Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Celebrating with food


Temptations of travel

When Husband Walter and I get together with family, food is usually a major element of the celebration equation. Our most recent celebration was a five-day trip to visit our Georgia tribe.

That was great. What wasn’t so great is we start “celebrating” early. Our first day, for example, we stopped at Priester’s Pecans. 

Hubby was busy shooting photos of the stop that is so popular with travelers, even midweek during February. He tasted a few of the pecan snack samples. His post about the family-owned business is here.

My objective, though, was different. I headed straight for the display that usually includes samples. I tried every sample flavor offered. My top three were honey-glazed pecans, honey-cinnamon-glazed pecans, and lime-flavored pecans.

By the way, I have never heard any fellow southerner except Paula Dean refer to the delicious nuts as “pee cans,”  emphasis on the first syllable. Everyone I know pronounces them as “puh kahns,” emphasis on the second syllable.

Some of us are even guilty of stretching out that last syllable so that the “ahhhhhh” part goes on and on. Just think of it as an emotional but chaste moan of ecstasy at the thought of pecan treats. That other pronunciation sounds clipped and foreign to me. 

As young children my cousins and I were reduced to giggling fits by a Rhode Island cousin's pronunciation of our favorite nut. Of course at that age, we went into whoops at any sound that related in the least to bodily functions, and "pee can" was definitely comedic material to us. 

Our ever vigilant moms did "The Look." We younger girls subsided into quiet admiration of our older cousin's sophisticated wardrobe and glossy chestnut locks. 

But I digress. Our days of visiting and celebratory eating came to an end Monday with our drive home. But Tuesday morning’s preparation for an 8:15 a.m. occupational therapy session made me despair. 

I struggled into a tee-shirt with Hubby’s help. The design was a bit form-fitting but had never been snug and definitely not impossible for me to put on by myself. It was too late to change. 

It didn't seem to be cutting off breathing or blood flow, so out the door we went. When we arrived back home, I discovered I had the shirt on backwards.

Chagrin over that wardrobe oops was tempered by relief that I wasn’t in danger of outgrowing all my clothes, at least not yet!

Saner eating, however, is necessarily still on our agenda this week. Well, maybe starting tomorrow. Today is my birthday #67. 

11 comments:

  1. what a relief, i thought all those pee cans had overstuffed your shirt.. and we always made fun of the others that did not say pee can... we had pee can trees in our yard in Savannah and i never heard anything but pee can until we moved to KY... and of course when i married Yankee doodle dandy he THOUGHT he knew how to say it. now he knows the true way to pronounce it. i love the honey glazed, mother used to make them. would like to taste the others.

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  2. Happy birthday! Aloha from Hawaii. I pronounce those nuts pee-Kahns.

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  3. Pecans...my downfall! Backwards shirts can be sexy!

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  4. Happy birthday! And I do love pee can pie....:)

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  5. How funny - I was afraid you sampled too many "puh-kuhns!"

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  6. YUM, those look amazing! I do not say peecan and neither does any southerner I know. :)

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  7. Happy Birthday. To me you are still a puppy.
    Had to laugh at pee cans. My southern grandmother(before indoor plumbing) use to say "pee cans" were found under the bed at night, not in a dish on a table.

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  8. Happy Birthday to you! I hope it was a great one :)

    Nearly everyone in our area says "pee cans". Perhaps it has something to do with the area we live in. Paula Deen lives only 55 miles away... LOL

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  9. Happy Birthday Sweet Blogging Friend.
    I hope your day was super extra special and filled with lots of pah kahns.
    Too funny about the tee shirt.

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  10. What a great story. Hey, at least you remembered your teeth the better to eat those Pee-Kahns with. LOL

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  11. I was introduced to pecans about 20 years ago when my son was stationed in Cyprus. I could only eat a couple because nuts don't suit me. And I love them!

    Blessings from Dalamory
    www.freda.org.uk

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