ROUSES_Holiday2018Magazine-FINAL.indd

HOME MADE for the holidays by ALI ROUSE ROYSTER Like a lot of Gulf South families, the Rouses are all about food. Like not as many families around here, it is literally our livelihood. We live for food. When someone new is brought into the mix for a family holiday, a crash course in how the event will go is necessary, and it goes like this: There will be more food than you can imag- ine; people will have opinions about what is served and how it was prepared (we’re a tough crowd); we will try new items specifically to decide if they’re good enough to carry in our grocery stores; there will be a good bit of “shop talk” among those of us involved in the family business (so stay away from the fire pit outside if that bores you); and there will be extensive planning for the next family meal before we are even finished with the one in front of us.

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