Evelyn's Blog - Taste of Gourmet

Art After Hours next Thursday evening....

It'll be a Valentine's Party with Chocolate EVERYWHERE! 
Sydney Parker will be our featured artist.....her paintings are fun, inspirational, loving....you just have to see her unique style and her wonderful prices!  For a child's room, your kitchen (where I hope you love being) for the den or a lake house or a dorm room...  Ya'll plan to come after work and enjoy visiting, some music, some shopping, some sipping and just enjoy the PARTY!  February 11 from 5 to 7 at The Crown.... in downtown Indianola.  Ya'll come!

Soups are simmering all over....

Soups were the food focus for Art After Hours last night and our guests loved sampling the White Chili, the Black Bean Chili and the New Orleans Beef that I served with Garlic Herb Cheese Grits...(just like Grillades and Grits from New Orleans.)  It was COLD and our hot soups were a hit!

AND the orders coming in on the website and through Consultants are hugely (is that a word?) soups and breads!  I can't even count how many Creole File Gumbos have been shipped in January!  Maybe people are stocking up on Gumbo for Super Bowl Parties and for Mardi Gras....I'm in love with my Gumbo too...and Jen eats a cup almost every day for lunch at The Crown!

Southwest Soup is the St. Jude product of the Month so those are really rolling out the door too!  Someone asked me at The Crown yesterday...."Is the Southwest Soup really spicy?"  Her husband doesn't like hot...hot foods!  And the answer is NO!  It has a little peppery heat but the combination of peppers is flavorful...not super hot!  I sometimes put a little cooked thin spaghetti in....then it's so much like my mama's vegetable beef soup.  Be sure and look at the Recipe Page on the website for Southwest Soup! It's FULL of good ideas!  Keep those kettles of soup simmering...we are in for a long winter! 

Food was yummy at Art After Hours!

We had a great time last night "partying in Indianola" as Jennifer put it on her emails about the event!  Lots of people starting to shop for Christmas and just enjoying the music, visiting with the artists and with each other!  We had a great menu at The Crown too for some new Holiday Food Ideas from Taste of Gourmet!

Cranberry Apple Crunch using fresh apples, pecans (last night I used almonds but I've decided I really like pecans best!) and our Cranberry Chutney!  Other recipes for Chutney are on the website and Chutney is our St. Jude Product of the Month for November! 

Brunch Bread - I baked two breads using a Sprite (for sweetness) and layered the brown sugar bag into the dough!  Swirled it around a little with a knife and sort of "glazed" it with a bit of butter before I baked it! It was so good!  Even stone cold!  But I forgot to drizzle the icing on it.....and it was still yummy! 

Suddenly Cheese Dip - Using one of my Salsa mixes, cream cheese, sour cream and cheddar...the recipe makes a huge amount and it doubles easily too!  It was a huge hit with tostito rounds and it refrigerates for days....or it would have if we hadn't eaten every single bit last night!

Pumpkin Cake iced with Toffee Crunch - Use a small can of pumpkin instead of apples in my All-American Apple Cake mix - then spread the top with a little Toffee Crunch...or a lot!  So fresh and so good and very "Autumny"....is that a word?

Chipotle Torta - It's a new thing and simple and delicious and pretty!  Just layer "slices" of cream cheese (cut horizontally) with a little Chipotle Sauce, sprinkle with finely shredded Cheddar or Mexican cheese...and keep layering to make an appetizer "cake."  Garnish with chopped tomatoes and more cheese!  Serve with crackers or flour tortillas in wedges!

Chocolate Truffle Tarts - Make the Chocolate Truffle Cheese Cake Ball as directed and pop a teaspoon in a tiny filo tart shell from the grocery store!  Make a variety for a party using the Toffee Crunch and Lemon Almond too!  And it taste so richly chocolate!

Wasn't much left last night to send home with Brantley Catlette....we try to feed our musicians well during and after the event!  Don't miss the NEXT Art After Hours in Indianola - Thursday December 3rd from 5:00 to 7:00!  Ya'll come!

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!

Indianola on Saturday....Art and Music at the Museum.....

Help us Celebrate the First Anniversary of Indianola'sB.B. King Museum on Saturday, September 12!  

Art at B.B.'s is going to be wonderful!   Over 30 Artists will be exhibiting in the Open Art Market at the B.B. King Museum!  There will be live music all day on three stages at the Museum, Face Painting, Food, lots of Fresh Produce, Plants, Jellies and Pickled Okra from our Market Vendors PLUS this talented array of painters, potters and photographers from 10 to 2:00! 

 

At 7:00 pm...there is a special showing in the Museum of B.B.'s performance in 1983 with Austin City Limits!  We're really excited about that too!  We're so proud of the Museum and want you to enjoy every part of the town and the the activities that day!

 

And just think of the great "one of a kind" gifts you can buy for Christmas...and listen to live music while you shop!  It doesn't get better than that!  Just look at this list of the Artists coming and make your plans to be in Indianola on Saturday....and of course I want you to come to The Crown for Lunch....We'll be serving our yummy Catfish Cakes.......See you there!

Eva Champion                 Kappy Russell

Charles Chapin                Kathy Davis Day

Daryl Simpson                 Brenda Yants

Beth Long                        Susan Gilbert

Anna Woods                    Barry McWilliams

Lee Washington                Paul Canonici

Sydney Parker                 Jack Catlette

Susan Sheridan                James Blumenburg'

Garden Park                     Charles Herring

Lei Ann Parker                 Shea Hitchcock

Claire Boyles                    Katrina Nesbit

Laurie Noble                     Grady Robinson

Susan Steen                    Mary Jo Ayres

Brenda Barnett                 Lucy May

Lizzie Oglesby                 Laurie Fisher

Memorie Dixon                 Amy McCullough

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!

Dessert First?

Our guests at The Crown are just wonderful!  So full of smiles and excitement (and hunger!) They seem to really enjoy being in our restaurant!   We certainly enjoy their visits every day!  It's just like welcoming "old friends" back home when we see each individual or group who come in!  Jen and I just love that part of "work" at The Crown! 

Recently, we've had a family fly in from Jackson to eat with us and go to the Museum!  A family of 8 came in from St. Louis who were "doing the Blues Trail!"  Six young men from Chicago were at the Museum, eating with us and then going to play at Ground Zero in Clarksdale on Thursday night for open mike night!  Yesterday a jewelry designer from New Mexico came by for lunch on her semi-annual trip to the South - she loves the Catfish Allison!  And a retirement party....and a "Welcome to Town" party and an 88th Birthday Party.....and some girls from an office who were just hungry for a great meal!  We love them all!

But back to Dessert First....A sweet, sweet guest came in last week (for the first time) with a printout from our website...showing the Dessert on the Home Page and some other pages too!  And she did ask for that exact picture to be duplicated for her!  (It's the Praline Pie with cream and Caramel Pecan Sauce)  Of course I fixed it for her and she did eat it FIRST - before her Gumbo and Bayou Beer Bread! 

I loved that!  Y'all come see us and we'll make you feel special too!

Mississippi Mud Cake for Dessert..

Bite-size pieces of Mud Cake...."dusted" with powdered sugar will be on the Nibble Table for Art After Hours on Thursday night!  And they are luscious - densely chocolate and so easy to make. 

All you do is melt butter, add eggs and a tablespoon of cold water (I always use coffee with chocolate) and mix it all up with a spoon!  I baked the Cake in a pan about 8 x 10 inches.  (One of my antique baking pans from England.)  It's so rich that my bite-size pieces were at least 50...even allowing for all the "crumbs" I enjoyed myself while I was cutting! 

We also served the Mississippi Mud Bites yesterday at a luncheon at the B.B. King Museum...the group had a working lunch and needed a high energy pick-me-up about 2:00.  My Mud Bites filled the "void" perfectly!  Be sure to come Thursday night to "nibble" with us!  Art After Hours is from 5 to 7...ya'll come to The Crown!