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

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*** 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

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*** 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.

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