LORAN SMITH: A home-cooked meal soothes the soul during the holidays

With a farm background, there has always been that warm affection for home cooked meals. Having grown up with simple tastes, there was nothing that could top a menu that included peas, butterbeans, mashed potatoes and fried chicken.

If there were a choice between the above, prepared by my mother’s hand, and a meal at a five-star restaurant, it would be hard to turn down the aforementioned servings from my mother’s kitchen. There are a lot of small town Rotary invitations during the year, and I always remind Rotarians that those invites keep coming because of honoring Rotary’s long standing tradition of not paying honorariums to its speakers.

However, there is always the realization that you are likely to get a home cooked meal at a Rotary luncheon. A nice tradeoff indeed. From Elijay to Jackson, from Rome to Cartersville and Thomasville to Valdosta, you can expect, in most cases, fried chicken and often mashed potatoes.

Breakfast is the meal that brings about the greatest of fulfillment today. Like most everybody else, starting the morning with a cup of coffee is one of the most uplifting times of your daily routine. Coffee and a couple of hours of work before breakfast can make your day. Fruit and cereal for starters and segueing into sauteed mushrooms and a glass of fresh orange juice. Lunch is usually something on the light side, and so is dinner. Eat heavy, and sleep seems to become restless.

There are exceptions, however. Like holiday dinners. Thanksgiving brought about one of the most delightful meals in memory. Usually the most memorable meals are those when you enjoy a good time. The setting and the atmosphere enhance the meal. Travel has its multiple assets, but there is nothing worse than being on the road and dining alone.

Our Thanksgiving dinner started early. There was soft music in the background, accented by a crackling fire. Grandchildren were relaxed and in a spirited mood. Boy, is that ever a plus. Kids can get cranky for whatever reason, which does not enhance the dinner experience.

There was no turkey. We substituted smoked pheasant. After killing a few pheasants in South Dakota in the fall, I knew that having them smoked and shipped home would make our Thanksgiving. Our daughter, Camille, who enjoys cooking to the fullest, added tasty butterbeans from the farmers market and squash. Plus Red Mule grits from Tim and Alice Mills farm on Harve Mathis road in Northeast Clarke County. The Ritz Carlton in Chicago serves Red Mule grits. If they are good enough for the Ritz, they are certainly good enough for me.

The smoked pheasant was garnished by pear relish, which came to us from Lisa Hardin of Stripling’s, the sausage folk. She makes it like my mother used to make it, and I have learned that a little pear relish to go with some of Stripling’s smoked sausage makes for a delightful breakfast.

The most stimulating enhancement for our Thanksgiving dinner came with a bottle of Terry Hoage’s wine. You likely know about Terry, the one-time Georgia rover back who was a National Football League veteran of 14 years.

Originally, he had planned to study medicine, but football kept getting in the way. When it all came to an end, he was playing for the Arizona Cardinals, but made the decision to move from Phoenix to California, which led to a career in winemaking. Terry and his wife, Jennifer, do it all — from cultivating the vineyards to harvesting and production. If you enjoy a meal with a bottle of his syrah which he named “The Hedge,” there is little question about the ranking of dinner in your memorable meals collection.

Nothing like a meal with “connections.” Smoked pheasant from South Dakota, butterbeans and squash from the local farmers market, pear relish from Warwick, Ga. and red wine from Paso Robles, Calif. — all prepared by someone who enjoys cooking in the tradition of your grandmother.

An indolent fire and children laughing made humility permeate the atmosphere.

Loran Smith is co-host of “The Tailgate Show” and sideline announcer for Georgia football. He is also a freelance writer and columnist.