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I am a cooker and a caker, but not a fryer.

In some ways I feel like I am betraying my Southern heritage, because I simply can't fry anything to save my life. I tried making fritters tonight, and the first ones were perfect for NHL use. Finally, salvation came with the last 4 fritters - out of close to 3 dozen! I guess I wasn't ever really taught frying skills, because I grew up in the age of frying = high cholesterol. My mother only fried okra and squash in her Fry Daddy, and everything else was baked or grilled. My grandmother and great-aunt fried chicken and made gravy to go with the mashed potatoes from the grease - YUM! They also made chicken fried steak, steak fingers, and chicken livers, but I was too young to be allowed near the electric skillets or stoves when all this good food was being prepared. My father fries catfish and hushpuppies, using the turkey fryer outside of the holiday season, but I don't think I'm daring enough to try that. It's funny to think that maybe frying is a dying art form. We have to eat out to get fried foods, like chicken fried steak, and it's nowhere as good as Sunday dinners when I was growing up. I still smell the grease from my frying adventure, and it smells gross to me. I don't remember that from my Nanny's kitchen. In other adventures, babymonkey and I got Daddy a popcorn popper, so he can have good popcorn at home. I picked up coconut oil (of all things), because I read up on theaters and what they use for their popcorn, and they claimed the coconut oil was the secret. I don't have the theater salt, yet, but the plain popcorn was crispy like that in the theater, so I think I have a winner! I'm finally getting back into beads again, and have an idea that some of you might be interested in - a cupcake charm for a pendant or purse charm. I've got to figure out the design, and I'll post a picture to see if there is any interest. I haven't touched my beads in a long time, so I feel like I need to make something soon.