Dear friends, readers, Romans, grandparents and countrymen,

I do recall that in a past post I said that I would not abandon my blog for weeks at a time ever again unless it was due to a family crisis or the reunification of my favorite band, The White Stripes. I’m happy to say that my family is fine; I’m incredibly sad to say that Jack White has decided to cover Mozart with the Juggalo leaders. So that leaves me yet again with excuses and regrets, which are for horseshoes and handbags in the words of Tracy Jordan so let’s move on. 

My jillionth first day of school picture (fun fact, I fill my bookbag with Hamm’s and jerky-cheese combo sticks every year…) 

In better news, I am back in Savannah for my third quarter of graduate school, which means many things like picking Spanish moss out of my flats, walking through the squares with a jumbo Parker’s iced tea complete with chewy ice, blasting my Dolly Parton Pandora station in my carriage house while I work on three simultaneous group projects and of course, lots of good Southern cookin.’

So let’s start by talking about field peas. They’re cheap, delicious on grits and they come from a magical, singing vendor at the farmers market.

 These are pink-eyed peas, and they are the opposite of having an eye infection. 

These are Charleston Favorites Stone Ground Grits. These are some of the best grits you can buy in a grocery store. This is not up for debate. 

Step 1: Boil roughly 3 cups of peas with enough chicken stock to cover them in a large sauce pot. Add half a package (6 oz.) of salt pork (or more. This is America isn’t it?), and half of a thinly sliced Vidalia onion. Reduce to a simmer and cook until peas are tender but not mushy, roughly 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper if necessary. 

Step 2: While this is happening, prepare grits according to package or your grandma. I boiled mine in milk and added a mess of Paula Deen’s Silly Salt and smoked cheddar cheese. 

Step 3: If you have a boyfriend, girlfriend, common-law spouse, Uncle Rick, foreign exchange student, life coach, nursing student, yia yia, house ghost or child old enough to use an oven hanging around, why not ask them to help you make some cornbread?

We made Martha White’s buttermilk cornbread in a cast iron skillet with Savannah Bee Company honey. 

Drain the peas of their liquid, retrieve salt pork pieces, add some fried plantains on the side, and bazinga. 

Next up: Whiteacres with caramelized onion, garlic and rosemary over rice. Onward!