Let’s be honest, y’all. It’s not easy to transform a dyed-in-the-wool Southern gal into a Geisha. And in spite of my hair and makeup team working some serious magic, I’m not sure I did those beautiful Japanese women much justice. Michael, on the other hand, makes a damn good pirate. All those years as a tug boat pilot probably didn’t hurt. He was a seafarin’ natural—he swaggered around in his costume and must’ve said “Ahoy, matey!” a thousand times.

Even though I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror without getting the giggles, the costume did inspire me. I took the Asian theme and ran with it by baking a batch of my delicious Fortune Cookies. They’re surprisingly easy to make and are great party treats. They’re especially fun when you take extra care in writing out the fortunes. The cookie I offered to my swashbucklin’ husband read, “You’ll soon discover a marvelous booty.” He gave me a pinch on the rear and announced that his fortune didn’t lie.

These days you can buy just about any Halloween costume. I’ve seen mummies that look as if they crawled right out of the crypt and a Batman so fabulous he must’ve arrived straight from Gotham. But back when I was growing up you didn’t shell out a lot of money for a costume. Even if you did go to Kress or Woolworth’s and buy those thin costumes, they weren’t all that great and you’d probably catch on fire. Instead, we went into Momma and Daddy’s closet and picked out our own outfits. Y’all, there were a lot of hobo costumes back then.

I’ve always liked the homemade costumes the best. They’re so creative. My all-time favorite is when Michael and I went as “Bread and Butter.” Now you don’t see that every day. In fact, I’ve never seen it since! They might not have been the most flattering costumes, but people had a good laugh everywhere we went.

Homemade costumes are my favorite and they’re usually the ones that win the costume contest! Years ago I made myself into a pumpkin. I wore a black leotard underneath a costume filled with orange balloons. I even had a little hat with a stem. It was as cute as could be, but I couldn’t hardly walk, let alone get my behind in the car! Every time I turned around, part of me kept poppin’, scaring the wits outta me and the boys. That costume might’ve won a contest—if it had only lasted long enough.

So I’ve just shared my most memorable (and kind of embarrassing) costumes, now I want to hear from y’all! The contest has ended. Thank you for all the submissions!

Contest Winners!
With over 1,000 entries, it sure was hard to decide a few winners. Congratulations to our winners on their creative entries and their new Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible cookbook!

Jennifer Cristofaro
Cabbage Patch Baby

Barbie Gregory Higgins
The Claw Machine

Patricia Hossler
Vampire in Coffin

Megan Bryant Morrow
Ace Ventura, Pet Detective

Nicolette Flores Corson
Barbie Stylin’ Head

Honorable Mention:


Misty Everhart McMillion
“Miracle On The Hudson”