Our Story

Some things about the South are immutable: the warmth of the people, the fragrance of jasmine and honeysuckle wafting through a soft summer night, the old-style Southern cooking, the concept of lagniappe (a little something extra). These pralines are our way of sharing a bit of the authentic South with you.

I am Margaret Miller, founder of Margaret's Pralines. My partners are my daughter, Ariel, and my granddaughters, Talia and Bella.

My praline career began twenty-five years ago when my children were in elementary school. Boxes of pralines made ideal holiday gifts for their teachers. Over the years, I've made pralines for Northern and Southern weddings, a few Southern funerals, and just about every occasion in between, but I never thought of them as a business.

In the Summer of 2009, Ariel suggested that we sell pralines at the weekly Farmers Market on The University of Alabama campus. Ariel, Talia and I did just that. Talia was in charge of samples, Ariel acted as cashier, and I watched in amazement as our pralines sold quickly. Our customers were unusually sophisticated about pralines since Tuscaloosa is a relatively short distance from New Orleans, home of the Southern praline, and trips to The Big Easy are frequent and usually involve a praline or two. To be humble, the consensus was that our pralines are really good! One customer told us "They're better than any I've driven down the road for!" As a result of our Farmers Market experience, which turned into an informal market research project, we decided to start this business.

We had a very busy and exciting 2009: Ariel gave birth to Bella on September 22. And, we discovered that we had a very nice "nano" business making pralines if we simply reached for it. In January, 2010, we made our first batch of pralines in our newly licensed commercial kitchen. We look forward to this new year and the promise it holds for our family, our business and our customers.

Making and selling pralines is a very enjoyable process for us. A major reward has been watching people consume them: from their surprise at the soft crunch of the first bite to the look of pleasure as the flavors of the praline release and bathe their taste buds with rich goodness. It is legend that pralines were created by Clement Lassagne, Chef to a 17th century Frenchman, Marshal du Plessis-Praslin. The Chef created a sugar and nut treat which Le Marshal used to court the ladies he desired. Le Marshal reputedly had a full appreciation of the seductive value of Lassagne's confections. From the looks we saw on the faces of our customers last summer, eating good pralines remains a most decadent sensual experience.

Since we are a new business, we have not yet received any widely recognized accolades; however, on our first day at the Farmers Market, we got a recommendation that we will always treasure from an old and dear friend. I asked her to write it down:

"I had my first taste of Mrs. Miller's pralines when Ariel was a student in my classroom at Northington School. What a delight it was to open her present and see the homemade goodies. Better yet, when I sampled one of the pralines, it was delicious. Much to my surprise twenty-odd years later at Canterbury Market there sat Mrs. Miller and Ariel selling pralines. Yes, perfection once again!"
A. T. (Ariel's 5th grade Teacher)