Boiled Peanuts,Ribs,
and Homemade Ice Cream
Outdoor Summer Celebrations

The front porch is the official gathering place in the South. A swing, big rocking chairs, and a wave for everyone that passes are all part of our DNA. It’s where we sip our tea iced and sweet, and our coffee strong and hot, no matter the temperature outside. The Southern celebration of summer is filled with the smells of magnolias, wisteria, and gardenias in full bloom, in harmony with the sounds of crickets singing and cicadas buzzing loudly. The humidity is heavy enough to cut with a knife, and that only adds to the romance of summer in the South. Eating fresh-churned homemade ice cream as it melts down my chin, shelling those right-from-the-garden peas and beans, and watching fireworks over the river are among my favorite memories that inevitably make me instantly homesick. The simplicity of a watermelon on ice, sliced and eaten wholeheartedly “dive in head first” without regard to napkins, my tan bare feet bathed in the overflow, is about as good as it gets.