Hello, my name is Bill and welcome to Southern Boy Dishes. My relationship with food started many years ago. I came into the world with a ravenous appetite and I remember being in the kitchen with my mother when I was five or six years old impatiently waiting for the next meal. She could hardly keep up with my appetite, so my initial culinary aspirations were mainly for satiating my between-meal cravings. As my love for food grew, so did my love of cooking.
I grew up in Mississippi, eating typical southern fare. I fondly remember hot summer days when my grandfather would show up to share his daily cornucopia of whatever vegetables were ready for picking in his huge garden. On a typical day the haul would include corn, green beans, cucumbers, radishes, eggplant, okra, and greens of any variety. My mom was a schoolteacher and was home for summer vacations, so lunch was a feast of fresh vegetables straight out of the garden. Naturally, I grew up loving fresh, healthy foods. Don’t get me wrong… there was plenty of unhealthy southern fare as well. Fried chicken, fried okra, country fried steak, coconut cakes, fried apple pies, and biscuits and gravy could accompany the meal on any given day.
Fast forward to 2012. My love affair with food is stronger than ever. I decided it was time to venture into the blogosphere and start sharing my little corner of the food universe.
We have very busy lives as I’m sure most of you do. However, I make it a priority to cook almost every day. After a day of work and an hour at the gym, sometimes I don’t have the luxury of time to make an elaborate meal. On many days, 30 minutes is all I have to get something on the table. On weekends, I usually have time for more complicated recipes. You’ll find a range of complexity in the dishes that I present in this blog.
I really enjoy simple and healthful dishes made with fresh ingredients. Sometimes simplicity in food is just as enjoyable as something more complex. I am fortunate in that organic foods are readily available in Atlanta. I find that they have become more reasonable in price than they used to be. I feel strongly that buying organic foods as much as possible not only supports farmers that care about our planet, but it’s a way that we can limit the pollutants that we ingest. I also buy meats that are organic or are raised without the use of steroids, hormones, and antibiotics. It’s a good thing to do if you can afford the extra cost.
I serve as the chief cook and bottle washer for Southern Boy Dishes. I develop most of the recipes and cook, style, and photograph the dishes you’ll find here. Unfortunately, I don’t have a convenient window in my house to provide natural light for the photographs, so for 90% of the images you see on the blog, a softbox, an umbrella light, and white boards provide the light source. I use a Nikon D600 camera with a Nikon 60mm f/2.8 macro lens for capturing the images and Adobe Lightroom for post-processing.
My partner, Jim, and I share a home with our two canine kids, Greeley (standard poodle) and Olive (labradoodle). I’m sure you’ll see some pictures of my happy family somewhere in this blog.
Feel free to contact me at 404-874-8267 or bill {at} southernboydishes {dot} com. I hope you enjoy my dishes and dishing about life. Bon Appetit!!
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