You can't take the south out of the girl

I sat the book down on the table with big crocodile tears welling up in my eyes.  No, the book wasn't a dramatic novel or a true story of love and loss.  It was just a cookbook.

Perhaps I'm the first girl to cry after reading a cookbook but to me it was much more.  It was a reminder of home and everything that makes me who I am.  It was a reminder of everything that I love about growing up in the South.  The book titled Southern My Way  was a birthday gift from my brother and sister-in-law (opened a few days early :)  Southern My Way  was written by a cute blonde named Gena Knox and she, like me, is a Georgia girl. 

Full of dishes that were staples on our table growing up, the book brought back a flood of fond memories.  The salmon croquettes brought back one of the few memories I have of my maternal grandmother.  The fried catfish; memories of my paternal grandmother.  And the unique recipes for butter beans, sweet corn, vidalia onions, biscuits, grits and almost everything else in the book, made me think of my own sweet southern mother who always fed us well.  Mom is the best southern cook I know.

What I also loved about this cookbook (which I already read from cover to cover) were the lovely photos and the stories that Gena included in between the recipes.  Gena tells stories of the people that provide her with fresh ingredients starting with the fruits and veggies on her parents' farm to the grass-fed beef locally produced in a nearby Georgia town.  Everything Gena uses in her kitchen is local and familiar just as it has been for her family for generations.

Maybe its the cold and dreary weather in Luxembourg right now and the question of whether sundress weather will actually arrive this year.  Or, perhaps its the thought of missing mom's birthday and being away for my own.  Maybe its the fact that I can't find grits at the store or a shop that will monogram Alex's new cufflinks to save my life.  But, I must admit that upon the arrival of the cookbook, along with my latest issue of Southern Living magazine in the mail, a little homesickness struck.

Don't get me wrong - I love life in little Luxembourg.  I love the people we've met who have become dear friends.  They will be friends that we have forever.  I love the adventure that I'm having with my husband - its truly a fairytale.  I love the adorable cobblestoned city center just below our flat and that I can get to Paris in 2 hours.  There's not much about this place that I don't love.  There's just also so much to love at home :)

Tomorrow, I will board a plan to Milan with Alex and my latest Southern Living  under my arm.  We're off to Milan to experience our first Italian (and European) wedding.  The 6-day trip will end for us in Lake Como, which is at the foot of the Alps on the Swiss / Italian border and that's where I'll be on my birthday.  I doubt the twinge of homesickness will last very long :)

I'm so blessed to have the chance to experience so much of the world outside of the Southern US but, my roots run deep there and I look forward to being back one day.  It is true what they say: you can take the girl out of the south but you can't take the south out of the girl.  So true.