Well, we moved. After 22 beautiful years in Tennessee, we moved to a brand new city. Beautiful sun-drenched Charleston, South Carolina. We had been coming here for over a decade and knew we loved it. The vote came down to Charleston, Sarasota, Florida (beautiful tiny city on the gulf side in central Florida), and Amelia Island (Atlantic side near JAX). And then the Florida governor lost his mind and declared war on Disney. To curry political favor (bc right after the election he went right back to being their buddy). So this made it easy. Florida OUT. Charleston IN.
CHS and South Carolina are intertwined but are not the same thing. SC is like the more serious older brother who is super into church and politics. CHS is the younger brother who is carefree, loving, open-minded, and just wants everyone to have a great life.
Life here is Charleston is good. Much slower than its spastic cousins to the north. Not as serious and political as its southern cousins to the west. (SC is farther south than TN, MS, AL, KY, and a lot of states that think of themselves as deep south, just saying…). But not as silly as its cousins to the far south in Florida and Louisiana. Bless their hearts.
To honor our new home, instead of a international cook, we did a local cook. Low Country to be precise. Now a true low country cuisine will have lots of shrimp, scallops, and delicious fish. And we no longer enjoy the fruits of the sea or the meat of the land. We took a long break. Because greedy corporations took over food production and made it foul, cruel, and unhealthy. But then we thought, what if we used the best of the flavors and ingredients of the low country, and just left the seafood and meat out? Why not? Its our holiday. And its whatever we say it is. So kiss my southern-fried grits and enjoy.
International Cooking Holiday 