A certain type of Southern lady may be thought to be snobbish because she only joins small groups such as sewing circles, book clubs, altar guild or exclusive clubs with limited memberships. I’m here to dispel this ugly rumor. It’s not really about being exclusive, it’s more to do with her ancestor’s obsession concerning proper thank you notes!
Recently, a southern mother was deeply concerned when her daughter signed up for speed dating…‘Marybelle, what were you thinking? Yes, darling I certainly want you to find a suitable match but speed dating? Just think of how many thank you notes you’ll have to write to find Mr. Right?’ Okay. I made that up but it could happen.
Southern mothers do belong to one large group- the one which is simply horrified that cursive writing is no longer part of the curriculum. Penmanship speaks volumes. Fine penmanship, eloquent sentiments and a unique signature spell Culture with a capital C. Sloppy handwriting, fill in the blank notecards, preprinted sayings with a signature which has reverted away from fine cursive writing, not to mention being struck through with mistakes, misspellings and has ink blobs, well…this just reeks of being low and uncouth.
Actually I’m exaggerating a bit here…today’s southern mothers are willing to accept neatly penned and simply worded notes of any kind as long as it’s not mass produced, pre-printed or electronic. Shiver. And! The best southern mothers try to make sure their offspring- male or female- stays well stocked with suitable stationary, pens and notecards with proper envelopes… Some mothers have even stooped so low as to include postage stamps. Save the precious children the price of a postage stamp and remember – metered postage is tacky. So are pre-printed well wishes, sympathy or thank you notes which only require a signature. Tacky is not an image builder. While monogrammed or personalized stationary is preferred- nice blank notecards are suitable for informal notes.
If the all occasion blank notecards are hand embellished- well, it’s better…anything that has a personal touch is acceptable when engraved is simply too formal. I personally received a box of beautiful notecards as a Christmas gift, also I had picked up several packages of informal blank notecards during the past year. With snippets of ribbons found while I was putting away holiday packaging, I decided a bit of embellishment was in order for the thank you notes I still need to write- in my cursive writing of course. Using a paper hole punch placed in strategic locations, I threaded ribbon and even hem tape through the holes and tied them in cute bows.
That’s all there is to it. Still. I think they’re just precious. Oh my, how I do run on..Now. While I’m at it… and though it’s electronically transmitted– I hope my image won’t suffer too much for saying ‘Thank you’ to all y’all who have graciously followed this crazy blog in the last three years! You’ve made it so much fun for me, I hope we can continue to bring good things to your inbox in 2019 and hey! We’d appreciate it if you’d tell your friends about us too!
Love y’all, Camellia
*All photographs are obviously mine.
*The hole punch I use is from a scrapbooking kit, however what you may need to embellish your own notecards is a hole punch with a longer reach than standard hole punchers – like this McGill 2″ reach craft punch from Amazon
Since New Year’s Eve is known as a time for fireworks and tooting your own horn…we decided to take a look back and see what posts y’all seemed to like best before we declare in the very best southern fashion- ‘That’s all she wrote’ for 2018. To be honest, we were amused to see which ones they were… Given that there’s a whole slew of them… why choose the Top Five? Well, the number five is symbolic of Grace… We consider the fact that you read Camellia’s Cottage- a true measure of grace on your part with every single post-you don’t have to read what we write, when you do- well, it’s a kind and gracious thing to do. Also, our mission statement for writing all of this for nearly three years is to present ‘the wit and wisdom, the graciousness and generosity, artistry and beauty of southern people’ to still be relevant today as it was when we first began. Then, there is a grace note in music- where you have an extra note…give a little extra trill than the score of music called for- we hope to always give you just a little bit more than you expected- a funny story along with a recipe, a beautiful photograph to accompany a project even a bit of trivia or history in our travels along the way. So, without further ado… here’s the New Year’s Eve countdown of the top 5 posts for 2018… Drumroll please…
Coming in at Number 5 is none other than Cookbook Therapy… in which I regale my love of reading cookbooks as literature in addition to recipes of course… Find this humor piece at 
In 4th place is one of my personal favorites- Going Away Outfits… which recounts the… dare I say, ‘old custom’ when a bride’s trousseau included a suit or nice dress to wear when leaving for the honeymoon! I totally enjoyed this because it includes some very good friends who were very good sports for sharing photographs! Find this one at 
In 3rd place for 2018 was a post actually written in 2017 about a southern girl with Alabama ties- whose become a quite famous actress, none other than Sandra Bullock! This post is about a type of Southern lady whom gentlemen tend to admire, entitled – Smart Sassy and Southern… I totally enjoyed sharing this one with you but was also totally floored that it was in the top 5! Find it at 
Now, I have to admit I thought y’all loved my grandmother’s cooking and our recipes best of all, however, only one recipe post made the top 5 in 2018! Of course it was a post called Mimi’s Fried Chicken! I shouldn’t be surprised because fried chicken is almost synonymous with Southern Cooking! Find our Number 2 at 
In First Place– now really I shouldn’t be surprised at this one- Sinking Spells… This post was also written in 2017 and consistently it has spoken to women all over the place, though I thought originally that Sinking Spells were particular to the South! Find Sinking Spells – our number one post for 2018 at 
Holiday Parties are rarely sit down affairs… the best gatherings are winter buffets with pickup foods that are easy to pick up and eat and if utensils aren’t required that’s even better! I hope it goes without saying that I love Southern Food. While we generally have iconic pick up foods on hand such as cheese straws, deviled eggs, pimento cheese, toasted pecans, ham biscuits and even tea sandwiches with simple fillings can be assembled in just a few minutes. Still. Some of my favorite southern foods don’t exactly come in pick up form. Southern flavors like sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese and so many wonderful casseroles. My personal favorite is Squash Casserole; made with summer squash and yellow onions steamed together- bound by eggs and cheese into a wonderful dish that is beloved by all, but certainly not a dish that’s easy to serve for a Winter Buffet. Several years ago, we hosted a party which highlighted southern foods– specifically local cheeses, produce, even preserves, nuts, fruits and honey. A few years later, I decided to have a party at home with even more of my personal southern favorites- Pickled Shrimp to Ham Biscuits to Banana Pudding, Pound Cake and Fried Pies… For this party, I experimented with a sheet pan frittata – which I called Summer Squash Squares. To be honest, I wanted to include foods that made the buffet taste like a sit down dinner. That meant getting creative with the taste of a casserole in pickup form!
Summer Squash Squares were a personal favorite for me that night and I think the guests enjoyed it too! Easy to make, good hot or at room temperature and best of all- no forks required! Here’s how you make a Pick up Food with a Southern Flair!
Summer Squash Squares were served here at the cottage in 2018 for Thanksgiving and transported well as my contribution to a Christmas gathering which was a Winter Buffet, and the name was shortened to Squash Bites! Easy, pretty and quick enough to make for a New Year’s Eve party, a casual football party and would even be appropriate for a bereavement buffet. During the upcoming chilly and dreary months ahead…why not have a few friends over for a Sunday Supper or a Winter Buffet? Okay, okay… I know folks are ready for a break from holiday food now… but surely there will be those days when we just wish the fog would lift! And a Winter Buffet may be just the answer for lifting the spirits and a good excuse to gather again!
We’ve been busy in the kitchen making Christmas sweets and treats! At the same time, we’re in the process of making some much needed renovations to this site – Camellia’s Cottage! Still. Here’s what we’ve been up to- There’s Classic Christmas Fudge-
If you’ve visited any great southern cities, particularly coastal cities such as Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans – chances are you’ve been drawn into a Praline Shop. We southerners call this sweet confection – Praw-leens, we’ll know right away you aren’t from the south if you call them Pray-leens. Since we’ve gotten the correct pronunciation out of the way, let me just say, however you pronounce Pralines, you will either love them or say- they’re too sweet! Eat enough pralines in your lifetime and you will become a praline critic- I complain that some pralines are too grainy- the sugar isn’t smooth enough or sometimes the pecans aren’t toasted enough to suit me. Yet even as I criticize- I will stand there and eat a praline until all of the sugary morsel is gone… Every. Single. Time. Why is the South so famous for Pralines?
