Seen and Heard

Near downtown Florence, Ala., this morning — I saw newly reelected incumbent mayor Bobby Irons walking along a busy city street, in full business attire, picking up his own campaign signs. It sort of made me wish I lived in his town so I could have voted for him.

At the car dealership in Florence yesterday – I was waiting for my car to be given the OK after its oil change and other scheduled maintenance when three older (70s? 80s?) women in perfectly coifed hair and perfectly pressed pantsuits joined me in the waiting area. Apparently they were lifelong Florence residents and lifelong friends. One was the driver and the other two had come along for the car repair. Anyway, of course we all got to talking, although I mainly eavesdropped … I mean, listened. One topic of conversation was the “hobos” who would stop by their houses when they were little and ask for food. “Times were hard then, but my mama always cooked extra for the hobos,” one woman said. “She’d put extra sweet potatoes and cornbread in the stove pipe to stay warm and then when one would stop by, she’d put him at the table, get out a plate and feed him with the food she’d saved.” Another of the trio nodded in agreement. “Yes,” she said, “those stovepipes were the original microwaves!”

Recently in Birmingham, Alabama — My college-student daughter said that during conversation with a counselor who was an older woman (60s?), my daughter had to adjust her skirt as she stood up because her slip was showing. The woman asked her, “Are you wearing a slip? Nobody wears a slip anymore. I don’t even have a slip! Why are you wearing a slip?” And of course my daughter answered, “Because my mother makes me.” The more my daughter thought about this, though, the more she wondered if she was perhaps behind the times. So a day or so later she was with a couple of friends she’d grown up with who’d come to Birmingham to have lunch with her. She asked them, “Do y’all still wear slips?” The consensus: “Of course!” The reason why: “Because our mothers make us!” I am vindicated.

DNC Fashion

Look, let’s all admit that most women notice what most other women are wearing. And let’s all stipulate that, unfair though it is, most women judge or form opinions or make assumptions — or whatever you want to call it – about most other women based on what most of those other women are wearing. It’s just the way things are. And it’s quite true that your style signals to others what you think about yourself and what you think about the image you’re presenting to others. That’s just the way things are, too. So, what did you think? I think that Hillary Clinton’s orange-gold-pumpkin pantsuit was all her and the exact right thing for her to wear for what she wanted to do. And I think that Michelle Obama’s basic blue (green? blue-green? teal?) jersey dress livened up with her own brooch was as strong a statement and as evocative of her story as her speech was. I’d wear the dress over the pantsuit, myself, but I thought both were reflective of their wearers. On the other hand, I wish I had the courage to be as exuberantly patriotic as Flag Woman:

Muffin Mania

Muffins are the perfect food. I’m talking here about real homemade muffins, warm and melty from the oven, with crunchy tops and moist middles bursting with good things such as blueberries, apples, raisins and nuts –  then torn in two and reverently topped with your spread of choice. (Do not try this with anything you have to tear the plastic off of.) In my former life as the mother of teenagers, I was a master muffin maker, but I gave it up as my nest gradually emptied and friends started taking their hamburgers out of the buns. But a recipe in this cookbook inspired me to try again. Martha Foose is the author of “Screen Doors and Sweet Tea” and owner of famed Bottletree Bakery in Oxford, Miss., (go to www.oxfordcvb.comisfor Bottletree  and other Oxford info, especially if you’re headed there for the first Presidential debate on Sept. 26). She’s the best kind of Southern woman: Smart, funny and strong — the kind who can feed a sweaty park full of hot and hungry people while wearing an adorable sundress with coordinated espadrilles. That’s what Foose did when she was the guest chef recently at the Spring Park Farmer’s Market in Tuscumbia, http://www.cityoftuscumbia.org/Latest_News/index.html, Ala. (This link is from 2007 but the information is still correct.)  The audience at Spring Park demonstrations always is a tough crowd — they know what good food is — but Foose charmed them, deliciously. She made me believe that even after a couple-years’-break, I too could turn out to-die-for blueberry muffins. And she was right, although it took me a couple tries to get my rhythm back. (Click here to read the rest of the story: http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080822/ARTICLES/808220302)

If you value food, family and friends, Foose’s cookbook is a must-have. The photography’s gorgeous, and Foose adds tips and suggestions in her own Mississippi style — you can almost hear her Delta accent. Almost all bookstores and online booksellers have this book. Visit http://www.marthafoose.com/ for a list of stores that sell autographed copies.

Here’s the Blueberry Muffins recipe:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon each baking soda and salt

Grating of nutmeg

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (do not thaw) blueberries

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Spray 18 muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. In large bowl with a whisk, combine dry ingredients. Toss in blueberries to coat and evenly distribute. In separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Using rubber spatula, combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full. Bake 15 minutes or until tops spring back lightly when touched. Let cool 5 minutes then turn out onto rack.

Halloween Baby

Grandmas cannot resist Baby Gap. I don’t even try anymore. When I saw these adorable Halloween one-piece outfits today, I knew they had “Grandson Nolan Thomas Behel” written all over them — well, besides “Short and Sweet” and “Little Pumpkin.” Because he is all of those things. Don’t you agree?

But I did happen to wander over to the other side of Gap and picked up my favorite two-for-$20 camisoles in the basic colors of white and black. I always grab these when they’re in stock and wear them all the time as layering pieces since I’m too vain to wear blue jeans that actually fit me so I have to do all I can to cover up the resulting tummy bulge.

Fall Jewelry — With Some Politics Thrown In

This is my husband’s line after John McCain has been criticized for not knowing how many houses he owns: “Has anybody asked Michelle Obama how many shoes she owns? Would she know, say, within half a dozen pairs?” Not quite the same thing, dear. What woman knows how many pairs of shoes she has? It’s completely unreasonable to expect an accurate count. So, can you tell that my husband and I are on opposite sides of the political spectrum?

But there is one thing that I do know: I don’t have enough bracelets, and I want more. These would do just fine.

A cheerful tangle of vintage glass, Lucite and acrylic charms, $68, from www.winknyc.com

The trouble with bracelets is that I always think that I love bracelets and that I will wear bracelets all the time, but I don’t. Wear them, that is. I do love them, but I don’t wear them. I especially think that I especially love chunky, noisy, funky bracelets, but those are the kind that I especially do not wear. For one thing, I usually don’t wear bracelets (or much jewelry at all) when I’m just hanging around the house — especially when I’m

German vintage glass beads on adjustable red nylon, $122 from www.twistonline.com

on the computer, since dangling beads and keyboards do not mix. When I go to church or meetings or other quiet places, I don’t wear bracelets that make noise because that’s how I

Seven Signs of Peace bracelet, by Dean Harris for Target, $59.99 at www.target.com

was raised. When I go out to run errands or see friends or babysit grandson Nolan Thomas Behel, I don’t wear bracelets because when I get dressed I first put on earrings and then a necklace and then I’m done because I also was raised not to wear more than two pieces of jewelry (in addition to your rings, of course) — and also because by the time I’ve coordinated earrings and necklace and lipstick and shoes and handbag, I’ve pretty much exhausted my style creativity and I’m running late, besides. So that leaves wearing bracelets to purely social occasions, which in my life means going to eat Mexican with my husband, and heavy dangly bracelets only end up in the salsa.

But these bracelets are so tempting, I think I’m willing to take that chance.