Evelyn's Blog - Taste of Gourmet

Art After Hours - Tuesday Night.....

Plan to come to downtown Indianola next Tuesday Night, February 3rd, from 5 to 7 - it's so much fun shopping in the stores open late....a little food...a little wine...a lot of sweet tea....and live music with Brantley Catlette and his guitar in The Crown!  

We have TWO featured artists at The Crown on Tuesday....
Barry McWilliams from Indianola whose work is wonderful and varied...one of my favorite things she does looks like stained glass with paint and texture and precious words from an old hymnal "placed" into the paintings...so meaningful too!   I've see people read all the "paintings" then choose their favorite hymn or their mother's favorite!  Barry has "lace pottery," layered cut-out pictures, Delta scenes.  I don't know the fancy names for all the mediums....but Barry's work is beautiful and meaningful!  Just come have a look and meet this sweet, sweet talented artist!

Jack Catlette from Inverness will be with us too!  Jack's black and white photography is striking and poignant and captures the heart of the Delta!  From the Kinloch Bridge to Indian Bayou - you will relate to the images that Jack captures.  His son, Brantley, is one of our favorite musicians and he'll be playing and singing a lot of his orignal music!  Brantley will sign his CD for you too!  Two talented family members you enjoy meeting!

Food is also an Art Form  -- Right???  So I'll be focusing on Creamy Delta Bisque....in several variations including a Hot Seafood Dip!  Here's the recipe for you to try for Super Bowl...but be sure and come Tuesday night to taste some of the other ways to use my Bisque!  See you then!  And don't forget the 10% Discount you can use on-line until Saturday (or at The Crown on Friday or Saturday)  The Code on line is NOVFC - at The Crown...just tell Jennifer you saw it on my blog!  Come see us!
Hot Seafood Dip
1 Taste of Gourmet’s Creamy Delta Bisque Mix (2 mixes in the box)
5 cups milk
1 stick of butter
Make the Bisque according to directions with the milk and butter!
Then add shrimp, crabmeat, chopped fish fillets, etc. and stir well.
Add a cup or two of grated Swiss and/or Cheddar cheese to thicken the mixture
Serve warm with crackers, melba toast, or in pastry shells!!!!

Let me share this with you....

We appreciate our customers and our friends who read this blog!  This is our Thank You....Three separate "gifts" for placing an order!

One jar of my Royal Fudge Sauce will be included in any order you place through January 31st!  You'll love it...I just eat it with a spoon!

PLUS - Use this Discount Code   NOVFC   and you'll get a 10% Discount on your order...no matter how big or how small it is!

PLUS - We are offering our Customers a choice of one Half-Price Item when your order totals $40.00 - You can choose one of these items during the next three months (I'm changing the items to choose from on April 1st - not an April Fool joke... just three different wonderful items!)
The Soup Collection (retails for $54.95)  for only $27.50
The Crock Pot Collection (retails for $37.95) for only $18.95
Super Sauces (retails for $32.95) for only $16.50.... Wow!

So go on our website and restock your kitchen now with deliciously simple Taste of Gourmet mixes and sauces!  You'll be so glad you did!  And if you need food by Super Bowl Sunday...you'll get it in time!
That Black Bean Chili Cheese Dip is YUMMY!  Thanks for being a big part of my Taste of Gourmet Family! 

Can I brag a little?

When I was talking to a customer on the phone today....she said, "I have never had one of your products that was not wonderful!"  That's a huge compliment and I really appreciated hearing it! 

During the Christmas rush, a customer from California said to me, "You are a good cook!  I'm a gourmet cook and I've written a cookbook myself!  And I adapt some of your products and recipes to make them my own.  You make a lot of people happy here in California...I've been buying from you for 10 years!"   

Marcie was echoing what I've been saying...Taste of Gourmet is for people who love to cook (to create their own variations) and for people who hate to cook (to follow my instructions to the letter and enjoy a great mea!)   Thanks for letting me brag a little!  I love my customers!

What's the Best Kept Secret.....

Our Soups and Main Dishes from Taste of Gourmet!  Until you TRY our mixes, it's hard to understand how quickly you can cook a meal - how many servings you really get - how nutritious and delicious my mixes are!

SO - I want you to try them!  All you add to my Mixes is simple things that you usually already have in your kitchen!
Any meat you want of course.... and then one or two of these things....
Canned tomatoes or tomato sauce
Chicken or Beef Broth - (I use Wylers Granules for space and price)
Milk
Butter
Canned beans for the White Chili (I use a pound of dried instead)
With these FEW additional items you can make ANY of our Main Dishes! 

Everything else that gives the dish flavor - spices and vegetables - are already in the Mix!  WOW! (as one of my customers just said to me!)

Meals do not EVER get any better or easier or more economical of time or money or more delicious than the Main Dish Mixes from Taste of Gourmet!  Trust me!

Cooking inspiration come from everywhere...

Monday I did a cooking program for the Little Sunflowers (20 Second and Third graders including my little Sage.)  We sauteed chicken pieces dusted lightly with my Sassy Seasoning or Cavenders Seasoning.  Most of the girls chose Sassy and got a little heavy handed with it too!  It's peppery but the girls really enjoyed the "heat!"

The precious, patient moms who helped with the cooking were great...the girls wanted to cook seconds...a fact that I just loved!  Sassy Chicken has a little salt in the Sassy, but cooks perfectly in a lightly rubbed with oil skillet...so little or no fat added to the food!   A healthy snack or meal.

 There were five skillets cooking away in the Crown's dining room and with the amount of Sassy some girls used....we were virtually cooking "blackened chicken"....with all the smoke and peppery coughing that goes with that dish!  It all cleared away before the smoke alarm went off!

But tasted so GOOD!  We made soft tacos with the chicken pieces rolled with cheese and tomatoes and lettuce...but it was the chicken the girls really loved!

We're doing a Sassy Chicken Salad tomorrow at The Crown for a lady's birthday party...another way to use the chicken that WON'T be as peppery as the Sunflower's version!  We sell the Sassy at The Crown...but maybe I need to offer it again on the website?? 

Those little girls are all going to grow up to be good cooks!  I know they are!  They did a great job on their chicken Monday and on the bread puddings we made last time I cooked with them.  The Sunflowers motto is to Bloom where they are Planted!  Isn't that great?  We should all do that!

What Makes me happy?

What made me happy today?  Reading Renee's note about The Crown and our sweet tea on my email!  I'm still smiling because she enjoys coming to eat with us and knows I'll share my recipe with her!   

This is what Renee wrote...."I have eaten at your restaurant while visiting in the Delta...May I please have your recipe for iced tea.....I think it is perhaps peach flavoring and simple syrup that makes it so good......or is it all that southern charm and hospitality just oozing out of every inch of your establishment."  Wow!  That makes me happy! 

And it's Gloria's Tea we're talking about!  I've got to watch Gloria while she makes the tea tomorrow morning, and write down GLORIA's exact recipe to share with Renee and with ya'll!  I think the real "secret" though is just simmering the water and the tea, then adding the sugar while it's still hot!  Simple!  But I'll get the exact amount of sugar tomorrow!  I'm STILL Smiling!

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Main Dishes keep "dishing up".....

Do you want great value for your food dollars?
Need simple food to pack for lunches at work?
Are you cutting back on "fast food" and processed prepared foods,,,for cost and health?
Do you have "NO TIME" to cook?

The answer to all of these concerns is Taste of Gourmet Main Dishes and Soups!  Yes, I know each one of the mixes costs $9.95...I also know how many servings you can get from our mixes...and I know that each one only takes 5 to 6 minutes TOTAL to get them cooking on the stove or in the crock pot....and I know that your time is precious!

We have 12 Main Dish meals that you and your family will truly enjoy preparing and eating.  Plus all the recipes that can STRETCCCH your food dollar even further!  Let Taste of Gourmet help YOU eat healthy and eat more economically!   Our food is GREAT value!  Trust me!

"Tasting" at The Crown..

Guests who came last night to Art After Hours were in LOVE with the "Bonus Meal" Artichoke Casserole that I made using half a recipe of East Indian Chicken Curry!  They loved the original Curry too and I can't tell you how many boxes went home with customers last night!  I'll give ya'll that recipe now!  It's also on the Suppers Made Simple pages for the East Indian Curry.  Really check out those pages...they are full of good ideas.

It was fun and eye-opening tasting two versions of a mix!  I made New Orleans Beef - the original way with beef - then with five pounds of chicken too - for a really low-fat variation.  Either served over rice (or grits) is yummy!

And the White Chili was scrumptious!  Tony and I took that home and had a bowl for a late night supper.  We were so busy talking to friends we really didn't get around to nibbling at The Crown!  I'm still in control of my portions...even though I really wanted a second bowl of the White Chili! 

Brantley Catlette's music is wonderful...so put February 3rd on your calendar for our next Art After Hours!  Brantley will be back playing his guitar! 

Art After Hours...Tonight! January 6th

I'm having trouble thinking this is January and 2009 already!  But what a year it is going to be....and I am definitely sticking to my "portion control" resolution to reduce my weight!!!  I AM sticking to it!  And I'm going to help YOU with your resolve too!

Tonight at Art After Hours, we are featuring Brantley Catlette with his guitar and wonderful music, with his Dad,Jack, showing his photographs.  Jack has a great eye for capturing the Delta.

PLUS Good Food and Cooking is an Art Form!  At The Crown, we're featuring several main dish meals, made with our Taste of Gourmet mixes, that are Low-Fat, Low Calorie, so simple to make and absolutely DELICIOUS!   You'd never dream they are for diet conscious people!  Come to Indianola tonight and sample with us!   From 5 to 7:00 - come right after work, or pick up the kids and all of you come... hot chocolate for the kids to enjoy!  See you tonight!

What's for Dinner on New Years Day?

Black Eyed Peas of course!  It's traditional Southern New Year's food for good luck!  My peas will have a little of our Suddenly Salsa stirred in when I serve them just like an old fashioned piccalilli my grandmother used to make....just a little spicy!  And I'm steaming cabbage for the Greens (the money of course) and roasting Pork to serve with my Berry Bar-B-Que Sauce.  Yum!  Getting hungry just thinking about it!

One of my resolutions for this new year though is.....Portion Control!  When it's so good, I just go for the second helping!  I'll need Strength to resist that extra pork....but Portion Control is my goal...not just for today but for the year!   Happy New Year!