Puttin' on the Grits

Southern Scribe
our culture of storytelling

Essay Review

Puttin' on the Grits: A Guide to Southern Entertaining
by Deborah Ford
Dutton, 2005
Hardcover, $23.95 (288 pages)
ISBN: 0-525-94868-6

Deborah Ford follows her 2004 SEBA Book Award nonfiction winner GRITS: Girls Raised in the South Guide to Life with a focus on southern entertaining and covers many of the traditions that transplanted Yankees might not understand and that pre-Pearl Girls are learning to master.

Puttin' on the Grits is a blend of humorous essays on a variety of southern traditions when it comes to every aspect of southern entertaining; plus the "Pearl Girl" tips that are both funny and true. Much of the advice is sound and could easily place the work in the cookbook section, yet there is enough pop culture and humor to label the book as classic Deborah Ford.

There are several pages worth copying and taping to the frig -- or sending to the guest who never follows the rules, but you HAVE TO invite. One I loved was the list of "Southern Entertaining -- Yesterday and Today"...

Classic                    New

Fried catfish           Sushi

Pickled peaches      Salsa

String Quartet        New country

Steeplechase         Nascar

Mint julep              Margarita

Deborah Ford has created a cottage industry of G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised In The South), Inc., and her column "Ms. Grits" appears in Y'all Magazine. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama.

Joyce Dixon
Southern Scribe Reviews