grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Savoring February

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savoring february

SAVORING FEBRUARY…

Today is March 1. Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent. In the words of Dr. Seuss, how did it get so late so soon? I believe there’s value in taking a look back. If we aren’t mindful, it’s easy to forget to remember the good. And if you’ve followed me for any period of time, you know I chose SAVOR as my One Little Word for the year. I’m trying my best to savor each day. I crammed lots of good in February 2017.

Savor—to taste, smell, relish, delight in. Doing something slowly.

Savoring FLAVOR…

I’ll start right off with a confession. I didn’t do as well in February as I did in January with my goal of cooking one new recipe each week. Continue Reading

Fitzgerald Museum: how much the heart can hold

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Fitzgerald Museum

Last April, I toured the Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. It’s taken me this long to write about it.

In the Beginning…

They met at a country club in Montgomery, Alabama. Scott was a mid-western boy, a 2nd lieutenant assigned to a nearby infantry. He was a Princeton dropout. Zelda, an uninhibited southern belle, was the seventeen-year-old daughter of a wealthy Alabama Supreme Court Judge.

Zelda needed a husband who could maintain a certain lifestyle. The lifestyle she’d always known.

He was desperate for her. For the wannabe writer, it was love at first sight.

After some urging, they married on April 3, 1920 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, one week after his debut novel, This Side of Paradise, was published.Continue Reading

Dear February,

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Dear February

Dear February,

When I think of you, I remember Valentine’s Day parties with classmates and cards with silly sayings and lots of homemade sugary treats.

I think of heart-shaped boxes—the (now considered) vintage ones covered in lace and satin—boxes that were typically more exciting than the candies inside. I poked my finger into the bottom of each chocolate piece until I found one filled with caramel or nougat or the rare smooth milk chocolate one. Over time I came to realize oval-shaped chocolates were to be avoided at all cost. Oval chocolates were always filled with orange cream and butter fudge and other “old people” flavors.

Flavors that taste good to me now.Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

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