Photo was taken by Jeffrey W. and is of Gumbo, a dish that originated in Louisiana in the 18th Century.
Like most regional cuisine that of our South depended on local ingredients. It was Native Americans who passed on the making of cornbread and hoecakes to slaves and settlers. They also fried their meat. West African slaves contributed the art of stewing from which gumbo, the low country boil, and shrimp ‘n grits are all derived. (Due South: A History of Southern Food by Angela Garrison Zontek)
Brenda Gantt
“It’s going to be good y’all,” said self-taught cook Brenda Gantt of Andalusia, Alabama. A Scorpio, she was born on November 1, 1946. Brenda became famous after her Facebook tutorial on biscuit making went viral during the dark days of the Covid epidemic. Her charm, pleasing persona, and “ah shucks” attitude made her successful.
Gantt was an educator who taught science in Tuscaloosa and Covington counties until her retirement. Brenda has a master’s degree from the University of Alabama. (Facebook Post) She began cooking at age 18. Her husband’s name was George Patton Gantt, an Aries born on April 6, 1946. The couple’s marriage lasted for fifty years until his death at age 72. (Wikipediabio.com Brenda Gantt)
Brenda Gantt’s horoscope has a speculative time of 8 p.m. Her Rising Sign, therefore, is not known. Gantt’s Moon is in Aquarius. Positive signs predominate (8/11), including Chiron.
Gantt’s Sun/Moon combination can be described thusly: “A very sensitive person, affectionate and loving, with a great need for gentleness. Keen imagination [with] a real sense of the frustration and tragedy of life. Genuinely sympathetic with others.” (Heaven Knows What by Grant Lewi, p. 116, 1935)
Keys to the nativity include a Sun/Jupiter conjunction, which can be seen through the pearls of wisdom Gantt dispenses in her book. It also gave her a hopeful attitude and some luck.
Making up for the elemental lack—there are no planets in Earth signs—is a very strong Saturn. It is in Leo, the sign of showmanship (let me demonstrate how to do it), and conjoined with Pluto, the ruler of her Sun Sign. While it is square the Sun and Jupiter and probably opposes her Moon, it is also trine Venus and Mercury. Brenda takes relationships seriously and has given cookery considerable thought (Venus/Mercury trines). The Moon’s ruler, Uranus, rules the media.
Finally, Gantt’s Mercury is in Sagittarius with Venus and Mars in the last degrees of Scorpio. The former can add tact to the personality, while the latter makes the mind lively but susceptible to impulse.
Paula Deen
Paula Deen was born in Albany, Georgia on January 19, 1947. She married after graduating from high school. By the time Paula was 23, both parents were dead. She suffered from panic attacks and agoraphobia as a result. Cooking became a coping mechanism, and Deen started a catering business from home called The Bag Lady. Her two sons delivered the meals. The enterprise was a hit and Paula expanded the operation into a restaurant called The Lady and Sons in downtown Savannah. The restaurant was very popular. Deen won an award from USA Today in 1999, and a cookbook followed. (Biography: Paula Deen, Updated Sept. 9, 2022)
Paula was a guest on the Food Network. She began her own show called Paula’s Home Cooking in 2002. Bobby and Jamie, her sons, appeared on her show. She won an Emmy for the show in 2006. Other cookbooks followed, and a memoir, It Ain’t All About the Cooking. (Ibid)
A former employee sued Paula and her brother for racial and sexual harassment. In a deposition, she admitted using the n-word a long time ago. Dean was dropped by The Food Network and Ballantine, her publisher. (Ibid)
To regain her status, Paula began live cooking demonstrations and started her own online network. She even competed on “Dancing with the Stars.” (Ibid)
Paula Dean is a Capricorn, with the Moon either in Sagittarius or Capricorn. [24 d Sagittarius 00:00, 29 d 54 m at 12:00, 5 d 48 Capricorn at 23:59] As one might expect from her biography, she is very driven and persistent. Her Sun is conjoined with Mercury and Mars, all three of which are in the latter degrees of Capricorn. Mars is exalted.
Deen’s Venus is trine Saturn and Pluto and sextile Neptune. Venus trine Saturn can help make a subject successful. The emphasis is on work. On the other hand, the trine of Pluto gives “great, even exaggerated enjoyment of life.” The emphasis is on play and fun. (Parker, The New Compleat Astrologer, p. 142) Here we have a task-oriented person with a sense of fun.
Chiron in Scorpio is square both Saturn and Pluto in Leo. The square to Pluto brings “underlying wounds and deep shadowy material to the surface, demanding transformation and healing.” “It is often associated with periods of intense personal growth and significant life changes.” (Authority Astrology: Chiron Square Pluto)
With the placement of Black Moon Lilith in Sagittarius, Deen might tend to avoid introspection, but life forces her to be more self-reflective. Freedom is important. (Advanced Astrology: A Stellar Tool for Self-Reflection)
RECIPES
Linda Gantt’s Classic Fried Chicken
- 1 ½ cups of buttermilk
- 2 tsp fine sea salt and ½ tsp, freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small chicken cut into 10 pieces (3 to 3 ¼ pound)
- 2 cups of all purpose flour (unbleached)
- 1 tbs sweet paprika
- 2 to 3 cups vegetable oil
How to do it
Mix the buttermilk, salt and pepper; add the chicken and coat it. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.
Put the flour, salt, and pepper in a large doubled paper brown bag and shake it.
Drop the chicken pieces into the flour mixture and fold the bag closed. Shake to coat completely.
Set the coated chicken on a wire rack under which is a baking sheet.
Pour oil into a 12 inch skillet to a depth of ½ inch. Heat the oil until a temperature of 350 F is reached.
Put the chicken in the oil skin down. Partially cover with a lid. Cook it for 5 minutes until golden brown. Move the chicken and turn over as necessary. It is done when a thermometer placed deep inside the thickest part of each piece registers 165 degrees (5-7 minutes more).
Transfer the chicken to the rack to drain after washing and drying the wire rack. (Cook with Brenda Gantt: Classic Fried Chicken)
Paula Deen’s Southern Collard Greens
- 1 large bunch collard greens
- 1 tbs seasoned salt
- 1 tbs wet chicken base
- 1 tbs hot sauce
- ½ lb. ham hocks or smoked meat (turkey wings/neck bones)
- 1 stick of butter
How to make them
Bring 3 qts of water to a boil. Add the meat, seasonings, and hot sauce. Cook on medium heat for an hour.
Remove the stems from the collard greens.
Wash them and cut them into about inch slices.
Place greens in pot with meat and cook for an hour.
Taste, adjust the seasoning, and add the butter. (Paula Deen, Collard Greens)
Author’s note: Cornbread would be a great addition to make the above recipes into a complete meal. While I have made it from scratch, I actually prefer adding cheese, jalapeno peppers, and cream corn into Jiffy Corn Bread Mix.
Dessert could be frozen and thawed strawberries and syrup heaped on a biscuit with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and topped with whipped cream.