14 Quotes by Susan Rebecca White

Ruthie started to cry at Julia's use of the word "hate," though Ruthie knew it was true, accurate. For a long time now it had been easier just to hate her sister. Easier to try to define the relationship with that simple emotion than to live with the conflicting set of feelings Julia brought forth.

What a seductive belief - that one can start fresh simply by jettisoning one's history, that one can leave all that is painful or unsavory behind.

But the sky was a pale lavender, soon to be swallowed by dark. They were expected home before this happened, home for a supper of fall vegetables and Mother's good yeast bread, and maybe some meat- squirrel most likely. And for dessert they could eat as many crunchy apples, the first of the fall season, as they wanted.

The dinner Parrin serves- vichyssoise, squab, rice pilaf, green salad, chocolate-orange mousse- is all very "of the moment" and delicious, as I knew it would be.

While Alice craved sweets, her brother loved meat. Chops and ribs and butt and bacon. Sausage sizzling in its own fat, the key ingredient in the white gravy Mother fixed, which she poured over biscuits, made tender and flaky by a lacing of lard through the flour.

The crab cakes are golden brown, each topped with a little salad of sliced avocado, green onion, and grapefruit supremes. I fix myself a bite with all of the dish's components. The sweet crabmeat, the crisp, buttery breading, the citrus and avocado salad, splashed with a fruity vinaigrette- together it's a perfect combination of flavors.

For what Mama would serve were she hosting a brunch: sausage, egg, and cheese casserole, coffeecake swirled with cinnamon, pecans, and brown sugar, grits baked with garlic and cheese.

Plus, Mama packed a good picnic. That night she brought us plenty of ham sandwiches and Lay's potato chips, plus orange slices and Oatmeal Caramelitas, a salty, buttery layer of oats topped with chocolate chips, walnuts, and melted Kraft caramels.

She serves us, pouring the iced tea into red plastic cups, piling chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a couple of biscuits each onto our plates. It's an almost entirely brown meal. Mama would say it needs a colorful vegetable to complete it, but brown or not, it tastes good. Salty and hot, except for the tea of course, which is cold and sweet.