I cooked my first meal for Andrew a month before we got engaged. Thinking the night I cooked would be the night we were getting engaged, my nails were painted in the perfect shade of pink, "Bubble Bath". Telling Andrew I'd cook on the Friday night, I asked my sister for her "Easy Crawfish Étoufée" recipe. I strategically left out the word "easy". If I recall, I played it off as laborious. He was impressed. I was too. I was 25 and a real woman, cooking and all. Me and my Bubble Bath nails enjoyed the chilly November night with no warmth of a diamond on my finger. Not just yet. 1 pound crawfish tails, seasoned with little red...
This is Mrs. Glenda's recipe for Tomato Pie. It's the best and only Tomato Pie recipe you'll need. I love when I've found "The Recipe". I finally found "the one" for Chili. Same goes for broiled shrimp and pumpkin bread and jambalaya and a few more. Mrs. Glenda, from Wichita Falls, Texas says "tomato pie" like a Texan, with an emphasis on the "o" in "tomato" and the long "i" in "pie". I say it like a south Louisianian, with a subtle flat accent, eliminating certain vowels and extending others: "T'mata Piae". I prefer the way she says it. Tomato Pie 3 large tomatoes (firm) slice fairly thin and drain on paper towels. Salt 1 pie crust- bake as directed. Prick...
As long as I can remember, my grandmother's maid, Emma, would make Tarte a la Bouille pies. I could live on them. They are delicious warm, they are delicious cold. When I think of pies, I think of this. It's much different than what we think of in a traditional pie. This contains custard with a sweet dough crust. (We sometimes call them Cream Pie.) Emma says she didn't have a recipe. We were all panicked at her funeral. When I lived in Birmingham in my late 20s, I ate at a "Meat and Three". We didn't have those kinds of words and menu options in south Louisiana. It was good, and I even chose a dessert. One looked so similar...
(Original blog post written by Whitney Lee for Andrew Lee Design in October 2017) As much as it pains me to say it, Auburn alumni have this freakish loyalty to each other. It's like they're cajuns or something. I am caught up in this fraternity of Auburn grads, but I suppose my lot could be worse. I do not hate the fruits and friendships that have transpired because of my second-hand affiliation. A few weeks ago, Andrew sent a text along the lines of: "James is in Auburn. Might be stopping by." That would be James Theodore Farmer, III. So after reading the text, I did what any respectable lady would do: yell at my kids and threaten them with...
It's my sister, Ashley Beth's, birthday today! As with any double named southerner, her name isn't Ashley; it's Ashley Beth. But as family often does, we have shortened names and given nicknames. If you don't have some sort of nickname in south Louisiana, you may not be loved. So we called Ashley Beth "ABs", "A.B.", "The Beth-mister", and most often just "Beth." My affectionate names were "T-Whit", "Whiterino", "The Whit-mister", and most often just "Whit." As sisters do, we fought. Mostly Beth and me. Adrienne was too consumed with more civilized things like high school parties, learning The Freeze, and getting the bass setting right on her karaoke machine. Ashley Beth and I were fighting in the living room when...
