Let Them Eat Cake

This afternoon, my coworkers and I wandered up (aka road up the elevator) to a Mississippi Arts Commission staff reception, which we know is a sure thing:  good company, good food and great art. 

The MAC not only supports talented artists, but they have on staff many talented artists who create textiles, mosaic designs, paintings, music and more.  

My friend Mary Margaret is the Heritage Director there.  She and I (along with our co-workers) attended the Barefoot workshop session last summer, got to know each other better and had such a great time making our foodie films.

Her corn hole sets were on display and they are fabulous!

As she describes it, "...It's a backyard game much like horseshoes, only safer. The point is to toss a bean bag across the yard and into the hole on the board. Most often folks play in teams of two."  

But I digress, because the purpose of this particular post is not about playin' corn hole, it's about filling your pie hole.  (I'm still not sure that sounds very nice)

Long story sorta short, this afternoon's reception had a food theme and to our delight, there were two very particular homemade food items on the table:  a sweet potato pie and a lovely King Cake.  The King Cake has a special place in my heart because it's just that time of year AND it had cream cheese in the middle, my personal fav.  We were also excited because recipes accompanied the treats on the table, and Mary Margaret said I could share her recipe with y'all.  You are going to love it!

She and her mother adapted this from a cinnamon roll recipe they have in the family vault...which makes it even more special when someone shares!  And I have to add, there wasn't much left by the time I headed back to my office.

photo courtesy of Mary Margaret Miller

Sunflower County King Cake

by Sandra and Mary Margaret Miller

(makes 2-3 cakes: more the better!)

Dough:

1 C shortening

¾ C sugar (heaping)

1 C boiling water

2 pkg yeast dissolved in lukewarm water (115-120 degrees)

2 eggs beaten + 1 t. salt

6 C flour

Cream Cheese Filling:

2 8 oz. blocks cream cheese, softened

1 t. vanilla flavoring

1 t. almond flavoring

½ t. salt

1 egg beaten

¾ C sugar

In a mixer, combine shortening and sugar until dissolved. Add boiling water and beat until cool. Add yeast and eggs. Beat until combined. Stir in flour. Beat until combined. Spray dough with butter flavored spray and cover with a damp cloth. Refrigerate overnight to rise.

Place half of the dough mixture on a floured surface. Knead and roll into a rectangle, about ¼ inch thick. Ice with a thin layer of cream cheese filling and roll, jelly-roll style, into a long tube. Place on a buttered pan in an oval shape, connecting the ends.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until cake is golden. Remove from oven and cool completely. Before icing, cut a small slit in the bottom of the cake and insert a plastic baby or other festive trinket. Make sure to use an object that is easily noticeable and not too small.

Icing:

2-3 C sifted powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla flavoring

1 t. almond flavoring

3-4 T milk

Combine all ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth and glossy. Divide icing into three cups and color with green, purple and yellow/gold food coloring. Decorate cake with the icing in any fashion you see fit! Green, gold and purple sprinkles are a nice addition.

  

This will be your new favorite King Cake recipe during Mardi Gras.  Enjoy!  And most of all, thank you Mary Margaret :)

So, have you found any good King Cake Recipes out there or do you leave it to the professionals?

Spending the day in Ocean Springs

Over the weekend, I began to feel extremely self-conscious because as I began to bounce back from the head cold/sinus infection that came from the depths of Hades, I also got my appetite back.  With a vengeance.  I kid you not.  It was almost like I was hungry. seriously. every. other. minute.  It was the story of my life:  We had just eaten and I was hungry again.  (No, I'm not pregnant.) 


I was the epitome of a bottomless pit and kept asking the guys if they were hungry like every other second it seemed like.  

So, that leads me to the next restaurant we visited during our trip...The Shed in Ocean Springs.

This is a BBQ joint that I've heard a lot about and QB perks up considerably when BBQ is the topic at hand.  

Of course, since it's Mississippi (me) vs. Texas (him), there is a considerable amount of BBQ trash talkin' before, during and after a carnivorous barbecue frenzied food fest : smoked pork vs. beef brisket, tangy mustard & vinegar vs. sweet & spicy tomato-based sauce - you get the idea.  You should hear us discussing the subject of tamales!!


I digress.


First of all, you know it's good 'Cue when this is the first thing you see from the road.  BBQ joint adjacent to the RV Park.  You know it to be true.

You order, sit down at one of the picnic tables and wait for your name to be called.

They call you first name, verify your last name and the food is yours, awaiting consumption.  I ordered the baby back ribs, potato salad and baked beans and sweet tea - QB and Nate got the beef brisket.  

This barbecue is no joke!  The meat had been cooked "low and slow," no doubt about it.  It fell off the bone and if I do say so, I licked my fingers and smacked my lips.  Oh what?  We're in public? 

The beans were pretty good (not the best I've ever had but good) and the potato salad I lurved most especially - the kind with potato skin and bacon in it.  The sauce was tomato-based, sweet with a subtle spicy kick to it.  QB grabbed and applied Crystal's Hot Sauce because he could have taken it a little spicier.  We didn't hear much from Nate during lunch.  He was busy eating.  

Truth be told, I grew up on the tangy mustard & vinegar-based sauces, so I'm still partial to that.  But the sweet and spicy is a good change and it wasn't overly sweet - it was a good balance.  I would definitely go back, but honestly, I'd probably get the beef this time around.  The sauce just seemed to compliment the brisket better, in my opinion.  But I'm also curious about the pulled pork, so further inspection is needed.  !


Afterwards, we went to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art.  The live oak trees on the coast are gorgeous.  They lined Washington Street and the surrounding areas of Highway 90 and I love they way their tree limbs can drag the ground.

The museum was amazing.  The rowboat Anderson used to travel to Horn Island was hanging in the gallery above our heads and the bike he rode was on the other end.  

The connecting Community center really is incredible.  Anderson wanted to and was then commissioned to paint the interior walls in the 1950s and it is mind-boggling to me how the different murals he painted have such a cohesive fluidity to them. 

There were no breaks in the design and each design, conceptually, blew me away - from far away what looked like a mere pattern was in actuality an animal or wave or whatever it happened to be.  (I could take pictures as long as I didn't use flash) 

His daughter, Martha Anderson, stopped by the museum while we were there and QB spoke to her briefly.  The University Press did a book with her and he worked with her.  Who knows where I was wondering at the time, so I didn't get to meet her.  :(

Below is his room from his home on Horn Island.

And below, some Shearwater pottery he did and a really cool table he carved!  QB and I wanted one for our very own.  Oh well.

Other works from Coastal artists were on display.  Dusti Bongé was one of the artists on display - Mississippi's first modernist.  Really cool stuff.   (See Anderson's bike at the far end?)

I don't remember who did this one but I loved the spider web!

Sadly, the one place we didn't make it to during our Coast weekend was Le Bakery in Biloxi, the Vietnamese-owned bakery with traditional cuisine, French bread and other goodies.  It's on my list for next time!!