Evelyn's Blog - Taste of Gourmet

Ideas for Mama's Meatloaf....

One of the big "winners" of the Favorite Product survey already...is Mama's Meatloaf.  And several customers shared HOW they prepared their Meatloaf.  (Send me your favorite product at evelyn@tasteofgourmet.com.)

Wendy wrote, "At my house, we must have Mama's Meatloaf at least once per week...per my son.  It also must be made with ground turkey.  No complaints from this Mama."   Ground Turkey is a healthy, nutritious and delicious product that you can use with many of our soups and main dishes!  
Take a hint from Wendy's son....eat well and eat healthy! 

Deborah wrote, "Made Mama's Meatloaf last night for supper....it was delicious.  I used 1/2 pound of chorizo sausage with 1 3/4 pounds of ground round.  I used catsup for my "moisture."  I was very happy with the results, and so was my husband.  I have NEVER been unhappy with anything I have gotten from you."  

Cindy simply wrote, "My favorite is Mama's Meatloaf, Handsdown!"  I don't know Cindy's "way of preparation" but loved her enthusiasm! 

Seeing the "favorites" and reading the comments has been so much fun the last few days!  If you still haven't sent YOUR favorite to me...please do!  

Merry Christmas 20% Discount

That's right.....there is still time to fill your pantry with great food to enjoy during the Holidays...AND wrap up for gifts under the tree!  We are shipping right up through December 23rd......but if you want your goodies to arrive before Christmas....place your order on-line by Sunday and everything SHOULD arrive by Friday.....most places in the country!  AND you will get a 20% Discount!

Enter the Discount Code....MerryChristmas (in the credit card section of the ordering process)  to receive a 20% Discount on all your purchases!  PLUS we will include a FREE recipe booklet in every box that ships!

Make your Christmas Delicious with Taste of Gourmet! 
Remember you can also choose one Half-price Customer Special with each $40.00 order you place!  Order TODAY!

Thanksgiving Sale ......time to order for the Holidays!

We're enjoying Sweet Potato Muffins this morning....sprinkled with the Crunchy Sugar Topping that comes in the box!  It's heavenly to eat and such wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen!  I made the Muffin batter yesterday so all I had to do is spoon it into the muffin cups this morning!  How easy is that?   And the batter will last for a week in the fridge....if you can stay out of it!

Go on line today and order all the Taste of Gourmet goodies you'll need for the Holidays at a 20% Discount!  Then your cupboard is stocked and you can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas...knowing you have deliciously easy food to serve your family and friends!  AND give as gifts!

Go to www.tasteofgourmet.com and in the check out area of the ordering....
use the code ThanksgivingSale for your 20% Discount!

Be sure to order $40.00 (after discount) so you can choose a Customer Half-price Special!  The Dessert Trio is perfect for the "eating season!"
Apple Cake, Mississippi Delta Fudge Pie and Chocolate Truffle Cheese Cake Ball for just $12.50!  
Just 12 Days before Thanksgiving!  And we have so much to be thankful for!  
 

Guests from Great Britain...

Yesterday we hosted a luncheon for 49 visitors from all over Great Britain....and loved every minute!  The tour from Travelsphere was in Indianola to tour the B.B. King Museum, hear some wonderful live music and to enjoy a Southern Luncheon at The Crown!  What a great group they were!

The blues and jazz music of Alfonso Sanders, head of the Fine Arts and Music Department at Mississippi Valley University, was absolutely perfect.  He sat in a corner of The Crown singing and talking to the crowd.  We had lots of other diners in addition to the tour group and what a treat for them too!  When Alfonso sings "Summertime"  you just have to sing along.  But I did it in a whisper....Alfonso's voice is too smooth and gorgeous!

Lots of the group were eating Catfish for the very first time (I served the Catfish Allison and Creole Catfish Cakes as well as Chicken Allison) and they loved it!  I promised that the recipe would be on the blog....so here it is again and easy to find!  Hope you all enjoy trying this recipe at home...but don't forget to come to Indianola to visit the museum, ride down the Indian Bayou and enjoy lunch with us at The Crown!

Our visitors really enjoyed my Dessert Table and they finished off two of the Sherry Trifles and Southern Praline Pies as well as getting a sample of everthing on the table!  Love it when my guests are in love with our desserts!  Several took Mississippi Delta Fudge Pies with them! 

Allison Butter - Especially for my new British friends!
1 stick (4 oz) of Butter
½ cup mayonnaise
1 cup Parmesan cheese
4 green onions – finely chopped
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce
Dash of Tabasco
Put everything in the mixer, let soften and then mix well!  Will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks.
To serve:   Spread Allison Butter over poached fillets of catfish or chicken pieces – (Cod will work well too.)
Broil until very browned and serve over rice.

 

Mississippi Delta Culinary Trail......yum!

What an exciting meeting we had in Indianola on Wednesday....talking food and tourism all day!  My two favorite topics!  People from across the Delta talking about the restaurants in their areas....what the Delta Foods are....and so much enthusiasm.   People in Mississippi are all about sharing ......food especially...and it was so much fun to hear all the great ideas and things already going on to share even MORE with the tourists who are flocking to the Delta because of our Blues and our Hot Tamales!

I've just spent an hour just  "browsing" Southern Foodways Alliance's wonderful website...Amy Evans Streeter (also at the meeting) did the Hot Tamale Trail years ago and you will love spending HOURS on the SFA site!    There's BBQ and Boudin trails and the oral histories are a treasure!  If you love food....you need to join the SFA and get their newsletters....John T. Edge and everyone in the Oxford office are working hard to preserve Southern traditions! 

Lots of great information on the Mississippi Tourism Site as well with Culinary Trails all over Mississippi.....is there anything more fun than taking a road trip to EAT?

Ya'll come to the Mississippi Delta  and The Crown and we'll make sure you don't go away hungry or wondering where to go (after you've seen the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola) where you can hear the Blues and where to eat of course! 

B.B. King Homecoming Festival....lots happening

Saturday, June 11th in Indianola, Mississippi will be FUN!  Indianola Main Street and the Chamber of Commerce are combining Blues, Bikes and BBQ with the Homecoming Festival to make this year's festival the Best EVER!   Here's an update on all the activities at the B.B. King Museum in Indianola -  the heart of the Mississippi Delta!

The tents  "open" at 9 a.m. June 11 for Art at BB's!  More than 40 artists (including a caricature artist) will be selling their wares. Including: corrugated tin crosses painted in a variety of styles, Indianola's own stained glass artists, hand crafted jewelry, cotton picker art, lots of paintings of B.B., handmade furniture, woodworking, Hair feathering, handmade pottery, paintings, iron work...these are just some of the items available in the museum parking lot and surrounding green spaces. Come have your "funny" portrait done by the caricature artist, get your hair "feathered" and take home some original art for your home.
 
A new event for the festival is "Antiques at BB's." The dealers will have antique linens, glassware, candlesticks, furniture, and lots more to choose from. Come early because these are one of a kind items from yesteryear and once they are gone, they're gone.
 
In addition to Art and Antiques the Open Air Market will open at 9:00. The market is in place every Saturday and will be especially busy on festival day with fresh, homegrown vegetables, plants, jams, jellies, and baked goods.
 
The KID ZONE is across the street with a petting zoo, bicycle parade, pet show, and car painting. Lots of Fun Festival Food including snow cones and corn dogs as well as catfish and funnel cakes will be available.

The gate for the BB King Concert will open at 2P.M. on the west side of the museum. BB King will be there, of course, as well as Willie Clayton and others..... What a wonderful day in Indianola. Fun for all and music all day long.
 
For more information and to buy tickets on line go to www.bbkingmuseum.org or call the Chamber of Commerce at 662-887-4454 or Main Street at 662-299-0018 or call Jennifer or Evelyn at The Crown Restaurant...662-887-4522.  We'll be open for lunch that day and you can make reservations!  See you in Indianola on Saturday June 11th!  Ya'll come!

White Chili with Chicken.....yum!

At The Crown this week we are serving our Taste of Gourmet White Chili ...with chicken cooked into the chili!  I cooked the dry Great Northern Beans in water this morning with no salt!  I'm trying to control my salt and our mix has such a great deep flavor....you don't need extra salt! 

I drained the beans and used that cooking water as part of  the five cups of chicken broth in the directions!   I added 3 teaspoons of Wyler's Chicken Broth Granules to make my "broth!" and the salt flavor was perfect for me!  You can always add salt if you like....but it sure is good just like this!  Ya'll come to Indianola this week and have a bowl!  Or order a mix from our on-line store!   

I love the White Chili over rice.....like a New Orleans Red Beans and Rice dish!  Yum!  Supper tomorrow night!    Maybe I'll make this the special Soup the week of the B.B. King Homecoming on June 11th....you do have that date on your calendar I hope!

 

B.B. King Homecoming June 11th

Indianola, Mississippi is the place to be on Saturday, June 11th.....all day!  The B.B. King Museum is the center of the activities starting at 9:00 and going into the evening!  The Museum will be open all day for touring and if you HAVE NOT seen it yet!  This will be the day to do it!   And B.B. King will be in the town he calls home....all day!

9:00 am - Art at B.B.'s opens in the Museum Parking lot and adjacent green spaces!  Over 40 artists will be exhibiting and selling - everything beautiful in pottery, paintings, iron work, wood work, jewelry, furniture, stained glass, the list goes on!  We even have a Caricature Artist from Memphis who will be doing "fun portraits!"    

9:00 am - Antiques at B.B.'s Opens! so get ready to shop!  Antique linens, furniture, glassware, candlesticks, china, and lots of by-gones from the Delta....One of a kind items that you will want to take home with you!

9:00 am - Open Air Market Opens!  Fresh vegetables, cinnamon rolls, plants, jams and jellies - our weekly farmer's market includes a big variety of Delta grown produce and fruits!  Don't miss the Market this week and on Saturday mornings all summer! 

The Homecoming festivities include
Live Music all day with the big stage to the west of the Museum starting at 2:00 pm

Patio BBQ Contest in B.B.'s Backyard - behind the Museum!  Call 662-299-0018 for an application!

Kids Zone across from the Museum with a petting zoo, story times, face painting, Pet Parade, Bicycle Parade...lots of fun things to do!

Festival Food Court with snow cones, corn dogs, fried catfish, Funnel Cakes...all that good fun food starting at 9:00 and serving until the music ends!

On the West Stage....will be Willie Clayton and other great blues groups finishing the evening with B.B. King himself on the stage at his Museum!  What a day to remember!
Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the day in Indianola!

For more information go to the Museum's website - www.bbkingmuseum.org
call the Chamber of Commerce at 662-887-4454 or Main Street at 662-299-0018
Or call us at The Crown Restaurant....662-887-4522 - of course we'll be serving lunch that day at The Crown....and we'll fill you in on all the details about the festival!
Ya'll come to Indianola for the Festival!

 

 

 

Top Chef on Tour

I had so much fun at the Top Chef competition in Biloxi!  And they were cooking shrimp that was straight out of the Gulf that morning....Eating doesn't get any better than that!  Ya'll ask for Gulf Shrimp!  It's delicious, safe and make sure your stores know you want shrimp from the Gulf!

Eli and Tiffany were a hit with the crowd and their shrimp dishes were BOTh wonderful!  So hard to make a choice....I really wanted to lick the plates and both were absolutely scrumptious!  Eli won one of the rounds and Tiffany the other....but so HARD to choose!
Tiffany did a variation on Shrimp and Grits....yummy!  And Eli's shrimp was served with a white truffle oil Beurre Blanc!  Soooooo good!

It was such a joy to be invited to Judge and meet the Top Chefs on Tour!  The weather was perfect outside and I loved meeting the other judges!  I'll be getting some pictures of the event on my blog soon....this old lady is not "schooled" in uploading pictures yet....but my daughter promised to teach me! 

News I had to share.....

On Friday I'll be in Biloxi, Mississippi as a guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef program!  Now that's what I call FUN!     I've been emailing with Amy Cao and I'm really excited about the show!   Is there ANYTHING more fun than tasting great food???   Sounds like a heavenly day to me...     

This was Amy's first note to me..... "I'm head of community at Foodspotting.com. Foodspotting has partnered with Bravo's Top Chef tour around the U.S. and we're reaching out to our favorite food bloggers to guest judge the live cook-off between Top Chef contestants in each city.  The chefs competing in Biloxi are Eli Kirshtein and Tiffany Derry.  http://www.bravotv.com/thetour "  

You're going to love browsing around the Foodspotting.com site.  The pictures and words....get ready to be hungry!   And of course.... get ready to start cooking something good....you'll be heading to the kitchen to try to recreate what you are reading about!  And that's fun too! 

I can't wait for Friday in Biloxi.....I'll tell you all about the foods the chef's prepare and when the episodes will be shown (when I find out!)   Maybe I'll get some inspiration for something new to serve at The Crown....or a new product even!   Is Top Chef one of your favorite programs?  This is going to be so much fun!