Woman's Club tips go with entertaining

 

The Woman’s Club of Beaumont

My mom’s club in Beaumont has been hosting plays Ramona Young has been staging. She has been in several Port Arthur Little Theatre productions over the years. I caught “An Unexpected Christmas” and loved it.

I have enjoyed speaking about Port Arthur and food at the club and have made sure to tell members how much we love Amuny’s sandwiches and Judice’s boudain.

We got to talking about tips, like how Myrlene Clark of the Port Arthur Woman’s Club added ginger ale to “cheap punch” to give it a little zing. I told members that I thought I’d made up banana and “old coffee” smoothies, but it’s apparently “a thing.” I found recipes all over the internet. Grinding up pecans or other nuts with carrots makes a great spread for crackers.

I then asked club members to share tips with me for Culinary Thrill Seeking readers, and here’s what they brought:

* Fruit Salad – Mary Taylor mixes Greek yogurt, honey and ginger powder as a dressing for a fruit mix of fresh mangos, grapes and berries.

* Coating – Instead of egg flour coating under breadcrumbs, Fran Biggin uses a sour cream spread on chicken, fish, etc., then coats with panko or breadcrumbs.

* Coffee tip – Sandi Davidson adds cinnamon to coffee “before it drips.”

Snap to Southern

“In a Snap! Tasty Southern Recipes You can Make in 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes”  is from a talented, funny lady named Tammy Algood who has come up with some shortcuts to southern hospitality.

She has a version of Elvis sandwiches, dips bacon in chocolate and nuts, adds pecans to pimento cheese and claims a bowl of salted peanuts mixed with candy corn will be a hit at your holiday hoedown. Classics like chicken fried steak are mixed in with gouda and buttermilk grits. New and old, that’s how we southerners roll. Pumpkins are trending and mixes the flavor with pancakes and pecans. I love what she does with another seasonal favorite, cranberry:

The author says this is good for leftover turkey or chicken strips. The sauce freezes extremely well, she notes, Use it within six months.

Spiced Cranberry Dipping Sauce

1 cup cranberry sauce

1 half cup taco sauce

1 canned chipotle pepper, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 half teaspoon ground cumin

1 fourth teaspoon salt

1 fourth teaspoon white pepper

Place the cranberry sauce, taco sauce, pepper, chili powder, cumin, salt and white pepper ina glass bowl and microwave on high power for 1 minute. Stir and microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir again and serve warm or at room temperature.

SKINNY GIRL

It’s the best “candy bar” you’d ever want with dark chocolate and multi-grain pretzel or banana oatmeal. Skinnygirl Daily On-the-Go Bars can fall to the bottom of your bag, but you won’t forget they’re there. It will make your afternoon go faster when you contemplate this break for what makers call a “guilt-free indulgence bar.” At 180 calories, you’ll be enjoying some natural, Kosher, high-fiber goodness.

ddoiron@panews.com