If I had any control over anything anyone might say about my writing, I would love someone to say, I write like Fannie Flagg. I don’t. We write about and care about such different universes, and speak with entirely different voices, but I love hers. Funny without being jokey. Her characters stay with you. You can miss them years later.

Who do you write like?

Well, it’s summertime, and this thought made me think of fried green tomatoes, so I thought, this might be a good week to share a “literary” recipe. In Fannie Flagg’s novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, in Whistle Stop, Alabama, the menu featured the eponymous dish.

 

“Idgie and Ruth had set a place for him at a table. He sat down to a plate of fried chicken, black-eyed peas, turnip greens, fried green tomatoes, cornbread, and iced tea.”

 

 

Here’s the recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes from Southern Living Magazine

 

Directions

Mix together egg and buttermilk; set aside. Combine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl or pan. Dredge tomato slices in remaining 1/4 cup flour; dip in egg mixture, and dredge in cornmeal mixture.

Pour oil to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch in a large cast-iron skillet; heat to 375°. Drop tomatoes, in batches, into hot oil, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels or a rack. Sprinkle hot tomatoes with salt.

Recipe: Fried Green Tomatoes
Recipe: Classic Sweet Tea

In case you don’t know her, Fannie Flagg is an actor, comedian, and author. She is best known for being a regular on the show Match Game, and for writing the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which she adapted into the feature film Fried Green Tomatoes. Flagg won an Academy Award for that film adaptation and went on to write a number of other books. In 2012, she won the Harper Lee Award for distinguished authors from Alabama.

Come on over to the FB Group, Write Without the Fight, where we will be chatting about

  1. who you write like (or hope you write like)
  2. what literary recipes you wish you had, or would like to share!