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Dear Friend,

This month's main travel feature is about a food most of us love to eat: fried chicken. Now usually when we do a story on fried chicken, it features a series of the best recipes we can produce, but in this issue Associate Travel Editor Cassandra Vanhooser gives you her choice of the best places to dine on the popular delicacy across the South. While her opinion reigned supreme, I must say that Senior Photographer Charles Walton IV, who photographed the places; Morgan Murphy, our Travel Planning Editor; and I all gave Cassandra a few leads.

Her story is a terrific look at this Southern icon, and it shows a significant change in our cooking habits. Just think: A mere 10 to 15 years ago, Southerners didn't consider a week complete without having a fried chicken meal at home. Today, it's become a special-occasion dinner, more often enjoyed at a restaurant. (I'll bet if I asked my wife, Pam, who works full time, to cook a skillet of fried chicken for me, I'd get the skillet-minus the chicken!) This delightful look at one of the great tastes of the South starts on page 90.

As I write this column, my mother-in-law has taped four paint samples to the living room wall to help her choose a new color. She's taking an opinion poll before she decides on the perfect shade. Laurey Glenn, one of our photographers, and her husband, Scott, didn't bother with an opinion poll when they wanted to jazz up their living room. Instead, they enlisted the help of Assistant Projects Editor Mary Leigh Fitts. The results are really amazing, and the cost wouldn't break anyone's budget. Take a look at the finished product starting on page 98.

Our traditional July special section, "Summer Suppers," has taken on a new name. "Summer Living," which starts on page 129, is an effort to provide you with a greater variety of topics. I hope you like it. I also hope you'll check out our story about how to make pickles (see page 150). We realize that, nowadays, fewer people have the time to create these wonderful homemade delights. Still, Executive Foods Editor Susan Dosier thinks these pickles are so easy to make and taste so good that we might start a new tradition. Tell me what you think of this idea after you've tried the recipes. In fact, I'd love to hear from you about the whole issue.

Best regards,

John Alex Floyd, Jr., Editor

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Jul 2004
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