Cracker Queen: South Magazine

Grab a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, light up a cigarette, and get ready to meet Lauretta Hannon, author of The Cracker Queen: A Memoir of a Jagged, Joyful Life. Hannon sugarcoats nothing in this collection of stories about the characters and conflicts that have defined her life, starting with her early years in Warner Robins, Georgia, and extending to her current residence in Atlanta, with a few stops in Savannah (Pinkie Masters, anyone?) along the way. Armed with a raucous sense of humor and an arsenal of specifically Southern experiences, Hannon gives us an alternative to the classic Southern Belle: the Cracker Queen. “She cusses, laughs inappropriately, and raises t-total hell when the line is crossed,” Hannon writes. But, more importantly, a queen knows “loss and hurt; these things have made her beautiful, resourceful and, above all, real.”

Read more of this article in the South Magazine.

Sweet Southern Tea: Village Voice

 True Southern sweet tea isn’t sweetened as an afterthought. It’s born sweet, but not too sweet. Strong, but not too bitter. It should never been consumed via straw, and it’s just as home in an oversized collectible NASCAR cup as it is a mason jar.

Read more of this post on the Village Voice’s food blog, Fork in the Road