Evelyn's Blog - Taste of Gourmet

Free Apple Cake Offer......

That's right!  You can receive one of our All-American Apple Cakes FREE when you place a $35.00 order online! Now through Sept. 1st!

You don't have to enter a code this time - we've made it very simple!   Just go onto our website, www.tasteofgourmet.com.   Click on Browse our Store and be prepared to get HUNGRY!  Just start choosing what YOU want to enjoy at YOUR house and then place your order! 

When your order totals $35.00 - our packers know to add an Apple Cake as a Thank You Gift!  Just place your order before 10:00 p.m. on Monday, September 1st!  It's a Labor SAVING Day when you cook with Taste of Gourmet!  Enjoy your Labor Day holiday!

Do you have a "picky eater".....

Requests for catalogs are frequent on the Comments section of the website and we get those catalog right in the mail - we want everyone to get HUNGRY for our good food. 

One request had such a nice comment - I want to share this Mama's words with you.
"I've ordered several times and everything that I've tried so far has been great and a big hit with my family, which includes three picky young children."  Don't you love that?  Taste of Gourmet is for picky eaters too!

New Orleans Beef Recipe will STRETCH.......

Now this recipe will really stretch your food dollar!  And we all need every dollar stretched these days!  We're having a Recipe Contest between now and Sept. 1st - you've still got plenty of time to get your recipes using Taste of Gourmet products to me!

Sue Ellen Binkley from Alabama just emailed a simple recipe using just 2 1/2 cups of prepared New Orleans Beef!  The directions on our box tell you to use 5 pounds of beef with the mix (the less expensive roasts work perfectly!)  The seasonings in the mix will flavor that much beef perfectly so it's a waste to use less meat when you can use the "bonus beef" in such a delicious way to make a completely different meal.  Check out our Suppers made Simple and Bonus Meals on our website!

Sue Ellen mixed the prepared New Orleans Beef, mushroom soup, frozen vegetables and a little milk and made a Beef Pot Pie!  The kids will love this and eat their vegetables too!  Simple, economical and soooo good! Send me your recipes too!

Southern Sweet Tea on TV this Morning

Martha Foose did a great job as the Chef on a Shoestring on Early Show this morning!  She looked wonderful in her apron, just like the cover of her book, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea! 

I loved her simple answer to the difference between iced tea and Sweet Tea!  Southerners melt the sugar (yes, real sugar, not the fake stuff( in the hot liquid!  At The Crown every morning, Gloria brews the tea and while it's hot, stirs in the sugar and keeps stirring till it's dissolved!  That's the way my family has always made tea too!

Martha is a Mississippi Delta girl and her book is FUN!  One of our good friends came in a few days after Martha was here signing her book, and told me, "My wife bought that book and I picked it up and starting looking at it and then found myself READING it!  ME reading a COOKBOOK! It  reminded me of my mama and daddy and I just kept reading!"  Don't you love that!

We have signed copies of Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, at The Crown so just call 662-887-4522 and Jen will get one mailed to you!  Maybe you'll need to order a Mississippi Delta Fudge Pie to enjoy with your own glass of sweet tea!

Enjoy Taste of Gourmet through the day....

Starting the day with Sweet Potato Muffins and ending it with Praline Pie sounds pretty scrumptious to me! Jennifer's email earlier this week had great pictures of a full meal -  Salad with Vidalia Dressing, Tuscan Bean and Pasta Soup, Bayou Beer Bread, Praline Pie!  Yum!  And so easy!

She also offered a FREE All-American Apple Cake with every order totaling $35.00 or more!  Are you on our email list?  Do you want your free Apple Cake?  Just go onto our website and place your order before September 1st!  Then you'll be in on all the OTHER special offers we make for our Customers! 

My Tuscan Bean Soup is in the crock pot now - smelling GOOD!

B.B. King Museum is getting ready to open...

In just three weeks!  September 13th is the day of the Grand Opening of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center right here in Indianola!  B.B. has always called Indianola home and we are so proud that he does!

So mark your calendars!  The Ribbon Cutting will be on Saturday the 13th when the first people will walk through the doors of the Museum! (I've had a couple of sneak previews and it is more than fabulous!)

Battle of the Bands starts at 10:30, the ceremonies at 11:00 or so and Indianola is going all out to entertain our guests who come to honor B.B. all afternoon!  We're calling it the GO Community Celebration (GO is for Grand Opening!)  Save the Museum for another day and just enjoy the GO Celebration!

Here's a little bit of what we're planning for the day........
Live Music on the streets from 10:00 until 6:00. 
Giant Birthday Card for everyone to sign for B.B
Children's Play Place (all free) with blow up toys, face painting, clowns,
       souvenir to color and take home, games, Museum of Art program, 
       Kermit the Frog, Story Time..... Kids will love Indianola!
Culinary Arts School from MDCC doing cooking demos from 12 to 6
MS Museum of Natural History with their traveling animal exhibit
Old films of Blues players at Holly Ridge shown all day at the Library 
Gospel Group singing in Bailey Hall all afternoon
Delta Artists Group in a temporary Gallery on Front Street 
Artists, authors, photographers, potters to show and sell their creations
Hand-made Furniture of willow and salvaged cypress from buildings
Arts and Crafts, Farmer's Market, and wonderful Southern Festival Food  with Bar-B-Que, Hot Tamales, Fried Catfish, Hushpuppies, Hamburgers.
Churches will be open to view the stained glass and visit with members
Shuttles pulled by tractors will "carry visitors around" town
And of course  Lunch at The Crown from 10:00 a.m. until......
Visit the Home of the King and Eat at The Crown!

Our Guests are the Best!

The very nicest people come through our door at The Crown!  I have so much fun visiting with our precious guests!  We even took part in a birthday party for Rose (from Memphis) last week!  The hostess planned the Birthday Trip after reading the article on Food in the Delta in Bon Appetit in June and chose The Crown for lunch!  We loved helping with the flowers and balloons and placecards on boxes of Mississippi Mud Cake!  The girls and their mothers had fun and I loved every minute of being with them!  That's what The Crown is all about!  Making people happy and welcome!  I love my "job!"

Sweet Tea was flowing last night....

Indianola's first Art After Hours was a so much fun!  We had a great crowd walking the streets and in The Crown!   You KNOW how much Southerners love to visit and talk and eat! 

Martha Foose, author of Screen Doors and Sweet Tea was signing books and talking to guests, Jenna King was showing some of her newest pictures on the dining room wall, Jack Catlette had a great display of his photography, Carolyn Reed had hung lots of new pictures and everyone enjoyed Alan Jones music!  Really Fun!

Mark your calendars now for the First Tuesday every month:  Art After Hours is a new "tradition" in Indianola! 

New Recipe:  I served a new appetizer last night - "Mama's Meatloaf Rolls!" I made the meatloaf mixture with the 2 eggs and 2 lbs. of ground beef, then rolled it into long "snakes" of meat,  Placed the "snake" on a long rectangle of puff pastry, cut into bite size pieces, rolled in egg wash and baked! So yummy!  Best thing:  You can freeze them before the party.  Just thaw, roll in egg wash and bake when you are ready to serve (about 10 min at 400 degrees.)  They were a hit!