Females foraging thru fabulous food, friendly conversation and a fresh look on life.
It started in Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1980s. A newcomer's party. A bowl of gazpacho served by a woman who had just returned from six weeks in France. A backgammon game on an airplane. A friendship that would last forty years and counting, bridging the miles between Kentucky and Alabama with weekly texts, calls, cards, and the occasional three-hour drive to meet in the middle.
Scarlett and Robyn call themselves the Kentucky Thoroughbroads — a name that captures both their Bluegrass roots and their unflinching, spirited approach to life. They forage thru fabulous food, share recipes that have been tested in their own kitchens, and tell stories about everything from Thanksgiving Friendsgivings to lavender farms in Simpsonville, from Claudia Sanders Dinner House to the little towns with names like Monkey's Eyebrow and Chicken Bristle.
The blog began as a way to stay connected and share their love of cooking, travel, and each other's company. What it has become is a chronicle of friendship — the kind that survives surgery and divorce and widowhood and tornadoes and the quiet ache of living alone for the first time in fifty years. Through all of it, there is always a recipe, always a story, and always someone on the other end of the line who knows you are thinking about them.
Living alone for the first time in fifty years, Scarlett has a renewed interest in pre-planning meals for one. She misses the days of gathering at each other's homes on a whim, but she has adapted — front-porch adult beverages, Sunday morning coffee, and quickly created snacks. A Southern lady never forgets her upbringing, and Scarlett cooks in a pinch and keeps a beautiful house in case company drops in. She writes about her garden, her gentleman caller, and the vegetables that are strugglin' thru the Kentucky rain.
After forty-one years of marriage, Robyn became a widow. Being alone and being lonely are two separate things, and Robyn is alone, not lonely. She has always enjoyed her own company — she has been to Africa three times alone. She loves traveling alone because things happen and conversations occur that probably would not if one had a traveling companion. She collects recipes like she is going to live forever, thinks a day spent in the kitchen is a fun time, and bakes for her friends, who serve as her taste testers. Her advice: put one foot outside your comfort zone and fly.
Robyn and Scarlett…
friends for 38 years.
Alabama and Kentucky
are not that far away
for this friendship.
A text, a call, a card, or a note is shared weekly so that they both know the other is thinking about them. It is a reminder that we are lucky to have such a strong relationship in our later years. We both make an effort to maintain our connection.
From Pimm's Cup Punch to Carrot Chips, from Summer Gazpacho to Robyn's giant pot of chili — every recipe has been tested in a Thoroughbroad kitchen. Some are heirloom, some are new discoveries, and all come with a story.
Road trips to lavender farms, dinners at Claudia Sanders Dinner House, Friendsgiving plans, and the quiet truths of living alone. The Thoroughbroads write about life the way they cook — with heart, humor, and a pinch of Southern charm.
At its core, this blog is about the friendship between two women who refuse to let miles or years diminish what they have. It is a reminder to reach out, to share a meal, and to make an effort to maintain your connections.