By way of background, in the Preface we learn that the Mangin desires to convey the
numerous Pleasures communicated by Books to the Lovers of Reading; and this, not only to meet the wishes of the person for whose immediate perusal the Letters were designed, but likewise to convey, through her, a few suggestions to a circle of youthful friends, in whose happiness the parties are interested.
The topic of today’s Letter is the Novel. The author does not hold novels of the sort his youthful friends are reading in high regard—
Novels, in the usual acceptation of that word, form a species of reading which prevents the admirers of these compositions from relishing books of any other kind.
Acceptation is not a word I bandy around much. You?
From what he says next, we get the idea that he and the Lady have tried before to convince their friends to reconsider reading this novel trash, and have had no success. But “in the spirit of duty” he’s going to give it another go.
He characterizes the genre thusly:
The adventures of imaginary beings, involved in various improbable difficulties, falsely insinuated to be the result of the passion of Love.
He acknowledges that many will not care for his description, but notes that they are many who have “as inadequate notions of Love, as they have of human character.” The “cure of minds thus distempered?”
A perusal of History, and of the real memoirs of real men and women, taken up immediately after they have read one of their beloved novels.
Of course, memoirs of real men and women can “want of truth.” Here he makes an interesting observation. He cites two historians whose names I did not recognize. What they have in common is that their histories are not free from fiction. He observes that should the reader rely on one of these for stories of real people, he or she has the
double gratification of believing and doubting; while the woes, and mysteries, and wonders, and sorrows of the circulating library must be received with unqualified assent, or be totally rejected.
Mangin then invites us to a ponder a question. Could a reader get “as much entertaining reflection from this
by fancying ourselves, for instance, in Whitehall, at the concluding scene of the life of Charles; imagining the lofty scaffold, surrounded by mute and horror-stricken multitudes; the spectral form of the masked executioner, the glitter of the fatal axe, and the unhappy king bending with manly composure to the block
as could be gotten from
believing that Clarabellisima Bergenopzoom is actually sitting under torrents of rain on the Cliff at Brighton, dressed partly a la Belisaire, with a Wellington hat on her head, lemon-kid slippers on her feet, and a volume of Little’s Poems in her hand, while the monks of a neighbouring abbey are chanting vespers?
I got the sarcasm in Clarabellisima, but the last name was over my head. It translates to “hills on the zoom.” A zoom is the elevated ground and edge marshes, originally that near the Zoom River in SW Netherlands.
Our author concludes this second Letter to a Lady by asking her to communicate this question—fancying the real vs. believing the fiction—to the circle of youthful friends.
On first reading, I realized I knew practically nothing about popular, i.e., non-classical literature from the turn of the 18th century. So I did some background reading in English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century (1965; 1st 1904). This would be time of a “gradual extension of the reading class.” The plebs learned to read and publishers churned out a bunch of what we’d call dime-store novels.
What might some of the novels of “imaginary beings, involved in various improbable difficulties, falsely insinuated to be the result of the passion of Love” be titled? To answer this, I turned to the “Minor fiction” subsection of The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature III 1800-1900 (1941). Here’s a sample (it goes on for pages):
The Heroine or Adventures of a Fair Romance Reader. 3 vols. 1813.
Anna, or Memoirs of a Welsh Heiress interspersed with Anecdotes of a Nabob. 4 vols. 1786.
The Beggar Girl and Her Benefactors. 2 vols. 1794.
Astonishment! A Romance of a Century Ago. 2 vols. 1802.
Very Strange but Very True, or the History of an Old Man’s Young Wife. 4 vols. 1803.
As I was skimming through, I happened upon this, also in “Minor Fiction.” Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. 2 vols. 1818. Anon. The second edition was the first to credit Shelley.
This, too, was in my drafts folder. I have no idea why or where it came from, but it looks like a nice little side dish.
EASTER FILLING
3 whole eggs 2 C milk 1 ¼ lb cooked smoked meat, chopped fine (“you can use kozleci or jehneci korinek instead of smoked meat”) 1 tsp salt Pinch pepper (or more, to taste) Pinch ground allspice 5 or 6 oz bread crumbs (from “5 or 6 grated buns”)
Preheat oven to 350˚. Beat eggs with milk and add smoked meat. Add parsley or nettle, salt, pepper, and allspice. Add enough bread crumbs “until dressing is thick.” Spread mixture into a greased baking pan and bake 30 to 45 minutes.
The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian: New and Old Worlds, Simplified for the American Kitchen, by Jeff Smith and Craig Wollam (1993).
Some old peasant dishes are so colorful that you feel you need to try the process right away and worry about the flavor later. Well, this one is quaint and Old World, and the flavor is bright and heavy at the same time.
In the old days a wine flask—what we would call a Chianti bottle—was filed with beans and herbs and stock and oil … and then placed in the dying embers of the fire before you went to bed. In the morning, beans for breakfast, lunch, and or dinner.
The wine bottles in the old days must have been much tougher than ours as I am not convinced that you should place such a bottle in the embers of a romantic fire. Besides, I doubt that you have a dying fire in your apartment just before going to bed. Better you should use a water bath on the top of the stove. Carlo Middione, author of The Foods of Southern Italy and chef/owner of San Francisco’s terrific restaurant Vivande, serves this dish at catering parties. It is great fun to dump cooked beans from a wine bottle onto the plates of your guests. Some dishes are just plain fun. This is such a dish. Craig suggested an old-fashioned milk bottle for this dish rather than the Chianti bottle. The neck of the old milk bottle is much wider than the wine bottle’s and you will find serving to be much easier. Find these real milk bottles in junky antique stores anywhere in the country. Worth the search and worth the dish!”
Drain off some of the cooking liquid, if you want, to use in soups. Have your guests add salt and pepper to their taste if needed. Freshly grated Parmesan cheese might be a welcome garnish.
BEANS IN A FLASK
Serves 4 as a side dish
1-quart old-fashioned glass milk bottle or heavy glass wine carafe, “buy a heavy one from Italy and avoid the lighter versions from the Orient found in import houses” or a 750 ml. Chianti bottle with the decorative basket removed 1 C northern white beans, placed in a bowl, covered with 4 C cold water, allowed to soak overnight, then drained 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley 1 tsp chopped fresh sage ½ tsp chopped fresh rosemary needles ½ tsp salt ½ tsp black pepper, preferably freshly ground 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil Cold water
Add drained soaked beans to bottle in layers with garlic, parsley, sage, rosemary, salt and pepper, tapping bottle on counter a few times to make beans settle evenly in bottle. Add olive oil and enough cold water so that it is just even with the level of beans. Place a heavy heat diffuser in bottom of a tall kettle “or you might make a nest of aluminum foil to hold the bottle. Wad it up a bit,” set bottle firmly in middle, “anything to keep it off the bottom of the kettle,” place bottle on diffuser or aluminum nest inside kettle, fill kettle with enough water so that water is 1 inch higher than level of beans in bottle, bring to a boil, reduce flame and simmer 1 to 2 hours or until all is tender, leaving both bottle and kettle uncovered and adding hot water to kettle as water level lowers but maintaining a gentle simmer. Remove bottle from kettle. “Careful! This is hot!” Serve the beans at the table by shaking or pouring them out of the bottle into individual servings.
Hello! You may remember me. From September 2011 through October 2024 (with some short intermissions) I published this little blog, Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life in rural Mississippi. I need very much to get back to writing. And so I’m making an effort to be back. And what better to start posting than with things sitting in my drafts folder? So…from summer of 2023, I give you, “Kalevala or The Pencil and the Knife.”
This has been sitting in my drafts folder since a few days after we returned from Finland in mid-June.
I’ve shown you my new puukko, the Suomi-Finland sheath knife, before but I thought I’d include it in this photo of my two other finds–a curly birch pencil which we took great care to choose so it matched the knife handle as we remembered it,* and a used copy of the Kalevala I found at a small bookstore near the university in Helsinki.
[*Since we were claiming VAT back, the knives we bought were in a package wrapped in tape with the words, “DO NOT OPEN IN THE EU.” We had only a six-day old memory of the coloration–some birch was darker–on which to rely.]
There’s a bit more, though, to this staging than the beautiful and distinctive wood. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but that’s only true because folk don’t carry around swords anymore. In more recent times, the pencil proved to be mightier than the puukko. (Go ahead and groan but give me credit for trying.)
Though not on the title page, the Kalevala was compiled/written by Elias Lönnrot and published in 1849. His earlier, shorter book, known as the Old Kalevala, was published in 1835. “Runot” is poems. The remaining front matter translates to “Finnish written” and the name of the publisher.
I’ve had the paperback since early 2022, well before we knew we’d be going to Finland; I was surprised to see that I’ve never written here on the blog about the book or its author before.
The Kalevala is the Finnish Epic which, according to infallible online sources, helped to solidify in the Finnish people the notion that they were distinct–a people neither of Sweden nor of Russia, the two countries which had historically ruled over the Finns, but of Finland. These feeling of patriotism and nationalism turned out to be critical to their gaining independence from Russia in 1917.
Our university host confirmed what that infallible source asserted.
Added 3/29/25: I’ve since learned that the Irish poet Yeats, along with a few others (notably Lady Gregory) recorded and compiled Irish folklore during the Irish Renaissance in a similar attempt to stir feelings of unity among the Irish people.
A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend, and Folklore: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry. William Butler Yeats, ed. 1888. Still in print, if interested.
“Well, Missy, there were only three choices. Years ago, we chose walnut for Suzy. You never met Suzy. She was an old good dog. We got you to help mitigate Rocky’s energy toward her. We chose cherry for Rocky because the pattern reminded us of his brindle. That left us with natural.”
“I would have preferred a hickory urn, as from the mockernut hickory tree on the path to the lake.”
“I’m sorry, Missy. They didn’t offer hickory. And truth be told, you deserved a mahogany urn, with delicate inlay. But the vet school didn’t offer that either.”
“Well,” Missy’s spirit sighed. “Such is life. How is that little fellow Huey doing?”
“Okay-ish. We wish you’d been able to stay around to teach him a few more things. How are you?”
“Good. Liberated. I ran into your dad the other day, Marica. He’s not a dog guy but he is a man of sterling character. The stories he told of your younger days…. you should be ashamed.”
“We’re getting off track here, Missy.
“Ah so. Dear Friend Rocky and I have a dinner date with John’s mom, Bobbie. She’s cooking Chech-Mex and her kitchen floor is going to be heavenly.”
Marica and John asked me to share with you the obituary I composed for Dear Friend Rocky. It is with a heavy heart that I oblige.
With Marica by his side, Dear Friend Rocky’s soul was released from the bonds of his Earthly existence Friday morning, October 11. He was thirteen and one-half years old.
Rocky was a dog of sterling character–loyal, honorable, and courageous.
There. I’ve convinced myself. Marica Cooks Wednesday. Mr. Big Food and I will enjoy our grilled cheese sandwiches in the air fryer and jiffy herbed tomato soup at the dining table.
And so we did.
It was an enjoyable meal. Tasty, too. The soup is nothing special–it’s a Jiffy Soup, though this particular one isn’t posted in the list. But the additions spiff it up a bit. Do add the butter pat, and increase the savory and basil as you see fit. (I used about 1 tsp. each.)
“A tomato soup redolent of savory and basil. Float a pat of butter in each serving for additional richness.”—The Creative Cook (1978)
“Top each serving with a pat of butter and chopped parsley.”
HERBED TOMATO SOUP
Makes about 2 cups
10¾-oz can condensed tomato bisque soup 1 soup can milk 1/8 tsp ground savory 1/8 tsp basil leaves, crumbled
In saucepan combine all ingredients and simmer for a few minutes to blend flavors.
We have a much older edition of this book. We keep it in the glove box. So as we left the Viking store in Greenwood–where you can get your very own Cuisinart counter-top pizza oven–Mr. Big Food took a look to discover where we might want to head next.
Just imagine his delight when he was reading about Indianola and came across mention of The Crown Restaurant. As it was nearly 11:00 we headed straight for it.
This is a cookbook he’d put in the Big Food Manual and Survivalist Flourishing Guide earlier this summer. And now we were headed for the restaurant! How exciting!
The restaurant has an interesting story. Originally in an antique mall in a cotton field five miles outside of town, it’s now relocated to downtown.
Classic Catfish from the Crown at The Antique Mall. Evelyn and Tony Roughton. The Antique Mall, LLD, Indianola, Mississippi. 1993.
THE CROWN
Our little restaurant opened in 1976 in the back of our English antique shop. To create the ambience of an English pub or village tearoom, we named it THE CROWN and furnished it with antique tables, chairs and accessories from the shop. We still maintain that same look sixteen ears later.
Opening a Georgian antique shop in the middle ft a cotton field, fully five miles from the nearest town, required plenty of extra effort and optimism. We knew we had to do something very special to entice people to come. The reward for our efforts was overwhelming support from the townspeople from the very beginning. In the early days my sister, Wanda, Mother and I did all the cooking and serving. Wanda’s bread is still the crowning glory of every meal, and Mama’s Caramel Pie has not been equaled since she retired. (She can still be prevailed upon to pitch in on busy days.)
We have loved sharing the lives of the many friends we’ve made in the shop and restaurant. THE CROWN has been the setting for birthday parties, wedding rehearsal dinners, bridesmaids’ luncheons, debutante brunches, and hundreds of bridge parties. We have entertained clients from Japan, Spain, Germany, Thailand, Russia and Belgium for the catfish and cotton industries. We’ve served them apple pie, iced tea and catfish every way but fried!
We’ve shared numerous pots of tea with very special friends, and staged coffees, christening parties, class reunions, graduation fetes, formal teas, fashion shows, art exhibits, groomsmen’s brunches, and family dinners with five generations present. We’ve hosted a wedding reception, little girl tea parties, businessmen’s lunches, wedding and baby showers, cock tail buffet , and my parents’ Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary party. There have been many cozy afternoons when close friends gathered to celebrate a birthday, a college homecoming, or a trip to Europe. Meals have been shared with families and friends from as close as Jackson, Mississippi, and as far away as London, England. Many times busy young mothers have spent just a few relaxing moments around the Dessert Cart before picking up children from school.
THE CROWN has been hard work at times, but we have received so much pleasure from it. Our customers have become friends we will treasure forever: in that simple fact lies the pure joy of this business. Thank you all for making our little restaurant, way out in the country, work so well for so many years!
Evelyn Roughton
The Crown, downtown Indianola, Mississippi
Empty when we walked through the gift shop (that continues to have antiques) into the restaurant area about 11:30, but it filled up quickly.
And you can see why. I didn’t get anything with catfish but everything was delicious. Chicken salad, potato salad, greens with an interesting dressing, and a different sort of gumbo.
Above, from left to right: my new sterling salt spoon resting in a salt cellar, two demitasse spoons of different sizes, a standard teaspoon
Lightening isn’t right, but you get the idea. I did polish each piece before I took the picture. Really!
Our first stop after we made the decent into the Mississippi Delta was Russels’s Antique Store. What a place! Link goes to a post here from September 2020. Lots of photos of shiny things. They had some stunning crystal and silver punch bowls at that time. I asked the nice woman and she told me the punch bowls had all been sold. That’s most curious. I didn’t think to ask to whom they were sold. Sort of hard to believe private individuals would have need for a $3000+ punch bowl. (I know. I don’t need a $30 salt spoon, either. But I can justify $30 for a curiosity a lot easier than I can $3000.)
Salt spoons, punch bowls, the mother of pearl caviar spreader I bought when we were last at the antique store, all of the other shiny things used for entertaining and dining…
We have regressed.
I don’t know much of anything about the history of dining–or to put it in vulgar terms, the history of human food consumption and the rituals associated with it.
You will be stunned to learn, however, that I have a crappy old book about just that.
The Art of Dining: A History of Cooking and Eating. Sara Paston-Williams. The National Trust. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, London. 1993.
The title is a bit misleading. It’s a history of cooking and eating in England from medieval and early Tudor times through the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The last chapter, titled “The Well-Ordered Table,” has a lot of beautiful photographs of dining rooms and tables laid out as they would have been but taken contemporarily at various manors and grand houses. It’s aways fun to see a beautifully laid table. But there are also tidbits among illustrations I found interesting.
I continue later in the post:
The book’s author asserts that the Victorian era was a time of unprecedented prosperity (for some). The rising middle class was anxious to emulate the landed aristocracy and increasing number of wealthy industrialists and so forth, particularly with regard to dining customs and accouterment. Thus, we have the introduction of crappy old books which instruct them how to eat and dine like their “social superiors.”
The table was set very nicely at the B&B in Leland, but I still maintain that we’ve regressed as a civilized society. Time, effort, convenience–all offered as excuses. But there’s really no excuse for not taking the time, making an effort, being a bit inconvenienced and presenting a lovely meal.
There. I’ve convinced myself. Marica Cooks Wednesday. Mr. Big Food and I will enjoy our grilled cheese sandwiches in the air fryer and jiffy herbed tomato soup at the dining table.
The Thompson House Bed & Breakfast in Leland, Mississippi.
We’re breaking in a new Farm sitter this weekend. Left yesterday morning headed for Greenwood and the Viking Range store. Pretty sure the $20,000 six burner, two oven range will not fit in our kitchen. This is a good thing. Who wants to figure out where to find $20k for a new stove?
Took a few photos so travelogue coming.
FYI to my eye the cotton in the Delta doesn’t look any better than in our part of Mississippi. For the farmers’ sake, I hope I’m wrong.
Thought we’d wind up a week’s worth of Autumn recipes with a classic. A Fall Big Food Favorite.
Another recipe who’s origin is now lost to antiquity. Scrumptious fall or winter dish. This makes a lot. –Mr. Big Food
CIDER STEW
2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed 3 Tbsp flour 2 tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper ¼ tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed 3 Tbsp oil 2 C apple cider 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar ½ C water 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered 4 carrots, peeled and quartered 2 onions, peeled and sliced 1 celery stack, sliced
Combine meat, flour, salt, pepper, and thyme in a large freezer bag and shake until meat is covered thoroughly. Brown meat in oil in a large Dutch oven or stock pot. Stir in apple cider, vinegar and water. Cook, stirring, until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 ½-2 hours, until meat is tender. Add potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery. Cook on low flame 30 minutes, covered, until vegetables are tender.
Unlike the Steel Magnolia Cake [MB: I shall look into this], this cake has a serious wow factor. Cora sells it by special order during the holiday season, and our customers report that it is a crowd-pleaser. It is also insanely delicious: light, flavorful, sweet without being cloyingly sweet. I highly recommend it. —The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Southern Revival by Alexe van Beuren with recipes by Dixie Grimes (2014)
Daughter C & The J-Man got this cookbook for Mr. Big Food years ago. The B.T.C. is just up the road in Water Valley, Mississippi. We’ve eaten there many times. Delicious. And both Mr. Big Food & I have cooked from this book over and over. Always excellent (if at times a bit sweet).
CORA’S SWEET AUTUMN CAKE WITH ICING AND CARAMEL
Serves 8 to 10
CAKE
2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped into chunks, covered with water, brought to a boil, cooked over medium-high flame until soft, 25 minutes, drained, beaten until mashed, stood 10 minutes 3 C flour 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground nutmeg 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground allspice 1 rsp salt 1¾ C (3½ sticks) butter, “unsalted,” room temperature, plus more softened for greasing cake pans 2¾ C sugar 3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 C crushed graham cracker crumbs 1 C pecans, chopped, plus an additional ¼ C crushed, for garnish Icing Caramel
Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease three 9″ cake pans with additional butter. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Beat 1 C (2 sticks) of butter and sugar in stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, add vanilla, then add dry ingredients alternately with mashed sweet potatoes. Combine graham cracker crumbs, 1 C chopped pecans, and remaining ¾ C (1½ sticks) butter, press mixture evenly into prepared cake pans, divide batter evenly among pans, and bake until wooden toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool for about 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto wire racks and let cool completely. Put 1 cake layer on serving plate, frost top with Icing, repeat with second and third cake layers and Icing, and finish by frosting sides of cake. Drizzle cooled Caramel over top of cake, garnish with additional crushed pecans, and serve.
ICING
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature ½ C (1 stick) butter, “unsalted,” room temperature 4 C confectioners’ sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract In medium mixing bowl beat together all ingredients until smooth.
CARAMEL
1 C (packed) light brown sugar ½ C half-and-half ¼ C (½ stick) butter, “unsalted” ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Combine brown sugar, half-and-half, and butter in a skillet over medium-high flame and cook, whisking, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Add vanilla, remove pan from flame, and let cool completely.
“This is one of my all-time favorite slow cooker recipes. It’s always comforting when the weather is chilly outside to come home to this hot home-cooked meal.”—Mary Hawkins, Kansas City, MO, Taste of Home Special Editions, Ultimate Slow Cooker Cookbook (2012)
“If desired, thicken pan juices.”
AUTUMN POT ROAST
Makes: 6 servings
3 lb boneless beef chuck roast, cut in half 1 tsp salt, divided ½ tsp pepper, divided 1 Tbsp olive oil 1½ lb sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks 2 medium parsnips, peeled, cut into ½-inch chunks 1 large sweet onion, cut into chunks 1/3 C sun-dried tomatoes, “not packed in oil” 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp dried thyme 2 bay leaves 1¾ C beef stock (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section—or use a 14½-oz can beef broth, preferably reduced sodium) ¾ C dry red wine OR additional beef stock
Sprinkle roast halves with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper, and brown meat on all sides in olive oil in a large skillet. Drain. Transfer roast halves to a 5-quart slow cooker, top with sweet potatoes, parsnips, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and remaining ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Combine stock and wine, and pour mixture over vegetables. Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours, or until meat and vegetables are tender. Skim fat and discard bay leaves.
If no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that which helps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station in society, then mythology has no claim to the appellation. But if that which tends to make us happier and better can be called useful then we claim that epithet for our subject. Fo mythology is the handmaiden of literature; and literature is one of the best allies of virtue and promoters of happiness.
Thomas Bulfinch, The Age of Fable (1855)
Long time readers of the blog will smile at this, from the book jacket blurb by poet Robert Graves who wrote a forward to a 1968 edition of the classic:
He told stories simply as stories, without embellishment and without drawing any moral. … His main object was to provide a key to the classical references found in the educated poets of his day. … And indeed, as a source of quotation Bulfinch has long ranked with the Bible, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare and Milton’s Paradise Lost, especially among those who have no classical training.
ANNUAL APPLE SMORGASBORD APPLE SAUCE MEAT LOAF WITH TOPPING
Yield: 8 portions
1½ lb ground meat 2 eggs, beaten 2 Tbsp chopped onion 2 tsp salt ½ tsp ground allspice ¾ C rolled oats 1 C strained apple sauce (preferably homemade) Topping
Preheat oven to 350˚. Combine meat, eggs, onion, salt, allspice, oats, and apple sauce, pack firmly into a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. For Topping, top loaf with apple rings and brush with glaze. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes, Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
TOPPING
1 pared apple, cored, cut into rings ¼ C brown sugar 1/8 tsp ground cloves 1 Tbsp water
Make a glaze by mixing together brown sugar, cloves, and water.
This is the cookbook Mr. Big Food is working on now. The blurb:
The Louisiana Proud Collection of Home Cooking presents a look and taste of the entire state. Two hundred and seventy six people, all from different towns gave recipes. Each page contains one recipe, an illustration of a building in that town and the contributor’s name. The resulting cookbook is truly a sampling of all the tastes of Louisiana.
Louisiana Proud is (was?) a campaign to promote small local businesses in the state. The campaign also produced several cookbooks. For this one, the editor and his artist son visited small towns and asked for home cooking recipes. They stipulated that the recipes have no “fancy” ingredients–just stuff you’d normally find in your kitchen.
Mr. Big Food reports that the cookbook is a great representation of the wide swath of regional Louisiana fare.
The Louisiana Proud Collection of Home Cooking. Andy Smith (illus.) and Andrew Smith, Sr. (ed). Louisiana Proud Press, Kentwood, LA. 1991.
Classic Autumn tastes. From Clementine Paddleford’s classic cookbook, How America Eats (1960).
ANNUAL APPLE SMORGASBORD SWEET POTATOES AND APPLES
Yield: 6 portions
4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed, cooked in jackets until just tender, cooled, peeled, cut into 1-inch thick slices 4 medium apples, peeled, cored, sliced into ½-inch rings ¾ C light brown sugar ½ tsp salt ½ tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp lemon juice 2 Tbsp butter ½ C warm water
Preheat oven to 375˚. Arrange sweet potato slices and apple slices in alternate layers in a greased baking dish, mixing together brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon and sprinkling part of mixture over each layer with lemon juice. Dot with butter, add water, cover, and bake 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake about 10 minutes more.
Today, the stroll is down Memory Lane. From September 2018.
Well– part stroll, part drive
First, to the summit, elevation 515′ above sea level. You can see the Village water tower from the summit. It’s also a great place to watch meteor showers.
A little walk down the North Road through the Piney Woods. I’m listening to the birds and Rocky & Missy are chasing critters.
Note to Chris: You’re going to need the chain saw to reclaim your deer stand. It’s amazing how fast things grow in Mississippi.
The Leaning Tree. Years ago it was hit by lightning. It’s a nice destination for a short walk from the Farm.
Looks simple and delicious. There’s a meatloaf recipe coming up. Good pairing, I’d bet.
ANNUAL APPLE SMORGASBORD APPLE POTATO SALAD
Yield: 3½ quarts salad
2 unpared red apples, cored, diced 7 large potatoes, cooked in skins, peeled, diced ½ C diced celery 9 hard-cooked eggs, chopped 24 stuffed olives, sliced 2 dill pickles, chopped 2 Tbsp chopped parsley 2 onions, diced 1½ pints salad dressing Salt, pepper, to taste
Combine apples and potatoes in a large mixing bowl, blend in celery, eggs, olives, pickles, parsley, and onions, add salad dressing to moisten, then add salt and pepper to taste. Mix lightly.
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