Nathalie Dupree, My Mother, and a Southern Kitchen of My Own

Like many of my other adventures, this one began with a book. It did not begin with me making some rash decision to start whipping up sugar, flour, and butter in my kitchen. It began with a book that my mother gave to me, like a family treasure, something you hand to someone with a whisper and say, "Now is your time, little one. Follow your dreams."

My mother is not easily impressed. As a child, this led me to sign up for a bevy of extracurricular activities in order to gain her approval. When I quit the volleyball team because I couldn't serve the ball over the net, I was too afraid to tell my mother. Instead, I would wander around my middle school for an hour after classes got out just so she would think I was going to practice. In college, I called my mom when I was accepted to present my thesis at a university in Wisconsin. She told me that was good, but she wasn't about to pay for my airfare (I hadn't even had a chance to ask!). After college, I gave up and left the country. And I'd given up ever since then. 

Until. Oh, until. 

One afternoon, I was talking about making real southern biscuits and selling them, and my mom turned to me and said, "You need to read Nathalie Dupree. You can't do this without researching first." She walked to the kitchen, pulled the cookbook off the shelf, and handed it to me. "Follow her recipes," she said calmly, and went back to watching Entertainment Tonight and completing Wednesday's crossword puzzle. 

And so I've been researching ever since. In fact, Nathalie Dupree has guided me to the most perfect (and easiest) pie crust recipes for my pecan tassies. My mother was right, as she so often is, without saying a word. Maybe now I'll actually be able to impress her. 

... A Southerner's True Love

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa