Food & Drink

Formality – A Necessary Evil

This week I'm absolutely ga-ga over a winery whose wines have just now become available in Mississippi. This new kid's name is Castle Rock Winery. This winery is exciting to me for a few reasons: 1) the wines come from several different viticultural areas (AVAs), 2) all of them are really, really good and 3) they are really, really cheap. In my opinion, these are some of the best low end wines I've ever tasted. (And I've tasted a lot of 'em; just ask my liver.) In a blind tasting I would never guess that these wines are bargain-priced.

Battling The Freshman 15

For many freshmen, something happens when they're not looking, but it surely gets noticed on that first trip home, four to six weeks after classes start. Little sis says, "Hey, now that that cute skirt's too tight for you, can I have it?" Yep. The first evidence of the dreaded "Freshman 15" has settled in, maybe forever. A Cornell University study mentioned at PreventDisease.com found that the 60 college freshmen studied gained an average of four pounds during the first 12 weeks of school—that's 11 times more than is typical for 17- and 18-year-olds. Their eating habits proved to be the biggest culprit—breakfast and lunch at all-you-can eat joints resulted in 20 percent of the new pounds. Overall, they took in an average of 174 more calories per day.

Formality - A Necessary Evil

You're out to dinner, and you order a bottle of wine. The waiter brings the bottle and starts going through the motions of formal wine service at the table. For many people, this process can be intimidating and confusing. For others, it's tedious and unnecessary. Not understanding or simply not paying attention during this process could put you in a bit of a stitch if later you realize that the wine is bad or that the wrong wine was brought to the table. Allow me to demystify this very necessary formality.

All Things English

You know how it is, some teen-aged girls have flaming crushes on celebrities—mainly musicians, actors and athletes. Way back when I was a teen-ager, most of mine had one characteristic in common—they were English—as in the Beatles and Prince Charles.

The Mile-High Dining Club

Packing for a trip often involves a checklist of necessities. For mine and Mama's July 13 flight from New Orleans to Portland, Ore.—with 30 minutes to change planes hours later in San Jose, Calif.—the list included food. There would be no time for a quick trip to an over-priced, highly salted, fast-food joint.

Now That's Italian!

Until recently, I did not drink much Italian wine, which is surprising because I love being Italian. My nana's mother came over from the old country, and her recipe for spaghetti and meatballs was the first thing I could cook and still probably one of the best. And when I was going through my T-shirt-making phase, the initial creation was a picture of two tomatoes and beneath, the phrase, "It's good to be Italian."

Immerse Yourself

Summer time, and the living is easy, but oh-so-hot. That's why your food has to cool you off a little. Can't you just taste the fruits of your labor, a lovely cold melon soup, served with chilled shrimp, those big ones—10 to 12 to a pound—and bakery fresh croissants? Best of all, you have to labor only a little bit to make your melon soup, thanks to the latest kitchen tool you've discovered you cannot live without—the immersion blender. That's immersion as in dipped into liquid, and blender, as in spun into a smoothness that cools the most heat-ravaged soul.

Pick A Proper Pepper

What vegetable can sit upright in the palm of your hand, is a shiny, clean-looking green and tangy when immature, then a gorgeous shade of red and sweeter when mature? Or maybe you know it in its brightly colored yellow, orange, purple and brown guises? OK, so the photo gives it away, even if it is in black-and-white. Put on your old Romper Room magic glasses and see the multi-lobed bell pepper in all its vitamin A and C and beta carotene-laden, zero-sodium, low-carb, high-fiber grandeur—the brighter the color, the more healthy the pepper is for you.

More Than Moonshine

Here in Mississippi, we often get the short end of the stick. Find a list of positive statistics; we're near or at the bottom. Negative? Look to the top. Whenever a tornado strikes, newscasters rush to the nearest trailer park, and it makes national headlines when we vote to keep the Confederate flag.

Colander and Mini-Bites

In the ABC's of kitchenware, C stands for the multi-purpose colander. Whether you're displaying summer's bounty or draining fresh pasta, you'll have no trouble finding just the right colander, or maybe several, for your kitchen. Today's aluminum and enamel ones look great on the kitchen countertop or breakfast table—filled with fresh peaches that please both the eye and the nose, or the colorful squash, peppers and new potatoes you'll soon prepare for dinner. Those same colanders' main duty is to quickly and safely separate the cooked from the scalding liquid that it was cooked in, whether it be pasta or boiled shrimp. And let's not forget the red-headed-step-child of colanders—the plastic one—it doesn't get much respect, but serves well in draining your washed salad greens. One last purpose for a colander is admittedly not a kitchen-related one—up ended on your head, an aluminum colander lends you an extraterrestrial air. Paired with a cape made from a shiny emergency blanket, you've got the makings of an award-winning costume.

Odds And Ends

Have you ever eaten odds and ends? I'll wager not. I'll go so far as to bet you cannot even guess what makes up odds and ends.

Showdown At Everyday Stadium

At Ironchef-FujiTV.com, there's this headline: "Nothing is really real unless it happens on television." Hardly. Iron Chef Everyday is a reality, alive and thriving at The Everyday Gourmet on County Line Road, not relegated to the tube.

Poke Salad Bessie

June 1, 2005 My friend Bessie Mae Evans used to keep house for us when I was a kid. She was a fountain of lore, especially when it came to snakes. She knew which ones could hoop up and roll downhill and which ones would wrap you to a tree with their coils and beat you to death. (She claimed that they would stick the tip-end of their tail in your nose every now and then to see if you were still breathing, and if you were, they'd keep whipping.)

Just Eat - Don't Look

MRE does not stand for mighty right eating, but according to those in the know—namely the United States military—MREs do the right thing for today's men and women who must have nourishment to do their jobs, while training or in combat situations where there's not a field kitchen in sight.

Cheers To The Memories

I have great memories of Capitol Street when it was lined with restaurants, shops and hotels, people bustling on the sidewalks, cars cruising the thoroughfare. One of those restaurants was Primos, next door to the then First National Bank building. I remember eating my first veal cutlet there while on a ninth-grade art class field trip, to the best of my knowledge seated in an upstairs dining area sort of like a balcony. Tres chic to my young, impressionable mind.

Ellington