yfritz's Journal, 25 Oct 21

Pictured: Southern collard greens and fried green tomatoes (North Carolina). Here the real country women refer collards as “salad.” We wash and scrub collards outside, as the leaves are too large to be handled in a kitchen sink. To be cooked with ham hock or fatback. 

This makes me "homesick" for NC. I only lived there for 3 years, but loved the food and people.  

Gayle, what part of NC? It’s a huge state with many different faces. I moved to VA but I will always be a proud Tar Heel. 

Yfritz, I lived in Charlotte. My son and his family live in VA, 1/2 hr from Fredericksburg. I may move there in the next year or so. My body doesn't do heat and humidity well, but I think I want to be near family. You write so well. I never would have guessed English was your 2nd language. Put me on the list of those that want to buy your 1st book!  

Now, that's real food!😋 

Gayle, the true love for NC grows after spending 10 years and more. I was in RDU area but I know the rural areas as well. Did a lot of community work there, so I got to know people in the most personal way. Racism in some areas was hard at first(there was a billboard that proudly stated it was the home of KKK😂) but they are good people at heart and fulfilled my days with unforgettable moments. I miss NC. I’m utterly miserable in Northern VA.  

Susan, yes! Cooked by good old southern women.  

Yum 😋 I lived in raleigh for a year and loved it 

Cindylynn?? I spent many years in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill!! Maybe we know each other, who knows?😍💕😘 

very nice 😊 i’d eat that right now 🤤👍🏻❤️💋 

Looks delicious yfritz! 👍💕 

Hi yfritz I was mostly there in 2016. I did not know many people that year, unless you came by the grocery store I worked at then :)  

I sure do love your posts. 💗 

Never lived in NC, Fritz, but I lived in Northern Virginia for about two years, Arlington, on Columbia Pike, right next to the cemetery. Used to walk down the hill to catch the metro at the Pentagon. I was in graduate school at GW. 

I’ve lived east of raleigh for 6 years now and love it. The weather sure beats up north! 

I live in central Virginia, the ex-capital of the confederacy and know a little about collards greens and racism. Here in Richmond we recently removed several monuments erected during the Jim Crow era to glorify confederate traders of America and defenders of slavery. Most of them were installed on a broad street named Monument Avenue. Collard greens are a staple at my house and we eat them several days a week. I enjoy them...  

Geraldine sounds like a good woman yfritz and your meal looks like a wonderful tribute to her 🧡 What are collards? 

I love this post. It’s soul food we’re told!! I need some for my soul. I’m so impressed Fritz with your experiences in life and the people you’ve met and embraced. I love that you do not see people as different races because we know there is only one race, the human race. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 

Jamie sorry there may or may not have been some bones in there😱🍖🦴 Do you know what ham hock is? This was no weak ass collards you see everywhere nowadays💋♥️😘 

I love ham hocks!! It’s the first Jamaican dish my hubby’s grandmother ever served to me. First time I ate them and I was hooked. Love them.