Throw a Southern-Style Party with Pickled Foods, Creative Dips

We Southerners have a thing for food in jars. It could be pickled okra, peach salsa, or pawpaw jelly—as it was for me growing up in Georgia. Which brings me to a dish I recently had at Empire State South in Atlanta. Simply called "In Jars," five of them were packed with inventive spreads, dips, and pickles, and served with toasted bread. I quickly dubbed it the Southern Pupu Platter and adapted it for my next party. Sure, I mixed in a few bowls with my jars, but my friends still scraped 'em all clean.