In my own life, once I realized this concept, I could see how God had brought me through and into different seasons. In the same way that summer relieves into fall, I have had times of intense pressure finally break into peace and calm. Like the way winter turns into spring, I know God has given me something new to look forward to when I feel my life has become dull or tired. 

Recently, I have felt stuck or even misplaced at times as my life has become a conglomeration of multiple seasons. When Chris and I got married, our idea was to have our children when we were young so that we could enjoy life together even after they were grown, and so that we could be young enough to enjoy our future grandchildren. As I’ve said before, God must have laughed at us and our plan for the 12 years between our two oldest boys (Seth & Caleb) and Perry! 

​Perry has certainly been a blessing we never even knew we needed, but I have suddenly been thrust into raising two teenagers and a toddler, which can be a bit overwhelming at times! Since I was a stay-at-home mom when the older two were toddlers, I have also had to learn how to navigate being a working mom, even if it’s just part-time at The Shoppes. Fortunately, my mother has been a lifesaver, keeping Perry three days a week for me, so I haven’t had to worry about childcare. For the last year and a half, I have also spent my Thursdays at Paulk Vineyards with Perry in tow, working on blogs and newsletters, planning events, and helping out with the winery as much as possible with a nursing baby or into-everything toddler! For those of you don’t know, Paulk Vineyards is my family’s muscadine vineyard and winery. You can read more about how I became a part of the Paulk family by reading my blog Muscadines, Grandma, & a Husband.

​I have been pulled in so many different directions that I really haven’t felt like I was doing a very good job at any of my roles. There has been a feeling of discontent in my heart for a while that I know from past experience is God’s sign that I’m ready for a new season. Not discontent with anyone or anything in my life, but more of an unsettledness with my circumstances. That, coupled with some changes out at Paulk Vineyards, has led me to a difficult decision I honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever make. 

With a heart full of mixed emotions, I will be leaving The Southern Mercantile and The Shoppes at Fourth and Cherry to work full-time at Paulk Vineyards. I’m excited (and a little nervous!) about my new role and working with my husband, but I’m sad that I won’t be spending my days with my co-workers friends here. I’ll miss seeing regular customers who have become friends, as well as meeting new people and introducing them to the best chicken salads and pimiento cheese you could ever taste! Perhaps I’ll cook more at home now that I won’t be cooking at work; but, I still won’t want to wash dishes! 

Thank you all for the many wonderful memories of working at the best job I have ever had! Thank you for encouraging me throughout so many seasons of my life! Thank you for reading my blog posts, for praying for me and my family, and for supporting our online community!
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Shameless self-plug: if you don’t already, please follow Paulk Vineyards on Facebook or Instagram, or you can even sign up for our monthly newsletter on our website, www.paulkvineyards.com. 

Here in the South, we love to call a dish a "salad." Think about it - Watergate Salad, pear salad, chicken salads, congealed salads, frozen salads, ham salad - what really makes a salad a salad? Maybe it just makes us feel better about eating it? 

Possibly the most confusing "salad" we serve at our Cafe is a dish called "Hot Chicken Salad," which is really more of a casserole. Adding to the confusion is the fact that we keep these Hot Chicken Salads in the freezer for sale for customers to bake at home! ​

It may be confusing, but one thing is for sure - it is delicious! Creamy chicken and rice, dotted with celery, boiled eggs, and almonds, all baked together makes for comfort food at its finest. Its ingredient list is simple, making it perfect for a weekday dinner or covered dish supper, but it can also be dressed up for company with a few extra almonds on top. Pair it with a green salad (meaning one made with lettuce, but no judgment if it's a Watergate Salad),  or green beans for an easy meal just about anyone will eat!

Since it is a comfort food dish that almost anyone will eat, it's perfect for taking to a church potluck or to someone's house who's just had a baby or death in the family. In fact, the recipe is enough to make two large (9x13) pans, so you can bake one for your family and one to share! Tara's blog post, A Little Food Goes a Long Way, tells just how much sharing food with our neighbors really means!

If you love the carved wooden spoon and cotton trivet in the picture above, you're in luck! Both are available to purchase in The Southern Mercantile Kitchen category.

It's not too late to order one of our Southern Merc T-shirts featuring original artwork by our Katelyn!  Let our favorite Oscar Wilde quote help you remember to find your joy in simple things! They are on sale right now for $19 so grab yours while they last!

By the time Perry was about 6 months old, I already knew what his First Birthday Party theme would be. Little Blue Truck is absolutely his favorite book, and he has shown a preference for it long before I thought he should be able to. As we read the book to him, he would lean around the page to see what was coming next as he turned the page. And, when we finished, he would cry for us to read it again, even pushing other books out of the way!

I had never even heard of Little Blue Truck before one of my teacher friends gave it to us at Perry's baby shower (side note, the other book she gave me, Pete the Cat's Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is also among his favorites!). It's a sweet story of Little Blue Truck who makes friends with lots of farm animals as he rides down the road. When a rude dump truck gets stuck in the mud, no one comes to help until Little Blue Truck shows up and get stuck himself. When all his friends hear his "Beep! Beep! Beep!" they show up and do what it takes to get both trucks out. 

Since it's not a very well-known book, there aren't a lot of party decorations readily available, so I had to get creative. In the back of the book, there is a link to download a party kit that includes party hats, cupcake toppers, coloring sheets, and a "Pin the hat on Blue" game (which was a lot of fun for the older kids). That gave me a good start, but I knew I needed more, beginning with an invitation. So, I got to work using some of my favorite online tools!

I got on Pinterest and created a board for Perry's birthday party to get some ideas. ​I was surprised and very pleased when I searched Etsy and found several invitation options! I finally settled on a digital version I could send electronically and print myself. Of course, once I started looking, I discovered lots of Little Blue Truck items made by people who are more creative than I am. I found decorations for centerpieces I could also download and print myself. I ordered a onesie embroidered with Little Blue Truck and his friends (which I managed not to get a good picture of him wearing). I even found fondant characters to put on the cake, which is one thing I could do myself. I'm pretty proud of how the ombre icing turned out, thanks to tutorials I found and Tara's help! If you like the idea of ombre, but aren't sure about tackling the icing, check out Tara's tutorial for ombre cake layers.

I also saw several high chair banners people had made, and I realized that I could do that myself, too, and I did for half the price I would have paid. After Perry's party, I used it as a backdrop for some of his 1-year pictures. Didn't it turn out cute?

While looking at all the things I could order from Etsy, I saw the cutest decorated sugar cookies that reminded me of cookies I had seen from a bakery in our neighboring town. I sent the picture to the bakery and asked if they could make some similar? Not only could they, their cookies were actually less expensive! I love Etsy because you're purchasing from a small business, but I love supporting a small business in my local community even more!

If you're planning a party and want the look of being crafty without too much work, my recommendations are to check out Pinterest for ideas, then look for what you need locally when it's possible or Etsy when it's not. Fill in whatever can't be made (by yourself or someone else!) from your local dollar stores, Oriental Trading, or Amazon.

If you don't already follow us on Pinterest, we'd love it if you check out our boards!  They are full of great ideas and resources, like our "Soiree" board that has wonderful ideas for parties and gatherings!

Last year, I shared with you all my worries about being pregnant again so long after my first two boys and at such “advanced maternal age” in my blog, Pregnancy Worries. I’m happy to finally announce that Perry Jacob Paulk made his appearance on June 12, 2018! I know it’s a bit late to make it an announcement, but we’ve had our hands full ever since he arrived! 

Pick out something special for your own little or for a friend from our online store! Maileg Bunnies are some of our favorites additions to any nursery are treasured for many childhood years to come.

Such simple words, but so powerful. I’m wiping tears even now as I recall trying to sing along that morning. I was emotional then, but could still sing until we began the second verse:​

    “How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
    and feel the pride and joy he gives.
    But, greater still, the calm assurance,
    this child can face uncertain days, because He lives!”

Recently, a magazine contacted my husband, Chris, and asked for a recipe using muscadines with apples for a special piece featuring apples in North Georgia. Of course, he turned to me and asked, “Any ideas?” Although this was during our harvest season and fresh muscadines were abundant, I thought how much easier it would be to use one of our products made from muscadines that are available year-round. My favorite muscadine product is Paulk's Pride Muscadine Sauce. Maybe I could even combine it with apples to make a modern version of a muscadine hull pie? 

Paulk’s Pride Muscadine Apple Pie recipe was printed in the Fall 2017 issue of Georgia Connector magazine and is also available at www.paulkspride.com. 

​We’ve also made it into one of our Southern Mercantile recipe cards if you’d like to print it! 

​I sure hope you enjoy Paulk's Pride Muscadine Apple Pie as much as we have - we even served it in our Cafe during "Muscadine Week" in September!

​Almost every southern cook I know has a recipe box or binder full of cards and slips of paper collected over the years from family, friends, and magazines. This is in addition to a cabinet full of cookbooks - from beautiful glossy picture-filled hardback books to spiral bound paperbacks filled with covered dish supper favorites and the name of the cook. My Mama had a dark wooden recipe box with a cornucopia painted on the top. She would pull it down from the cabinet above the stove, and we would know something delicious was about to happen in that kitchen.

When I got married, I received a recipe box, a couple of binders, and plenty of blank recipe cards. At the time, I had no recipes of my own to write on the cards and put in the binders or box! My mother-in-law gave me an old binder full of her and her mother’s recipes. This binder has become precious to me. Over the years, I have learned to make a few of those recipes, including my husband’s favorite - fresh peach cake for his birthday. (I shared this recipe in my blog Peach Cake.) ​

Last year, my Mama gave me the sweetest birthday present - her wooden recipe box! She included the card for my favorite meal as a child - Chicken Spaghetti! She’s also been working on typing up her other recipes to add to my collection. Of course, those in her own handwriting are the ones that are so dear to my heart. I have such sweet memories and feelings of home every time I look at that box.

Now that I have learned how to cook, I have lots of recipes in my everyday repertoire, and love gathering more. My problem is I have not organized all those recipes. I have a shelf full of cookbooks I’ve collected and lots of recipes scribbled here and there, but I don’t really have a system to organize them all. That’s one of those goals I’ve always hoped to get done, but never have! So, I’m trying to get my act together now, starting with our favorite recipe box from Rifle Paper Company. Choose from three different designs to match your kitchen and personality. We also have a cute Berry Basket Recipe Box you may prefer with its open top. And, all our recipes in the Recipe Archive are available in a printable format perfect for 4”x6” recipe cards to fit!

In 2002, Chris Paulk came home to start a new venture on his family’s farm and muscadine vineyard: creating products made from muscadines that would highlight their flavor and health benefits. ​

Making the jellies has become a joint effort, as The Southern Mercantile actually produces Paulk’s Pride Muscadine Jelly, Sauce, and Preserves, and they’re available in our store!

And, yes, Chris is Jorjanne’s husband! You can read more about their story in Jorjanne’s blogs "Muscadines, Grandma, & a Husband" or "Faithful in the Little Things".