A Sweet Potatoes P.S.

Truth be told, editing the Culinary Trail (and website) well, makes me hungry.  Yeah, yeah, cry me a river, right?

Especially when I have to add horrible, horrible entries like Sweet Potato Sweets in Vardaman, Mississippi  (That would be a joke... for those in doubt see previous post here).

Vardaman is the sweet potato capital of the world and for all intents and purposes, I might look into relocating - I mean, since we're moving this weekend anyway and our life is packed in boxes at the moment - it's really quite convenient.  (I wonder what my city slicker husband would have to say about that?)  We could even live on Sweet Potato Street. Surely there's a place next to the shop, don't you think?

Cooks Daphna Cook and Karen Wright are married to local farmers who supply all the fresh ingredients for their made-from-scratch recipes like sweet potato fudge, sweet potato pecan cheesecake, sweet potato sausage balls and whatever sweet potato cocoons might be (it's not for me to question, because you know it's divine, no questions asked).

I have been making a running list of sites to visit and though it will be a terrible inconvenience, if I'm in the area next month, I might have to stop by for research purposes...  :)

Picture from the Sweet Potato Sweets website

Cathead Vodka and Sugar's

Last night, Gluckstadt, Mississippi-based vodka company, Cathead Vodka, had a tasting at Congress Street Bar & Grill.

There has been much buzz about Cathead, as it is Mississippi's first legal distillery.  Makes me laugh every time.  But it's true!

They had a signature drink for everyone to try called the "Lazy Cat," which was made with Cathead vodka, pink lemonade and Lazy Magnolia Indian Summer beer.  It was really good!  They also offered free samples of straight vodka to try and it had a great taste to it, very smooth. 

They gave out koozies and stickers for everyone.   (The logo reminds me of a character in Where the Wild Things Are)

While there, we decided to share an appetizer and got the pulled pork nachos.  I was expecting something similar to the ones Corky's sells at the Redbirds games in Memphis (which is nacho cheese, pork and barbecue sauce over corn chips).  These were more upscale and were scarfed down quickly.  I really enjoyed the tangy sauce, tender pork, sauteed onions and jalapenos and melted cheese.  The main surprise was the "chip" which really wasn't what you would consider a real chip at all.  More like triangular sopapilla-type crispy wedge.  Delicious!

Now, this morning, was breakfast at Sugar's.  I have heard mention of Sugar's Place located 168 W. Griffith Street downtown, but haven't ever been.  It seemed high time to make a visit in the name of Culinary Trail research, naturally! They want to be added to the trail, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.

A group of us decided to meet there at 8 a.m., having convinced ourselves that getting out of bed at an earlier time was worth it for a good breakfast. 

Ah, the best laid plans.  A couple of us overslept (me included), two others couldn't come after all and that left one person there...on time...and waiting.  Awww!  Poor thing!  I felt so bad.  So I threw some clothes on and ran up there.

The restaurant celebrated its 2nd anniversary on Wednesday (May 19).  It's right across from Mississippi College of Law, in the bottom of a high-rise building.

You'll have to forgive me for the lack of breakfast pictures.  I got to chatting and dug in.  They have a choice of breakfast plates that include eggs, grits (plain or cheese), sausage/bacon/smoked sausage and pancakes or biscuits.  You can also order a la carte items as well.

I got the pancakes, grits and smoked sausage. My friend got pancakes, bacon and eggs.  The pancakes are really big and fluffy yet we both thought they were just kind of plain. The smoked sausage I cut up and put in my cheese grits and really enjoyed that (although I prefer cooked grits rather than the instant kind).  Overall, it was a great experience - the lady who took our orders got our names and remembered them throughout our meal.  The coffee was good and strong (always a good thing in my book) and she made sure we were taken care of.  Everyone was super nice to us.

I heard their lunch is good - so will have to go back and try it at some point soon.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Do you have any big plans?

Taqueria Guanajuato

There are so many high-quality taquerias popping up in the area.  I'm such a fool for Mexican and when a good friend of mine came into town about a month ago, we suggested Taqueria Guanajuato instead of a more run-of-the-mill restaurant option.

My friend, Carpe Jackson, wrote about the taqueria in April on her blog and since that time, more of my friends have tried it - and come back raving!

We had a great time catching up and the food was delicious.  They brought out chips and salsa for us to munch while we waited for our dinner.

One of my favorite parts was going to the refrigerator section at the back of the restaurant and picking out drinks.  Walter got a strawberry soft drink and I got a coconut one. 

The coconut was good but a little strange because it was half liquid, half congealed coconut.   Odd, but fun.

Husband and friend both got a chorizo torta which they both devoured! (the picture is blurry because hungry people told me to make it snappy)

I got the Carpe-recommended pork and pineapple tacos, which were really good.

The tacos came with lots of goodies to enhance the flavor, yet no cactus came out like I'd heard other people talk about.  So, that was a little disappointing but it did not mar my Mexican eating experience!

We also ordered the posole, which can best be described as musty-tasting.  It had a strong taste of charcoal or something.  There was a huge bone with meat that sat in the center of the bowl which seemed promising; but the flavor was lacking.  It was a disappointing soup.  Walter makes terrific posole and that's what I'm sticking by from now on!

Overall, we had a fun time and enjoyed the food.  I want to go back soon and try more!

Carpe also suggested La Morena in Ridgeland which looks like is going to be the lunch destination for me on Friday.

The Culinary Trail Launch

Just when I thought things might slow down - ha! - there's no sign of that happening anytime soon.  I've got so many blog posts that need to be written up, it's just ridiculous at this point.

Last Monday was the official press day for both the Culinary Trail and the Agri-Tourism Trail.  It went really well.  The Governor showed up and talked about the oil spill, how much we Mississippians love our food and how important Agri-Tourism and the Culinary Trail showcase two great aspects of our state's culture.

The unveiling took place at the Farmer's Market on High Street (in Jackson).

Ward Emling talking to Ole Miss' Andy Harper

John T. Edge and Sarah McCullough

Gov. Haley Barbour has arrived

Director of Tourism Mary Beth Wilkerson

Gov. Barbour and Leutinant Gov. Phil Bryant both spoke

About to officially unveil the Trails

It was great to finally meet John T. Edge, who provided me with insight and direction during the the Trail's beginning stages over 10 months ago now.

Such a nice guy!

Tom Ramsey, Malcolm White and John T. Edge

John T., Ward Emling (Director of the Film Office) and Sarah McCullough (Manager of Culture & Heritage), both of whom are my supervisors at Tourism, were invited to appear on Tom Ramsey's WLEZ 100.1 FM show "AtThe Cook's Table." The show is broadcast every Monday at noon.  Tom, whose wife, Kitty, is a friend of mine, is a tremendous cook and he invites people on his show for tête à tête and food.  It's so much fun!

I tagged along to take a few pictures and John T. also encouraged me to be a part of it, saying he wasn't exactly sure why they wanted him when I was the one who wrote the Culinary Trail!  But I ain't John T. Edge...!!  He was too nice.

Tom cooked short ribs, a white vegetable mash and cochon grits - DIVINE!  It was absolutely delicious.  For dessert, key lime pie.  I thought of my mother because it's her absolute favorite.  Oh my gosh, it was heaven.

You can listen to the broadcast here.  It was so much fun!  I made a brief appearance at the end.

I must say two very big thank you's:  to Amy Evans Streeter for being a proof reader and providing support and encouragement.  A huge, monumental thank you also goes to Ginger Brook for her consistent support, proof reading, encouragement and suggestions.  Both of them are terrific artists and writers in their own right and I am so proud to work with both of them!

Now, it's Culinary wrap-up.  Over the next several months, I'll be going out into the communities for more interviews, photographs and foodways video documentation.  That's always fun and insightful.  I can't wait!

I am thrilled about another project coming my way that will be working the Choctaws in Philadelphia.  More info on that in the coming week - I am seriously excited!

I'm a Fool for...Sweet Potatoes

I'm a fool for many things and don't have a problem admitting it.  One of top 5 food items, well, lemme say top 10 is the sweet potato.  The Garden & Gun email newsletter just arrived in my inbox and I wasted no time deciding whether to sit on it or not, well, it mentioned sweet potato butter.  I kid you not.  Read the newsletter here.

We got some peach butter and apple butter from the Tomato Place in Vicksburg a couple of years ago and it was love at first bite - we lapped it up!  So I can only imagine how incredible sweet potato butter is!!  The photo byline is "heaven in a jar."  I'm inclined to believe it, sight unseen or rather, untasted.

(Photo from Cunningham Farms website)

Cunningham Farms in Hancock County, Tennessee (bless them!) makes the stuff and you can order it online.  Do they have enough in stock to feed my addiction?!

Fan Mail

This is really great!  I got my first-ever piece of "fan mail."

May 1, 2010

Ms. Kline,

I thoroughly enjoyed "A Family Affair" in the May "Portico."  Your article is very interesting and very well written. 

However, I feel compelled to point out an error.  You wrote, "Mr. Lumpkin is the restaurant's namesake."  Wrong!  The restaurant is the namesake of Mr. Lumpkin. (over)  American Heritage Dictionary defines "namesake" as "one that is named after another."  Mr. Lumpkin is not named after the restaurant; therefore, he is not the namesake of the restaurant.  The restaurant is named "after" (for) him.

Best wishes for continuing success with your writing!

An old English teacher

Whoops. 

Don't you just love it?!  If I met her in person, I would squeeze her to pieces.

Since I don't know who she is, I can't thank her personally but I can give her a small thanks for the heads up on my grammatical error here.

This post is dedicated to my high school English teachers, Mrs. Stephenson and Mrs. Ray.  xoxoA