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Motivational & Humor Books

Creative How-To Books

Kiss My Grits, Sugar

Southern Humor with a Side of Tasty Fixin’s

 

Since I’m a Southern girl through and through, I figured it was high time I got around to writing a book filled with good old Southern recipes. My mouth is watering just thinking about fried chicken, potato salad, banana pudding and pecan pie. This book is chock full of my family’s favorites. And because I’m not the serious type, I like my food served up with some humor on the side. So I tucked in a few tall tales from my childhood about me and my kin to tickle your funny bone. Inside you’ll find 19 humorous short stories about growing up in the South in the 1950s, plus more than 80 recipes for good old-fashioned Southern cooking. Come on in a sit a spell, sugar. Enjoy a chuckle or two, then whip up some of these tasty fixin’s. Read a list of the stories and recipes below. Size: 6”X9”, 116 pages, ISBN: 978-0-9842438-3-9. $7.95   Read  a sample story below and at www.GloriaHanderLyons.com

 

Visit the “Kiss My Grits, Sugar” Blog                    Buy it on CreateSpace.com 

 

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View a Musical Greeting Card with Sample Stories & FREE Recipes

Kiss My Grits, Sugar (List of Story Titles & Recipes)

Learning the Hard Way

Southern Grits, Cheesy Grits, Shrimp & Grits, Homemade Biscuits, Sausage Gravy

 

Electrified

Fried Fruit Pies, Apple Cake, Zucchini Bread, Cowboy Cookies

 

Something to Crow About

Fried Chicken, Chicken & Dumplings, Chicken Salad, Smothered Chicken

 

A Pecan By Any Other Name

Pecan Pie, Chocolate Pecan Fudge, German Chocolate Cake, Coconut Pecan Frosting, Spiced Pecans

 

Mind Your Manners

Sand Tarts, Coconut Peanut Butter Bars, Cherry Nut Loaf, Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies, Lemon Bars

 

Exposed

Snickerdoodles, Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Banana Nut Bread

   

Armed and Dangerous

Tuna Salad, Egg Salad, Pimiento Cheese Spread, Ham Salad

 

Let the Good Times Roll!

Mint Juleps, Rum Balls, Kentucky Derby Pie, Texas Tipsy Cake, Chocolate Kahlúa Brownies

 

Making a Splash

Fried Catfish, Fish Gravy, Hush Puppies, Coleslaw, Peach Cobbler

The Great Outdoors

S’Mores, Skillet Potatoes, Mashed Potato Pancakes, Salmon Patties, Fried Okra, Scalded Cornbread

 

When We All Get Together

Deviled Eggs, Pineapple Glazed Ham, Potato Salad, Turnip Greens, Baked Beans, Jelly Cake

 

Bless Your Heart

Cornbread Dressing, Dressing Gravy, Fruit Salad, Sweet Potato Casserole, Pumpkin Nut Bread

 

Southern Hospitality

Meatloaf, Scalloped Potatoes, English Pea Salad, Banana Pudding

 

The National Dish of Texas

Chicken Fried Steak, Cream Gravy, Southern Green Beans, Texas Sheath Cake

 

Crab Wranglers

Golden Fried Shrimp, Shrimp Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Seafood Gumbo

 

This Place is For the Birds

Blackberry Cobbler, Fried Green Tomatoes, Green Tomato Cake

 

Please Pass the Sugar

Louisiana Lattes, Tea Cakes, Sweet Ice Tea, Sweet Southern Lemonade

 

Buttermilk Twist

Buttermilk Pie, Peach Buttermilk Ice Cream, Buttermilk Cornbread

 

Ya’ll Come Back Now

Ham Jambalaya, Sweet Potato Pie, Black Eyed Peas, Peanut butter Blossoms

Pearls of Wisdom for Creating a Joyful Life

 

A heartfelt and thought-provoking guide for women, both young and old. This book makes a great motivational gift for daughters, mothers, sisters, friends and co-workers.

 

Inside you’ll find 25 pearls of hard-earned wisdom and inspirational quotes about happiness, forgiveness, accountability, anger, friendship, jealousy and more, to help speed you on your way to a more joyful life.

 

But don’t let the joy stop there. After you learn how to use these “pearls” to add happiness to your own life, then pass them along to others. Share the Joy!

 

Size: 8.25”X8.25”, paperback, 60 pages, ISBN: 978-0-9802244-9-8.    $7.95 

 

Visit the Pearls of Wisdom Blog

· Use Your Time Wisely

· Create Your Own Happiness

· Learn to Tolerate Differences

· Stay Healthy

· Be Positive

· Build Confidence

· Plan for Financial Independence

· Learn to Forgive

· Acquire Domestic Skills

· Enjoy the Beauty

· Celebrate Every Day

· Be Flexible

· Keep Things in Perspective

· Show Others How to Treat You

· Take Responsibility

· Never Stop Learning

· Cultivate Close Friendships

· Let Go of Anger

· Be Grateful For All That You Have

· Overcome Jealousy

· Create a Peaceful Environment

· Be Trustworthy

· Give Back to Your Community

· It’s Never Too Late

· Share the Joy

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Pearls of Wisdom Table of Contents

What’s Up With That?

Humorous Short Stories about Life in Modern-Day America

Have you ever encountered a situation that seemed so bizarre your only response was, “What’s up with that?” This book includes 19 humorous short stories that depict a few of these “head-scratching” moments you might have encountered at some point during your life.

 

If you’ve ever eaten at a restaurant where the lights were so dim you couldn’t see your food, been trapped in an elevator with someone wearing so much cologne you couldn’t breathe, or been stuck in a traffic jam in the “drive-thru” lane at a fast food restaurant, then you can relate!

 

Life in modern-day America can be challenging—to say the least—so why not look at the humorous side and vent some of our stress through chuckling instead of exploding? Take a few moments to sit down, relax and enjoy these light-hearted tales.  Size: 6”X9”, 60 pages, ISBN: 978-0-9842438-0-8.  $6.95      Read sample stories at www.GloriaHanderLyons.com

 

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What’s Up With That? List of Short Stories

· The Point of No Return (Check-Out Lines)

· Pondering the Here-After (Forgetfulness)

· Hanging Around (Rear-View Mirror Décor)

· The Battle at the Pump (Soaring Gasoline Prices)

· Just One Little Candle (Dimly Lit Restaurants)

· Stuck On You (Bar Code Tags)

· A Heavy Load (Fighting Middle-Age Weight Gain)

· The Evil Fast-Food Drive-Thru Hoax (Drive-Thru 

        Lanes at Fast Food Restaurants)

· Is It Hot in Here? (Hot Flashes)

· Do You Feel Lucky? (Reading Instruction

        Manuals)

· Burning the Midnight Oil (Insomnia)

· A Little Dab’ll Do Ya (Wearing Too Much

       Perfume)

· Breathing Room (Garlic-Flavored Food)

· Tangled Web (Parenting Advice)

· Overload (Overflowing Garages)

· Say What? (Your Friendly Dentist)

· The Sign Spoke To Me! (The Power of “The Sale”)

· Stuffed! (Thanksgiving Day Eating Habits)

· Visions of Sugar Plums (Ballerina Dreams)

When my family moved from northern Louisiana to the Gulf Coast of Texas during the late 1950s, we discovered a wealth of new foods, from Tex-Mex to seafood. Mama was overwhelmed with all the possibilities, as friends and relatives shared their favorite recipes.

 

One evening, our neighbor invited us to dinner. “I’m serving ‘the National Dish of Texas’,” Myra said. “Come hungry and don’t be late.”

 

Anticipation was high as we scrambled next door at the appointed hour. Myra placed a huge platter on the table in front of us. “Chicken fried steak,” she said, beaming with pride.

 

We each took a portion of meat, served with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans, and dug in.

 

“It’s delicious,” Mama said. “What cut of beef is this?”

 

“Round steak,” replied Myra.

 

“But how did you get it so tender?” asked Mama.

 

Myra’s eyes sparkled with delight. “Come and see.”

 

Mama followed her into the kitchen where Myra pulled a heavy metal hammer from a drawer, gazing upon it in awe. “It’s a meat mallet,” she whispered.

 

It was a frightening-looking tool, with sharp metal teeth on one side.

 

“How do you use it?” Mama asked.

Myra smiled. “You place the steak on the counter and hit it as hard as you can with these spikes.” Bam! Bam! Bam! She demonstrated, beating the bejeezus out of a potholder on the counter.

 

Now Mama was smiling, too. She couldn’t wait to get to the store the next day and buy her very own meat mallet.

 

I never understood her fascination with the evil-looking device. I didn’t want to get near it. But Mama seemed to be transformed whenever she beat the living daylights out of that steak—humming and smiling the whole time. I have to admit, that chicken fried steak was melt-in-your mouth tender.

 

Now that I look back on it, I realize it was a 1950s version of housewife stress relief. Many years later, when I became a housewife, I never had any desire to own one of those hideous tools. I let the butcher take care of the tenderizing.

 

As for the housewife stress relief, our generation did girls’ night out for nachos and margaritas—much more civilized in my opinion.

 

**Recipes included with this story: Chicken Fried Steak, Cream Gravy, Southern Green Beans, Texas Sheath Cake