Food & Drink

Mayonnaise Comes to Jackson

It's difficult for to imagine mayonnaise as exotic at all, but Eudora Welty remembers its advent in Jackson as an event.

Lady Liberty Wants Cupcakes

Cupcakes have become all the rage. Once synonymous with children's birthday parties, boutique-style bakeries specializing in gourmet cupcakes are popping up steadily.

Grilled Margherita Pizza

This 4th of July, add a new item to your usual hotdog and hamburger grill menu. Grilled pizza is versatile, fresh and easy, and is a delicious vegetarian option for your holiday feast.

A shrimp boat sprawls its arms out near the Beau Rivage. The usually brown water of the Mississippi Sound looks blue on the first Saturday of shrimp season. Life goes on in Biloxi, but a sense of dread rides the breeze.

Mimi's Kitchen Garden

Optimal health requires more than just nutritious food for the body. It also requires food for the soul. Art—whether music, painting or studying nature—is soul food, and so is enjoying friends and family.

The Whole Hog

James Villas, along with Laurie Colwin, was an early icon of mine in the field of food writing. His Villas at Table (1998) was a long-time companion. As a matter of fact, his essay on sardines in that work inspired me to submit my first column to Donna Ladd. (As I remember, it was about oysters, but I'm certainly in a position to be corrected.)

[He Drank, She Drank] Vol. 8, No. 40

He Drank, She Drank

A guy and a girl walk into a bar... No, not like that! These two liquor-loving socialites review some of their favorite drinks and favorite recipes.

Cooking for Dad

I have always heard that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. If that's true, Father's Day will be  littered with messy kitchens and burned cookies.

Mississippi Produce 101

From now until October (maybe a little later in the southern third of the state), Mississippi roadsides will be peppered with local fruit and vegetable stands. Many of them also sell home-canned goods such as pickles, jellies and sauces. If you happen to be on your way somewhere you'll return from soon and see one of these, stop and find out what they have. Most of the time, they'll tell you what's best and how they cook it. They're good people, you'll have fun stopping by and you're bound bring home something wonderful.

Step Away from the Grill

Certain holidays and occasions demand specific foods, while others offer mere guidelines. For example, turkey is a universal absolute for Thanksgiving and some form of cake is a requirement for birthdays. Other occasions are far more flexible.

Bounty of Zucchini

After one of the strangest winter seasons I can remember, it seems warm weather is finally here to stay. Even though the official start of summer isn't until June 21, Mississippi typically only has a few days of true spring weather before we plow headfirst into summer.

Dine Local This Summer

You hear the "buy local" message from the Jackson Free Press often because we think it's one of the most fundamental things that we all can do as citizens on a daily basis to help the Jackson metro thrive as a unique community.

Pineapple Paradise

Late spring is the time when glorious fresh produce makes our meals come alive again after a long winter. Local markets stock a wider array of fresh fruits and vegetables, and the produce suddenly doesn't taste like it was picked while still green and "ripened" on a boat from Peru.

Leaping into Spring

It's difficult to write about spring food when it's wet and cold outside—when the groundhog is predicting that a lovely, warm spring is not "right around the corner." Because of a bizarre travel schedule, I am writing this article way ahead of time (while it is still winter) and through the magic of the print media, you are reading it in the spring.

Free At Last

Comic-book aficionados will likely remember Trevor Von Eeden for co-creating the character Black Lightning for DC Comics in the ‘70s. This was the first original African American character for the company, which boasts Batman and Superman in its repertoire.

Ellington