G&G’s Manual of Southern Know-How

Pour the Perfect Bloody Mary

Charleston, South Carolina, restaurateur Brooks Reitz shares a family secret

“When I became old enough to pay attention to my folks’ weekend morning rituals, I couldn’t help but notice that once the coffee was dry—like clockwork—it was time for a ‘Bloody.’ In my younger days, my dad, Scott, kept the ingredients in our pantry, close at hand. As my brothers and I grew older and departed for college, my parents quickly began taking their show on the road. They’d never travel without their Bloody Mary ‘kit,’ which began simply as an extra tote bag stuffed with ingredients but grew much more sophisticated with time.”

>GET THE FAMILY RECIPE

Know When to Write a Thank-You Note

Wry author and Alabama native Helen Ellis shares the Dos and Don’ts

“I don’t write thank-yous every day, but I send them for dinner parties or a night out with a friend. When it comes to marriage, they should amend the bride’s vows. Do you promise to love, honor, and write the thank-you notes? You do. Do you have to write one to your husband for picking a squirrel corpse out of the roof gutter? You don’t.

But it would be nice.”

>LEARN WHEN TO SEND A THANK YOU

Thump a Watermelon

Of  the Southern watermelon, Mark Twain once wrote, “When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat.” Which is true, if that watermelon is ripe. Old wives’ tales abound on how to tell if the fruit is ready. So we put the question to two experts: Heather Raulerson, president of the Alabama Watermelon Association and former Florida Watermelon Queen, and Martha Hall Foose, a renowned Mississippi chef who once won a watermelon-seed-spitting contest.

>GET THE TIPS

Spin a Smoking Southern Playlist

Let the Texas-Born music legend get you started with his ideal lineup.

>GET THE PLAYLIST

Float a River

Three tube-time tricks

Photo: Joe McKendry

Be prepared, says Charlie Pickle, who runs Virginia’s Wilderness Canoe Company. Pack a cooler with beer, water, snacks, and sunscreen, then wedge it into a tube with a built-in bottom.

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Photo: Joe McKendry

Tie a loop onto each end of a short, lightweight string, such as a paracord, then attach small carabiners. Use them to link up with your cooler and friends, and detach quickly to avoid tree branches.

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Photo: Joe McKendry

About that beer: Don’t bring bottles. Cans are lighter and won’t break. For maximum day drinkability, go for a brew with a low ABV, like Miller or Bud Light, or a craft cream ale or light lager.

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Expand Your Southern Canon

It’s time to crack the spines of the new literary classics

Welty. Lee. Faulkner. Sure, sure. And you’re all set on Walker and Conroy—great. But you should also update your bookshelves with the definitive Southern fiction of the last two decades or so. Mary Laura Philpott—author and founding editor of Musing, the literary magazine produced by Nashville’s Parnassus Books—recommends beginning with these novels.

>GET THE READING LIST

Cast Into the Wind

Champion angler Andy Mill on the secret to working a breeze in your favor

Photo: ROBB AARON GORDON

Andy Mill.

 >LEARN THE SECRET

Crack Pecans

All you need are your own bare hands

Photo: Joe McKendry

“Pick two big pecans,” advises Al Pearson, co-owner of Georgia’s Pearson Farm. “If they’re too small, I wouldn’t try. Place them sideways across the palm of your hand. Squeeze your fist until you hear one of them crack, then rotate and repeat.”

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Photo: Joe McKendry

“Now you have to use two hands. Peel away the shell, and watch out for what they call ‘packing material.’ It’s bitter, so take it out before you pop the half in your mouth.”

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Photo: Joe McKendry

“When there’s only one pecan left, you have to get out your pocketknife—or use the steering wheel of your truck.”

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Master Muscadines

You can add no more Southern a fruit to your yard than the thick-skinned, juicy muscadine grape. But what is the best way to grow your own? 

>DISCOVER THREE EXPERT TIPS

Do NOLA Like a Local

Let New Orleans native and award-winning screenwriter Lolis Eric Elie guide you away from Bourbon Street to the avenues experiencing a resurgence around the city

“Oretha Castle Haley. Freret. Oak. Remember those street names. Cling to them like the heirlooms they are. No matter how much the corporate hotel chains and the corporate restaurants try to herd you with the rest of the cattle to the usual New Orleans places, resist.”

>SEE  THE FULL NOLA GUIDE

Photo: Cedric Angeles

When they’re not rousing French Quarter crowds, Preservation Hall Jazz Band members Charlie Gabriel (left) and Ben Jaffe relax at spots like High Hat Cafe.

Press Your Silver Into Service

Georgia-based author and interior designer James Farmer makes the case for using the good stuff every day

Inherited, purchased, no matter: Take your silver out of your sideboard, give it a polish, and start working it into your day-to-day—boiled peanuts in a Jefferson cup, anyone?

>GET THE TIPS

Escape Pluff Mud

Alabama outdoorsman Jimbo Meador on the art of getting unstuck

“We call it muck down here in the Mobile delta. I love it because it means there are ducks and snipes and redfish around. But I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get through the stuff. It just sucks you down.”

>LEARN THE SECRET

Fry Super Crispy Okra

The accomplished Southern cook is well versed in okra’s star qualities—the vegetable, be it roasted, pickled, or stewed, brings depth to any dish. But the most satisfying preparation, fried to a perfect crunch, may also be the trickiest. Okra’s mucilage (its slime) is prized when thickening stews such as gumbo but can complicate frying. Meherwan Irani, the chef-owner of Asheville’s Chai Pani, has a solution: his okra “fries,” which fuse the snack his mother cooked for him in central India with the Southern standard to produce some of the crispiest okra around.

>GET THREE EASY TIPS

Bag a Bourbon Boat Drink

Some things you should probably never take from a friend: a loan, a used car, an ex-lover. Recipes are another matter, as countless church and Junior League cookbooks attest. So consider Jan Gautro your new best friend. The Birmingham, Alabama, culinary photo stylist has perfected the frozen bourbon margarita in a plastic freezer bag—an ideal cocktail for hours of booze cruising.

>GET THE RECIPE

Shoot an Incoming Dove

How to target a bird on an overhead trajectory

Photo: Joe McKendry

Point the muzzle in the direction of the bird, says Steve Meyer of Browning Ammunition, but keep your head and gun down so the dove won’t flare.

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Photo: Joe McKendry

If you are a right-handed shooter, move your right foot slightly behind the bucket on which you’re sitting for a firm stance.

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Photo: Joe McKendry

Wait to swing until the dove is at a greater-than-45-degree angle from the horizon. You want to shoot as the bird approaches directly overhead.

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Photo: Joe McKendry

Mount the gun and swing it up, pulling the trigger as the barrel blots out the dove. Tilt your hips, so you’ll be good for a second shot.

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Design a Nighttime Garden

Some of the most alluring blooms show off in the moonlight

A gardenia knows just how to entice. At dusk, the waxy white flower’s fragrance intensifies, attracting pollinating moths—and nudging garden lovers to slip outside to enjoy the intoxicating scent of nighttime in the South. Just the reason Scott Ogden, a Texan, garden designer, and author of The Moonlit Garden, likes to plant nocturnal landscapes.

>LEARN HOW TO PLANT YOUR OWN

Make an Appealing Tomato Aspic

Three Southern chefs on bringing back the classic dish

Too bad tomato aspic gets voted into the fruitcake hall of shame. The tangy molded dish can jump-start a meal or add a pop of acidity to fatty foods. Why not experiment with refreshing the classic?

>GET THE EXPERT TIPS

Train your Own Gun Dog

Brad Arington, owner of Mossy Pond Retrievers in Patterson, Georgia, on how to get your bird every time by laying a strong foundation

>SEE THE GUIDE

Top a Fizz

Gin, citrus, simple syrup, cream, egg white—now what?

Photo: Joe McKendry

To give a Ramos Gin Fizz a luscious foam, says Mark Schettler of New Orleans’ Bar Tonique, shake ingredients long and hard with ice. Strain and shake sans ice until thickened.

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Photo: Joe McKendry

Pour into a tall glass, and then cool in a fridge for ten minutes, or until “the jiggle stops,” Schettler says.

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Photo: Joe McKendry

Insert a barspoon with a twisted stem. Using a cup with a pour spout, trickle club soda down the stem until the head rises an inch above the rim.

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Photo: Joe McKendry

Gently swizzle the spoon beneath the foam to mix the club soda. Finish with drops of orange flower water.

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