If you live in the South, you know what it means when you hear: ‘They had Vidalia Onions!‘. This is a special type of sweet onion, grown in Vidalia, Georgia- in fact you can’t even call sweet onions ‘Vidalia’ unless they are actually grown there. Listen, you won’t believe this but the Vidalia Onion is defined by the law of the state of Georgia and the United States and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture! That’s some more onion!
According to the Official Website for Vidalia Onions, they were accidently discovered in 1930 and are still hand-planted and handpicked. This onion is the pioneer of sweet onions. ‘Vidalia Onions aren’t just the most famous onion in the world; I think they may be the only famous onion in the world’, says Chef Bobby Flay.Vidalia Onions even have their own Wikipedia page which says: ‘The different varieties are unusually sweet, due to the low amount of Sulphur in the soil in which the onions are grown.’ – This highly prized, sweet onion is like no other! So, when we southerners whisper, ‘I found some vidalias!’… as if we have just discovered French Macaroons or it seems we have received a box of Jacques Torres Chocolates; it’s because these onions elevate a simple vegetable plate, a homemade hamburger sings and in late summer, slice a Vidalia so thin you can see through it, top a tomato sandwich with it …well, it’ll knock your socks off! Now, that’s an ol’ saying for describing something that’s really good!
They fry up into the best onion rings you ever tasted ! The growing season is relatively short, and because of so much natural sugar in these onions, they do not store in the pantry for long periods of time. The Vidalias pictured here were brought in from Coot Partridge’s Annual Memorial Day picnic- where a man was frying Vidalia onion rings. Folks were eating them so fast he couldn’t keep up with it! The yellow onion in the photograph is of normal size- the Vidalias are as big as grapefruits! I keep taking beauty shots so I might as well share them with you-
Well…I’ll talk you to death, but I noticed that you can order Vidalia Onions online! So when you finish up here? You might want to ‘google it’ -order, find recipes and more, they won’t be around long! In the meantime, I’ve got some onions to fry!
Love y’all , Camellia
Birthdays are the best time to send a handwritten note. I know, I know…it’s fun to find a funny card, or let someone else express the sentiment- but somehow I think seeing ‘Happy Birthday’ handwritten makes it more special. Here’s a few things I like to say…
And since we have a birthday girl at Camellia’s Cottage in May- I did some window shopping at JCrew –
Go get a cup of cappuccino! What a way to say ‘I love you!’ with that sweet little heart the barista makes! (That’s Italian for that guy whippin’ up that fancy coffee!) Whatever way you choose to say ‘Happy Birthday!’ – big or small, I hope you will do it- a birthday is different than other holidays- it is specific to the person. Remember their day and say- I’m glad you were born!
Let me tell you what it is…The Liebster Award is given to new bloggers by another blogger. A big southern ‘Thank you darlin ‘- goes to an amazing blogger -Agatha Chocolats ! I think I’ve gained weight just looking at her blog with all of that chocolate! You have to go see what that little Southern girl is up to! To thank her properly here is a thank you note especially for you, Agatha- 
I like Agatha’s blog because of the images she uses- some are even short video clips, the 13 recipes she does once a week, the unusual combination of mystery and chocolate is intriguing and the playful, tasteful way she produces her blog. Currently it has to be my favorite! She has inspired me to be a better blogger.
This is my grandmother, Betty Jo Sparks Holmes, standing by a fence in Alabama with her small son and her young brother. This photograph was taken in the late 1920’s. She was a working woman beginning in the late 50’s – because her husband and her son were disabled. For almost 20 years she rode a bus to downtown Birmingham to work as a florist. She could squeeze a dollar harder than anyone I have ever known and get more out of it too! She was passionate about her work, her home and her family; always making sure her home was clean and beautiful and that there was something on the table that was fit to eat. To this day some of the best food I have ever eaten, the best meals I make, came from MiMi. I still use her recipes and methods to make good food for my family or for pretty tea sandwiches –
I even grocery shop with her advice filling my head! No one ever left her home hungry; she was immensely talented and seriously funny. She believed in the old ways of putting out fresh tea towels, using the good silver often and being grateful enough to write a thank you note or compassionate enough to write a sympathy card. And she continued to do these things whether her pocketbook was full or not. This week, in her honor and in honor of other amazing women I know- I hand painted a ‘spring collection’ of notecards with cute little handbags.
In an earlier post we talked about shoppin’ our closets, the pantry and fridge- working down what we have on hand. This week, we cleared out the pantry and found 3/4 of a loaf of raisin bread, some raisins, a can of evaporated milk and a jar of hot fudge sauce. In the south we love our bread puddings! Raisin Bread is almost perfect for a good bread pudding but how could we make this one different? Bread pudding usually has a hard sauce for the topping- we had the jar of Hot Fudge Sauce and who doesn’t like chocolate covered raisins? Hold the popcorn at the movies, give me some chocolate covered raisins! So, what about a hard sauce made with raisins, rum, and hot fudge sauce? We keep some ‘likker’ here just for medicinal and cooking purposes you know…whiskey, bourbon and rum are ‘must-haves’ in the southern kitchen, almost like strings of pearls and white blouses in a southern lady’s wardrobe, got have those accessories! We had plenty of eggs, milk, pure cane sugar and vanilla extract so we were set!
Camellia's Cottage 