Fried Softshell Crab
Cook this seasonal delicacy to perfection and serve with fresh lemon.
Elusive Catch
Contemplating the rare qualities of the softshell crab in Biloxi. by Julian Brunt The briny waters of the Gulf of Mexico offer up an abundance of seafood that is unequaled in variety and quality. Thus, the recipes created for that abundance by those lucky enough to live on its shores - gumbo, courtbouillon and etouffée come to mind - are famed near and far. But there is one delicacy that you may never sample unless you visit the Gulf Coast during late summer/early fall and have the good luck to arrive at just the right time. The blue crab (callinectes sapidus), which is harvested by the multitudes in the shallow waters of the Gulf, must shed its hard shell periodically as it grows into a bigger fellow. When the shell is discarded, he becomes a softshell crab, but for only a few days. Called a buster when his shell first starts to come undone, this crab has three or four days as a softshell and then a few more as a paper-shell (much less desirable, but still edible). Then, if his luck holds and a big red fish has not made supper of him, it is back to life as usual for
State Fair in the Air
In case y'all haven't noticed, it's state fair time across the South! We've already written about the State Fair of Texas - how could we resist its tendency to deep fry everything? - but also starting this week are the Mississippi State Fair and Arkansas State Fair. And South Carolina's State Fair kicks off October 13, North Carolina's October 14 and Louisiana's October 21. State fairs are a great way to get back in touch with your state's roots and its agricultural side. In North Carolina, a 10-day competition awards the individual or group who best exemplifies the state's musical heritage. And agricultural exhibits display food products from across the state and antique farm machinery. Louisiana's fair dates to 1906 and features over 60 rides, an antique tractor pull, several livestock competitions and specialties like cookie dough, chicken and shrimp on a stick. In Arkansas, you'll find competitions for needlework, baked goods, horticulture, crafts and food preservation, plus amateur and commercial wine competitions. This fair's livestock department includes showings of cattle, swine, poultry, sheep, goats, rabbits and lambs. Mississippi's got an antique and classic car show, beard growing contest, biscuit making booth and a bluegrass and gospel show. In South Carolina, Southern
Governor's Daughters Filming
We got a call earlier today about an independent film titled "The Governor's Daughters" filming in Columbus, Mississippi, this weekend. A fictional account of a robbery that takes place in an Atlanta nightclub, the film's plot also includes the kidnapping of the governor of Georgia's two daughters and a trial scene, to be filmed at Lowndes County Courthouse (pictured). Atlanta writer/producer/director Lawyer Henderson and Cinema City Productions secured two bigger names for the project. Donna Biscoe, who appeared in TV series "In the Heat of the Night" in the early '90s and more recently Tyler Perry's "Daddy's Little Girls," as the coroner in horror flick "One Missed Call" and an episode of "One Tree Hill," co-stars with Glenn Plummer, a veteran Hollywood actor who's appeared in an episode of "Dexter," 15 episodes of "ER" as Timmy Rawlins and films "Saw 2" and "Speed" I and II. Columbus actor/producer Aial Jones will be playing the part of Judge George E. Morris and presiding over the trial. Filming begins around 1 p.m. Saturday at the courthouse and continues Sunday with a classroom scene at Columbus High School. About 25 locals already have roles in the film, but more extras are needed this weekend.
Mockingbird Recap
by Erin Z. Bass Deep South's 50th anniversary celebration of the publication of "To Kill A Mockingbird" last weekend was a big success. The highlight of the event - a panel discussion on themes from the book - brought up some serious issues about race, being different and whether a situation like Tom Robinson's could happen today. And the audience, made up of men and women who lived through the Civil Rights movement to local students, wasn't afraid to speak up and contribute. There were some lighter moments too. Panelist Charles Cravins, an assistant disctrict attorney in St. Landry Parish, wore a blue seersucker suit and admitted he knew it was out of season, but couldn't see talking about Atticus Finch without one. Jack Reedy, our panelist who grew up in the Mississippi Delta, spoke about a woman in his town of Inverness who baked cakes for the kids just like Miss Maudie did, and our panelist from UL Lafayette's English Department, Dr. Mary Ann Wilson, did a great job of discussing "To Kill A Mockingbird" and Harper Lee in relation to other Southern literature and characters like Huck Finn. If you weren't able to join us, watch the video below to see
Haunted South
For costume ideas from down South, click here. Click the link below to hear a ghost story from Thomasville, Alabama, resident and noted storyteller Linda Vice, who believes spirits protect us and the places they love. To hear more ghost stories from the state, visit their Ghost Trail channel on YouTube. Linda Ghost Story There's A Ghost In My Room As told by New Orleans' Hotel Monteleone Phyllis Paulsen, a successful financial planner from California, has always had an extra sense about ghosts. "I've had this eerie ability to see ghosts since I was a young child," she explains. So it wasn't a surprise that when Mrs. Paulsen checked into her suite on the 14th floor of Hotel Monteleone that she had a visitor. The historic hotel, founded in 1886 and owned by the fourth generation of the Monteleone family, has often heard ghost stories from guests, especially on the 14th floor (actually the 13th floor). "I was just relaxing in bed one morning when I looked up to see a young boy about 3 years old walk by the foot of my bed," Mrs. Paulsen vividly recalls. "Since he had come from the sitting room, I immediately got up to see if the door was open and to check if a parent
Jackson Gets Some ‘Help’
Mississippi’s capital city prepares for its moment on the big screen with “The Help” filming in town last week. by Erin Z. Bass People were talking when native Kathryn Stockett published her bestselling book about white women and their black maids in 1960s Jackson last year, and now the town is abuzz again over filming of the movie version. Producers, including locals Tate Taylor and Brunson Green, came to town last December to scout for locations, but news was kept under wraps until townspeople began to notice changes in the city’s Fondren district last week. “We all knew they were going to film sometime soon,” says Chris Myers, who lives in Fondren and works on North State Street as an architect. “It wasn’t until they started painting the yoga studio, turned into a gas station, that I got really interested.” Myers could view the progress down the street from the breakroom of his office building and began chronicling Fondren’s transformation to a scene from another era (not that big of a stretch as the row of businesses down State Street, called the Fondren Strip, sport neon and a generally retro look anyway). “They started with the gas station and slowly started working down the
Slow as Molasses
The winning saying in our t-shirt contest with SweeTea - "Slow as Molasses" - is now available on a shirt! Congrats, and thanks, to our winner Heather Minton Fuller of Louisiana for submitting the hugely popular saying (it got votes from as far as California, Nebraska and Illinois). She received the first tee hot off the press recently and sports it here. As for the rest of y'all, you can order it from SweeTea for about $20. The shirt isn't up on the website yet, but give those nice ladies in North Carolina a holler by e-mail or phone if you want one. Ya know yawnto!
Don't Get Your Panties in a Wad!
But we're fit to be tied by this line of t-shirts printed with Southern sayings. by Erin Z. Bass Susan Bashford and Karen Hall aren’t Southern. Susan is from Connecticut, and Karen is from Detroit, but they both married good ‘ole boys from North Carolina. It wasn’t long before the two women noticed their husbands speaking what sounded like a different language sometimes, especially Karen’s husband, Steve. But they just laughed and wondered what they’d gotten themselves into when hearing phrases like “Are you smellin’ what I’m cookin’” or “I’m a tie a knot in your hind end and hunt ya.’” What else could these Yankees do? It wasn’t until the women took a trip to Boston and saw a line of t-shirts printed with the city’s slang that they thought their husbands might be on to something. “We both called our husbands from the airport and said, ‘start talking,’” says Karen. A line of t-shirts called SweeTea was born in 2006, and Steve became the official lexicographer. Now, when he starts talking, the women start writing. First to make it onto a shirt was “Bless yer heart,” still a bestseller, and sayings like “Hissy Fit, ”Don’t Get Your Panties in a Wad,"