Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, Sunday Afternoon

Outside the kitchen screen door, the next door neighbor's cat is sprawled out in the shade next to the water bowl that we keep for her.   The front screen door is propped open where my boyfriend is trying to capture the beauty of a wildflower plucked from one of our tiny gardens.   On the airwaves is Nick Waterhouse and KEXP.   A gentle breeze is flowing through the house while the oven is set to 375 for some first-time bread baking.

I'm no stranger to dessert breads and cornbread, but this recipe was for Blue Cheese Pecan Bread (page 180) from Martha Hall Foose's cookbook Screen Doors and Sweet Tea.   It's one of those cut the butter in and knock on the bottom to tell if the bread's ready kinda recipes.  

For a first effort, it turned out better than edible, good enough to share with neighbors.   Both the next door neighbors were away, so two-doors-down Mr. Herman got a slice.

Right now, the good ol' stand-by Three Bean Salad (page 62) is marinating in the fridge.   I substituted a red pepper because I had one on hand and added the optional can of artichoke hearts.   We were able to use some onions from our garden that had bolted and were ready to pluck.   I'll be able to tell you how it turned out tomorrow.

Tonight I'll make Paper Sack Catfish and Crispy Baby Reds, and I'll get back to you on how that went.

Foose recommends some zydeco to go with your bean salad.

Lissen here.

So what does this have to do with my Delta State class in July?   Well, there's the required reading, and there's the extra reading that I've picked up-- like cookbooks.   Foose was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, so how else could I kick off a reading marathon?