Evelyn's Blog - Taste of Gourmet

Super Bowl Sunday...are you ready with food?

I heard today that Americans eat more on Super Bowl Sunday than they do on Thanksgiving!  Now that is hard to believe....but it is a great snacking sort of day!  I've got some yummy Taste of Gourmet ideas for a super bowl party or just to fix a few things to enjoy in front of your own TV!

 

There's even a 10% Discount and a Free Suddenly Salsa when you order on line! (the Discount code is YZIDX and you get the free Salsa with a $20 plus order) Your order will go out the day we receive it too!  Can't have you missing our good food! 

We're really proud of the New Orleans Saint and Peyton Manning from the Colts is a "native son" of the Mississippi Delta!  What a game to watch!  And nibble on Taste of Gourmet!  Here's my menu ya'll...... and get those orders in!

 

Creole File Gumbo…A MUST HAVE for this year’s Super Bowl to honor the New Orleans Saints!   Prepare the mix using 1 lb. diced chicken and 1 lb. diced link sausage!  Let everyone help themselves!  It’s a Winner!

New Orleans Beef makes a huge crock pot filled with savory beef and gravy…to serve over rice or grits.  It’s a Louisiana brunch dish  -  Grillades and Grits!

Black Bean Chili…for the Colts and Peyton Manning!

Prepare with 1 lb. ground beef and top with cheese and crushed tortilla chips!  Serve yourself of course!

Smoked Catfish Pate.....of course!

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts

1 pkg. Simply Spinach Dip

Drain and chop artichokes. Mix all ingredients together and bake in buttered dish at 350 for 15 minutes.  Serve warm with crackers, wheat thins or corn chips.

Suddenly Cheese Dip 5 cups 

16 oz. Sour Cream

1 Suddenly Salsa mix

4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 can (14.5 oz.) petite diced tomatoes (drained)

Stir salsa mix into sour cream.  Add cheddar and cream cheese mixing well.  Add diced tomatoes. Serve with corn chips or refrigerate until needed.

Chipotle Cheese Rollups

16 oz cream cheese, softened

8 oz. Cheddar cheese, grated

2 to 3 green onions, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. Chipotle Sauce

Flour tortillas

Mix first 4 ingredients. Spread on flour tortillas, roll tightly, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 week (or freeze.) Cut in pieces to serve with small dish of Tomatilla Salsa, Chipotle Sauce or Suddenly Salsa for dipping.

Ham or Turkey Rolls - Slice your favorite roll or bun in half.  Spread both sides with a mixture of cream cheese and RazzMaTazz, Cranberry Chutney or Jezebel Sauce, fill the bun, pile on a plate and watch them disappear. 

 

Sausage Balls - Make these with our Bayou Beer Bread Just add 1 lb. crumbled, drained cooked sausage to the prepared mix. Bake in mini muffin pans and reheat when needed!  Or use Tomato Basil or Roasted Onion)

Meatballs – Cook meatballs according to directions. Put in a bowl then pour half a jar of Peach Pecan Pepper Preserves or Cranberry Chutney over the hot meat balls to glaze and flavor them perfectly

Sauces to pour over cream cheese to eat with crackers!
RazzMaTazz – fruity with a kick!

Chipotle Sauce - traditional Mexican chili sauce!

Chimmi Sauce - a garlic pesto
Jezebel Sauce - a sweet, hot horseradish mustard
Cranberry Chutney - sweet and tart
Peach Pecan Pepper Preserves – So good…not too hot!  And the all time favorite!

Delicious Dips for a vegetable tray: 

   1. Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette
   2. Garlic Herb Dip
   3. Deliciously Dill Dip

   4. Simply Spinach Dip
   5. BLT Dip

All-American Apple Cake - Bake in 9x13 inch pan to cut in squares (for an extra scrumptious treat, top with Toffee Crunch Cheese Cake Ball before cutting.)  This cake freezes well or held at room temp for several days.

Mississippi Mud Bites – Prepare according to directions, but bake in an 8.5x11 or slightly larger pan instead of the round pan. Cool then rub top of Mud Bites with a little Confectioners sugar. Cut into about 50 or 60 bites. Freezes well and will hold at room temp for several days.

Sweet Potato Muffins – Make large or mini size – Perfect first thing in the morning or with barbeque and potato salad, or just so good, they can just be dessert!

Open a jar of Taste of Gourmet’s Pickled Black-eyed Peas, pour into a bowl and spoon up this scrumptious “chow-chow” into scoops or corn chips!  Healthy too!

Happy New Year...

What a way to bring in the first week of 2010....with an arctic blast EVEN in Mississippi!  We just aren't used to 8 degree weather and frozen pipes and ice on the mud puddles!  That fireplace in the living room is going full blast right now!

And the very best part of cold weather is putting on a pot of soup...the aroma drifting all through the house....and sitting down to a hot steaming bowl of wonderful soup.....that took 3 minutes to get going on the stove!  Our soups make cooking and eating well...sooooo simple! 

Southwest Soup was cooking today here in the Plant....with a loaf of Bayou Beer Bread and everybody loved it. And as usual....the Creole File Gumbo was the most popular soup at The Crown!  People do know how to keep warm....hot soup will do it every time!   Do you have boxes of Taste of Gourmet soups in YOUR pantry right now?   Order some today and keep warm ALL winter long!  Our Soup Collection can even be Half-Price!

At www.tasteofgourmet.com  Our Customer Special is this:
When you place an order for $40.00 or more, you can choose ONE of Three Combo Packs for Half-Price!

Soup Collection: $27.50  ($54.95)
Black Bean Chili, Southwest Soup, Potato Soup, Corn Chowder, Gumbo and Creamy Delta Bisque
Bread Collection: $14.50 ($28.95)
Bayou Beer Bread, Tomato Basil Beer Bread, Roasted Onion Garlic Quick Bread - 2 mixes in each box!
Fabulous Four Desserts $16.00  ($32.00)
All-American Apple Cake, Toffee Crunch Cheese Cake Ball, Praline Pie, Missississippi Mud Cake

It's Black Bean Chili at our house tonight!  I NEVER get tired of eating our soups! 

Gift Lists are coming into the office....

Have you made your Christmas Gift List yet?  Lots of our customers have....and they are already in the system ready to ship in December!   Actually a few have chosen to send Happy Thanksgiving Gifts....Taste of Gourmet ships food so why not get your gift delivered in time to be enjoyed for Thanksgiving too!

You can choose from one of our Collections or put together your own choice of goodies.... we'll pack them together in a box with tissue paper and colored shred!  We even hand write a card tucked into the gift itself....no more hunting for the "giver" on the shipping label!  Taste of Gourmet does things with a personal touch and superior flavor! 

You can email us your gift list to evelyntog@yahoo.com, fax it to us at 1-662-887-5547 or just call us at 800-833-7731 and we'll take your order over the phone!   If you want to include your own cards to be placed inside the gift...you can mail them to us and we'll make sure they are included!  We are in business to make YOUR gift giving easier...and more delicious!   Of course, you can go on-line at www.tasteofgourmet.com and place your own order too!  Or call your local Consultant and she'll take care of everything for you!  

See.....we are in the business of helping you enjoy the Christmas Season!

I want to send you a Gift....

I know that some of you are my customers already and you've seen this email...but I would love for all of you to get a free box of my Deliciously Dill Dip to enjoy on your turkey sandwiches Thanksgiving night! 

A turkey sandwich and some more cornbread dressing (I even like it stone cold!) is just my favorite "snack" on Thanksgiving!  And now that I have Dill Dip to spread on....that sandwich is even better!

So do order before Friday the 20th and your order can arrive before Turkey Day AND you'll get your Dill Dip!   And let me know if you are ordering because you saw it here on my blog...AND thanks for reading my chatter....I do love to "talk!"

Thanksgiving is just 12 days away!
And we want you to know how very thankful we are for YOU.. our treasured customers!
Orders you place during the next week will be 10% off using the Discount Code...
PLUS
Your package will also contain a FREE box of Dill Dip from all of us at Taste of Gourmet! 
"Spread Dill Dip on your turkey sandwiches and you'll just LOVE those leftovers!"

Discount Code is RIOJH 
Code is Valid through Friday - November 20th

Happy Thanksgiving and Thank You from all of us at Taste of Gourmet

Mississippi.....

Have you noticed that I always SPELL OUT the name of our great state..Mississippi...no abbreviation MS for me!  People all over the globe know the name....Mississippi....and they can spell it too!  So why would we shorten it at all...it has a beautiful sound...just rolling off your tongue (especially when our deep Southern accents take over!)  It's a beautiful word and I've used it to describe some of our best selling food too!

The only time I use MS is for the Post Office....and if we all wrote out Mississippi...maybe we wouldn't be getting mail that's been forwarded to us from ME or MI or MO....We are Mississippi....we're proud of our beautiful state, of Indianola...our little town of the bayou and the blues, and we are proud of the food we ship all over the country using abbreviations because we have to! 

New Products ready to ship......

I'm so excited about our new foods.....Especially the jars of Pickled Black-eyed Peas!  I played in the kitchen with the idea for months it seemed...trying this brine and that "pickling flavor"....and I'm so excited with the final version of the Pickled Peas! 

We've sampled and sold them in The Crown for several weeks now and they are really popular!  I've been serving them as a "dip" with corn chip scoops!  I put a spoon in the bowl and guests fill up their scoop..pop it in their mouths and smile!  The flavor is really fine!  Fresh vegetables are "cooked" with the peas, onion, green pepper and a touch of celery!  You'll find my Peas in the Sauces section of the website!  A 12 oz. jar is $8.95 and is some good eating!  Perfect for tailgating parties too! 

Now the Tomatillo Salsa is fabulous too!  Green chilis and tomatillos with fresh onions and peppers...ready to open and start eating.  It's a 12 oz jar for $8.95 and will make you smile without catching you on fire!  Try it spooned over a simple omelet or as a sauce on hamburgers, melt some cheese and Tomatillo Salsa together for a scrumptious cheese dip!  And of course with tortilla chips!

There's Brunch Bread too...especially nice for a lazy morning or when you have to bring snacks for coffee break at the office or have company coming for breakfast!   Takes 3 minutes to put together and 25 minutes to bake!  Hot out of your own oven...that smell of cinnamon roll...you've just got to try it!

Here's the List of new Products....on the internet and ready to order!  Or just call your local Consultant to arrange a Tasting party for you and your friends!  That's the joy of Taste of Gourmet...Tasting before you buy and learning just how to prepare and serve your new goodies! 
Sassy Seasoning Salt - $5.95
Tea Room Scones - $7.95
Cashew Caramel Scones - $7.95
Fudge Triples Cookie Mix - $7.95
Tomatillo Salsa - $8.95
Pickled Black-eyed Peas - $8.95
Brunch Bread - $7.95
Fabulous Four Delicious Desserts - $32.00
    including: All-American Apple Cake,  Toffee Crunch Cheese Cake Ball,
    Southern Praline Pie and Mississippi Mud Cake!

Love that lemon.....

I just have to share a comment I got on our website from Sandy H. from North Carolina.......
"Your Lemon Pie mix was a gift some time ago.  love it, Love It, LOVE IT !!!!" 

Don't you love Sandy's enthusiasm?  And she writes like I do...with lots of exclamation points...and emphasis and her note just made my whole day wonderful!!!   When people love the food we create here in Mississippi...it just makes us feel so good....now I'm going to try Sandy's...so good, Good, GOOD!  Thank you Sandy!

And I love the Lake Shackleford Lemon Pie too!  In fact, Tony and I had a piece last night with a bit of my Royal Fudge Sauce drizzled on the plate underneath!  My two favorite flavors!  Lemon and Chocolate!  YUM!

Cinnamon ?Brunch Bread...yum!

We're still in Maine and really enjoying being with the children and eating...(don't we always?)  Today for the THIRD time this week...I've had a coffee cake...cinnamon roll....walnut cinnamon cake...that reminded me of the Brunch Bread that we sold a few years ago through Taste of Gourmet!  And I'm bringing that product back in September! 

Our Brunch Bread is superior to any of the ones I've enjoyed this week....so why not?  We dropped it from the catalog just because we had so many desserts and sweet things...but when it's so wonderful and our Main Dishes now out number our Desserts.....It's time to get YOUR kitchen smelling wonderful again!  And for the holidays...a special morning "coffee cake"  hot from the oven!  Can you smell it?

Fresh Mussels with our Chimmi.....

The fresh seafood here in Maine is a joy to cook with!  And YES - I love to cook on vacation! Deanna and I sort of collaborate when we are here....like I said she's a great cook! 

Last night's dinner was Mussels steamed in a little white wine with just a tablespoon of our Chimmi Sauce and a little butter!   The juices were wonderful and we sopped up every bit with some good granary bread from the bakery!  I loved hearing Carter saying.....one more please....he loved pulling the Mussels apart and eating.....after he played with it for a few minutes!   But he loved the flavor....just the right amount of garlic in the Chimmi to flavor the "broth" just right!

I'm always saying that Taste of Gourmet is perfect for people who love to cook - because they can use our products in so many creative ways!  And for people who hate to cook - because all they have to do is follow our simple directions with a few ingredients and they can make a meal fit for a king.....or a happy grandson! 

Jambalaya.....the easy way!

This recipe is one of our Bonus Meals on our Suppers Made Simple pages on the website...so many good ideas there!  I just had to pull this one off and make sure everyone knows how to do this Jambalaya!  Talk about good and easy!  We made it for supper over the weekend and still had two serving left for lunch today!  YUM!

And it takes Leftovers to a whole new level......Order our Gumbo...enjoy it thoroughly and then FREEZE the "leftovers."  Then bring it out to make Jambalaya a couple of weeks or a couple of months later!  It is REALLY delicious - and it just takes a simple stir with your spoon!  The flavor is so deep and good, you'll THINK you must have slaved over the stove ....but you didn't!!  Enjoy!

 Bonus Meal - Simple Jambalaya
             (Bonus Meals use what other people call "leftovers!")

2 cups of prepared Creole File Gumbo (using recipe on the box)
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup diced ham (optional)

• Mix Gumbo and rice (and ham)
• Pour into buttered baking dish.
• Cover and bake for about 20 minutes.
• Fluff mixture with a fork and serve hot.