SPECIAL TO THE REPORTER

Annie Crenshaw, independent scholar and member of the Alabama Humanities Foundation speakers bureau, presents &8220;Mama’s in the Kitchen: Historical Southern Traditions in Food&8221; on Nov. 14 at 4 p.m. at the Harrison Regional Library in Columbiana.

Explore the origins of why Southerners eat what they do in this entertaining look at food history and culture. From her unique perspective of having raised hogs and chickens, grown heirloom fruits and vegetables, preserved produce, cooked on a wood stove and absorbed several hundred years of family history (and a little book learning), Crenshaw discusses how the Southern environment, culture and people have combined to create our wonderful food traditions.

She also presents some popular misconceptions about Southern food. Southern food is the result of who we are, where we came from, where our ancestors lived and what they had to work with in a particular place and time.

Step back into the past as Crenshaw shares her love of the South, its people and its food in this enlightening presentation.

Crenshaw is a seventh generation descendant of early Alabama settlers who has shared her lifelong fascination with &8220;why Southerners are the way they are&8221; with audiences for decades. She is a native of Butler County, and Crenshaw County was named for her ancestor, pioneer Judge Anderson Crenshaw.

Crenshaw was educated at Birmingham-Southern College and Auburn University at Montgomery and has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and sociology. Her special interests are in Southern food, language and antebellum lifestyle. She is a lecturer, artist, genealogist, author, tour guide and heirloom gardener.

She has presented Southern programs and tours for AUM, Auburn University, Huntingdon College, the University of Montevallo and Maxwell Air Force Base and regularly conducts &8220;Welcome to the South&8221; tours and programs for military groups and reunions.

She is the author of &8220;Southern Traditions: Recipes and Reminiscences from Seven Generations of the Crenshaw Family.&8221;

For information, call Becky Brasher at 669-3910