At any given time it seems there is a food magazine in my mailbox. I get them all: Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Food and Wine, Cooking Light and several others. But the highlight of my month is when my Southern Living comes. I wait until that evening when everything has been done, at least one child is in the bed and I fix myself a cup of hot tea and read it from cover to cover.

Monday night was to be one of those evenings. That afternoon an issue had arrived titled Southern Living Favorites. Late that night with Emily in bed and Matthew watching a TV show in my room with me, I began working my way slowly through the magazine.

I couldn’t resist turning to the article called &uot;204 Food Finds: The South’s Best Flavors.&uot; And there under the Mexican category at number 144 was our very own Fat Mama’s here in Natchez.

Their recommendation was two dozen tamales with plenty of napkins to go. My recommendation is a dozen with an order of marinated onions, an order of fire and ice pickles and, of course, a knock-you-naked margarita.

Then pick you out a seat on the back patio and enjoy. Chances are you will first see someone from around the Miss-Lou that you know and secondly you will meet someone new from out-of-town. I don’t know how the tourists find this place, but they always do.

There weren’t any other Natchez places on the list which we will have to rectify but there were several others that I have visited, and you should, too.

Of course Caf Du Monde in New Orleans made the cut; if you haven’t had their beignets you haven’t been to New Orleans.

And the Bottletree Bakery in Oxford was listed with their ginger scones. Those are heavenly with a cup of their dark roast coffee as are their homemade chocolate croissants, fresh sausage and biscuits, raspberry Danish … What? Did you think I only went up there for the football?

Middendorf’s in Manchac, La., made the list with their fried catfish, I can’t vouch for that, but I can tell you that I time my trips to New Orleans so that I can stop there and have soft shelled crabs for dinner.

Some other old favorites that made the list were the Rendezvous and Corky’s in Memphis, two of the best barbecues you will ever eat, and of course the Acme Oyster House in New Orleans, where the beer and the oysters are ice cold.

But back to Natchez and the Miss-Lou. There are numerous places here and plenty of dishes that I think should have been listed.

But instead of my telling you my favorites, why don’t you tell me yours.

You can write to me at The Natchez Democrat or email me at

christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com

. Tell me about your favorite dishes in the Miss-Lou and where it is served.

Do you have a favorite hamburger in town? Or maybe it’s a seafood dish that catches your attention. What about ribs? And surely there’s a dessert that makes your heart beat faster.

This month let’s make our own favorites list from the Miss-Lou and let our restaurants both big and small know that we love them.

E-mail

Christina Hall

at

christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com

.