Guns and Mayonnaise Returns!

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Guns and Mayonnaise

I love visiting my hometown, the Star City of the South, during the summer. The mountains are lush green, the lake water is warm and a cookout is planned every night with music on the front porch. The summertime is a time for visiting, the kids are out of school and the late dawn encourages adults to remember what it’s like to be young, lingering through the evening as long as it promises not to end.

I was planning a visit home when I received a phone call from my first cousin once removed. He said he had a goal to “stay in touch” with family and wanted to know if we could visit when I came down. I really didn’t know this cousin very well. There are 16 years of age between us. When he was born I was torturing my parents, as a good teenager should, and had a falling out with his father, my first cousin –“not sure anybody knows the reason why”– so there was never a chance for me to know this “cuzin” while he was growing up.

Besides possessing common knowledge of family gossip, up until this call I had only had three interactions with him: 1. In my aunt’s driveway upon the insistence of my dad to come down and meet my cousin. I smoked a cigarette with him while he told my dad about his new construction trailer he had bought. My dad beamed with a sense of pride he’d never directed at me. 2. The eve of my dad’s funeral where I learned to drink a “car bomb” with him and his brother, while their father, aunt, grandma and my husband stared at us blankly. The following morning, while wearing an new unhemmed suit, he led the procession in a big white pickup truck flying a “stars and stripes” flag. 3. A phone call requesting advice and help, which I ignored and let disappear into voicemail.

Someone said, “I like the South because of the people. They are loyal. Once they love a team, they’re fans forever”. “Cuzin” was good-intentioned, but his reputation preceded him. I was reticent when I told my husband of the reunion planned, I thought out loud… “What could go wrong?”

The perfect recipe for Guns & Mayonnaise.

Mix together one part Rebellion and one part Faith, add a little spice and sugar to your liking, shake and bake. The perfect recipe for Guns & Mayonnaise.

Posted in Roanoke, Southern, Virginia | Leave a comment

Thanksgiving with My Truelove

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Guns and Mayonnaise

Thanksgiving is a very important holiday. You gather together with family and friends and give thanks to all for which we are thankful. A main part of the celebration is the food. It is the main event, made up of the traditions passed on from generation to generation.

Tradition is what we look forward to, from Grandma’s pumpkin pie to the men in the living room watching college football and to Aunt Bessie who snuck a little too much of the “family recipe” as well as the opportunity to create new traditions.

When a new couple is first starting out together, you come together on Thanksgiving Day with a few traditions from your mother (mashed potatoes and green bean casserole with Durkee onion) and a few from his mother (a can of sliced cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top) uniting together, creating your own Thanksgiving tradition, hoping to pass them on for many generations to come.

Now you may wonder, how different could a Thanksgiving menu be in the south? Well as the saying goes, “Everything is better on a grill!”

My Truelove, had the splendid idea of turkey steaks. He said he would handle everything and he did. He bought a 13 pound turkey, thawed it out, and carved the breasts into steaks, marinated and then grilled them.

I can hear my father now, “I’ve never heard such a thing.” My mother was thinking the same thing. Thankfully my mother having more experience with tradition, roasted a turkey just in case.