There is nothing I love more than a cup or glass of tea – hot or cold, winter or summer. We grow herbs, pick fruits, leaves, stems and blend them together into all sorts of concoctions. But there is nothing that says summer like a glass of southern sweet tea.

Natalie’s Tea:

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil
Add 3 Choice Organic Black Tea bags
Steep for 3-5 minutes
Combine in (tempered) glass pitcher steeped tea and 1 cup Wholesome Brown Sugar

Add 2 sprigs of fresh peppermint when tea is cooled and serve over ice.

** I have broken many a beautiful, vintage tea pitcher with water that is too hot. Be sure to use tempered glass or wait until the water is cooler to pour into your glass container.

Georgia Gilmore worked at the National Lunch Company in Montgomery, Alabama, cooking her renowned fried chicken for both white and black patrons. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, she brought home-cooked meals to mass meetings. This evolved into what became known as,“The Club from Nowhere,” an underground fundraising effort built on her delicious cakes and pies. Georgia and her fellowbakers would sell fresh baked goods to local Laundromats,beauty parlors and cab stands. Montgomery citizens who supported the boycott could now contribute to the cause anonymously. Georgia always said that the money came“from nowhere.” Take what you have, do what you know to do and make use of it. The cost of change is mitigated by the cost of staying the same.

Aunt Mae’s Simple Pound Cake

This cake was popular locally for church suppers, Sunday dinners andfamily reunions, among other events. It was easily made, as all of theingredients (except vanilla) were easy to find and locally produced.


1 pound butter
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk

Vanilla to taste

Cream butter and sugar and add eggs. Beat until light. Sift flour, bakingpowder and salt together. Add slowly to butter mixture alternating with milk.

Bake at 325 for about 1 and 1/4 hour

I wrote this post - called Hero - for Chauncey at http://girlonthestreet.wordpress.com/. The writing of that post led me to learn more about Alice Waters, her involvement in the Slow Food movement and commitment to all things sensual:

We are lucky enough to have a “Traveling Sharpener” who goes from community to community with his tools and sets up one day a month at our local fabric store to sharpen scissors.

If you did not have a sharpener in your neighborhood or local fabric store, I would check with local hair salons to find out where they get their scissors sharpened.

Additionally, we found these online services for scissor sharpening:

http://www.at-home-services.biz/
http://www.kavogelsons.com/
http://www.mobilecarbide.com/

We have never tested or used one of these online services and provide these links just as a place to get started.

Embroidery Scissors

The scissors that I prefer to use are Gingher, in Model G-4 (4” Classic Embroidery Shears) and G-5 (5” Knife Edge Sewing and Craft Scissors). http://www.gingher.com/

I recommend that you test every scissor before purchasing. Each pair sits differently in your hand and a good pair of scissors should last a lifetime. Our local fabric store carries the entire Gingher range which is great as you can test the individual pairs to see what fits best to your way of working. Most stores have comparable prices and it is important to support local businesses.

Garment Scissors
For larger cutting projects, everyone in our office uses the Fiskars Soft Touch scissors which you can find in every fabric and general store in most every community.
These scissors have stood the test of time in our office and continue delivering excellent performance without tiring the hand like conventional scissors:
http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_no-8-razor-edged-softouch-scissors.aspx

Paper Scissors
Use your old sewing scissors for paper scissors when you replace them with the Fiskars Soft Touch scissors (above) for cutting garments.

Seam Ripper
It might seem that all seam rippers are created equal; however, my favorite is this
Clover Needlecraft White Seam Ripper which is also available at most fabric stores locally:
http://www.brewersewing.com/detailview.jsp?item_id=CL482W

Craft Knife
Craft knives are readily available in every community; support your local merchants.

Here is another question from our Alabama Stitch Book:

I want to get a rotary cutter and self-healing mat. Do you have any specific recommendations?

We purchase many of our working supplies from Brewer Sewing Supply which is now called Brewer Quilting & Supply; but, local fabric and craft stores have good selections of rotary cutters and mats available.

Our favorite Olfa cutting mat comes in several sizes but we go back again and again for the 24” X 36” which is style number RM-MG at the Brewer site.

There are also many different styles of Rotary Cutters Available, I prefer the Fiskars 45mm; however, everyone else in our office likes the Olfa 28 mm cutter.

Update: Kate Martin sends this link with the comment that these can be cut to fit any table and is so thick that it will last her whole life. Kate says, "worth every penny." Thanks Kate!

http://www.cutting-mat.com/

Update: We now offer mats from our online store...

 

Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life is the most beautiful book (& most expensive) I have bought in a very long time. It's big and luscious with amazing colors and beautiful printing. Beguiled by the Wild is also a great place to start learning about the amazing Charley Harper.

Planting season always sneaks up on me. In Alabama, it seems that we are in the middle of winter and then suddenly all the dogwoods are blooming and it is time to put the tomatoes in the ground.

I ordered my plants and seeds this morning from Seed Savers Exchange and can’t wait to get started in my new garden.

And I can almost taste the tomato sandwiches that are yet to come:

Fanny’s Tomato Sandwich

Toasted wheat bread
Homemade mayonnaise
Tomato slices - patted dry
Salt & pepper to taste