Evelyn's Blog - Taste of Gourmet

Art After Hours in Indianola...

Jenna King from Inverness will be our featured Artist on Thursday Night at The Crown in Indianola!  Her paintings give life and fun to the walls of dining room and make everyone who looks at them feel happy!  I love her "Fairies" and the "Love One Another" and the large painting titled "Your Family is Here" just makes me smile.  Jenna has a "story" or an "inspiration" for each of her paintings...she'll be here to share some of those stories on Thursday Night....come have a visit with Jenna!

From 5 to 7 pm, we'll be serving SpringAppetizers from our Dining Table, some sweet tea and lots of good conversation!  Downtown stores, Abrahams...Carriage House and Silver Exchange will also be open late for nibbling and shopping and so will the B.B. King Museum and the Gin Mill Gallery!   There will be live music at The Gin Mill as well as The Crown.  Brantley Catlette will be with us...I love his music and his voice!

April Wilson Savell (who grew up in Indianola) is coming in from Jackson with her handmade and painted frames...she'll take special orders too!  Bring a picture YOU want to fit to a Frame..April has a great eye for color!   When you leave work on Thursday - just come to Indianola......Food and Fellowship...no pressure...just enjoying a few moments with friends...wandering the town and celebrating the arrival of Spring in the Delta! 

Music Man is playing at MDAA in Indianola Wed, April 1st through Tuesday, April 7th.  Fabulous cast and there are a few tickets left for Thursday night...what fun to "do" Art After Hours then go to a wonderful play!  Call 662-887-4454 for tickets.  Sat and Sun matinee as well!  Don't miss this!   See you in our beautiful little town of the Bayou and the Blues with wonderful Art and Music!  Come see us!

One Mix....oodles of flavor!

I need your help!  Compiling an Actual and Huge List of all the wonderful desserts and flavors you can create using our All-American Apple Cake!   I know...You're saying....it's an Apple Cake...make it with apples...but the variety of flavors I've already heard about is mind boggling!  And I want more ideas!

Lori Cheek, one of our Taste of Gourmet Consultants inspired me this week with her Zucchini Cake - using 4 cups of shredded zucchini she had frozen last summer INSTEAD of chopped apples!  Now that was a new one I had NEVER heard!  I've tried it too and it is yummy - and healthy - well just because it uses zucchini doesn't exactly make it Health Food....But it's good!

SO-------Please let me know all the ways that YOU have used our Apple Cake...just write a comment and I'll see it!  I want a huge list...I already know my own ways of cooking with it but I bet you have LOTS more ideas!  Can't wait to see what you come up with!  Thanks for your help!

Want to be the "Perfect Mother?"

Gayden Metcalf and Charlotte Hayes' new book is in The Crown NOW!  It's called Some Day You'll Thank Me For This - The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Being a Perfect Mother!

Wow!  We've been waiting for this one - Their other books - about Funerals and Weddings are wonderfully hysterical and heartwarming and funny and just a great read!  ( I had to read Being Dead in No Excuse - the funeral book - three times in the first month I had it!)  THIS one just has to be great! 

We hope to have Gayden in Indianola for a signing soon but you can buy the book right now at The Crown.  I know a lot of people have been asking about it...so come on in!  Or you can call us to get it shipped to you (call 662-887-4522) or you can go online to our website and order it yourself!  While you are on-line - you might need to order some more Vidalia Dressing or Delta Fudge Pie!  Getting Hungry?

I know what I'll be reading tonight!  Thanks ya'll for another great book!

Taste of Mississippi in Jackson Monday Night....

I hope you'll join us for Stewpot's giant fundraiser, Taste of Mississippi on Monday.  The brick walkways and balconies of Highland Village in Jackson, MS will be filled with restaurants (including The Crown) serving wonderful food and drinks to over 1,000 people on Monday night from 7:00 pm to 9:00!  We're making gallons of our yummy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo that we serve at The Crown every day!  Tony and I really want to visit with you and serve YOU a bowl of our Gumbo!

Taste of Mississippi is Homegrown Hunger Relief in 2009!  The money raised (more than $112,000 last year) is a critical part of Stewpot's ability to perform 17 different ministries benefiting the homeless and poor throughout the year with over 140,000 meals, four Stewpot Shelters that helped more than 1,200 families, Meals on Wheels and the Stewpot Food Pantry.  This is truly volunteers and religious congregations at work helping the needy!  So worthy of all our support!

Not only is it a worthy cause, but it has been named one of the Top 20 Events by the Southeast Tourism Society!  So it's also just plain FUN!  Ya'll come to Jackson Monday night, March 30th - you can buy at ticket at www.tasteofms.org.  There's also a silent auction...with "A Day in the Delta Gift"...Lunch for Two at The Crown and tickets to the B.B. King Museum!  Ya'll come on Monday Night!

Nell Luter Floyd wrote a great article about the event in the Northeast Ledger..to read it go to
http://www.northeastledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090325/TASTE/903250306/1012

Do YOU need a new catalog?

I really enjoyed visiting with a lady from Texas this week, who had just baked her "last Delta Fudge Pie" and was ordering MORE!   She said, "The pie mixes fill the bill when you're in a hurry for a dessert for dinner!"  And they sure do!  Add a stick of butter, a couple of eggs, mix it up and pour into a frozen pie crust.....and then bake it of course!  Dessert doesn't get any easier that that! 

You can even pour the mixture into a buttered pie pan - no crust - if you need to!  The flavor is still great, but I like the look of that old-fashioned regular old pie crust - just a slice of pie!  Like my grandmother made!  Magnolia Macaroon is my own favorite....it's just like the ones Momo made for my grandaddy! 

But, I'm going off into memories now.....My sweet Texas customer asked for a new catalog...Do you need one too?

Gorgeous Spring Week...

This has been the most wonderful week!  So many people coming into town for Lunch with us at The Crown and then going to the B.B. King Museum!  Or just coming from the Museum to EAT lunch! 

Three different groups on Tuesday asked if they could walk to the Museum from The Crown!  And of course it's a great walk...right through downtown, past the Mural of B.B. and Lucille, past the historic marker where B.B.'s footprints are on the sidewalk (where he played the blues for money for the first time)...then on past the beautiful courthouse and our Methodist Church and down another block to the Museum!  A great 3 block walk and the weather was perfect...and still is!

Several of the guests said they needed a walk after that "great meal" and don't I love hearing "great meal!"  One group took my suggestion that they go to the Museum after finishing their main dish and then come BACK to the Crown for dessert and coffee!  A number of people have done that (at my suggestion) and then a lot of others say, "I can't resist that Dessert Table right now, but we may be back later for a second slice of Praline Pie!"  Our guests at The Crown are the BEST!

Happy Birthday to The Crown!

Thirty-Three Years!  We've been serving lunch for the most wonderful Thirty-Three Years - since March of 1976 - and loving every minute of it!  Like it says on our menu......"Our thanks to You, Your Parents and Your Grandparents for making The Crown a part of your lives!"  We have had overwhelming support from the people of Indianola and the Delta since the very beginning....when we opened The Crown Restaurnant in our antique shop sitting in the middle of the cotton field five miles North of town!

We have loved sharing the lives of the many friends we've made!  The Crown has been the setting for birthday parties, wedding rehersal dinners, bridesmaids' luncheons, debutante brunches, class reunions, family get togethers and hundreds of bridge parties!  And all those events are still happening at The Crown...even though we're now "IN TOWN."   Now precious guests on a lunch hour can dash in, nibble in the gift shop, enjoy a Chicken Allison or a MacDaddy Sausage Sandwich and still get back to work on time.  Times have changed and so has our menu....but Lunch at The Crown is still a tradition and we love greeting every guest!

So come in and help us celebrate our Birthday!  We're having a Drawing every week for a Gift Certificate for Lunch for Two AND Jennifer has a coupon waiting for you with a 33% Discount on your next purchase!  So come into The Crown -For Lunch - For Coffee and Dessert - For Shopping - You'll always get a warm welcome!  Our customers have become friends that we will treasure forever!

Gumbo got a rave review....

What great things were said about my Creole File Gumbo today in an email on our website...I just have to pass these great words on....

"I purchased your Gumbo mix.  The flavor and seasonings were just right.  I added chicken, shrimp and smoked sausage.  My family could not believe it was a boxed product.  Plus the ingredients were all natural and low sodium, low sugar, and low carbs.  Best healthy recipe for Gumbo I have ever made and tasted so good.  Hats off to you guys.  By the way I am not from the South, but I know a lot about making good Gumbo.  Yours is Good Eating as my husband says.  He simply loved the flavor!"

Wow....wish I knew who sent that super email....If you haven't ordered the Creole File Gumbo mix...Do it now!  You'll love it too! (Isn't it wonderful when other people brag on what we cook?)

What's Cookin' for Art After Hours?

A very talented local Artist....Carolyn Bridgers Reed!

A native Indianolan turned photographer.....Craig Frasier now from Arkansas will be here!

Brantley Catlette with his guitar....singing and playing original and old favorites!

Chipolte Cheese Ball!

Smoked Catfish Pate - Mississippi Tarts

Garlic Herb "French Boursin"

Brie with Peach Pecan Pepper Preserves and RazzMaTazz!

Sweet Potato Muffins with Toffee Crunch Icing....and Apple Cake Bites!

And more.......Don't miss Art After Hours Tomorrow night...Thursday March 5th from 5 to 7 in Indianola!
Ya'll come see us!

Art After Hours THIS THURSDAY....

If you possibly can - BE IN INDIANOLA on Thursday evening, March 5th, for our March Art After Hours from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.  Ryan promises the weather will be good... so come out and wander through the stores and enjoy the fellowship of friends in Indianola!

At The Crown, we have Brantley Catlette playing and singing.....Carolyn Bridgers Reed will be showing a lot of new paintings......Craig Frasier, who grew up in Indianola and graduated with Beverley Nobile and others, is now retired in Arkansas has become a talented photographer!   Craig will be at The Crown too, to visit with old friends and show everyone his photos!

You'll enjoy shopping late at Abrahams, The Carriage House, Silver Exchange, The Crown, The Gin Mill Gallery AND the B.B. King Museum!  There will be food to nibble, music at the Gin Mill too..It's just an event you don't want to miss!

I'm having a Taste of Gourmet Chili sampling at The Crown with other goodies to enjoy too!  Have you ever tasted our mix to make Pasta Fazool?  Ya'll come have a good visit with us!  Art After Hours is a monthly event - First Thursday - mark your calendars and come to Indianola!