Hope you have a wonderful weekend and remember, it’s not the food but the faces around the table that make the meal memorable.

You don’t have to slave over a grill for tender and delicious ribs!

Pulled pork barbecue is pretty much heaven on a bun as far as I’m concerned and it seems every region has their own way of doing it. Where I am from, the barbecue is smoked and juicy, served as pictured here or with a little bit of clear mild vinegar sauce poured over it, perhaps some of our white bbq sauce. In my husband’s home its served slathered in a thick layer of sweet red barbecue sauce, like the bottled sauce you buy in the stores.

This recipe makes it easy with the help of a slow cooker.

Click here to get my recipe for Southern Style Pulled Pork BBQ in the Slow Cooker

(the link to the vinegar slaw is in the post as well)

You know, every time I grill out I end up with leftover hamburger buns. Now I get excited when that happens because this is the BEST french toast ever! Okay, sometimes I even go and buy buns just to do this with them ~grins~. Instructions for freezing also included .

Their dream back in the early seventies was for all of us to graduate high school. It was a good dream and one that we all accomplished. But I secretly wanted something more. I wanted to go to college.

I had always dreamed of getting to go to college. Notice how I say “getting to” as if it is some grand prize being awarded. Most kids nowadays will say “when I go to college” but I could never look at it as such a concrete, definite concept. I talked in terms of “If I ever got to go to college…”

I hated to ask Mama and Daddy. To us all, college was something far off and unattainable. It was foreign and something only rich people got to do. I took some classes at a community college though, and I was grateful for that. I’ll never forget the semester me and Mama sat down in the middle of the living room floor one night and rolled enough coins to pay my tuition as we chatted about my classes and friends. We never took it for granted, not one second.

I took a few classes here and there while working full time as a teller in a credit union but then one weekend I went to visit a friend of mine at The University of North Alabama. Oh how I fell in love. She had to study in the library one night and I tagged along, relishing the opportunity to walk around campus by myself  and just drink it in. My heart ached and that dream of getting to go myself came stubbornly bubbling up.

I wanted to go to UNA so badly. I had a heart to heart talk that night with my friend and for the first time in my life I found out about the different financial options to allow you to go to college. That was the fall of 1996. In January of 1997 I moved into Rice Hall, the woman’s dormitory, and began my studies. Each day, each class, each book I held represented the culmination of a dream come true for me.

It took me a while to graduate. During that time I met my husband and we married. We wanted a family right away and by the time I walked across the stage two year old Brady was watching and cheering me on.

So today, considering all of this, I’m going to share something with you that leaves me completely without words. My university asked me to do a commercial to help promote my alma mater which is airing all over Alabama. Knowing what you know about me now, I’m sure you can imagine the sweet and aching gratitude in my heart for all that you have given me.

Gratefully,

Christy

P.S. I think I am almost to the point where I can watch this without crying

I’m going to be taking some time of to get caught up with work and enjoy my family this week.

Please visit my Thanksgiving Menu post if you’d like help planning your holiday menu.

Also use the search box in the top right hand corner of the screen. You can even search recipes by ingredients if you like.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be grateful for.

After a few days, I’m going to make a button on my sidebar with a shortcut to my “Link Love” post. So go ahead and introduce yourself to the wonderful folks here, and let us get to know you better!

*Your blog or website does not have to be food related! All readers of Southern Plate are invited, welcomed, and requested to participate because YOU Are so very important here!!
All I ask is that you list family friendly websites only, please.