celebration for 100, and anything in between.

At Lula's, Love is ALWAYS our first ingredient!