My Appalachian Elegy

Have you ever considered how the place where you grew up continues to shape you, even if you’ve moved far away and never returned? With the recent announcement of a Vice-Presidential Candidate from Ohio with roots in Kentucky, much discussion has centered around his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. I read the book and watched the Netflix docu-drama adaptation. Opinions about it are polarized; some love it, others hate it. Many of my friends, who also have deep Southern Appalachian roots, have strong feelings about it. If nothing else, it has sparked some great discussions.

Having grown up in the mountains of Appalachia, I understand the term “hillbilly” in a way not everyone does. Some parts of Hillbilly Elegy resonated with me, while others did not. I’ve also lived in various parts of the country, and I believe some of the themes in Hillbilly Elegy—poverty, dysfunctional family dynamics, addiction issues, and educational challenges—are not unique to Appalachia. This is an important point to make. Similarly, strong family connections are not exclusive to the region nor are they present in every Appalachian family.

My Appalachian family wasn’t wealthy or impoverished,  large, or particularly close-knit, though I knew many who were. My parents weren’t uneducated nor scholars. Our family has faced struggles with addiction, but it didn’t touch my life directly. My personal hillbilly elegy would be quite different. This is the challenge when an individual’s story is seen as representative of a larger group.

Despite my Appalachian roots, most of my adult life has been spent far from those hills and the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’m now a flatlander, more coastal than mountain. The cultures are as much the same as they are different, and my ears are more accustomed to the Carolina Low Country drawl than the twang of my mountain roots. I have moments when I deeply miss my hometown, lifelong friends, and the region. But I also cherish seeing Spanish moss blowing in the breeze or a palm tree against a Carolina blue sky. These experiences are equal parts of who I am, blending to shape my identity.

Yes, the deep, unique, and rich culture of Appalachia is part of my soul, but it’s mixed with so many other life experiences. None of us can fully claim to know all the facets of what it means to be a hillbilly.

Signed, Southern Flatland Mountain Girl

Things We Surrender: A Lowcountry Novel by Heidi Hostetter - My Thoughts

I just finished up Things We Surrender: A Lowcountry Novel by Heidi Hostetter and I have to admit the cover of the book drew me in.  I was hot off Karen White's Tradd Street series when I saw this and I was still in a Charleston mood.  When am I not in a Charleston mood? 

I have read one prior book of Ms. Hostetter, The Inheritance, so her move to Charleston  interested me.  Honestly, I have a hard time not loving a book set where my heart loves, in the South Carolina Low Country. Things we Surrender follows a family of strong females (family by blood and friendship) as they rediscover their bonds and begin to heal from a lifetime of hurt and misunderstandings. It was a good start but I will be looking for a sequel as the author does leave a wide door at the end for an adventure for some Southern Belle's in Rome!

For a quick fun, read this is definitely worth picking up.

The Guests on South Battery (Book 5 from the Tradd Street Series) by Karen White - My Thoughst

I told you I have been reading again and completely understanding why I used to love it so very much.  It is the BEST escape from the world.  I can't watch a movie or television show and get the same escape.  Give me a good book and some time and I am truly in heaven.

This past week I dove back into the Tradd Street Series with the only book in the series I hadn't read.  Several years ago, when I was part of a book club, we read through this series up to the point there were no more books to read. So, imagine my excitement when I saw there was an addition to the series.

First, I should say I really like Karen White, as a writer, but I have liked some of the Tradd Series books more than others.  I liked ALL of them because they are set in the one city I have never lived in but have a great homesickness for....Charleston, South Carolina.  Normally I also don't read much that involves ghosts and spirits but these books have been an exception because I really like the history that is usually sprinkled in to spice the story lines up.  The Guest on South of Battery did not disappoint and actually finally, after four other books, began to warm my heart to the protagonist, Melanie Trenholm.

Though, Melanie is the main character of the series she was pretty much my least liked character and her peripheral characters, often in the form of ghosts or spirits who had lost their way, endeared the series to me. With this book Melanie was finally developed a with a bit more dimension and I think maybe I misjudged her.  IF you love the Low Country, beautiful, historic homes and, of course, Charleston and a ghost story or two...this just might be the series for you!

The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe - My Thoughts

There was a time when I regularly did (and got paid) to do book reviews, but then a season arrived where I kind of stopped reading.  Yep, literally quit reading - at least for pleasure.  I think being back in school didn't help that as I spent a lot of time reading for school and not entertainment.  Last weekend, though, I picked up a book I had for along while but not read.  The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe just happened to be laying on my desk and calling my name.  Well, I now remember why I used to read so much...it is the best escape.  I will not forget that anytime soon. So here is my first (free) offering on a book....

I have always like Mary Alice Monroe and this book had enough information interwoven into the story about Monarch Butterflies that I now have a new interest in butterflies, much like I gained an interest in bee keeping after reading  Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees!  Weird?  Probably, but hey I love odd facts especially if you can weave some mystery and good story telling around them. 

Although The Butterfly's Daughter does weave lovely stories about butterflies in this story, it doesn't come close to the emotional pull of many of Monroe's other works .  The main character, Luz, just isn't developed enough to get invested in fully nor are any of the other characters, except possibly one who actually dies early on in the story.  It was an enjoyable read, because I like reading, but over all it wasn't Mary Alice Monroe's best offering by far.  Honestly, each turn in the book just left me hanging.  It was as if I needed more of the multiple story lines before the author was off dragging the shallow main character into another. In the end....I was just left feeling like I was read a book that wasn't finished. It was disappointing,  as I kept feeling like at any moment I was going to find the page that wouldn't let me put the book down, but it never came.  That being said, I know I will continue to follow Monroe as an author and look forward to reading another of her books where her characters have more depth and puts her talent as a writer more fully on display.

Summer Reading...

One of my greatest loves, from as long as I can remember, is reading.  I was a voracious reader growing up and loved the every 2 week stop of the bookmobile at my house (yes, we really had a bookmobile!)  I  have been schooled, stretched and molded by the books that were my friends through life. 

Sadly, though, as I entered into a prolonged dark season I lost my ability to read for pleasure.  The one thing that was a guaranteed escape for me emotionally and physically seemed to disappear. Although, I still loved books, I was lucky to get through a magazine article.  I read, for work, but hadn't read anything for pure pleasure in a very long time...until this week.

Tonight I finished my first pleasure read in probably almost 3 years.  It was a strange feeling to come to the end of my book and realize how much I had missed losing myself in the pages of a novel.  So, maybe the bookmobile won't be around anytime soon but I can't wait to dig into the pages of something new!

What a long 2 weeks it has been...

I have to say the last two weeks have seemed incredibly long to me...as if someone stuck an extra four days in the middle of each one.  We started last week on a high note with a fun Memorial Day Celebration.  I love having a house full of friends and family and it was a wonderful way to start the week...then work happened.

Not to say that I don't love my job, because I do, but when you try to cram 5 days of work into 4 it never seems to work.  Not to mention, I got some very good, positive news from work last week but that same very good, positive news also has made my mind practically explode as I try to wrap my mind around what it means for my career.  Honestly, had I know this change was coming, I would have taken a couple of days off after Memorial Day to just clear out the filing cabinet in my head!  Now, I am flying by the seat of my pants and trying to organize twice as much as before.  Luckily I work with a great team of women who are supportive and I am leaning hard on their experience and expertise! I also have a very good friend who is literally an organizing guru and I shall be "borrowing" some of their time for literal organizing.

This past weekend flew by #1 because I worked an event for my job on Saturday morning (and also picked up 2 gorgeous original art pieces that I need to share in another post) and my little guy was sick on Sunday.  He was also sick on Monday with a fever and just felt bad all over so that kind of threw me into a funk and started the week on shaky ground.  Thankfully, today he seems back to his 150% self.  It is a challenge I am still not quite comfortable with when either of my boys is sick and I have to work.  That is my #singlemom  challenge I think...well, that and figuring out just when to grocery shop. 

So, chalk this up to the most boring blog post ever but the past week or so have been crammed full of work, house cleaning, sleeping, work, church, the boys, cooking, laundry and a plethora of other "exciting" things!  I promise my next post will be more fun...maybe about my recent trip to Kiawah Island and my first trip to the magical Angel Oak on James Island? 

I have done some good reading this past week, though, which is rare in my life these days.  It seems since my world changed a few years ago I lost the ability to read a book. Books have always been an escape for me and I am so happy to finally be able to lose myself in one again.  Though right now, I seem to have several going at once!  Oh, and I can no longer stay up all night reading...this whole grow up working girl thing has cut into that.  :-)

Here's to a week filled with smiles and days sprinkled with sparkles!

Geneva, A Memoir by Her Daughter

I was privileged to receive a copy of fellow blogger, Ellen Thompson Shook's first book in the mail a few weeks ago.  Ellen blogs at Scribbler Unfocused and in her 1st book she explores her family history and focuses on her mother, Geneva.  Like many Southern families, Shook's family story is so closely interwoven with food I don't know that you could separate the two.  We in the South, love through food, and along with the family history and lovely vintage family photographs there is quite a collection of recipes that Geneva used.  Some of the recipes are the same ones that I grew up with (as did many children of the South) but revisiting them is always a delight!  

Shook says of her Mother, "Geneva was never the easiest person to get along with.  Certainly, she did not suffer fools gladly.  Many, many times we locked horns, but usually she never stayed mad for very long. The happiest times when I was growing up were spent in the kitchen watching her cook."

One of my favorite parts of Shook's work is the  the description of her  Mother's kitchen.  "The kitchen walls were painted blue and yellow to match the floor -- blue on the bottom and yellow on the top -- with high gloss enamel paint (scrubbable).  We kept the ancient gas stove which you and to light with a match.  That relic even went with us when we moved years later.  We also had a little fridge that came out of Noah's Ark til 1957 when we got a new Hotpoint with a separate freezer on top. In an alcove over next to the pantry, which was behind our kitchen table, resided the old arcola coal burning furnace which kept those radiators sizzling hot and us toasty warm.  our kitchen was the cosiest place imaginable on God's green earth......"  Now, that just makes me want to go back to my grandma's kitchen! 

Find out more about Ellen at: Scribbler Unfocused

It has been almost 5 years!

Can you believe it?  Southern Somedays has been around for almost 5 years.   What started as a lark, became a hobby and led to some interesting opportunities (both personally and professionally) and introduced some very special friends into my life.  So, I am getting ready to celebrate my "blogversary" and putting together a very special giveaway for April!  I am gathering some goodies that I think represent me and Southern Somedays and it will include a signed copy of Nesting, It's a Chick Thing (I know that will get some of you VERY excited!)...and, of course, lots of pretty pink and green fun! 

So, keep checking back because I am so excited about this giveaway!   I should have something up very soon.

Southern Lit, Pick of the Week: I Love You - Now Hush by Melinda Rainey Thompson & Morgan Murphy

Don’t you love a good mixed gender dinner party? You know the great ones, where you sit around the table and conversation flits to and fro, full of hilarious, truthful, and sometimes surprising perspectives? That is what reading I Love you - Now Hush by Melinda Rainey Thompson and Morgan Murphy is like. When I finished this book I felt as if I had been sitting around having a wonderful party with friends.

These two authors dish it up in a comedic blend of “she said/he said”. Both are true Southerners who feel the roots of Southern culture deeply. They have a ball discussing how Southern culture impacts gender relations. I mean, there are even opposing essays on swearing! See, I told you it was interesting.

Melinda Rainey Thompson has written 2 other books, SWAG: Southern Women Aging Gracefully (see my review here: SWAG: Southern Women Aging Gracefully) and The SWAG Life. She loves her a little Southern with a big side of sass. Morgan Murphy has written for Forbes, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and was formerly on the editorial staff of Southern Living). He is a true Southern gentlemen with a dry wit and is the epitome of what we would all like our little Southern Gents to become. I knew he was my kind of man when he wrote, “Casual Day. Those two words denote the ruination of our civilization, the collapse of all that is good and decent in our land. The unknotting of the necktie will be the unraveling of our social threads, mark my words.” Just makes me swoon!

This post was written as a member of  Southern Mommas Writers

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The Winner is.....

Sues at Castle Blake! 

Visit Sues at Caste Blake

Sues wins the Southern Mommas and Southern Somedays book giveaway for Karen White's latest release, Falling Home!!!  I know you will love it. Congratulations!!!


Sues, please drop me your mailing information so I can get your book out to you (you can leave it in a comment here as I have comment moderation enabled or you can send me a message via Southern Mommas).

GiveAway time is coming!

Please keep an eye out for my up coming giveaway which will be a copy of a new realease from a very popular Southern Aurthor (I have it, but it hasn't hit the shelves yet!!!).  IF you love to read keep an eye out and I will hopefully have it up in the next few days!

Join the Southern Sisterhood!

Southern Lit Pick of the Week: Between The Tides by Patti Callahan Henry

Me with Patti Callahan Henry

I don’t know when I have been more excited to talk about a book than this week. I am so excited because just a few days after I finish Between the Tides by Patti Callahan Henry, I was able to attend a luncheon where she spoke, talked about her writing and I met her in person! When you read someone’s book it is impossible to know the personality that is truly behind the words, so to read a book and then almost immediately meet the author is quite an interesting experience. It was great to hear this author’s thoughts on how writing evolves for her and what several of her books have meant for her personally.

I read Between the Tides in one night. Yes, one night, because a couple of interesting details really drew me in personally…one being a character named Piper. I have a daughter named Piper! Then there was a little boy named Sam, with green eyes. I have a little boy named Sam with green eyes! So, for me, those two coincidences kept me reading until the wee hours of the morning (yes, it was painful dragging out of bed for church the next morning).

Between the Tides is a true Southern novel that is set in the South Carolina Low Country where the main character, Catherine, is tasked with completing her Father’s last wish. She must return to a place that she both loved and hated and come to terms with many mistakes of the past, most of them not hers. This book is a journey of moving into the future by way of the past. We get to walk along as Catherine experiences things she never knew, and things that weren’t what she thought they were, both literally and emotionally. It is an interesting journey to watch the characters make sense of the dark secrets we can all hold in our hearts. Also, this book is filled with interesting personalities but one personality - that of Catherine’s deceased Mother, is one I really would love to know more about. (Hint!!! Great Book Writing Powers That Be…I think there is an entire other book about Mrs. Leary!).

I look forward to reading more of Patti Callahan Henry’s work and meeting more of her characters. Fortunately, at the luncheon was able to pick up her latest release, The Perfect Love Song, which is a Christmas story!. She said she doesn’t plan to become an author that produces regularly scheduled Christmas novels, but I am excited about this one because I love a holiday story to get me prepared for the season. So look for my upcoming impression of this newest release!

This post was written as a member of the Southern Mommas Writers

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Southern Lit., Pick of the Week: Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West

My read for this week was Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West. West is a writer who lives in Tennessee and I had to appreciate that in addition to writing award winning novels, she also blogs at: Designs By Gollum. I love that she blogs about her life, her farmabilities (hey, it is my post and I can make up words if I like!) and her love of dishes and a beautiful home!


I happened upon Mermaids in the Basement last week while browsing around looking for something new to read. I wasn’t on the lookout for anything overly heavy but wanted my Chick-Lit-Fix and I really wanted a new author and West was just the ticket. How could I not like the leading character, Renata? She struggles with her career, weight, a seemingly horrible love life, and bad hair days and has Daddy issues! Oh, and not to mention her mother recently died and there are layers of secrets to be discovered concerning all the important and overlapping issues in her life and family. She has a Sassy Southern Grandmother on the coast of Alabama with a host of those lovely Southern women friends to keep things lively and her Daddy is engaged to marry someone we all know we would hate on sight!

Although, I got off to a slow start with this book, I warmed to it as Renata explored her Mother’s old trunk and opened herself up to the stories of her Grandmother, her Grandmother’s best friend and her lifelong Nanny. She learns who her parents are from more than one perspective and is able to view them from that of an adult, rather than the child who was limited in her vantage point. Sometimes healing comes only after further pain and that is exactly what had to happen to our leading lady in Mermaids in the Basement. But even with some painful themes, it was a fun book, full of Southern eccentricities. I loved how it closed out sharing recipes for some of the foods that were mentioned because we Southern girls know how important the food is in getting through the tough times! So now I am going to be watching for Michael Lee West’s upcoming trilogy. She is currently working on the first book in the series which is called, Gone with a Handsomer Man, which will revolve around a Charleston “cake lady”. I pretty much love anything set in Charleston so this should be fun!

This post was written as a member of the Southern Mommas Writers

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What I am Reading This Week...

This week there has been a bit of a difference in my reading.  I generally love a great fictional novel, particularly a great southern one, but this week I have changed speeds a bit. I am sure all the work around our new house has gotten me off on a tangent and I picked up  Paula Deen's Savannah Style (Paula Deen with Brandon Branch) at the bookstore a few days ago.  Since this book hit the shelves last Spring, I have picked it up, looked through it, walked around the bookstore with it, put it back more times than I can count!  Well, last week I bit the bullet, and bought it because I just kept coming back to it and the gorgeous design ideas inside!  I love the styles represented and I am finding tons of inspiration for my house between the covers. Of course, my resent obsession with Fall and the corresponding layout, helped to push me over the edge (and the book and I to the checkout ).

No endorsement paid, personal opinion only...thank you, very much!

Day to Day...stress?

Recently I was talking with a friend and we were sharing about how things sometimes feel like they get out of control and it seems like it is impossible to get our families back on track.  We weren't talking about major things, but rather those little things that seem to add up and just make the household not run smoothly.  The kind of things that are like little pebbles in your shoe...the ones that you might not even notice at first but after a while you find you can't keep walking.  As wives and moms I think we all can relate and have all had a season (or two) that we felt overwhelmed and just at a loss as to how to live the life we know God desires for us and our families. 

A few years ago, I was deeply lost in one of these seasons and couldn't quite get it together. At some point I heard about this book, Desperate Households - How to Restore Order and Harmony to Your Life and Home by Kathy Peel so I went by the bookstore and picked it up.  It was the balm this family-manager-mom needed to get back on the train (really, it was one of those seasons that I was thinking of bailing on this whole ride!).   I took it with me on a weekend trip and spent an entire day reading it.   It was like a little push in the right direction to help me feel like "yes, I can get things back on track", whereas before I was feeling like there wasn't even a track left anymore! 

So, after this conversation with my friend, I shared this book with her and started glancing through it and realized I could probably benefit from a revisit myself.  It is nice to have a refresher from time to time to keep me loving my job and helping me create a home that truly is a haven for my family and friends from the rough winds of the world. 

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down."

Proverbs 14:1

***no endorsement paid, just sharing!

Summer Reading...

Summer reading is just the best, don't you think?  Well, my sweet friend, Amanda, over at Serenity Now has a blog party going on for great summer reads, and I don't like to be left out of the party so I thought I would jump in.  Please pop over and check out some other great recommendations for indulging in the fine art of Summer reading!

So far this summer I have read:

Now, this is a long awaited book for me.  Charles Martin is currently my favorite author.  I read this in the two days that our movers were at our house in Georgia packing up.  It was a wonderful escape and I actually left it as a "parting gift" for my dear neighbor, Susan.  We are kindred souls when it comes to reading, so I knew she had to share this book with me.  The only sad part is that I won't be there to sit beside her on our front porch rockers and talk about it when she finishes! Trust me, Charles Martin doesn't disappoint with his latest release! 

I also just finished up The Help.  When I first picked this up, I wasn't really feeling it would be all that great, but isn't that just the most wonderful thing about books....surprises lie between the covers.  The Help turned out to be one of the best books I have read in a really long time. 

I also recently read Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt and, though it was a much lighter read than The Help or The Mountain Between Us, it was a good book!  I look forward to seeing more from this writer.

Now on to my "about to read" list:

So, what have you read that has just been wonderful this Summer?

Bookstore EXCITEMENT!

Did you love this?

IF so, now you can be like me and get excited about this....

It has been too many years!

I am not one to pre-order books but this one just made my list!

From Amazon.com:

From the author of The Official Preppy Handbook comes a new take on the old world that Lisa Birnbach turned into an international best-selling phenomenon thirty years ago.

True Prep looks at how the old guard of natural-fiber-loving, dog-worshipping, G&T-soaked preppies adapts to the new order of the Internet, cell phones, rehab, political correctness, reality TV and . . . polar fleece.

A small sample:

• Wardrobe: Recent prep brands we are forced to recognize. How to tell Casual Friday from, say, Saturday.

• Money: We never talk about it.

• Food: Does the Food Network mean we’re going to have to cook? Bake? Now you’re going too far.

• Scandals: Poor Mrs. Astor. When Mummy’s plastic surgery goes terribly wrong. Rehab and the slammer: the new prep schools.

• We’re outta here: When to name something after yourself, and when not. The right obituary. What to do with your dogs if you predecease them.

• NO TEXTING AT THE TABLE, PLEASE.

True Prep promises to be a whole new old sensation.

Pre-order your copy here:  http://www.amazon.com/True-Prep-Its-Whole-World/dp/0307593983/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268841343&sr=8-1

What I am reading Monday...

So, what are you reading right now? I went to the Annual Mother/Daughter luncheon at my church yesterday, and was delighted that the speaker was one of my favorite authors, Ronda Rich (www.rondarich.com ). She has a new book out and I sat down, late yesterday afternoon, and started it. I am loving it already. Her latest is What Southern Women Know About Faith. This is a good one, so if you are looking for a spring time read or need a fantastic Mother's Day gift head out and grab yourself a copy! http://www.whatsouthernwomenknow.com/index.php?page=what-southern-women-know-about-faith

A NON-Christmas post!

Yes, there probably is a law against it but I have a NON-Christmas post today! Well, it might be, sorta a Christmas post...but not really. Anyway, today, I went into the bookstore to pick up a few last minute things and low and behold I stumbled on something for ME (imagine!). I came across Melinda Rainey Thompson's book, SWAG, Southern Women Aging Gracefully and after reading her "10 Ways to know if You're a SWAG" I just had to buy it since I can honestly say I have checked off all 10 (though, that in NO way, indicates that I am aging...THAT is just against my nature, of course!)

Ten Ways to Know if You Are a SWAG

1. You feel the urge to bake a pound cake after reading the obituaries.
2. You have had professional photographs made of your children barefoot and dressed in their Sunday clothes.
3. You believe that cocktail dresses do not double as church clothes.
4. You'd rather have a fight with your husband than with your best friend.
5. You have stolen magnolia leaves, or you know someone who has.
6. You have monogrammed the middle of your shower curtain.
7. You could live without Yankees who equate your accent with a low IQ.
8. You know better than to eat the potato salad at a family reunion.
9. You are socially conditioned to believe that tanned fat looks better than white fat.
10. Your children hide their Easter baskets and Valentine's Day candy from you just in case you have a dieting lapse.

Deals and inspiration!

Target Alert! When I was in there today they were having one of their wonderful "clearing it out" sales and all kinds of pretties could be had for a song! If you have heard my singing you understand the great value of such a sale! Anyway, I picked up these absolutely adorable, gorgeous napkins. I think I am in love and am now contemplating the perfect use of such perfect napkins. What I wouldn't give to find a fabric like these paper napkings...oh, what a cute skirt they would make!!!! They were less that $1 a pack so I picked them all up (sorry, I am not big on sharing). I will definately use one pack as napkins for DD's lunches when school starts to lively up her lunchtime and I am thinking a brunch for the girlfriends would be the other perfect use...hmmm. I think they may become my inspiration pattern...pinks and greens AND paisley.....just gives me the shivers!

Speaking of inspiration, I picked up this really fantastic book last week: Nesting, It's a Chick Thing by Ame Mahler Beanland & Emily Miles Terry. These are the same gals who have that cute site http://www.chickstyle.com. It isn't a new book and has been out for a couple of years but it is just a great little book and would make a perfect wedding or graduation gift. Even though I have been "nesting" practically in an obsessive way for almost 19 years (wow...that is a long time when said like that) I still found it inspiring and motivational and really got some great tips from it.

I love the blurg on the front cover: "100 Tales, 1,000 Tips, and Endless Inspiration for women who seriously play house and garden (and hold pink poker nights)". Here is a great list of things "every chick should have..." in our kitchen according to the authors (Mahler 183):

• "Luxurious hand lotion next to her kitchen sink"


• "A stereo in the kitchen to play tunes that inspire, calm, and cheer"


• "At least one delicious frozen entree' in the freezer--for afternoons or evenings too fun to stand in front of the stove"


• "A well-worn recipe card with a favorite family dish from a grandmother or other cherished relative"


• "Pictures of family and friends on the refrigerator door"


• "Someone to call if you get into a culinary fix"


• "A hidden box or bag of some wonderful junk food"


• "A signature specialty that you can whip up with one arm tied behind your back"


• "Something distinctly 'you' in your kitchen--a frilly apron, an oven mit, or a trivet from a memorable trip"


• "A beautiful bottle or tin of something deliciously refined and gourmet--like a limited-run estate-bottled olive oil or balsamic vinegar, or English tea biscuits in a vintage tin"


• "A neighbor who will lend you an emergency cup of sugar or an egg."