In the 16 years I have lived in Alabama, this spring is the absolute best yet...for many things, but especially for berries. Right now in my fridge I have strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, all grown within 50 miles of my home.

Blooming azaleas, dogwoods, green stuff sprouting all over my front and back yard...and the pollen that goes with all of the above. Makes me think I must be looking at life through greenish yellow lenses, not those rose colored ones I am used to.

Blooming azaleas, dogwoods, green stuff sprouting all over my front and back yard...and the pollen that goes with all of the above.  Makes me think I must be looking at life through greenish yell

Asia Chicken, Pork, Shrimp and Vegetarian Dim Sum served in steamer baskets with sauces to include: sweet & sour sauce, sesame soy dipping sauce and spicy sambal Assorted Sushi served with Soy Sauce, Wasabi & Pickled Ginger tuna rolls, cucumber...

So how can a column on food memories not honor that importance... for the commercials, the half-time show, the tail gate parties, and especially the parties all over the country? And a lot of them will be serving chili in some form or another so I figured I might as well weigh in with my version.

When I was eleven, my family moved to Pamplona, Spain for two years. A life changing event in many ways... all the children in my family are more or less bi-lingual, and another may be what we do when we get sick... Last week I felt a cold coming on.

It is striking me funny that in a column about food memories, I usually start out not remembering the first time I experienced a specific food, or technique. These food memories develop over time, stories adding up layer upon layer, until the current product is like a tarte or cake: a wonderful melange of flavors and textures.

It normally takes a good strong chill in the air to get me thinking about making soups, but I guess I have written January enough times that the food synapses just started firing that way.

My memories are punctuated by many flavors and scents.

The deadline for this column has come to me on January 2, the day after I took care of family traditions by bringing them black eyed peas and greens.