So, I'm a Mid-Atlantic girl who grew up with church friends and family with Southern roots...though Eastern Shore corn on the cob and piles of crabs and shrimp doused in Old Bay will always have my heart, I grew up with a mom who cooked anything and everything, including Southern fare for my central Florida raised dad. He liked his tea sweet, his eggs dipped in grits, and biscuits with chocolate gravy for a special breakfast. And he LOVED fried okra.
Growing up, fried okra was a treat when we visited Southern friends and family and someone made a "spread," or when we stopped at a Cracker Barrel on 95 on the way down. Splash those breaded and fried babies with some hot sauce and yum, we had put some South in our mouth!
However, it wasn't until our recent ladies event at church that I discovered something that just might have changed my life...not only is there fried okra, there is pickled okra, and it is "de-wicious," to quote my three year old boy!
I was browsing the buffet that night when I saw something wrapped in ham and cream cheese - little did I know that it was pickled okra - and it took just one bite for me to fall in love and take another...and another....and another....in the end I ate more of those ham/cream cheese/okra rolls than I could count! I didn't even know what I was eating until I found out who had brought them (my friend Cindy), and asked her what was in them.
Yesterday I made a run to Publix (another Southern gem) and what did I find but pickled okra! I knew I had some cream cheese in the fridge and Hillshire Farms ham was on sale - so girlfriends, I went home and made myself some of those okra rolls for lunch and washed them down with some Publix tea!!
If you are looking to put some South in your mouth, I'd recommend you do the same - and let me know what you think!!
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