Well, well, well–FINALLY. Sorry it took so long to get these pictures on. The first one is a “bacon tree;” the second a plate of catfish at Taylor Grocery (fantastic!); the next is an overall shot of the Viking luncheon on Saturday (which was, thankfully, a much nicer day for eating outside than Friday). And you all know that’s Shirley Corriher in the the last picture; it’s her delightful husband Arch who’s sitting with her.

OK, the food, after this brief detour: I had an appointment with my cardiologist today (I have palpitations and go in every couple of years to make sure everything is stable; nothing serious). I thought it was funny that he wanted to talk about the food I ate in Oxford before we got down to the issue of my health. I mean, how do you talk about eating pig ears with your cardiologist?

Anyway, the pig ears were fabulous, cooked by Frank Stitt. They were cut in small pieces, about a rough inch square, batter, deep-fried, and served with a dab of a mustard sauce. The North Carolina-style barbecue was also excellent, Donald Link’s deep-fried boudin balls out of this world. The only item I wasn’t crazy about was mutton, which was very tender but had a “gamey” taste, I guess you would say. I’m always surprised that people won’t eat lamb, which I love, but now I get what they mean when they say it tastes gamey. (I’ve always thought that sounded silly, since lambs are exactly fodder for fearless hunters, and now I’m saying the same.)

Refried blackeyed peas! Yum! I’m going to see if I can score the recipe for these and we can all forget about Hoppin’ John for New Year’s this year. Besides the horchata with Jack Daniels, which I only had a small taste of since I didn’t know it was even being served until I was almost ready to leave, that was what impressed me most about Thursday’s dinner.

Friday night was that great Taylor catfish, along with appetizers including the fantastic hickory catfish dip from Ajax Diner. The recipe I ran in yesterday’s paper was for a smoked catfish pate, which would have a similar taste, but the texture of the dip was creamier. If I can’t get the actual recipe (I’m hoping to include it in a story about throwing a $100 party for the holidays), I’ll come up with something very close. Beer that night was from Lazy Magnolia brewery in Kiln, Miss., and it flowed freely. Blue Mountain played outside, but I spent over an hour in the art gallery. First, some of the art in there was just gorgeous, but I was so taken with the owners that my husband and I couldn’t stop talking to them. Too much to talk about here, but they are truly interesting people. I’ll be writing about them soon. On a funny note, on Friday night when I was introduced to a restaurateur who will remain nameless, we chatted and when he meant to give me his card, he gave me his hotel key instead. It was truly accidental–he turned all shades of red and kept stammering before he finally just hugged my neck and told me he was sorry. I told him so was I, but my husband was in town that night… (just joking about that part).

It was Friday at lunch when Shirley and Arch ended up sharing a table with me. It was sort of funny. The Corrihers are from Atlanta, another guy at the table was from Atlanta, a young man from Athens, Ga. was there, the woman sitting next to me lives in Kentucky now but lived in Memphis for about five years. We all had a great time just talking about the south.

I just had a great time all ’round and I hope that EVERYONE will get involved with Southern Foodways. I can’t believe I’ve spent so much time writing about food, living just up the road, and haven’t been active. I plan to be from now on.