How timely! The Early Girls are over-generous this year.

Yes, bring the scalloped tomato recipe on. I love scalloped anything.

My daddy was from Paris, Texas. He had his own band and his own radio show. He was also a chef.

My mama was from Louisville, Kentucky. Her first job was cooking for a coal mining camp. We took in boarders the whole time I was growing up. It was not usual to have 14 people sitting down for supper.

I asked her what was the first thing she did in the morning, when she was a teen-ager. She replied, "Start the fire in the stove. So I could make the biscuits."

I miss her like crazy. And those mile-high pies, those black walnut refrigerator cookies, those layers of home-made quilts, the inside jokes, and the story-telling out on the porch.

Thanks,

Tanis