Delta Dish
Volume 5 Issue 6
*** Random Thoughts
Let’s call this the June-July issue. Or, I got it: the summer issue! I didn’t mean to skip an entire month and half of another month. We got married at the end of May and got back from the honeymoon in Charleston, South Carolina several days later and the next thing I knew, it was the end of the month and I wasn’t quite sure where June had gotten away to.
We’ve been cooking, quite a lot, and organizing and doing laundry and going to work and just being. We’re old married folks now!
Best,
Keetha
There’s a new feature on the blog. You can follow it! Just click “Follow This Blog” to sign up and you’ll receive alerts when new posts are up.
*** Great Quotes
Katydids sing like a symphony
Porch swing swaying like a Tennessee lullaby
Melody blowing through the willow tree.
-- Pam Tillis
I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string. -- Lucy Maud Montgomery in Anne of Green Gables
*** Fun Food Idea
Have we been doing some grilling lately. And by “we”, I mean Jeffrey. My job is to help chop things and tote them from the kitchen to the grill. He is the griller in the family. I guess every family has one designee.
One of my favorite things to do is cook one thing and make several meals from it. Jeffrey grills a marinated chicken and we make chicken salad with it for lunch and dice the rest to go with pesto on pizza. Over the Independence Day weekend we grilled (notice that generous use of the word “we”) sliced squash along with shrimp and vegetable skewers. We had a few pieces of squash left over. The next day when we had chicken quesadillas for lunch, there were a few slices of grilled squash tucked in the tortillas
Cooking once and eating twice or three times means a little time planning but saves time in less trips to the store. Less money spent at the grocery, too.
Jeffrey came up with this shrimp marinade:
2 pounds of jumbo shrimp (16-20 count)
1/4 cup white wine or chicken stock
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
juice of one lemon
juice of one lime
zest of one lime
1 bunch green onions, with a few inches of green, thinly sliced
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
Shrimp kebabs:
Peel and devein shrimp and set aside. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients but shrimp. Add shrimp and stir well. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
Remove shrimp and thread onto skewers. Grill over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes being careful not to overcook. Serves 4.
Leftovers can be used for quesadillas (quesadillas are a great way to use up leftover entrees) or to top a spinach salad. To make a spread, mince shrimp and combine with cream cheese and/or sour cream. Add a few chopped green onions and serve with crackers.
*** Pass It On
If there’s someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this issue in its entirety. Email me at kudzuuu at gmail dot com to subscribe.
*** Hit the Highlights - a sampling of blog posts
I keep opening the kitchen cabinet just to look
Country living
Photographs
Wedding posts:
Rehearsal dinner
Wedding morning
Ceremony
Reception
Be the first in your neighborhood to know when fresh blog posts are up! Visit and click on “Follow This Blog” to the right, about midway down the page. You’ll be alerted when a new content is posted. It’s fast and no cost, of course.
*** Shameless Bid for Commerce
“Keetha DePriest Reed's "More Culinary Kudzu: Recollections and Recipes from Growing Up Southern" is part cookbook, part collection of wonderful essays on food, family and growing up Southern and altogether great fun… I would very highly recommend "More Culinary Kudzu" to anybody who enjoys good food and good writing as well as to anybody who wants to find out more about the South. As for me, I only have one question left - how do I get invited to one of their family reunions?” – review by ReaderViews.com
*** Recommended Reading
On the plane home from our honeymoon in Charleston, South Carolina, I finished “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie,” a grand mystery in the old tradition. It was such fun to read. I’d never heard of the author – Alan Bradley – but I’ll be on the lookout from now on. Apparently this is the first in a series and I’m already looking forward to the next one.
More book recommendations and book talk.
*** Adorable Thing My Child Said
We left church and were walking across the street.
“What did you learn today in Sunday school?”
“Nothing,” he said.
“Nothing?”
He clarified: “I don’t know because I wasn’t paying attention.”
*** Mississippi Writers Guild
The Mississippi Writers Guild sponsors writer workshops, conferences, writer retreats and reputable writing contests. Membership dues are only $40.00 per year.
The Mississippi Writers Guild is a non-profit association of writers from all over the state and is a growing part of Mississippi’s literary art landscape.
*** Reminders and Unsubscribe Info.
The August issue will go out around August 5th, which, believe it or not, is back to school time around these parts. Lunchboxes and plaid and sharpened pencils and that new notebook smell!
If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, simply send an email with “unsubscribe” in the subject line to kudzuuu at gmail dot com - we’ll miss you but won’t harass you about staying or coming back.
2009 © Pecan Street Press. All rights reserved.
Friday, August 7, 2009
May 2009
Delta Dish
Volume 5 Issue 5
*** Random Thoughts
I feel calm, the type that is usually preceded by the word “eerie.” The wedding is less than a month away and things have gone/are going relatively smoothly. The wedding bands are ordered, the cakes are set, the photographer lined up. I say that with fingers crossed so that I don’t jinx myself.
Approximately 30 seconds after I wrote that, I began typing up a quick little list of what we have left to do before the wedding. That list is now two pages, single-spaced. So let’s talk about something else.
For a variety of reasons, including longevity and old-fashioned vanity, I’ve been trying to live a healthy lifestyle – eating fresh foods and exercising five days a week. Turns out all that stuff I’d heard for years is ALL TRUE. I feel better, have more energy, and a positive outlook. Who knew?
It makes me want to garden. Our community doesn’t have a farmer’s market though I wish it did. I’d like to try to start one, but have no idea how. And probably the month I’m getting married is not the best time to take on such a project. I hear about Community Supported Agriculture groups, wherein you can pay a subscription fee that goes to farmers and in return get a crate of fresh, locally grown, seasonal fruits and vegetables. I’d love that. Why doesn’t someone around here do that?
My grandfather was a gardening enthusiast. He grew everything, he grafted different varieties of fruit trees. When he got home from the furniture and appliance store he and my grandmother owned, he didn’t go inside first; he winded down by walking the gardens, the trees, the vines.
I don’t have a green thumb but I love the idea of planting, tending, and harvesting our very own food that we grew our own selves! It seems so remarkable. My grandfather would have chuckled at that notion; he and his family grew vegetables growing up because that’s what folks did. It wasn’t a charming hobby; it was a necessity if they wanted to eat.
I like the idea of revisiting that notion, of my son watching vegetables grow. I want him to know and understand that produce isn’t born at brightly lit grocery stores. We don’t have the yard space for an actual garden but surely we can put something (peppers? Cucumbers?) in pots. Big pots? Right? See, I don’t know anything about horticulture, which is all the more reason I want my son to know, as I did because of time spent at my grandparents, that work – hard and rewarding – and grit, time, care, and patience go into growing food.
Best,
Keetha
There’s a new feature on the blog. You can follow it! Just click “Follow This Blog” to sign up and you’ll receive alerts when new posts are up.
*** Great Quotes
Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment. – Ellis Peters
*** Fun Food Idea
It’s summer, never mind what the calendar reads. I know this because A) I’ve been to a family reunion and those are summer events and B) I’ve made pimento and cheese, also a summer event.
I like my pimento cheese made with sharp cheddar or extra sharp or a combination of the two, and with a little bit of white onion in it. I like it with a little bit of bite. That pimento and cheese reminds me of the sound of shelled peas falling in an enamel pan, the smell of fresh corn on the cob, fireflies in mason jars, my grandmother’s screened in back porch, the smell of chlorine, and that particular tired that comes only from playing in the sun all day. I really like pimento cheese. It packs a lot of flavor and a lot of memories in each bite.
I make pimento cheese like this: grate an 8-ounce package of sharp or extra sharp cheddar. I grate a bit of onion – about a tablespoon or so. Add one small jar of diced pimento, well drained. Add mayonnaise, a spoonful at a time, until it comes together. Season with black pepper and a bit of salt. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Pimento cheese
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Check out the food blog!
*** Pass It On
If there’s someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this issue in its entirety. Email me at kudzuuu at gmail dot com to subscribe.
*** Hit the Highlights
I could have sworn I was still young and hip.
This month’s photos.
Contrast or Irony – A trip to New York made me realize how much I loved the big city yet I know I want to live only in a small town.
Be the first in your neighborhood to know when fresh blog posts are up! Visit and click on “Follow This Blog” to the right, about midway down the page. You’ll be alerted when a new content is posted. It’s fast and no cost, of course.
*** Shameless Bid for Commerce
“Keetha DePriest Reed's "More Culinary Kudzu: Recollections and Recipes from Growing Up Southern" is part cookbook, part collection of wonderful essays on food, family and growing up Southern and altogether great fun… I would very highly recommend "More Culinary Kudzu" to anybody who enjoys good food and good writing as well as to anybody who wants to find out more about the South. As for me, I only have one question left - how do I get invited to one of their family reunions?” – review by ReaderViews.com
*** Recommended Reading
Last weekend I finished “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” and it’s incredible. I’ll have a full post on it at the end of the month but I feel certain it will be one of my favorite books of the month, and probably the year.
Books I read in April.
http://writekudzu.blogspot.com
*** Adorable Thing My Child Said
I tried on the dress for the rehearsal dinner. My son touched the baby blue silk shantung fabric. His eyes were wide. “You look like a princess.”
My fiancé was standing nearby. “She is one.”
Sigh of bliss.
BLESS THEIR HEARTS. So sweet.
*** Mississippi Writers Guild
The Mississippi Writers Guild sponsors writer workshops, conferences, writer retreats and reputable writing contests. Membership dues are only $40.00 per year.
The Mississippi Writers Guild is a non-profit association of writers from all over the state and is a growing part of Mississippi’s literary art landscape.
*** Reminders and Unsubscribe Info.
The June issue will go out sometime next month, although I can pretty well assure you it won’t be the first Wednesday of the month as I’m getting married a few days earlier.
If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, simply send an email with “unsubscribe” in the subject line to kudzuuu at gmail dot com - we’ll miss you but won’t harass you about staying or coming back.
2009 © Pecan Street Press. All rights reserved.
Volume 5 Issue 5
*** Random Thoughts
I feel calm, the type that is usually preceded by the word “eerie.” The wedding is less than a month away and things have gone/are going relatively smoothly. The wedding bands are ordered, the cakes are set, the photographer lined up. I say that with fingers crossed so that I don’t jinx myself.
Approximately 30 seconds after I wrote that, I began typing up a quick little list of what we have left to do before the wedding. That list is now two pages, single-spaced. So let’s talk about something else.
For a variety of reasons, including longevity and old-fashioned vanity, I’ve been trying to live a healthy lifestyle – eating fresh foods and exercising five days a week. Turns out all that stuff I’d heard for years is ALL TRUE. I feel better, have more energy, and a positive outlook. Who knew?
It makes me want to garden. Our community doesn’t have a farmer’s market though I wish it did. I’d like to try to start one, but have no idea how. And probably the month I’m getting married is not the best time to take on such a project. I hear about Community Supported Agriculture groups, wherein you can pay a subscription fee that goes to farmers and in return get a crate of fresh, locally grown, seasonal fruits and vegetables. I’d love that. Why doesn’t someone around here do that?
My grandfather was a gardening enthusiast. He grew everything, he grafted different varieties of fruit trees. When he got home from the furniture and appliance store he and my grandmother owned, he didn’t go inside first; he winded down by walking the gardens, the trees, the vines.
I don’t have a green thumb but I love the idea of planting, tending, and harvesting our very own food that we grew our own selves! It seems so remarkable. My grandfather would have chuckled at that notion; he and his family grew vegetables growing up because that’s what folks did. It wasn’t a charming hobby; it was a necessity if they wanted to eat.
I like the idea of revisiting that notion, of my son watching vegetables grow. I want him to know and understand that produce isn’t born at brightly lit grocery stores. We don’t have the yard space for an actual garden but surely we can put something (peppers? Cucumbers?) in pots. Big pots? Right? See, I don’t know anything about horticulture, which is all the more reason I want my son to know, as I did because of time spent at my grandparents, that work – hard and rewarding – and grit, time, care, and patience go into growing food.
Best,
Keetha
There’s a new feature on the blog. You can follow it! Just click “Follow This Blog” to sign up and you’ll receive alerts when new posts are up.
*** Great Quotes
Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment. – Ellis Peters
*** Fun Food Idea
It’s summer, never mind what the calendar reads. I know this because A) I’ve been to a family reunion and those are summer events and B) I’ve made pimento and cheese, also a summer event.
I like my pimento cheese made with sharp cheddar or extra sharp or a combination of the two, and with a little bit of white onion in it. I like it with a little bit of bite. That pimento and cheese reminds me of the sound of shelled peas falling in an enamel pan, the smell of fresh corn on the cob, fireflies in mason jars, my grandmother’s screened in back porch, the smell of chlorine, and that particular tired that comes only from playing in the sun all day. I really like pimento cheese. It packs a lot of flavor and a lot of memories in each bite.
I make pimento cheese like this: grate an 8-ounce package of sharp or extra sharp cheddar. I grate a bit of onion – about a tablespoon or so. Add one small jar of diced pimento, well drained. Add mayonnaise, a spoonful at a time, until it comes together. Season with black pepper and a bit of salt. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Pimento cheese
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Check out the food blog!
*** Pass It On
If there’s someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this issue in its entirety. Email me at kudzuuu at gmail dot com to subscribe.
*** Hit the Highlights
I could have sworn I was still young and hip.
This month’s photos.
Contrast or Irony – A trip to New York made me realize how much I loved the big city yet I know I want to live only in a small town.
Be the first in your neighborhood to know when fresh blog posts are up! Visit and click on “Follow This Blog” to the right, about midway down the page. You’ll be alerted when a new content is posted. It’s fast and no cost, of course.
*** Shameless Bid for Commerce
“Keetha DePriest Reed's "More Culinary Kudzu: Recollections and Recipes from Growing Up Southern" is part cookbook, part collection of wonderful essays on food, family and growing up Southern and altogether great fun… I would very highly recommend "More Culinary Kudzu" to anybody who enjoys good food and good writing as well as to anybody who wants to find out more about the South. As for me, I only have one question left - how do I get invited to one of their family reunions?” – review by ReaderViews.com
*** Recommended Reading
Last weekend I finished “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” and it’s incredible. I’ll have a full post on it at the end of the month but I feel certain it will be one of my favorite books of the month, and probably the year.
Books I read in April.
http://writekudzu.blogspot.com
*** Adorable Thing My Child Said
I tried on the dress for the rehearsal dinner. My son touched the baby blue silk shantung fabric. His eyes were wide. “You look like a princess.”
My fiancé was standing nearby. “She is one.”
Sigh of bliss.
BLESS THEIR HEARTS. So sweet.
*** Mississippi Writers Guild
The Mississippi Writers Guild sponsors writer workshops, conferences, writer retreats and reputable writing contests. Membership dues are only $40.00 per year.
The Mississippi Writers Guild is a non-profit association of writers from all over the state and is a growing part of Mississippi’s literary art landscape.
*** Reminders and Unsubscribe Info.
The June issue will go out sometime next month, although I can pretty well assure you it won’t be the first Wednesday of the month as I’m getting married a few days earlier.
If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, simply send an email with “unsubscribe” in the subject line to kudzuuu at gmail dot com - we’ll miss you but won’t harass you about staying or coming back.
2009 © Pecan Street Press. All rights reserved.
April 2009
Delta Dish
Volume 5 Issue 4
*** Random Thoughts
At this time of year, I try not to mind the schizophrenic weather, how it’s sunshine and pink fairy dust one day and gloomy, stormy cold the next. Before we know it, full on summer will be here and you know how moody that season is, with its heat and fury and lightning storms.
Sunday afternoon we out the big purple bin of Easter decorations. It’s not all that much – it’s not like decorating for Christmas - and didn’t take but a few minutes to get out but it made my son so happy. I love the look on his face when he pulls something out and recognizes it. You can see the memories coming back, the wheels turning and he is always so darn delighted by it all. I guess I need to begin appreciating it more before he gets too cool to show any interest.
I have a couple of cards a friend made and sent a couple of years ago. I display them each year because they’re pretty – bright and chipper.
There is panoramic sugar egg my mother and I made years ago. When we first started, it seemed like a fun idea. By the time we finished I think we were both were like, “Now who’s idea was this? And why did we do it?”
I have big plans for this weekend: a couple of hours playing tennis (believe me, I use the word “playing” loosely), baking and decorating Easter sugar cookies, dying Easter eggs, Palm Sunday service at church, and an Easter egg hunt afterward. It would appear that I think this weekend is going to have an extra day. Or two.
Wish us luck with that!
Best,
Keetha
There’s a new feature on the blog. You can follow it! Just click “Follow This Blog” to sign up and you’ll receive alerts when new posts are up.
*** Great Quotes
The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring. - Bern Williams
April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. - William Shakespeare
*** Fun Food Idea
Easter dinner means honey baked ham, a basket full of dyed eggs nearby, and pineapple cheese casserole. When my mother first mentioned the dish to me a few years ago I crinkled up my nose; cooked pineapple? With cheese? Nothing about that sounded good.
Then I tried it and it’s been a staple on the holiday table ever since. This is an old-school southern casserole, meaning it’s rich, rich, and rich.
Pineapple Cheese Casserole
3 (15-ounce) cans pineapple chunks
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
8 tablespoons pineapple juice
8 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
30 round crackers, such as Ritz, crushed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a 9x13 casserole dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine pineapple chunks, cheddar, juice, flour, and sugar. Pour into prepared dish and sprinkle with crushed crackers. Dot top of casserole with butter, if desired.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Serve warm.
Check out the food blog!
*** Pass It On
If there’s someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this issue in its entirety. Email me at kudzuuu at gmail dot com to subscribe.
*** Hit the Highlights
Thank goodness you can go home again
Cracker Jack of a guy
Boots are made for walking
Be the first in your neighborhood to know when fresh blog posts are up! Visit Write Kudzu and click on “Follow This Blog” to the right, about midway down the page. You’ll be alerted when a new content is posted. It’s fast and no cost, of course.
*** Shameless Bid for Commerce
“Keetha DePriest Reed's "More Culinary Kudzu: Recollections and Recipes from Growing Up Southern" is part cookbook, part collection of wonderful essays on food, family and growing up Southern and altogether great fun… I would very highly recommend "More Culinary Kudzu" to anybody who enjoys good food and good writing as well as to anybody who wants to find out more about the South. As for me, I only have one question left - how do I get invited to one of their family reunions?” – review by ReaderViews.com
*** Recommended Reading
The Wedding Machine by Beth Ann Hart: "Welcome to Jasper, South Carolina. A place where Southern hospitality thrives. Where social occasions are done right. And where, for generations, the four most upstanding ladies of this community ensure that the daughters of Jasper are married in the proper manner.
Friends from school days, "the gals" have long pooled their silver, china, and know-how to pull off beautiful events. They're a force of nature, a well-oiled machine. But the wedding machine's gears start to stick during the summer their own daughters line up to tie the knot. In the lowcountry heat and humidity, tempers flare, old secrets leak out . . . and both love and gardenias bloom in unlikely places."
The Wilde Women by Paula Wall: “Five Points, Tenn., has been brought low by the depression, but the residents retain their interest in the Wilde sisters' feud, which began when Pearl caught her younger sister Kat inappropriately entertaining Bourne Cavanagh, Pearl's fiancé and the heir to a whiskey distillery empire. Pearl disappears and travels the world, sending Kat a tersely worded postcard every month. Sassy and brash Kat stays behind and toys with the town's menfolk, including Mason Hughes, whose wealthy family owns the shirt factory where Kat works. Pearl sashays home after a few years and opens a high-class bordello that caters to the rich and powerful, while Kat continues to entice and evade Mason..."
All the books from last month.
http://writekudzu.blogspot.com
*** Adorable Thing My Child Said
“What if you were made of peanut butter?”
*** Mississippi Writers Guild
The Mississippi Writers Guild sponsors writer workshops, conferences, writer retreats and reputable writing contests. Membership dues are only $40.00 per year. To learn more, visit www.mississippiwritersguild.com or http://greenwoodareamwg.blogspot.com
The Mississippi Writers Guild is a non-profit association of writers from all over the state and is a growing part of Mississippi’s literary art landscape.
*** Reminders and Unsubscribe Info.
If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, simply send an email with “unsubscribe” in the subject line to kudzuuu at gmail dot com - we’ll miss you but won’t harass you about staying or coming back.
2009 © Pecan Street Press. All rights reserved.
Volume 5 Issue 4
*** Random Thoughts
At this time of year, I try not to mind the schizophrenic weather, how it’s sunshine and pink fairy dust one day and gloomy, stormy cold the next. Before we know it, full on summer will be here and you know how moody that season is, with its heat and fury and lightning storms.
Sunday afternoon we out the big purple bin of Easter decorations. It’s not all that much – it’s not like decorating for Christmas - and didn’t take but a few minutes to get out but it made my son so happy. I love the look on his face when he pulls something out and recognizes it. You can see the memories coming back, the wheels turning and he is always so darn delighted by it all. I guess I need to begin appreciating it more before he gets too cool to show any interest.
I have a couple of cards a friend made and sent a couple of years ago. I display them each year because they’re pretty – bright and chipper.
There is panoramic sugar egg my mother and I made years ago. When we first started, it seemed like a fun idea. By the time we finished I think we were both were like, “Now who’s idea was this? And why did we do it?”
I have big plans for this weekend: a couple of hours playing tennis (believe me, I use the word “playing” loosely), baking and decorating Easter sugar cookies, dying Easter eggs, Palm Sunday service at church, and an Easter egg hunt afterward. It would appear that I think this weekend is going to have an extra day. Or two.
Wish us luck with that!
Best,
Keetha
There’s a new feature on the blog. You can follow it! Just click “Follow This Blog” to sign up and you’ll receive alerts when new posts are up.
*** Great Quotes
The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring. - Bern Williams
April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. - William Shakespeare
*** Fun Food Idea
Easter dinner means honey baked ham, a basket full of dyed eggs nearby, and pineapple cheese casserole. When my mother first mentioned the dish to me a few years ago I crinkled up my nose; cooked pineapple? With cheese? Nothing about that sounded good.
Then I tried it and it’s been a staple on the holiday table ever since. This is an old-school southern casserole, meaning it’s rich, rich, and rich.
Pineapple Cheese Casserole
3 (15-ounce) cans pineapple chunks
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
8 tablespoons pineapple juice
8 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
30 round crackers, such as Ritz, crushed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a 9x13 casserole dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine pineapple chunks, cheddar, juice, flour, and sugar. Pour into prepared dish and sprinkle with crushed crackers. Dot top of casserole with butter, if desired.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Serve warm.
Check out the food blog!
*** Pass It On
If there’s someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this issue in its entirety. Email me at kudzuuu at gmail dot com to subscribe.
*** Hit the Highlights
Thank goodness you can go home again
Cracker Jack of a guy
Boots are made for walking
Be the first in your neighborhood to know when fresh blog posts are up! Visit Write Kudzu and click on “Follow This Blog” to the right, about midway down the page. You’ll be alerted when a new content is posted. It’s fast and no cost, of course.
*** Shameless Bid for Commerce
“Keetha DePriest Reed's "More Culinary Kudzu: Recollections and Recipes from Growing Up Southern" is part cookbook, part collection of wonderful essays on food, family and growing up Southern and altogether great fun… I would very highly recommend "More Culinary Kudzu" to anybody who enjoys good food and good writing as well as to anybody who wants to find out more about the South. As for me, I only have one question left - how do I get invited to one of their family reunions?” – review by ReaderViews.com
*** Recommended Reading
The Wedding Machine by Beth Ann Hart: "Welcome to Jasper, South Carolina. A place where Southern hospitality thrives. Where social occasions are done right. And where, for generations, the four most upstanding ladies of this community ensure that the daughters of Jasper are married in the proper manner.
Friends from school days, "the gals" have long pooled their silver, china, and know-how to pull off beautiful events. They're a force of nature, a well-oiled machine. But the wedding machine's gears start to stick during the summer their own daughters line up to tie the knot. In the lowcountry heat and humidity, tempers flare, old secrets leak out . . . and both love and gardenias bloom in unlikely places."
The Wilde Women by Paula Wall: “Five Points, Tenn., has been brought low by the depression, but the residents retain their interest in the Wilde sisters' feud, which began when Pearl caught her younger sister Kat inappropriately entertaining Bourne Cavanagh, Pearl's fiancé and the heir to a whiskey distillery empire. Pearl disappears and travels the world, sending Kat a tersely worded postcard every month. Sassy and brash Kat stays behind and toys with the town's menfolk, including Mason Hughes, whose wealthy family owns the shirt factory where Kat works. Pearl sashays home after a few years and opens a high-class bordello that caters to the rich and powerful, while Kat continues to entice and evade Mason..."
All the books from last month.
http://writekudzu.blogspot.com
*** Adorable Thing My Child Said
“What if you were made of peanut butter?”
*** Mississippi Writers Guild
The Mississippi Writers Guild sponsors writer workshops, conferences, writer retreats and reputable writing contests. Membership dues are only $40.00 per year. To learn more, visit www.mississippiwritersguild.com or http://greenwoodareamwg.blogspot.com
The Mississippi Writers Guild is a non-profit association of writers from all over the state and is a growing part of Mississippi’s literary art landscape.
*** Reminders and Unsubscribe Info.
If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, simply send an email with “unsubscribe” in the subject line to kudzuuu at gmail dot com - we’ll miss you but won’t harass you about staying or coming back.
2009 © Pecan Street Press. All rights reserved.
March 2009
Delta Dish
Volume 5 Issue 3
*** Random Thoughts
Don’t get me started on daylight savings time. I have enough trouble getting to sleep without the time being CHANGED.
Nonetheless, I don’t object to the sun still being in the sky when I get home. That is welcome. (Although it being dark at half past six in the morning is not. But I wasn’t going to get started.)
I need to spend more time outdoors. I think there’s something wrong when I notice the passing of the seasons in displays in store. That’s just not right. I should note spring’s approach with the brave daffodils and jonquils, in the pink quince blooming in our yard, not by the mammoth display of color-coordinated Easter grass and candy at the big box store.
Last year at this time I vowed to do the same thing - spend more time outdoors, to plant things. That didn’t so much work out. Maybe this year.
Best,
Keetha
There’s a new feature on the blog. You can follow it! Just click “Follow This Blog” to sign up and you’ll be sent alerts when new posts are up.
*** Great Quotes
“Let me say to you that to do nothing at all is one of the most difficult things in the world, and the most intellectual.” -- Oscar Wilde
*** Fun Food Idea
I’m big on seasonality. I like tulips and jelly beans and pastels in the spring, homemade ice cream and sliced fresh peaches in the summer, baked sweet potatoes and pumpkins everywhere in the fall.
March is in between. It is still cold as the dickens one day (like last weekend, when it snowed) and a few days later, temperatures are in the upper 70s.
Cookies are the answer. That’s my unqualified response. Cookies.
The weekend of Valentine’s Day I mixed up some chocolate mocha cookie dough. Man alive those are good cookies. I bake them year ‘round. I was picturing heart-shaped cookies, loving frosted and decorated in red and pink.
Yeah, well.
After making coconut cupcakes and homemade tortellini, I was kind of over being in the kitchen.
We shaped the cookie dough into a log and froze it. I love this. Then all you have to do is slice and bake, which is what I did.
I have probably shared this recipe before – like every year at Christmas – I like them a whole bunch.
Chocolate Mocha Cookies
2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cocoa
4 tablespoons instant coffee
heaping 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream together sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
If you’d like to make your very own slice and bake cookies, after dough is well chilled, shape into a log shape, about two inches or so in diameter. Wrap in aluminum foil and place in a freezer zip-top bag.
When ready to bake, slice off rounds about 1/4-inch thick and place on ungreased baking sheet. No need to thaw first.
Preheat oven to 375°.
If you’d like you can decorate cookie rounds with sugars and other edible embellishments before baking.
Bake for about 8 minutes or until set. Cool slightly on baking sheet; remove and cool completely on wire rack.
Tender, flavorful pork tenderloin
Homemade pasta: easier than you may think
Check out the food blog!
*** Pass It On
If there’s someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this issue in its entirety. Email me at kudzuuu at gmail dot com to subscribe.
*** Hit the Highlights
Old school truck stop
Snow Day
If it’s old and rusty and interesting looking, I’ve probably stopped and taken a picture of it.
Be the first in your neighborhood to know when fresh blog posts are up! Visit Write Kudzu and click on “Follow This Blog” to the right, about midway down the page. You’ll be alerted when a new content is posted. It’s painless, fast, and totally no cost, of course.
*** Shameless Bid for Commerce
“Keetha DePriest Reed's "More Culinary Kudzu: Recollections and Recipes from Growing Up Southern" is part cookbook, part collection of wonderful essays on food, family and growing up Southern and altogether great fun… I would very highly recommend "More Culinary Kudzu" to anybody who enjoys good food and good writing as well as to anybody who wants to find out more about the South. As for me, I only have one question left - how do I get invited to one of their family reunions?” – review by ReaderViews.com
*** Recommended Reading
“Very Valentine” by Adriana Trigiani was described by one reviewer, not altogether flatteringly, as a frilly valentine. It is that, which I think that’s a GOOD thing. It involves a third-generation family business that makes custom wedding shoes, with lots of lush descriptions. I liked that the main character, while feeling powerless in her circumstances near the beginning, by the end she thought of herself as the talented artisant she is, and chose her art over a romantic relationship that she had doubts about.
“Astrid and Veronika” by Linda Olsson is a beautiful story of friendship between two women. They share their stories – many of them heartbreaking, staggering, and painful. The ending had me in tears, but it was a happy-sad kind of tears, if you know what I mean.
Mini reviews and commentary about all the books I read last month.
http://writekudzu.blogspot.com
*** Adorable Thing My Child Said
Sunday afternoon a friend of mine took my son shopping and he came home with a set of walkie talkies. These are fancy and need be charged.
Monday morning when he woke, he sat straight up and said:
“Mommy! I bet my talkie walkies are charged now!”
I said, “Yes, son, I bet those talkie walkies are charged now.”
Talkie walkies. Bless his heart.
*** Mississippi Writers Guild
The Mississippi Writers Guild sponsors writer workshops, conferences, writer retreats and reputable writing contests. Membership dues are only $40.00 per year.
The Mississippi Writers Guild is a non-profit association of writers from all over the state and is a growing part of Mississippi’s literary art landscape.
*** Reminders and Unsubscribe Info.
If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, simply send an email with “unsubscribe” in the subject line to kudzuuu at gmail dot com - we’ll miss you but won’t harass you about staying or coming back.
2009 © Pecan Street Press. All rights reserved.
Volume 5 Issue 3
*** Random Thoughts
Don’t get me started on daylight savings time. I have enough trouble getting to sleep without the time being CHANGED.
Nonetheless, I don’t object to the sun still being in the sky when I get home. That is welcome. (Although it being dark at half past six in the morning is not. But I wasn’t going to get started.)
I need to spend more time outdoors. I think there’s something wrong when I notice the passing of the seasons in displays in store. That’s just not right. I should note spring’s approach with the brave daffodils and jonquils, in the pink quince blooming in our yard, not by the mammoth display of color-coordinated Easter grass and candy at the big box store.
Last year at this time I vowed to do the same thing - spend more time outdoors, to plant things. That didn’t so much work out. Maybe this year.
Best,
Keetha
There’s a new feature on the blog. You can follow it! Just click “Follow This Blog” to sign up and you’ll be sent alerts when new posts are up.
*** Great Quotes
“Let me say to you that to do nothing at all is one of the most difficult things in the world, and the most intellectual.” -- Oscar Wilde
*** Fun Food Idea
I’m big on seasonality. I like tulips and jelly beans and pastels in the spring, homemade ice cream and sliced fresh peaches in the summer, baked sweet potatoes and pumpkins everywhere in the fall.
March is in between. It is still cold as the dickens one day (like last weekend, when it snowed) and a few days later, temperatures are in the upper 70s.
Cookies are the answer. That’s my unqualified response. Cookies.
The weekend of Valentine’s Day I mixed up some chocolate mocha cookie dough. Man alive those are good cookies. I bake them year ‘round. I was picturing heart-shaped cookies, loving frosted and decorated in red and pink.
Yeah, well.
After making coconut cupcakes and homemade tortellini, I was kind of over being in the kitchen.
We shaped the cookie dough into a log and froze it. I love this. Then all you have to do is slice and bake, which is what I did.
I have probably shared this recipe before – like every year at Christmas – I like them a whole bunch.
Chocolate Mocha Cookies
2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cocoa
4 tablespoons instant coffee
heaping 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream together sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
If you’d like to make your very own slice and bake cookies, after dough is well chilled, shape into a log shape, about two inches or so in diameter. Wrap in aluminum foil and place in a freezer zip-top bag.
When ready to bake, slice off rounds about 1/4-inch thick and place on ungreased baking sheet. No need to thaw first.
Preheat oven to 375°.
If you’d like you can decorate cookie rounds with sugars and other edible embellishments before baking.
Bake for about 8 minutes or until set. Cool slightly on baking sheet; remove and cool completely on wire rack.
Tender, flavorful pork tenderloin
Homemade pasta: easier than you may think
Check out the food blog!
*** Pass It On
If there’s someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this issue in its entirety. Email me at kudzuuu at gmail dot com to subscribe.
*** Hit the Highlights
Old school truck stop
Snow Day
If it’s old and rusty and interesting looking, I’ve probably stopped and taken a picture of it.
Be the first in your neighborhood to know when fresh blog posts are up! Visit Write Kudzu and click on “Follow This Blog” to the right, about midway down the page. You’ll be alerted when a new content is posted. It’s painless, fast, and totally no cost, of course.
*** Shameless Bid for Commerce
“Keetha DePriest Reed's "More Culinary Kudzu: Recollections and Recipes from Growing Up Southern" is part cookbook, part collection of wonderful essays on food, family and growing up Southern and altogether great fun… I would very highly recommend "More Culinary Kudzu" to anybody who enjoys good food and good writing as well as to anybody who wants to find out more about the South. As for me, I only have one question left - how do I get invited to one of their family reunions?” – review by ReaderViews.com
*** Recommended Reading
“Very Valentine” by Adriana Trigiani was described by one reviewer, not altogether flatteringly, as a frilly valentine. It is that, which I think that’s a GOOD thing. It involves a third-generation family business that makes custom wedding shoes, with lots of lush descriptions. I liked that the main character, while feeling powerless in her circumstances near the beginning, by the end she thought of herself as the talented artisant she is, and chose her art over a romantic relationship that she had doubts about.
“Astrid and Veronika” by Linda Olsson is a beautiful story of friendship between two women. They share their stories – many of them heartbreaking, staggering, and painful. The ending had me in tears, but it was a happy-sad kind of tears, if you know what I mean.
Mini reviews and commentary about all the books I read last month.
http://writekudzu.blogspot.com
*** Adorable Thing My Child Said
Sunday afternoon a friend of mine took my son shopping and he came home with a set of walkie talkies. These are fancy and need be charged.
Monday morning when he woke, he sat straight up and said:
“Mommy! I bet my talkie walkies are charged now!”
I said, “Yes, son, I bet those talkie walkies are charged now.”
Talkie walkies. Bless his heart.
*** Mississippi Writers Guild
The Mississippi Writers Guild sponsors writer workshops, conferences, writer retreats and reputable writing contests. Membership dues are only $40.00 per year.
The Mississippi Writers Guild is a non-profit association of writers from all over the state and is a growing part of Mississippi’s literary art landscape.
*** Reminders and Unsubscribe Info.
If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, simply send an email with “unsubscribe” in the subject line to kudzuuu at gmail dot com - we’ll miss you but won’t harass you about staying or coming back.
2009 © Pecan Street Press. All rights reserved.
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