Evelyn's Blog - Taste of Gourmet

Happy New Year from Mississippi!

Tony and I have had a wonderful 2008....very special memories with family and friends!  Adam's wedding in Boston, Carrie's wedding here in Indianola, a snow visit with the Mississippi kids to see the Maine kids, seeing Sage on the stage in Annie, watching the kids play soccer, playing in the water with Bella and Carter, sitting on the lake bank watching the sunset.....just being together with our precious family is such a gift......it's been a wonderful year!

While we were having coffee this morning, someone on TV was babbling about "What's Out" and "What's In" in 2009!  You know...the important things are always "IN".....Being Kind...Being Thankful to our God...and Loving One Another.  We don't have to follow "trends" we just have to do what is right and pleasing to God and Love One Another.  That's all that matters!

Enjoy New Year's Eve...Thank God for all our Blessings and look forward to a wonderful 2009!  Happy New Year Ya'll!

Merry Christmas Ya'll.....

I'm busy cooking lots of yummy things for our Christmas gatherings and I can't wait to see everyone tonight and tomorrow!  Christmas is just my favorite time of the year!  I feel as excited as Sage and Prescott! 

I wish I could put my arms around Bella and Carter tonight too...but my heart is in Maine with them all!  Wrap your heart and arms around those you love today and everyday....we all have so much to be thankful for! 

Merry Christmas Ya'll.....

There's Still time for gifts.......

On this Monday, December 22, we are still shipping GIFTS like mad.  And we're shipping our great food to people who NEED our foods to serve for Christmas parties or to deliver themselves as gifts!

UPS is delivering packages on Christmas Eve so if you get your order in this afternoon before 4:30 - it WILL go out today!  Then you or a lucky someone will have Taste of Gourmet for Christmas!!  If you want your package to go WAY up North or out West, we'll have to send it Two-day AIR, but it will go!

My ELVES are fabulous this year!  They are still "raring to pack!"  The Free Dip Mixes will be packed with your orders through New Year's Eve!  Don't miss our gift to you! 

Now, remember.... there is nothing at all wrong with a Happy New Year's Present so if you can't get it together today - call us tomorrow at 800-833-7731 or just go on-line to order!  We love making Life Delicious!

Party food.....

We had our Staff Christmas Party Thursday night and I cooked all Taste of Gourmet of course.  Here's the menu for the party....

Pork Loin rubbed with Chipotle Sauce and lemon juice then roasted and finished with Berry Bar-B-Q Sauce
Garlic Cheese Grits (made with Garlic Herb Dip)
Mini Meatballs glazed with Peach Pecan Pepper Preserves
Suddenly Cheese Dip (with Suddenly Salsa) with corn chips
Deviled Eggs with Jezebel Sauce
Deliciously Dill Dip with fresh vegetables
Chipotle Cheese Ball with green onions
With Apple Cranberry Cake and Mississippi Mud Cake for dessert!

All of us are around all these goodies every day....making them...packaging them...shipping them.....getting them ready to sample at The Crown!  But it sure is nice to just enjoy our own buffet table filled with the yummy things we've created!

I thought you might like my Garlic Cheese Grits recipe for some of your Holiday parties.  (We'll have them again at Jen's on Christmas morning!)

Garlic Cheese Grits
1 cup grits (not the instant kind)
4 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter (less is okay)
4 eggs, beaten
1 bag of Garlic Herb Dip
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
Cook grits with water and salt by directions.
Add remaining ingredients to the hot grits and mix well. 
Pour into a buttered 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until golden brown on top. 

The Greatest Gift......

Our "Swim Club" had a lovely lunch yesterday at Joyce's home.  She's done this for years now - to celebrate Christmas and the December Birthdays (mine and Katherine's.)  Beautiful home, yummy food and wonderful friends!  One of those moments in time you'll always remember as warm and loving....being together with old friends at Christmas! 

We all exchanged little gifts...and that was fun...but the MOST fun was just being together.  After all the gifts and all the decorations of Christmas and all the preparations we all make...The Greatest Gift of all is Love!  God's Love for us and our love for each other.  It's so simple....Love one another!   Merry Christmas!

Need some Gift Ideas???

I just thought you might need some help with your gifts?  We give personal help with suggestions when a guest comes into The Crown - so here are some of MY favorites! 

1.Muffins and Mulling Spice - $11.95 - Sweet Potato Muffins (one of our top sellers) and a box of spices to flavor apple juice or cranberry juice - great for Christmas morning! Shipping is just $6.95.

2. The Soup Collection - $54.95 - Six boxes of soup (the Bisque has 2 mixes in it) so SEVEN meals (PLUS bonus meals - some people call them leftovers) for winter evenings! Great for college kids - new mothers - and everyone who loves to eat! Shipping is just $9.95 and the box includes our Taste This Too cookbook!

3. One Soup and a Box of Bayou Beer Bread - $19.95 - You can choose any of our soups or main dishes and any of our breads! The Breads have TWO mixes in each box! Great value and a simple supper to fix! Shipping is just $9.95. (I love the Potato Soup and Tomato Basil Beer Bread personally!)

4. Icing on the Cake - $16.95 - All-American Apple Cake and a box of Toffee Crunch Cheese Cake Ball (for the icing) Then serve the second Toffee Mix in the box later with graham cracker sticks! Dessert doesn't get any easier than this and shipping is just $6.95!

5. Taste of the South - $39.95 - This gift box has been a big hit this year. It's Jezebel Sauce, Sweet Potato Muffins, Creole File Gumbo, Southern Praline Pie and Peach Pecan Pepper Preserves - so many goodies and the shipping is just $8.95!

6. Mississippi Mud Cake with a jar of The Crown's Royal Fudge Sauce - $17.90 - So luscious and so Southern and so rich! Shipping is just $6.95

These are just a few suggestions..... www.tasteofgourmet.com is FULL of all our products and we'll happily wrap up one pie mix or one jar of sauce - whatever you choose to order! And do please call us if you want to order by phone - 800-833-7731. We love the personal contact with our customers and look forward to your calls and your emails!  We're shipping through Dec. 23 and our packers are right on schedule!
Merry Christmas Ya'll....

P.S. There's a little Gift from us being packed in all the boxes the Elves are shipping now!  Just a little something extra for Christmas!

New Christmas Music from the Delta...

Tricia Walker from Cleveland, Mississippi has a fabulous new CD that we've been playing almost non-stop at The Crown!  Upon a Christmas Eve has the smooth, soothing tones of Tricia's voice with some  traditional Christmas songs, like "Go Tell it on the Mountain" and "Take a Walk Through Bethlehem" and then some of her own creations!  Simply beautiful!

The CD's are $15.00 each and we have them at The Crown or you can order them on our website!  Tricia's Christmas music will be a treasure for years to come!

Tonight, December 11th, at The Bologna Performing Arts Center in Cleveland, Tricia Walker will be on stage at 7:30!  We're going - maybe we'll see you there!

Santa's Elves are busy....

Today, some good friends from Leland were having their Bridge Club Christmas Luncheon at The Crown!  As I was saying good bye while they were having dessert, I told them that I had to "rush back to the Plant to help my Elves pack Christmas presents!"

We all laughed, but that is exactly what is happening!  We are so BUSY sharing Christmas with people from all over the country!  And what a joy!  I've decided that we are "Santa's Kitchen Elves" and what a yummy job that is!! 

Right now, I'm smelling Jezebel Sauce bubbling, Toffee Crunch Cheese Cake Ball is being mixed and filling the air with vanilla and someone else is packing Praline Pie!  In the back, you can walk into dustings of Gumbo roux and spice - "It's beginning to smell a lot like "Happiness!" I love the smells of our good foods! (Of course the taste is even better!)

Then the packers are up front flinging tissue and shred and strapping tape and boxes everywhere!  Controlled Christmas Chaos and it's so much fun!   Have you placed your order yet?  Mrs. Claus and the Elves will take good care of your presents too!  I promise!  

We'll be shipping through Dec. 23!  Don't miss out on a Taste of Gourmet for Christmas this year!  Merry Christmas!

Two great thoughts to share.....

"All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don't discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others."
Danny Thomas - Founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis - treating children with cancers.

Especially during Christmas - there is nothing as important as doing something for other people!   Small things are just as meaningful as HUGE things!  Smiles and Love are as important as gifts!  Merry Christmas Ya'll! 

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew."
Saint Francis de Sales

Take time for tea parties....

Having a tea party is Sage and Prescott's favorite activity when they come to our house!  "Can we have a tea party?"  And we ALMOST always do, as soon as they ask!  Tony and I enjoy it too - it's just relaxing to pour a cup from the teapot and stir the milk and sugar in!  You have to slow down and enjoy the moment!  We use a small tea pot that my grandmother bought for me when we lived in England - so much fun!

Friday and Saturday, several friends were in The Crown, looking for tea sets for children and grandchildren!  Jen has a huge selection of tea sets - even one that looks like Fiesta Ware and the cups are bigger than espresso cups - so it's very usable too - not just to pretend!

There are china sets in wicker baskets and patterned tin sets with tea pots that look like Alice in Wonderland!  One friend plans to buy her daughter a new set every Christmas - a real collection in the making!

Our toys at The Crown are special - nostalgia toys - ones your mom or grandmother would have played with! Toys that spark imagination and that will be remembered!  Sock Monkeys, rubber ducks, wooden puzzles, classic children's books, wooden stick horses and cowboy hats (pink ones too) children's brooms and mops and dusters, fairys and doll babies.....and of course, tea sets!  Christmas is a time for memories!

If you are looking for something special, call Jen at The Crown - 662-887-4522 and ask her about it!  Or just come in and browse - We'll even fix YOU a pot of tea!