Evelyn's Blog - Taste of Gourmet

It may be that everyone's on a "diet" after Christmas....but the Fabulous Four Dessert Pack is tremendously popular right now!  Of course it's on our Half-Price Customer Special list .....so it's only $16.00 when you purchase at least $40.00 of other products!  And these four are truly Fabulously Delicious!

The Fabulous Four includes:
One All-American Apple Cake that you can make with fresh or canned apples, or pumpkin, or grated carrots, or pineapple, or bananas!  All good...but my favorite way is with the fresh apples!

One box of Toffee Crunch Cheese Cake Ball and there are two mixes in the box!  Make one to use as an "icing" for your Apple Cake and use the other just to dip with Honey Graham Crackers, or Wheat Thins!  I love the salty-sweet taste with Wheat thins. (Or just eat it with a spoon...it's just like eating New York Cheese Cake!)

One box of Mississippi Mud Cake that is so rich and dark and yummy!  I rub the top with a little confectioners sugar for that beautiful black/white contrast!  Sometimes I sprinkle chopped pecans on top of a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of Royal Fudge Sauce...but that's almost TOOOOO good!

AND One box of Southern Praline Pie....the picture is on the Home Page of www.tasteofgourmet.com if you really want to get hungry!  Add some pecans if you choose to the batter before baking, or top with a scoop of ice cream and some Caramel Pecan Sauce! 
NO WONDER....the Fabulous Four are so popular....I'm starving just writing about them! 
What shall I cook for our "after supper dessert"tonight? 
I'm making Apple Cake at The Crown again tomorrow!  The smell coming out of the kitchen.......YUM! 

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!

We are a tradition...

At least our Smoked Catfish Pate is!  This morning a long time customer called to order Pate for her Caroling Party in December!  She said she's been serving our Pate for years and people look forward to it when they come to her house!   I just loved hearing that!

Miss Irene also said she always tells people "what it is and where to get it" too!  She said "give credit where credit is due."  And I appreciate that...but I'm really bad about telling my customers who buy my mixes at The Crown....."now you are making it yourself so you can take full credit for it!"

That's why we call our products "speed scratch!"  We've done the measuring and the recipe for you...you just an a couple of ingredients and it is your own creation!  I love being a "tradition!"  The orders are piling in for Christmas presents and for their own enjoyment during the Holidays!  Go on line and order or give us a call at 800-833-7731...Make Taste of Gourmet foods a tradition in your family! 

It's party time .....

Isn't this early Fall weather making you want to have a party...or tailgate at the game... or just sit on the porch and eat something good?  That's what this crisp air does for me ....it makes me hungry!

Last night at Art After Hours, we did a couple of different things I want to share!  I made little Sausage Muffins with my Tomato Basil Beer Bread.  You need to try them too!  Just cook a pound of ground sausage (I like the Hot Bryan's) and crumble it into the batter and stir it well.  Then drop into a sprayed tiny muffin tin!  About a teapoon makes a good size bite!  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.  You don't want them too dry!  We served them cold last night at Art AFter Hours and got raves about them!

Then this morning, I got the broiler hot and popped the "left-overs" under there for a couple of minutes and we enjoyed those little sausage bites for breakfast with fruit!  Really yummy and so easy!  The sausage bites freeze really well too.....so you can do them ahead for whatever "event" you are going to!

The second thing was a dessert! All-American Apple Cake baked in a larger pan...I used the bottom of the broiler pan...sprayed well...then pour the batter in!  I got 80 little square...just a good bite size!  The great thing is that the cake holds so well and stays so moist that you can bake days ahead and have your "finger dessert" ready to go! 

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! 

Saveur Magazine featured The Crown...

Ben Nims wrote a piece called Southern Glories in the October issue...including 6 restaurants in Mississippi and their "specialty!"  I was so excited that Ben included The Crown...you can look at it on-line at www.saveur.com ... but I just have to quote him too...

In Ben's words, "To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi," said the native son William Faulkner.  The best way to do that, if you ask me, is to eat.  Here is a cross-section of Mississippi's soul-stirring culinary landscape."

Then he wrote, "The Crown.  The Catfish Pate and Catfish Allison (a whole filet gratineed in a scallion cream sauce) have kept this Indianola restaurant going strong for 33 years."  The article is short and oh, so sweet and I love every word Ben wrote!  He's eaten with us...lots of time...so he knows what he's talking about.  No "hearsay" for Ben! 

Then on the same page in  "Ask a Local, Amy Evans, an oral historian from Southern Foodways Alliance in Oxford, Mississippi answered the question, "Why is Catfish so popular in the state?"  with..."we raise more of it than any other state. At restaurants you find it broiled, fried, barbecued; we even have Catfish Pate."

Our Catfish Pate of course.  Thanks to Saveur and Ben and Amy.....we do love our Catfish in Mississippi and in Indianola...and we do love to eat ...especially at The Crown!  Ya;ll come eat with us!

It's the Pickled Black-eyed Peas.....

That's the WINNING new product so far!  Lots of orders for our new "Southern Tradition"....our new chow-chow, our new old-fashioned picalilli, our new yummy Pickled Black-eyed Peas!  

I've been watching WHO is buying them In The Crown....just out of curiosity!  I've seen older ladies here for a reunion, taking the Peas back to Texas!  A man from Indianola, just buying them to enjoy with his supper.  A young couple planning to serve them at a tail-gating party this weekend.  It's one of those things that is NOT going to sit on the shelf waiting for a special ocassion!   Our Peas are going to get open and eaten!  I love that!  Have you ordered yours yet?

 

Check out the website for a list of all the New Products.....and come into The Crown for a Taste of our new favorite....Pickled Black-eyed Peas!

 

I hope you are all coming to Indianola on Saturday for the Open Air Market's Art at B.B.'s Art show at the B.B. King Museum!    It's Indianola's celebration of the First Anniversary of the opening of the Museum....live music ALL DAY long at The Museum and an Art Show you'll really enjoy!! 

Come to Art After Hours....it's fun!

Art After Hours is THIS Thursday
September 3rd
from 5 to 7 pm
 
The Crown's Featured Artists will be: 
Susan Love - Greenville Jewelry Maker
and
Dawn Whitfield with hand-formed pottery
and
Eve Pugh Champion - Belzoni - with her paintings.
Alan Jones will be playing and singing at The Crown!

 The B.B. King Museum will be open as well and Brantley Catlette is playing at the Museum until 7:00

It's a fun evening - relaxed - great things to look at, nibble and good conversation!  Bring the Family to Indianola for Art After Hours!  You don't have to get dressed up...just come right from work or a meeting!
Always the First Thursday of each Month!  Ya'll come!

Food is also an Art Form!   Come to The Crown for a nibble!

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!

Fried Peach Pies....

We had a great time at the B.B. King Museum on Tuesday night, cooking my grandmother's Fried Peach Pies for Taste in Music!  If I do say so myself....they were scrumptious!  Everyone got into the act...cutting out the rounds of pie crust...spooning the filling on the round...sealing the half-moon pie and putting it straight into the black iron skillet to cook!

It was just the way I remember...standing right by the stove while Momo turned the pies over in the skillet..then waiting very impatiently for the pie to cool so I could eat it right then!  Memories don't get any better than that...well except Tuesday night....when we all got to eat those pies again!