2 perfect appetizers for spring

Bibi Hutchings, a lifelong Southerner, lives along a quiet coastal Alabama bay with her cat, Zulu, and husband, Tom. She writes about the magical way food evokes memories, instantly bringing you back to the people, places and experiences of your life. Her stories take you all around the South and are accompanied with tried-and-true recipes that are destined to become a part of your memory-making as you share them with your friends and family

Spring, our season of new beginnings, fresh flowers and delicate produce, when the Earth tilts back towards the sun (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway), days grow longer, and warmer temperatures call Nature from its slumber.

I notice myself tilting towards the sun, like a sunflower — I lift my own chin to it and feel a kinship to the green and growing plants around me. Following their lead, shedding the last of my winter sluggishness and enjoying the life-giving pleasantness of our spring weather this year, I too am energized, moving faster, awake and inspired.