This year’s Taster’s Luncheon, held Monday at Moore Memorial United Methodist’s Family Life Center and sponsored by the Winona Friends of the Library, was a huge success. Not only did I get to enjoy a delicious lunch with friends and hear from a Mississippi author, I came home with a new book – a book lover’s dream event, for sure.
I have always said the Friends of the Library – whether Winona’s or Carrollton/North Carrollton’s – plan incredible events. The annual Taste of Soup in Carrollton and the Taster’s Luncheon in Winona are my favorite events to attend each year, and I’m not alone, there isn’t a seat to be had at either event.
Monday’s Taster’s Luncheon featured an overflowing buffet of different dishes prepared by the Friends of the Library. There are so many dishes, there wasn’t a plate large enough to sample everything available, but those of us in attendance do our very best to try.
Janet W. Ferguson, a Christian author from Mississippi, spoke to the group about her two journeys, her writing journey and faith journey, and both of those journeys were necessary to write her half dozen Christian novels set in her home state. Ferguson says she isn’t much of a speaker, as most writers will say, but I disagree. She made us laugh, and she made us think a little about our own journeys with faith.
And, I started Ferguson’s book, Leaving Oxford, set in my college hometown, when I got home Monday night. If you want to check it out – literally -- visit the Winona Montgomery Public Library.
I wanted to share a few of my favorite dishes sampled at Monday’s luncheon, Sausage and Grits Casserole, Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, Dorito Delight, and Mississippi Mud Cake. The Sausage and Grits Casserole would be perfect for brunch, and every Southern woman should know how to make a cucumber tea sandwich. As for the Dorito Delight and Mississippi Mud Cake, those will bring big smiles from my husband, son, and sisters, so I plan on making these in the near future.
Sausage and Grits
Recipe submitted by Kathleen Clark, adapted from “The Lady and Sons” Savannah Country Cookbook
1 cup uncooked grits
1 pound ground sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 4.5 ounce cans green chilies, chopped
8 tablespoons (one stick) butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
10 dashes Tabasco
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cook grits in four cups salted water until thick. Sauté sausage, breaking into small pieces. Sauté onion in sausage fat; drain. Add onion and chilies to sausage. Add butter, eggs, cheese, and Tabasco to grits. Combine grit mixture with sausage mixture. Pour into a nine by 13 casserole dish and garnish with additional small amounts of cheese, chilies, paprika, and parsley. Bake 350 degrees for one hour. Can be refrigerated up to two days before baking. Freezes well.
Cucumber Dip or Tea Sandwich Spread
Recipe submitted by Carol Bailey
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 medium cucumber, grated
½ medium onion, grated
½ teaspoon red pepper
½ teaspoon celery seed
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Discard cucumber juice, add all ingredients to cream cheese and blend by hand. If making tea sandwiches, cut out rounds slices of bread, spread on filling and top with a thinly sliced cucumber.
Dorito Delight
Recipe submitted by Jennifer Surrell
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 large can evaporated milk
1 can chopped chili peppers
1 bag Doritos
1 pound ground chuck
Cheddar Cheese
Brown and drain the ground chuck. Heat soups and milk in large pan on the stove top. Add meat and chili peppers. Crush Doritos (in the bag is easy). Then spread Doritos on the bottom of a nine by 13 baking dish. Spread meat and soup mixture over Doritos. Spread grated cheddar cheese over the top.
Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Mississippi Mud Cake
Recipe submitted by Judy Lollar
Cake
1 cup Wesson oil
1 ¾ cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
4 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups flour
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts
Mix ingredients well and pour into a well-greased and floured pan (nine by 13). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and pour one bag of miniature marshmallows on top of cake. Return to oven and allow marshmallows to melt slightly. Let cake cook, and pour on the icing.
Icing
1 ½ sticks melted oleo
½ cup cocoa
1 box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts
½ cup Carnation milk
Mix ingredients well and spread onto cake.
