You should know the difference between looking Tacky or being Tastefully dressed almost from birth in the South. Southern Mothers take it as a personal insult if the children aren’t dressed right. You will hear things like:
What was her Momma thinking lettin’ Savannah Jo leave the house like that?
How could she put that baby in blue jeans- not even out of the bassinet!
As pale as Mary Beth is- her momma should have known she couldn’t wear that yellow next to her face- it’s just plain tacky.
Well, she obviously wasn’t raised right.
To help you avoid comments like this from getting back to you, I have declared it Fashion Weekat Camellia’s Cottage. For the first installment- I have compiled a Basic List of what is considered appropriate and Tasteful so you can avoid being labelled Tacky– that is unless you are specifically invited to a Tacky Party.
Pearls are a mainstay of a Tasteful wardrobe. These can be real or cultured– a southern lady must be both real and cultured.
When a young lady is old enough to consume alcohol or becomes eligible to vote – Tasteful Ladies wear Black, White, Gray and Red– almost exclusively in fact.
Natural Linen, Navy and Cream are also considered classic- especially if you mix them with the Tasteful colors, Black, White, Gray or Red.
To veer away too sharply is to risk looking Tacky.
Do not ever wear Off or Muddy colors, it just reeks of Iron Water in the washingmachine. There are some who can pull these colors off, just know that these women are considered Bohemian.
Camellia Pink is a color some Strong Southern Women can pull off.
Yellow and Green do funny things to the skin tone when worn close to the face. No one wants a green or yellow cast to the skin, it’s Tacky and makes you look sick.
Brighter colors are considered Cruise Wear or when you want to have a little Fun in Spring or Summer.
It is acceptable to wear your SEC Football Team Colors all year round regardless of the colors- this is considered Patriotic and your Duty as a True Fan.
If you want to add a little Zip to your Wardrobe- wear a Scarf or carefully selected Accessories.
To avoid looking Tacky- Every Well Dressed Southern Lady must own–
A Black Turtleneck
Two well cut Blouses in Black and White
A Traditional Pencil Skirt or Pleated Skirt if your figure will allow for it
A well cut pair of Black Pants
Sweater Set in the Tasteful colors
A good pair of White Pants
At least one Sheath Dress in the Tasteful colors
A Decent Black Dress is acceptable for evening and for funerals and is a Fashion Must Have in the South.
A Chanel Inspired Suit
A Black Winter Coat and since you will wear this maybe once or twice per year in the South, make sure it is made of Cashmere or Wool, then stored in moth balls.
Finally, if you lacked training from a Southern Mother, look to the Fashion Icons– even if most of them are Yankees. You can’t go wrong with Jackie, Grace, Audrey and Coco-
A New York City Shopping Trip is considered part of acivilized young lady’s upbringing– Paris if you’re at leisure and flush with cash; Atlanta if you find yourself strapped for cash or time.
Look for upcoming installments of Fashion Week at Camellia’s Cottage for Tasteful Advice on makeup, accessories, nautical wear and more…We can’t have you looking Tacky!
‘This Wishing You’re in the Land of Cotton is for the Birds!’
‘O I wish I was in the Land of Cotton…’ No matter how good Elvis sang ‘Dixieland’ or how hard you try to convince folks how wonderful Alabama is…it’s hot out there! Alabama has had record high temperatures this year…And yes, the cottonis high and your momma’s good looking but…I think my cute grand cat, Oliver has it right until the weather cools down a bit! Have a great weekend- I hope your team wins unless they’re playin’ mine!
Bighearted Casseroles are a mainstay in the South. With just a few things added to a main ingredient like Chicken, Potatoes- sweet or white, Canned Green Beans or even Fruit- we can make up a Bighearted Casserole.. Dishes generous enough feed a crowd or stretcha thin budget. Bighearted Casseroles will put up with almost anything– being thrown together last minute; assembled the night before and refrigerated or even wrapped tightly in the freezer, ready when you need to take a dish. Bighearted Casseroles aren’t fussy about when to make an appearance either– they’ll be there Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. There are Classic Casseroles which can grace a fine Brunch, a High Holiday Buffet or a Ladies Luncheon with style in silver carriers- yet notbe snobbish when a Bighearted Casserole is taken to a new mother, a sick friend or as part of a backyard picnic. I wish I had a nickel for every time aCasserole has saved the day for me, like the Campbell’s Chicken Casserole below.
No doubt every culture in the world has it’s own version of a ‘one pot’ meal …yet Southern women have elevated the Bighearted Casserole to an art form; Campbell’s Soup benefitted enormously from our Love of Casseroles- many Savory Casseroles use Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Chicken soups. In fact, you can tell if a Southern Lady has been tasting too many Casseroles if her ankles are swollen from the high sodium content. No one wants to admit they like Green Bean Casserole with canned fried onion rings, Poppy Seed Chicken with crushed Town House crackers or even a Tuna Casserole topped with Golden Flake Potato Chips. We do sneak around andeat them every chance we get! Ritz crackers got rich on Bighearted Casseroles! So many Casseroles have crumbled Ritz crackers on top- ‘Puttin’ on theRitz’ takes on a whole new meaning. Alabama’s colorful former governor, Big Jim Folsom once stopped late at night and ate a concoction that consisted of long simmered turnip greens, hog jowl and was topped off with canned onion rings. When someone asked the name of the dish- Big Jim spoke up and said, ‘It’s called ‘Ain’t Mad at Nobody Casserole’…that’s how you feel when you’ve eaten a Bighearted Casserole, so soul satisfying, it’s hard to be mad at anybody!
Fruit Casserolesare Bighearted enough to be a delicious side for Baked Ham or Roast Turkey and can even fill in as a delicious dessert. If you have never had a Pineapple Cheese Casserole- well you missed something truly good. Topping our list here at Camellia’s Cottage is the re-discoveredApricot Casserole, which my grandmother made. She adored apricots, fresh, dried or canned. Apricot Fried Pies, a jar of re-hydrated Dried Apricots smeared on her famous Sharp Cheese Toast was the best breakfast I recall as a child. Fresh Apricots topped off Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. A bowl of Canned Apricots made a good everyday side- At Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas, Mimi’s Apricot Casserolewas divine. Simple to make, complex in flavor- I hope you’ll try it. For Apricot Casserole you will need:
1 stick of butter (melted) plus more to butter a 9×9 Pyrex dish
3 – 16oz cans of apricots- well drained (but not rinsed)
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar firmly packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
One sleeve of Ritz Crackers crushed- (I often crush about 6-8 additional crackers)
Method– Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
Add crushed Ritz Crackers to this mixture. Blend well.
Pour melted butter over crumbled Mixture to gently combine.
In a well buttered 9×9 Pyrex dish, layer one can of apricots face side down (as shown above )
Cover with 1/3 of the sugar/cracker/butter mixture.
Repeat with second can of drained apricots, then top with mixture.
Repeat again with third can of drained apricots and finish with the rest of the sugar/cracker/butter mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes until brown and bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature as a Side Dish as shown in opening photograph- Or as a deliciousdessert, served warm with whipped cream! (Shown below)
Your Waistline is practically guaranteed to get Thick but it is highly unlikely that your Ankles will Swell with Apricot Casserole.
See just how Bighearted a Casserole can be! From sweet and fruity to savory and warm…they’re UmUm Good! Let me know what your favorite Bighearted Casserole is!
Love y’all, Camellia
Photograph of Chicken Casserole was credited to Campbell’s Soup on AOL images- Golden Flake Potato Chips are made right here in Alabama! The other photographs are straight from Camellia’s Cottage Test Kitchen – 🙂
Southern women are sensitive about Southern Trees. We’ve been known to tell architects they cannot add onto that side of the house because, well- it would mean cutting down a beloved tree. Against all advice to contrary, Southern women have said a tree cannot be cut down- ‘ Just build the porch around it, and you better make sure the opening in the floorboards are bigenough for that tree to grow!’ Perfectly reasonable to me. Selling property in the South? The best selling points for Southern Real Estate are:
Double Wide Mobile Home with nice wooded lot
Lake House with great views of the lake and nice wooded lot.
Farm has pasture land and nice wooded area surrounding the farmhouse.
If the wooded lot you’re selling has a Magnolia Tree on it, that ups the value of the property immensely. We Southern ladies don’t talk about it much – but there are women who fiercely protect their Magnolia Trees. The pitiful women who don’t have Magnolia Trees have been known to beg,borrow or steal Magnolia Leaves especially during the holidays or for special occasions– a wedding, funeral or open house. The lucky women who own Magnolia Trees have been known to get put outand even stingy with their Magnolia leaves!
I guess you could say- we’re tree proud. I made a list recently of the different types of Southern Trees we have in our yard. Dogwoods, Redbuds, Glory Bower, Red Oak, White Oak, Pin Oak, Water Oak,Hackberry, Sweetgum, Poplar, Elm and Black Walnut- Southern Yellow Pines and the darkly mysterious common Cedar Tree. My grandmother always said to get rid of Cedar Trees because ‘When a cedar tree gets tall enough to shade your grave, you’ll die’…How she knew this I’ll never know- but I believed her. My husband thinks that’s an old wives tale but he did remove a Cedar Tree because it was getting in the way of a Dogwood I wanted him to save. Bless his heart.
South Alabama has the big bearded beauties, Live Oaks- Southerners have been known toexperience deep grief, especially when a Live Oak is damaged or dies. Live Oaks are the stuff movies are made of- the story has been told that a famous actress came south to do a movie and the setting was laced with Live Oaks- it was rumored the actress thought we did that just for her! We have renowned hospitality, but humans didn’t do that for her- the Southis just blessed with Live Oaks dripping with Spanish Moss.
What we don’t tell folks who aren’t from around here- If you want to collect Spanish moss as a souvenir- before you get home you’ll have chigger bites all over! Henry Ford once had the bright idea to stuff his car cushions with the abundance of Spanish Moss found in Alabama- only to discover those pesky chiggers were a big problem. For Southern folks who are still looking up North for their valuables…they think chigger bites are a fitting punishment for thieves who try to confiscate our Spanish Moss!
Southern women are more apt to forgive our Trees of theirshortcomings than we are of other infractions that come our way. We never forgiveHurricanes- male or female- for taking down our Southern Trees. Frederick, Rita, Ivan, and that hateful girl Katrina, we will never forgive you.
Yet if our Southern Tree roots break up a driveway or a sidewalk, well- ancestors have been known to break up and make things interesting too. It’s part of who we are- our roots are important. We make the necessary adjustments. If a tree grows crooked, lays an arm on the grass or we have to make a path skirt around a family tree- that’s what you do for your folks. You make allowances, you put up with a bit of a mess- pesky squirrels, tassles, colorful fallen leaves, prickly cones, burrs and bonafide Nuts. Southern Trees are like eccentric relatives, colorful kinfolks and outright Nuts- they’re the stuff our legends are made of
.
Some trees are clannish–
Pines stand together swaying and whispering
Dogwoods clump together in their lacy dresses like Sorority Girls
Redbuds circle up- conspiring to bloom where they are planted. Stubborn enough to bloom for just a brief few weeks in the Spring.
We love our trees. Southern trees bloom, Shade us from the hot summer sunshine, Spread their branches to cradle nests while the squirrels are acting like nuts. Hickory trees give their lives so we can have that pit barbeque we so love. Trees let us hang a swing or spread out quilts for a snooze, a picnic or a family photograph. We’re as tree proud as any folks I know. Our roots spread out and run deep. We like it that way, nuts, squirrels, skeeters, chiggers and all.
Love y’all, Camellia
Thanks to Jeremy Miniard for the photographs of beautiful homeplaces in Alabama. Thanks to Denis for her photographs of the hauntingly beautiful Live Oaks.
‘You’re lookin’ a little dry, darling’…When a friend interrupts you to say that, well it’s time to take a look in the mirror, Cinderella. Actually, when summer ends and Septemberbegins… we all may be lookin’ a little dry. Where is that Ponce de Leon when we need him? He came South looking for the Fountain of Youth and left us with just part of it- Water. Drinking water is one of the easiest and best ways- internally– to keep skin looking good.
After years of working in fragrance and cosmetics- I hope you will look at your skincare, makeup and even sunscreen products- if these three are at the top of the list of ingredients:
Water
Mineral Oil
Alcohol
You need to re-think what you are putting directly on your skin. I can just feel y’all running to look at the labels! All three will dry out the skin. You need to have something as a barrier between the skin and those ingredients. So what to do? The simple answer is this- for aging skin in particular– Our grandmothers were right to clean their complexions with coldcream or even lard. Toss facial soaps and commercial face cleansers unless your skin is very oily. Home remedies– right out of our pantries, may actually be better and healthier for aging skin. Facial skin is delicate and thins as we age. Olive Oil would be my cleanser of choice and a natural barrier between your skin, makeup and even sunscreen– all may contain harsh chemicals. Olive Oil has amazing properties-
Packed with good fatty acids
Vitamins and Minerals
Absorbs into the Skin quickly with no Residue
Has Powerful Antioxidants
Helps maintain Elasticity
Now if any of you have underwear with the elastic waistband stretched out…well you get the picture. Aging skin gets fine lines, is crepe-y and sags. I know, it’s depressing. Nourishing it with Olive Oil is a good start.
Soybean Oil is another good option-it also absorbs into the skin quickly and while it doesn’t have the power of Olive Oil- it does contain Plant Based Estrogen which is another good thing for aging skin. Mix the two together and you have a very good makeup remover and all purpose face and body product. Besides, it’s biblical to anoint yourself with oil!
Now- as skin ages, it doesn’t renew as quickly- so if we can give it a little help with exfoliation– the skin will look better almost immediately. Let me tell you a little story…I had a customer years ago- who was in her early 70’s, she obviously could buy any products- she bought $250 bottles of fragrance without batting one of her adorable eyelashes; but she never bought our face and body products. She had beautiful skin. She would just politely decline, as any refinedSouthern Lady knows how todo.
I couldn’t stand it…curiosity was killing this cat. One day I asked her what she used on her beautiful skin- She told me she used what her plastic surgeon told her to use…Not to be deterred I said, ‘You don’t look like you’ve had any ..ah- hem…work done!‘ She had an eyelift, but nothing else. Long story short – it wasn’t a product- it was a recipe! Basically a combination of the two oils I have just shown you- Soybean and Olive Oil.
Mix it 2/1 ratio of Soybean to Olive Oil. If you don’t need the Estrogen, use straight Olive Oil. I became a firm believer in her all natural skincare product. Still, because aging skin doesn’t renew as quickly as it once did- an all natural exfoliant will get you started. Using some information I had garnered from working with skincare- including several ‘allnatural’ lines- I came up with this one- straight from the pantry. It is powerful and is not tobe used on a daily basis but just to get you started turning over those old dead skin cells! Here’s my Heavy Duty September Salted Skin Scrub–
1/4 cup of Mild Pure Olive Oil (this does not have to be an expensive olive oil)
1/4 cup of Soybean Oil
2-3 Tablespoons of Granulated Non-Fat Milk Powder
1 Tablespoon Black Hawaiian Lava Sea Salt- you can use Epsom Salts in place of the Black Sea Salt
1 -2 Tablespoons of Fine Sea Salt
Zest of one medium size Lemon and-
The Juice of one half of the Lemon
Combine these to make a paste, mine looked gray because of the black lava salt.
Blend thoroughly until it has a thick paste texture. Let it sit for a few minutes, while I explain the benefits of the other ingredients beyond the Olive Oil and Soybean Oil-
The coarse natural salts are what make this a heavy duty scrub, not recommended for daily use but to kickstart the turnover of skin cells! Black Sea Salt has a larger grain than the Sea Salt, as does Epsom Salts, if you choose to use that instead. Salts–
Exfoliate
Bring Moisture to Surface of the Skin
Plumps the Skin naturally
Kills Bacteria
Encourages Skin Regeneration
Reduces Inflammation
Lemon zest is where the Essential Oil of the Lemon resides, and it adds another texture to exfoliate- it is powerful stuff! The Zest and Lemon Juice-
Shrink Open Pores
Tighten Skin Tissue
Increase Skin Elasticity
Brighten the Skin
Lightens Age Spots
Evens Skin Tone
Reduce Fine Lines and Wrinkles.
Granular Powdered Dry Milk is another powerhouse! The texture of the granular dry milk is part of the exfoliant. Milk is another powerful ingredient to use topically, you won’t believe all it can do. Even Cleopatra knew Milk was good for the skin! Here’s what she may not have known, bless her heart! Milk is-
A Natural Source of Vitamin D
Hydrates and Softens Skin
Contains Mild Alpha Hydroxy Acid properties
Reduces Appearance of Aging
Lightens Age Spots
Repairs Sun Damage
Complete Protein with Calcium and Potassium
Contains all 21 Amino Acids
Alright ladies, start your September Skincare! Here’s the Method:
Cleanse the face and neck with a tissue dipped in Olive Oil-
Take a small amount of the Heavy Duty Scrub-
Starting on the forehead, working down the face, over the nose-
Avoiding the delicate tissues around the eyes!
Moving across the upper lip and around the mouth, chin and down the neck-
Scrub lightly!! Use circular motions- gently scrub
Then let the oils absorb into the skin before removing the residue with a Warm Damp Cloth.
Your skin will feel tingly and lightly damp.
With a clean tissue, apply a fine coating of Olive Oil.
When it absorbs – you will love the way your skin feels! Refrigerate the excess scrub, it will stay fresh about 3 days. I plan to use it again on the third day and wait another month or so and do it again. Men can also benefit from this all natural scrub! Feel free to use the rest of the scrub when you shower as a body scrub! Now, drink your water, anoint yourself with oil, scrub occasionally – then you won’t look dry. That’s straight from Ponce de Leonetta! As a bonus for those of you have read all of this- Listen to that good ol’ boy who could use a little Heavy Duty Skin Scrub himself….none other than WillieNelson, singing September Song. It’s a good reminder to take care of ourselves and the ones we love- for the days do really go by from May til September…
You should know the difference between looking Tacky or being Tastefully dressed almost from birth in the South. Southern Mothers take it as a personal insult if the children aren’t dressed right. You will hear things like:
Camellia's Cottage 