All across this country every February, Black History Month is celebrated in one form or the other. When celebrated with food, appetites swell, only to be pleasantly sated with a menu of traditional Southern dishes, plus a few not-so-often found at other gatherings.

Serving food to a fellowship gathering is exactly how the members and guests of Antioch Baptist Church at Susan celebrated Black History Month 2012. Sponsored by the Senior Choir, the meal featured their annual soul food dishes, more like a feast than dinner, for almost 100 people.

Food chairman Lorraine Forrest and her committee made up a menu that included barbecued ribs, fried chicken, baked chicken, deer meat, chitterlings, collard greens, black-eyed peas, yams, potato salad, stewed tomatoes, hot rolls, and an assortment of pies. All foods were donated and prepared by members of Antioch Church.

Soul food is a term that described the cuisine developed by African slaves mainly from the southern part of this country. The phrase may have originated in the mid 1960s, when "soul" was a common definer to describe African-American culture (for example, soul music). It is also written that the term could have come from the fact that the women who cooked the food put their hearts and souls into it.

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