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and enzymes and throw in some epigenetics for good measure and it’s all explained.

But it isn’t really, is it?

Marica and John asked me to share with you the obituary I composed for Dear Friend Rocky. It is with a heavy heart that I oblige.

With Marica by his side, Dear Friend Rocky’s soul was released from the bonds of his Earthly existence Friday morning, October 11. He was thirteen and one-half years old.

Rocky was a dog of sterling character–loyal, honorable, and courageous.

His smile was infectious.

The Earth shock when he ran through the pasture.

He chose his friends wisely.

Rest in peace, Dear Friend,

I posted a few thoughts about civilized society a few days ago: The Salt Spoon and Other Matters of Civilization.

There. I’ve convinced myself. Marica Cooks Wednesday. Mr. Big Food and I will enjoy our grilled cheese sandwiches in the air fryer and jiffy herbed tomato soup at the dining table.

It was an enjoyable meal. Tasty, too. The soup is nothing special–it’s a Jiffy Soup, though this particular one isn’t posted in the list. But the additions spiff it up a bit. Do add the butter pat, and increase the savory and basil as you see fit. (I used about 1 tsp. each.)

“A tomato soup redolent of savory and basil. Float a pat of butter in each serving for additional richness.”—The Creative Cook (1978)

“Top each serving with a pat of butter and chopped parsley.”

10¾-oz can condensed tomato bisque soup
1 soup can milk
1/8 tsp ground savory
1/8 tsp basil leaves, crumbled

In saucepan combine all ingredients and simmer for a few minutes to blend flavors.

We have a much older edition of this book. We keep it in the glove box. So as we left the Viking store in Greenwood–where you can get your very own Cuisinart counter-top pizza oven–Mr. Big Food took a look to discover where we might want to head next.

Just imagine his delight when he was reading about Indianola and came across mention of The Crown Restaurant. As it was nearly 11:00 we headed straight for it.

This is a cookbook he’d put in the Big Food Manual and Survivalist Flourishing Guide earlier this summer. And now we were headed for the restaurant! How exciting!

The restaurant has an interesting story. Originally in an antique mall in a cotton field five miles outside of town, it’s now relocated to downtown.

Classic Catfish from the Crown at The Antique Mall. Evelyn and Tony Roughton. The Antique Mall, LLD, Indianola, Mississippi. 1993.

Our little restaurant opened in 1976 in the back of our English antique shop. To create the ambience of an English pub or village tearoom, we named it THE CROWN and furnished it with antique tables, chairs and accessories from the shop. We still maintain that same look sixteen ears later.

Opening a Georgian antique shop in the middle ft a cotton field, fully five miles from the nearest town, required plenty of extra effort and opti­mism. We knew we had to do something very special to entice people to come. The reward for our efforts was overwhelming support from the townspeople from the very beginning. In the early days my sister, Wanda, Mother and I did all the cooking and serving. Wanda’s bread is still the crowning glory of every meal, and Mama’s Caramel Pie has not been equaled since she retired. (She can still be prevailed upon to pitch in on busy days.)

We have loved sharing the lives of the many friends we’ve made in the shop and restaurant. THE CROWN has been the setting for birthday parties, wedding rehearsal dinners, bridesmaids’ luncheons, debutante brunches, and hundreds of bridge parties. We have entertained clients from Japan, Spain, Germany, Thailand, Russia and Belgium for the catfish and cotton industries. We’ve served them apple pie, iced tea and catfish every way but fried!

We’ve shared numerous pots of tea with very special friends, and staged coffees, christening parties, class reunions, graduation fetes, formal teas, fashion shows, art exhibits, groomsmen’s brunches, and family dinners with five generations present. We’ve hosted a wedding reception, little girl tea parties, businessmen’s lunches, wedding and baby showers, cock­ tail buffet , and my parents’ Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary party. There have been many cozy afternoons when close friends gathered to celebrate a birthday, a college homecoming, or a trip to Europe. Meals have been shared with families and friends from as close as Jackson, Mississippi, and as far away as London, England. Many times busy young mothers have spent just a few relaxing moments around the Dessert Cart before picking up children from school.

THE CROWN has been hard work at times, but we have received so much pleasure from it. Our customers have become friends we will trea­sure forever: in that simple fact lies the pure joy of this business. Thank you all for making our little restaurant, way out in the country, work so well for so many years!

Empty when we walked through the gift shop (that continues to have antiques) into the restaurant area about 11:30, but it filled up quickly.

And you can see why. I didn’t get anything with catfish but everything was delicious. Chicken salad, potato salad, greens with an interesting dressing, and a different sort of gumbo.

Recipes coming as I have time.

Above, from left to right: my new sterling salt spoon resting in a salt cellar, two demitasse spoons of different sizes, a standard teaspoon

Lightening isn’t right, but you get the idea. I did polish each piece before I took the picture. Really!

Our first stop after we made the decent into the Mississippi Delta was Russels’s Antique Store. What a place! Link goes to a post here from September 2020. Lots of photos of shiny things. They had some stunning crystal and silver punch bowls at that time. I asked the nice woman and she told me the punch bowls had all been sold. That’s most curious. I didn’t think to ask to whom they were sold. Sort of hard to believe private individuals would have need for a $3000+ punch bowl. (I know. I don’t need a $30 salt spoon, either. But I can justify $30 for a curiosity a lot easier than I can $3000.)

Salt spoons, punch bowls, the mother of pearl caviar spreader I bought when we were last at the antique store, all of the other shiny things used for entertaining and dining…

I don’t know much of anything about the history of dining–or to put it in vulgar terms, the history of human food consumption and the rituals associated with it.

You will be stunned to learn, however, that I have a crappy old book about just that.

The Art of Dining: A History of Cooking and Eating. Sara Paston-Williams. The National Trust. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, London. 1993.

I wrote about the book in January 2020.

The title is a bit misleading. It’s a history of cooking and eating in England from medieval and early Tudor times through the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The last chapter, titled “The Well-Ordered Table,” has a lot of beautiful photographs of dining rooms and tables laid out as they would have been but taken contemporarily at various manors and grand houses. It’s aways fun to see a beautifully laid table. But there are also tidbits among illustrations I found interesting.

I continue later in the post:

The book’s author asserts that the Victorian era was a time of unprecedented prosperity (for some). The rising middle class was anxious to emulate the landed aristocracy and increasing number of wealthy industrialists and so forth, particularly with regard to dining customs and accouterment. Thus, we have the introduction of crappy old books which instruct them how to eat and dine like their “social superiors.”

The table was set very nicely at the B&B in Leland, but I still maintain that we’ve regressed as a civilized society. Time, effort, convenience–all offered as excuses. But there’s really no excuse for not taking the time, making an effort, being a bit inconvenienced and presenting a lovely meal.

There. I’ve convinced myself. Marica Cooks Wednesday. Mr. Big Food and I will enjoy our grilled cheese sandwiches in the air fryer and jiffy herbed tomato soup at the dining table.

The Thompson House Bed & Breakfast in Leland, Mississippi.

We’re breaking in a new Farm sitter this weekend. Left yesterday morning headed for Greenwood and the Viking Range store. Pretty sure the $20,000 six burner, two oven range will not fit in our kitchen. This is a good thing. Who wants to figure out where to find $20k for a new stove?

Took a few photos so travelogue coming.

FYI to my eye the cotton in the Delta doesn’t look any better than in our part of Mississippi. For the farmers’ sake, I hope I’m wrong.

Thought we’d wind up a week’s worth of Autumn recipes with a classic. A Fall Big Food Favorite.

Another recipe who’s origin is now lost to antiquity. Scrumptious fall or winter dish. This makes a lot. –Mr. Big Food

2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed
3 Tbsp flour
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed
3 Tbsp oil
2 C apple cider
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
½ C water
3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 carrots, peeled and quartered
2 onions, peeled and sliced
1 celery stack, sliced

Combine meat, flour, salt, pepper, and thyme in a large freezer bag and shake until meat is covered thoroughly. Brown meat in oil in a large Dutch oven or stock pot. Stir in apple cider, vinegar and water. Cook, stirring, until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 ½-2 hours, until meat is tender. Add potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery. Cook on low flame 30 minutes, covered, until vegetables are tender.

Unlike the Steel Magnolia Cake [MB: I shall look into this], this cake has a serious wow factor. Cora sells it by special order during the holiday season, and our customers report that it is a crowd-pleaser. It is also insanely delicious: light, flavorful, sweet without being cloyingly sweet. I highly recommend it. —The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Southern Revival by Alexe van Beuren with recipes by Dixie Grimes (2014)

Daughter C & The J-Man got this cookbook for Mr. Big Food years ago. The B.T.C. is just up the road in Water Valley, Mississippi. We’ve eaten there many times. Delicious. And both Mr. Big Food & I have cooked from this book over and over. Always excellent (if at times a bit sweet).

CORA’S SWEET AUTUMN CAKE WITH ICING AND CARAMEL

2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped into chunks, covered with water, brought to a boil, cooked over medium-high flame until soft, 25 minutes, drained, beaten until mashed, stood 10 minutes
3 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 rsp salt
1¾ C (3½ sticks) butter, “unsalted,” room temperature, plus more softened for greasing cake pans
2¾ C sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 C crushed graham cracker crumbs
1 C pecans, chopped, plus an additional ¼ C crushed, for garnish
Icing
Caramel

Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease three 9″ cake pans with additional butter. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Beat 1 C (2 sticks) of butter and sugar in stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, add vanilla, then add dry ingredients alternately with mashed sweet potatoes. Combine graham cracker crumbs, 1 C chopped pecans, and remaining ¾ C (1½ sticks) butter, press mixture evenly into prepared cake pans, divide batter evenly among pans, and bake until wooden toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool for about 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto wire racks and let cool completely. Put 1 cake layer on serving plate, frost top with Icing, repeat with second and third cake layers and Icing, and finish by frosting sides of cake. Drizzle cooled Caramel over top of cake, garnish with additional crushed pecans, and serve.

2 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
½ C (1 stick) butter, “unsalted,” room temperature
4 C confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
In medium mixing bowl beat together all ingredients until smooth.

1 C (packed) light brown sugar
½ C half-and-half
¼ C (½ stick) butter, “unsalted”
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Combine brown sugar, half-and-half, and butter in a skillet over medium-high flame and cook, whisking, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Add vanilla, remove pan from flame, and let cool completely.

“This is one of my all-time favorite slow cooker recipes. It’s always comforting when the weather is chilly outside to come home to this hot home-cooked meal.”—Mary Hawkins, Kansas City, MO, Taste of Home Special Editions, Ultimate Slow Cooker Cookbook (2012)

“If desired, thicken pan juices.”

3 lb boneless beef chuck roast, cut in half
1 tsp salt, divided
½ tsp pepper, divided
1 Tbsp olive oil
1½ lb sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium parsnips, peeled, cut into ½-inch chunks
1 large sweet onion, cut into chunks
1/3 C sun-dried tomatoes, “not packed in oil”
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1¾ C beef stock (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section—or use a 14½-oz can beef broth, preferably reduced sodium)
¾ C dry red wine OR additional beef stock

Sprinkle roast halves with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper, and brown meat on all sides in olive oil in a large skillet. Drain. Transfer roast halves to a 5-quart slow cooker, top with sweet potatoes, parsnips, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and remaining ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Combine stock and wine, and pour mixture over vegetables. Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours, or until meat and vegetables are tender. Skim fat and discard bay leaves.

If no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that which helps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station in society, then mythology has no claim to the appellation. But if that which tends to make us happier and better can be called useful then we claim that epithet for our subject. Fo mythology is the handmaiden of literature; and literature is one of the best allies of virtue and promoters of happiness.

Long time readers of the blog will smile at this, from the book jacket blurb by poet Robert Graves who wrote a forward to a 1968 edition of the classic:

He told stories simply as stories, without embellishment and without drawing any moral. … His main object was to provide a key to the classical references found in the educated poets of his day. … And indeed, as a source of quotation Bulfinch has long ranked with the Bible, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare and Milton’s Paradise Lost, especially among those who have no classical training.

This is the last of the Apple Smogasbord recipes.

Allspice in meatloaf. Very Autumn-y.

ANNUAL APPLE SMORGASBORD APPLE SAUCE MEAT LOAF WITH TOPPING

1½ lb ground meat
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp chopped onion
2 tsp salt
½ tsp ground allspice
¾ C rolled oats
1 C strained apple sauce (preferably homemade)
Topping

Preheat oven to 350˚. Combine meat, eggs, onion, salt, allspice, oats, and apple sauce, pack firmly into a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. For Topping, top loaf with apple rings and brush with glaze. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes, Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

1 pared apple, cored, cut into rings
¼ C brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp water

Make a glaze by mixing together brown sugar, cloves, and water.

This is the cookbook Mr. Big Food is working on now. The blurb:

The Louisiana Proud Collection of Home Cooking presents a look and taste of the entire state. Two hundred and seventy six people, all from different towns gave recipes. Each page contains one recipe, an illustration of a building in that town and the contributor’s name. The resulting cookbook is truly a sampling of all the tastes of Louisiana.

Louisiana Proud is (was?) a campaign to promote small local businesses in the state. The campaign also produced several cookbooks. For this one, the editor and his artist son visited small towns and asked for home cooking recipes. They stipulated that the recipes have no “fancy” ingredients–just stuff you’d normally find in your kitchen.

Mr. Big Food reports that the cookbook is a great representation of the wide swath of regional Louisiana fare.

The Louisiana Proud Collection of Home Cooking. Andy Smith (illus.) and Andrew Smith, Sr. (ed). Louisiana Proud Press, Kentwood, LA. 1991.

Classic Autumn tastes. From Clementine Paddleford’s classic cookbook, How America Eats (1960).

ANNUAL APPLE SMORGASBORD SWEET POTATOES AND APPLES

4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed, cooked in jackets until just tender, cooled, peeled, cut into 1-inch thick slices
4 medium apples, peeled, cored, sliced into ½-inch rings
¾ C light brown sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp butter
½ C warm water

Preheat oven to 375˚. Arrange sweet potato slices and apple slices in alternate layers in a greased baking dish, mixing together brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon and sprinkling part of mixture over each layer with lemon juice. Dot with butter, add water, cover, and bake 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake about 10 minutes more.

Today, the stroll is down Memory Lane. From September 2018.

Well– part stroll, part drive

First, to the summit, elevation 515′ above sea level. You can see the Village water tower from the summit. It’s also a great place to watch meteor showers.

A little walk down the North Road through the Piney Woods. I’m listening to the birds and Rocky & Missy are chasing critters.

Note to Chris: You’re going to need the chain saw to reclaim your deer stand. It’s amazing how fast things grow in Mississippi.

The Leaning Tree. Years ago it was hit by lightning. It’s a nice destination for a short walk from the Farm.

A treat, then back in the truck. A choice ahead!

Another choice! Let’s go left– to the peninsula.

About the Annual Apple Smorgasbord, Clementine Paddleford’s classic cookbook, How America Eats, and more recipes.

Looks simple and delicious. There’s a meatloaf recipe coming up. Good pairing, I’d bet.

ANNUAL APPLE SMORGASBORD APPLE POTATO SALAD

Yield: 3½ quarts salad

2 unpared red apples, cored, diced
7 large potatoes, cooked in skins, peeled, diced
½ C diced celery
9 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
24 stuffed olives, sliced
2 dill pickles, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
2 onions, diced
1½ pints salad dressing
Salt, pepper, to taste

Combine apples and potatoes in a large mixing bowl, blend in celery, eggs, olives, pickles, parsley, and onions, add salad dressing to moisten, then add salt and pepper to taste. Mix lightly.

Thought some might be interested in a bit of history.

Apparently, they put out cookbooks in later years, but a search on Bookfinder turns up nothing. The cookbooks were published by the Michigan State Extension Service but I am told: “This group only accepts questions from Michigan. Please do not submit a question unless you live in Michigan,” so there’s no tracking it down that way.

Poking around the Grand Rapids site is fun. This is the 1970 Apple Queen.

Here are the search results for “apple smorgasbord” at the site. Some great old photographs.

From our friend, Clementine Paddleford. Her introduction to the Apple Smorgasbord. Apple Butter Horn recipe.

ANNUAL APPLE SMORGASBORD APPLE DUFFLE WITH CRUMB TOPPING

¼ C shortening
½ C sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
2 C sifted flour
2½ tsp baking powder
1 C milk
4 C pared diced apples
Crumb Topping

Preheat oven to 350˚. Cream together shortening and sugar, and beat in salt and egg. Sift together flour and baking powder and add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Spread dough in a greased 8×12-inch baking pan, cover completely with diced apples, sprinkle with Crumb Topping, and bake 45 to 60 minutes or until Topping is browned.

½ C sugar
1/3 C flour
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ C (½ stick) butter

Combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon and cut in butter.

From our friend, Clementine Paddleford. Her introduction to the Apple Smorgasbord.

These sound like a lovely afternoon snack with a nice cup of tea.

ANNUAL APPLE SMORGASBORD APPLE BUTTERHORNS

¼ C (½ stick) butter, plus more softened
¼ C lard
¼ C sugar
1 egg, beaten
Pinch salt
1 tsp grated lemon rind
¼ C lukewarm milk
1 envelope active dry yeast, dissolved in ¼ C warm, not hot, water
2 C sifted flour
1 C finely chopped apples
½ C finely chopped pitted dates

Melt together ¼ C butter and lard and cool to lukewarm. Mix in egg, salt, lemon rind, lukewarm milk, and dissolved yeast mixture, beat in flour, cover and refrigerate overnight. Divide dough evenly into 3 parts, roll out each part on a floured surface into a 9-inch circle, spread each round with additional softened butter and sprinkle evenly with apples and dates. Cut each topped circle into 8 pie-shaped wedges and beginning at rounded end roll up each wedge and place on a baking sheet “point underneath.” Let rise in a warm place for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375˚. Bake horns for 12 to 15 minutes.

Thinking about posting a short series of recipes, I searched The Big Food Manual and Survivalist Flourishing Guide for “Autumn.” Our old friend Clementine Paddleford and her How America Eats (1960) once again delivered.

As you may recall, Clementine was a food writer in the 1950s and ’60s. This is a good introduction to Clementine. And here’s the list of posts about her, and recipes from her cook book.

For the Annual Apple Smorgasbord, we’re with Clementine in western Michigan. Here’s how she describes it. (Recipes to follow over the next few days.)

Twin tables stretched across the broad lawn of the farmhouse of apple grower Arnold Schaefer, Sr., in western Michigan. A sight to behold. Each table a plethora of delicacies, 120 different apple dishes made with the local apples—the Northern Spy, McIntosh, Jonathan, Delicious, and a few of the early Wealthy.
The occasion was the Annual Apple Smorgasbord prepared by the wives of the Peach Ridge Fruit Growers’ Association which has some 150 members. The orchards range in size from forty to four hundred acres, covering most of Kent and Ottawa Counties with a few in Muskegon.

Here came the women, their cars loaded with food in baskets—apple salad, apple meatloaf, apple bread, relishes, and desserts—each dish made by a favorite family recipe. While the ladies are at work, the menfolk are busy taking guests touring the orchards.

Once Peach Ridge was noted especially for its peaches, so the name. Now it has turned to raising apples—the little apple kingdom running eight miles long, four miles wide. The day of my visit, apples flamed the land, branches bent low with the weight of harvest.

The smorgasbord wasn’t all. There were sampling booths set around the lawn where visitors could overeat before the real eating started. I tried the apple punch one, two, and three times, Next booth under the elms, four women—Mrs. Herbert Reister, a fruit grower’s wife was chairman of the team—were all working furiously, fritters in deep-fat electric fryers. You could have your fritter plain or rolled in powdered sugar or in cinnamon-sugar. I milled through a flock of children to find the center or interest—a booth handing out candied caramel apples.

The long tables were made of planks laid over sawhorses covered with white wrapping paper. Baskets of autumn fruits were centered at intervals down the vast stretch.

Here are a few of the good things. I’m not saying the best—I didn’t taste a fourth of the foods presented, for the choice was inexhaustible.

—Clementine Paddleford, How America Eats (1960)

Nothing too exciting. Coming down a bit harder than earlier, and the wind has changed direction. Just what you’d expect.

Lights are flickering from time to time. Would not surprise me if we joined the 61,000 other Mississippians in losing power.

If things stay more or less as they are for the rest of the day, I will proclaim Francine a nice little storm. We need the rain.

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