As a transplant to the South, or what some may call a “Yankee”, I treasure my collection of fabulous Southern cookbooks by great Southern chefs. I’ve learned so much through cooking in the South: about how important it is to cook for close friends and cherising the meaningful relationships that are built around the table. Southern cuisine has so much soul that after one bite you can feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I have been one of the lucky ones to receive a copy of Virginia’s new book, “Basic To Brilliant, Y’all” and to be a participant in her virtual food blogger potluck. I had spent one fabulous afternoon in the kitchen with good friend and fellow Birmingham food blogger, Christy Turnipseed. The both of us had a wonderful time cooking a few of Virginia’s new recipes together. Be sure to check out her blog, Life of a Turnip, to see her recipe post.

I’m going to start off by saying two words: Strawberry season. It’s here now in Alabama and it goes by fast so if you’ve yet to take advantage of these perfectly sweet and juicy morsels, then what are you waiting for? I got myself a beautiful gallon from Harvest Farms in Cullman, AL. Harvest Farms is run by Trent Boyd, his wife, and their 8 children. Everything is planted and picked by hand and you can taste and see the difference in their crops. I’ve never had better strawberries, anywhere. That being said, I’ve been doing all I can to use up this gallon in a short amount of time. I’ve made a batch of strawberry Viognier jam, had some tossed in a spinach salad with crumbled blue cheese, and of course in this lattice-topped pie. There’s nothing I love more than baking a pie and sharing it with friends. Pop open a bottle of Prosecco and you’ve got yourself a good evening.

Well hello there. It’s been a while hasn’t it? I’m glad to be back with a brand new SLR camera and a fresh bag of local produce from Owls Hollow Farm! So far, a fresh start (a tad late) to spring. I just love spring here in Alabama. Luckily for us here, it starts around the time when the North gets dumped on with, yet again, another snow storm and only dream of several more months down the road. This year our spring season started in February (aren’t we lucky!). The flowering trees have taken their rotation and with all of the rainstorms we’ve had it’s as lush as ever here in Birmingham. With spring of course comes a foodie’s favorite part, fresh spring produce. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know farmer, Rod Palmer of Owls Hollow through my job. A few months back Rod lost 6 of his greenhouses in an ice storm and I helped set up a benefit for him at Urban Cookhouse, raising around $6,000 to get him back on his feet. In turn, Rod has been so generous to supply me with fresh farm eggs and some of his wonderful spring produce.