Mississippi Friends in the Mountains

When I look outside of my window and see mountains in any direction, that instantly cheers me up.  It's so cool to get out of my car and look in front of me to see the glow of the home lights on the side of the mountain. 


So, my good friend, Mary Margaret, put me in touch with a friend of hers named Neal - a fellow Mississippian and Delta boy - and what's more, a fantastic chef.


One of our first excursions once we got settled in, was to Brevard.  We wound our way to Neal's house, where the promise of a good meal waited.  He had gotten a couple of rainbow trout (that very morning, and were swimming around in his sink just before we got there) and made an amazing smoked trout dip.  There are no pictures of the dip because it went FAST - a testament to its flavor and how hungry we were!


A venison backstrap thawed while we talked and ate.  In the meantime, he toasted some aromatic spices - that "smell like Christmas" - and chopped them up in the food processor.  He coated the venison in the aromatics and put them in a huge iron skillet to cook on the stove top.  


We also got to know Neal's friend, Emily, who is so much fun! She's a fantastic cook as well.  We had so much fun!


Neal began to prepare the plates and put down a bed of pureed sweet potatoes, sliced the venison and arranged it just so, then topped it with sweet pea shoots tossed in homemade vinaigrette.  Divine, I tell you!!  

Take a look at this: 

  

I'm doing a story soon for DeSoto Magazine about Neal, Emily, and her husband, Brandon, for DeSoto Magazine about North Carolina fly fishing (Neal & Brandon are working on being guides), so if you're in the area and can pick up a magazine in May/June, stay tuned!  

Dallas Eats, Part 1

W wanted to take me to a well-known section of the city called Oak Cliff.  Oak Cliff is a world unto itself and as W told me, the neighborhood has tried to secede from the city of Dallas (unsuccessfully) numerous times!  We visited the Bishop Arts District, ate lunch and did some window shopping.

We wandered around window shopping because much of the district is dark on Mondays.  W was craving beef panang so we stopped for lunch at Thai Chan (I think that's it - totally forgot to take a picture).  This was just the tip of the iceberg as far as food is concerned!

beef panang below (or what was left of it)

I got Mussoman with chicken.  Don't even remember what it was but it was incredible.  I mean, just look at the sauce!

It's nice to look at the pictures again and somewhat relive the experience.

Afterward we did a little window shopping because mostly everything is dark on Mondays; but we made mental notes about what we had to come back to see.

I'd say, the best find during the entire trip was spotting this store:

Dude, Sweet Chocolate was open for a few hours on Monday, much to our delight. 

We walked in to the lovely, funky shop and were immediately welcomed by voiced telling us we could try whatever might sound interesting!  Chocolate.  Twist my arm. 

Chef Katherine Clapner nabbed the much-deserved 2010 Best of Big D Best Chocolatier.  They also sell ice cream and other lovely things.  We didn't even get to that part, being sidetracked by the shelves of chocolate confections...and being full from lunch.  Damned delicious Thai food! 

 

Chef Katherine Clapner's background is as a pastry chef who turned a passion for decadent chocolate into the tastiest storefront ever.  Here's a blurb from a 2009 article in the Pegasus News:

"Clapner procures chocolate from Colombia, Venezuela, and Africa, to which she adds exotic flavors such as curry, paprika, bee pollen, and Thai ginger. She fabricates the creamy flavored centers using high-end ingredients such as butter from Lucky Layla Farms, then dips them in chocolate, creating small truffle-like chocolates which she sells in boxed collections...

With her use of Mexican, Moroccan, Indian, and Peruvian spices, her flavorings reflect the cuisines she's been exposed to at restaurants such as Stephan Pyles, where she previously worked."

I've never been a fan of dark chocolate, yet have had some European kinds and it changed my opinion.  Dude, Sweet Chocolate will rock your world, my friend.  It was a scream to hear them answer the phone, "Dude, sweet chocolate." 

Just look at the choices and the cool packaging.

There were sweets and savories of all shapes and sizes.  How in the world do you choose?  There's the chef in the background, working hard.  Must be a terrible job... 

The flavor combo may sound really weird to you, but the Cheesehead popcorn was my hands-down favorite.  It was white cheddar popcorn drizzled with caramel and white chocolate.  Yes, sounds funky but was ohmygoshshutupyouregonnaloveit!  That was the one thing I didn't actually buy at the time, promised myself I'd come back the next day and get it, but didn't after all regret. 

Some savories, like below, had sea salt and bleu cheese while others had varieties of mushrooms or various herbs.   Wow!  We tried the Albatros and it was very good.

We bought ourselves some Crack in a Box on recommendation and it is good though not my fav overall. 

This next one has my heart.  Rosebud is absolutely divine.  Lovely dark chocolate truffles with rose petal jam.  I can't even describe the experience.  Suffice it to say that once the dark chocolate spoils of our shopping excursion made it home, they didn't last long.  The only thing that didn't get touched was the box we got for our friend who was watching out kitties.  Consider yourself fortunate, Katie.  It might not have made it home to Jackson. 

There's officially a dark-chocolate-sized hole in my heart right now...

The Big D: DALLAS

The city of Dallas conjures up - well, namely one thing for me.  See if you remember this.  This theme song is synonymous in my immediate family as the first song I hummed as a 1 year old.  Yes, quite the little pop culture prodigy, right?  

And it just so happens I married a man from Dallas itself.  What are the odds?? Ha!

I've been chomping at the bit to post a few entries on our adventures in Dallas.  Being able to get away for a short vacation last month was a miracle in itself and our week there was so much fun.  W and I go to Dallas during the holidays but it is always more of a "hit and run family edition" than a leisurely visit.  This time where we got to explore a bit more and he was able to show me more of the city in which he grew up.

On our way there, I noticed a strange cloud formation...I'd seen it somewhere before.  

Look at it and see if there's not some kind of resemblance to this fella on the far left below.

Pigs in Spaaaaaaaaaace!!!!

Maybe you had to be there.  But I still think it's a pretty close likeness...

Moving ever forward.

We rolled into town, took a short name and it was time to head out on the town. We had a fun time with W's parents and family friend who first took us to dinner at Fadi's.

Holy mackerel! It might be easy to underestimate this place because at first it looks so simple... 

You decide what you want, grab a tray, utensils and hit the line.

(sorry about the glare)

W & I decided to share the sampler platter and it was a good thing we shared because they loaded up this massive plate with one of everything.  I can't even remember what all there was - dips, veggies - you name it.  All of it was so good!!!! 

Just look at it:

 

 Choose a Meat!

 A view during the afterglow...

Baklava drizzled with chocolate.  Heavenly.

 

And below is what we proudly took back to our table.

The picture really doesn't do it justice.  The plate was huge and covered with food. It was. so. phenomenal.  I'm still not over the food we ate during our visit.

After we could handle no more - sadly, there was no room for dessert, it was time to head over The Library Bar at the Melrose Hotel.

The Melrose is a very old, very sumptuous boutique hotel.  Inside, The Library Bar is a hopping nighttime spot that looks like swanky NYC bar in a scene out of Mad Men or a gentleman's club where most might order a scotch neat or a bourbon on the rocks.  It was really gorgeous with dark wood and plush chairs.  

They have incredible desserts that sadly were devoured before photos could be taken. W & I shared a decadent caramelized peaches and cream dish, his parents got a huge chocolate cupcake and friend Lois had some sort of incredible chocolate mousse confection.  My heart still flutters!

D Magazine named The Library's lounge singer, Aubree-Anna, the Best in Dallas in 2009.  Hmm...well...

We were told "cabaret" singer so that's where the expectations ran askew.  When I think "cabaret" it conjures up the idea of a jazz quartet playing standards and show tunes with a velvet-voiced singer floating through the crowd, making eyes at all the men in a seductive bet-you-wish-you-could-but-you-can-pretend-for-now kind of way and a little Broadway-esque theatrics for good measure.  Even with the "lounge singer" title, in a nice bar like that, one at least carries certain expectations with it. 

I have to say Aubree-Anna is a gorgeous lady and a genuinely nice person who came around to the tables and greeted everyone.  You could tell she wasn't faking it.

Unfortunately, the performance experience was that of glorified karaoke with a shot in the arm of uber-hyper giggly cuteness for between-song patter.  Can the canned music, Aubree-Anna.  Even lounge singers have decent bands.  It would spiff her act up considerably.  Cheesy renditions of "And I Will Always Love You" (yes, that was on her set list - and more cringe-inducing songs that I've blocked) with a very talented piano player who you could barely hear over the synthesizer pop tracks and background "vocals."  I really don't mean to be ugly...everyone in our group expected a very different musical experience.  Apparently there's an audience for this but..it's best I just shut this paragraph down.

Overall, we had a fantastic night on the town with family and friends.  We headed home past the glowing lights of Downtown Dallas, looking forward to jumping in the pool after a day on the road and looking forward to sightseeing the next day!

Day Trip to Ocean Springs

My longtime friend, Kathryn, came into town and stayed with us over the 4th of July weekend. She's on a cross-country walkabout and stopped in Jackson to visit! 

We had such a great time doing a little this and that. She went with us to the screening of the "foodie films" at The Auditorium that me and my colleagues worked on a few weeks ago with Barefoot Workshop instructors Alison Fast and Chandler Griffin.

If you are interested in watching the films we made, click here. The documentary my group did is on Peaches, a historic restaurant on Farish Street (here in Jackson).  I'm so excited to have these skills to build on and continue my work with Mississippi Tourism through more film projects.

Mainly, the holiday weekend was a time for us to rest.  Since I've been going 90-to-nothing the entire month of June...and July hasn't showed signs of slowing, it was time to replenish with rest during a precious little downtime.

Monday, Kathryn and I decided to take a trek to Ocean Springs.  We'd mentioned the Walter Anderson Museum to her and she was also around as Alison and Chandler were talking about their current film work on the Coast.  She'd also never been to that part of the state either, so we decided to get up early and spend the day exploring.

I showed her the largest rocking chair in the world, which Kat promptly decided she'd climb up and get her picture taken.  I did it too. (haha)

Our first stop when we rolled into town naturally had to do with food.  (That should be a no-brainer about me at this point.)

We drove around the Downtown area for a few minutes and then down Government Street...where the Tat-O-Nut shop was closed until July 8.   :(  

Across the street was Phoenicia, a place I've seen but never actually been to eat. Mornings they served breakfast and the rest of the day it's Mediterranean fare.  

I ordered the special - Crab and Shrimp omelet.  Don't get me wrong, it was good but just ok as far as omelets go.  The reason I give it a "so-so" is because it was all shrimp and no crab at all.  Good but coulda been better...

Kathryn got the Eggs Sardou, which is basically Eggs Benedict but with artichoke bottoms and spinach.  Hands down, this was the absolute best choice.  It was unbelievable - so much so, in fact, that I had a raging case of "order regret."

My omelet came with a side of dollar pancakes that were very good and hit the spot.

We both got a side of Asiago cheese grits that were pure heaven.  They had a strong flavor and were kind of creamy.  I would swear by those grits if push came to shove.

I also got some Lebanese coffee that was ok.  I was hoping for something similar to Turkish coffee but it wasn't quite that strong nor did it have the good flavor.  Overall, I would definitely go back and totally recommend it.  I'd just order differently next time.

After breakfast, we rambled over to the Walter Anderson Museum.  It's a gorgeous facility and one that I would definitely visit over and over again. 

I definitely looked at the exhibit differently since my trip to Horn Island.  Looking up at Bob's boat, I thought, he was a tough old bird.

Love what he wrote on this Pelican sketch:

"There are some things that you can only do with love.  You will know that you have love when you do one of them."

It was obvious this was a very kid-friendly room.  There were lots of watercolors and signs like this explaining W.A.'s work, his life and the animals he loved. 

I'm convinced that the next cat I get will be named Robinson. 

We explored the community room and what I love about it is that you always discover a new aspect to the mural to appreciate and admire.  My thoughts kept coming back to the Horn Island experience.   Obviously you can't go there without coming back to the mainland with a different perspective.

You could get lost for hours enjoying the intricacies of his work. 

We drove to the beach and spent some time by the water.  It was a fairly cool and windy day with rain on the way.

Above looks like tar balls - I couldn't tell at the time because some of it was pretty grassy, too, but I'm pretty sure that's what it was.  

Despite what I've heard about parts of the Mississippi Sound waters being closed, there were boaters out, people on jet skis and swimmers, too.

I asked the lady at the museum if she could give us directions to Friendship Oak.  She only knew about Ruskin Oak.  So we drove through a neighborhood and saw a lovely old oak tree on a vacant lot - it's one of the oldest on the Coast and legend says it is associated with author John Ruskin, an Englishman in the 1880s - apparently people still have tea parties there at times to honor him.  I found an interesting website that says the story is a farce but shares interesting history about the land and about Ruskin just the same.  Don't know for sure.  Wasn't the one we were after anyway, so we drove on.

We continued our ramble along 90 over to University of Southern Mississippi's Long Beach campus (now a ghost town with its washed out buildings) and to the oldest of old Live Oak trees.

It was a tremendously huge tree - it won't even do to describe it.  The campus was quiet and peaceful after a hard rain that rolled through.  We enjoyed exploring her branches that were dripping with rainwater, completely awestruck by the massiveness of her size...and girth...and wing span!!  (Kat & I decided she was a big mama of a tree)

If this gives you any idea of the size...

Kat wanted to get a few pictures of the tree carvings along 90 and I wanted to snap a picture of the owlie that I missed last time we were there.  He's missing an eye now...and well, a bird pooped on him, too (that's to be expected...). 

There were tour buses on a particular stretch of 90 with workers cleaning up the beaches.  :(

Our last stop of the day was totally worth the wait.  My friend, Katie, tweeted about this place a couple of weeks ago...she was in Ocean Springs kicking her feet up while I was sweating it out on the Island...

Yum, yum, YUMMO!! Caboose Snowballs!!

You walk in through the driveway where the old railroad tracks still peek out of the ground and on past the house.  

And there's the caboose.  

We decided to look a few minutes before ringing the bell by the order window.  They serve any and every flavor of snowball you could imagine - and creamy flavors, too - the lady who came up behind us got condensed milk on hers - along with Blue Bell ice cream and sundaes - you get the idea.

There are even more flavor combos taped to the window.  Katie was right:  these flavors were well thought out.  There is even a new flavor called "Mississippi Tarball" that is chocolate and coffee flavored.

Just as a side note:  It sort of cracks me up that some of the roadside stands along 49 and even the Caboose advertised "hand-dipped" Blue Bell ice cream.  I know it's folksy and all, but it comes out of a commercial tub, people.  We can hand-dip it ourselves after we get it from the store...Just sayin'.  Give us something homemade!

Ok.  I'm done.

We rang the bell and a lady came out from the house.  She opened the caboose window and asked us what we wanted to order.  Kat and I asked her a couple of questions and got a pretty funny reply.  

Us:  So, what's a "silver fox?"

Her:  All I can tell you is it sorta tastes like almond."

Us:  What's Cajun about the Cajun Cream Cheese?

Her:  All I can tell you is it tastes like cream cheese.

Ummm...ok.  

So, after the insightful explanations, I got half Praline and half Butter Cream.  Kat got half Praline and half Cajun Cream Cheese.  It was sublime.  The Butter Cream was a little too sweet for me but overall a great treat!  There's nothing I love more than good crushed ice.  Especially when it's got Praline flavoring.  Mmmm!

We had a full, fun day on the Coast and came back newly transformed BFF's of course (re: Friendship Tree)!

Had to get a photo of the old Beverly Drive-In right outside of Hattiesburg.  What a cool place.  The only working drive-in in the state is in Pontotoc, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong).