As a kid I grew up drinking buttermilk with meals and thought everyone else did. We had cows and made our own buttermilk and mom kept a culture going in the frig. She just added to it and we never seemed to run out. I remember freezing buttermilk in popsicles molds and it wasn't half bad. I once tried adding chocolate syrup to buttermilk but that was a terrible mistake.

On a hot summer day I can drink a whole carton of ice cold buttermilk at one sitting.

Ghirardelli's and a nice merlot does it for me. What's your favorite?

My mother, a home economics major at Georgia State Teachers College, made this breakfast dish frequently when I was a child. Haven't had in years but loved it back in the day. Are there any other brain eaters out there or is it just too bizarre to consider?

Some of you may consider eating an animal's digestive tract disgusting but it can be quite good if prepared properly.

I like chitlins boiled and served over white rice with hot sauce and tripe that's batter fried in small, easy to manage pieces.

How bout you? Have you or would you at least try them?

I had the best gluten-free pizza ever tonight at Zpizza. The chain which started in California has locations in 16 states. They also serve Redbridge gluten-free beer.

I buy Charles Shaw (Two Buck Chuck) by the case at Trader Joes in Charlotte. It tastes pretty good to me but I'm certainly no expert. So how would you rate it among other inexpensive wines?

"You have to walk the distance of two football fields to off set the damage done by eating one M&M"

Couldn't resist as they were on sale at Walmart for $.20 a can and they're packed in Louisiana hot sauce ( not oil ). High omega 3 content and better than taking fish oil.

Other than eating them straight from the can with saltines can anyone suggest novel ways or things to eat with these bad boys? I'm desperate and willing to try anything once.

I never had it or heard of it until I was in the Army. I really liked the stuff but never understood why it was so unpopular among G.I.'s.

If you don't know what S.O.S. is, anyone who's been in the military can probably tell you.

I always look forward to June as our wild blackberries are in season. I can generally find them growing wherever there's overgrown brush. They abound on interstates but I wouldn't eat them due to increased automobile emissions.

When I was a kid I'd take one of mom's boiler pans and head for the woods when they were ripe. I knew if I brought that pan home with blackberries it meant a pie for certain. My mom was a home eco. major at UGa. and one heck of a cook. Her dessert specialty was deep dish cobblers. She layered her blackberry cobbler with dumplings to die for topped off with one amazing Crisco crust. My brother is almost able to duplicate her recipe.

Before picking blackberries spray yourself with insect repellent. Brother Ed contracted Lyme disease a few years ago from a tick bite while picking them. With antibiotics he completely recovered in two weeks. Chiggers also love to hang out in blackberry patches. Wear gloves on the non picking hand, long sleeves and pants as I still have brier scars from my early picking days.

It's good to pick some of the unripe red berries along with the ripe black ones as it adds a nice tartness to the pie.

IMO the commercial blackberries aren't nearly as tasty as the smaller wild variety with their wonderful seedy texture. Blackberry preserves are a bit of heaven in a Mason fruit jar.

It's almost entertaining to have a seed lodged between a tooth as it gives you great memories of those wonderful berries you just polished off.

Share your blackberry thoughts and memories.

I know they're frying everything these days from pickles to Snicker Bars but it was still shocking to find convenient stores in my area selling fried peanuts in the shell. I finally bought a bag of Cajun fried peanuts but really wasn't sure how to eat them. I asked the clerk and she said you're supposed to eat them shell and all. Well I did just that and it wasn't too bad but I guess it might take awhile to cultivate a taste for those crispy shells. Some guy in Charleston has a blog on fried peanuts and he suggests that you only eat every third shell???

With all those tomato plants growing in my garden I can hardly wait to have one.

Here's how I've enjoyed tomato sandwiches since childhood which may be different from how you grew up eating them - two slices of very fresh Sunbeam white loaf bread, Miracle Whip spread on each piece, chilled tomato slices, black pepper and lots of salt.

Now tell me how you make yours.

I suppose many folks above the Mason-Dixon line have never tried them but they are extremely popular and sold at ball parks, country stores and on roadsides throughout the south.

Cornbread is eaten with vegetables, soup, or milk but never with meat. It can also be enjoyed with butter and sorghum. If you're eating at home it's ok to crumble cornbread in your soup or in your buttermilk. It's also permissible to crumble it into your pot liquor ( juice from your greens ).

Biscuits are consumed with mashed potatoes, rice and gravy, grits or with a meat. Leftover biscuits are enjoyed with butter, syrup, preserves or honey. Biscuits should never be served with vegetables - that's why cornbread was invented.

Spoon bread is considered a dish unto itself.

White loaf bread is generally served with BBQ and at fish fries when grits are available.

Hush puppies are paired with seafood and sometimes with BBQ, hash or Brunswick Stew.

A complete southern meal will feature both cornbread and biscuits. My mother baked a cake of cornbread every day of her life and always made scratch biscuits on Sunday.