Lyman fries the catfish around here. He does a good job -- nice and crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

His mother doesn't like it that way.

Lyman's dad loves fried catfish more than any food around, so that's what Lyman cooked for his birthday dinner, along with some Alabama red potato fries. I assembled the coleslaw and took another stab at blackberry cobbler.

Lyman starts his mother's fish before anything else. After about 20 minutes yesterday, he asked her to test her pieces.

"No, it can cook a little longer."

"We can do that. We can let it burn slap-dab up if that's the way you want it."