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

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*** 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.

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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

“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.

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2009 © Pecan Street Press. All rights reserved.