Sweet as Vinegar Pie

I love to cook. I know, you are shocked (so is my husband if he's reading this). But I really do love it. The big problem is that I learned at the knee of my grandmother, who was an inspired Southern Cook. She was the kind of person who always "forgets" to write down all the ingredients in a recipe, because its a handfull of this and a pinch of that, plus a secret ingredient that you don't ever get to know unless you sat there and watched her cook. And did I mention that she cooked for the multitudes? Five kids plus various cousins, friends, or whoever else dropped by for dinner. A whole church full of people on Wednesday Nights. She didn't know how to cook for one or two people. This is the excuse I use for not cooking. That and the fact that it is so expensive to get fresh ingredients in the 'burbs!

The other thing she taught me is to have pride in myself as a woman. Yes, she was old fashioned Southern (read: Men go to work and women stay home and raise babies if at all possible). I know in this day and age it is very antiquated and not very practical (and I'm so thankful that I had my mom to balance out the practicality and women's lib :). But there are lessons that those old fashioned Southern women could teach us modern, overworked superwomen. Things I intend on teaching my daughter along with how to become the most fabulously successful whatever she wants to be when she grows up.

I was looking for a recipe for alfredo sauce in my grandmother's cookbook (of which I inherited one of many), and I found a paper on which I had taken notes from a book I read while I was working at Southern Living Magazine. It embodies everything my grandmother believed in as a Southern Lady. See the link to the left of my column.

There is a section (I believe in chapter three) talking about an old popular southern dessert called vinegar pie. Ever heard of it? I'm going to make it, I'll let you know how it turns out...but I digress. Basically, Ronda is educating her readers about the importance and success of couching criticism in compliments, which I have always been a huge fan of. Let me paraphrase and add in my tidbits for example:

For every bad thing you say to (or think about!) someone, say three nice things.

It isn't WHAT you say, but HOW you say it.

Southern women (as in Southern Ladies) believe that there is good in everyone. We quickly find that good and comment on it.

Try it this week. Find someone you don't know very well, or even someone you haven't gotten along with in the past, and compliment them on something. It can be their hair, shoes, accessories, laugh, smile, eyes. Don't lie, be sincere. If you can't find anything to compliment, then you just need to pay more attention. Do this every day for a week. I guarantee you will benefit from it in the way you feel about yourself. And check out this book. I know it's a little old now, but some books are timeless, and I promise that every woman will benefit!