Find your spirit with friends, song and shrimp dip

 

An unexpected weeknight connection brought me such joy. Spirituality, friendship, fellowship and a peek at a turtle pond was part of the deal.

A friend of a friend invited me to the home of a neighbor I don’t know. Traveling Eucharist was the blessed occasion. People of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church brought a chalice and accoutrement to a home and celebrated with prayer. The host family made all feel welcome and I saw people I knew from around the county. They do it all the time! What a special way to unite and share good company.

Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Spiritual Sounds – Pop by Museum of the Gulf Coast’s gift shop for “Hymns: Timeless Classics.” Opera singer Carol Wyatt was recently inducted into the museum’s music hall of fame. Hear her amazing voice uplifting listeners to “How Great Thou Art” and “It is So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” It will be well with your soul. Here is just a small part of her background on the MOGC site:

 

In the seventies and eighties, she was one of the most sought-after mezzo-sopranos in Germany and other European countries. Carol Wyatt had extensive guest contracts with the Hamburg State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Opera Houses Cologne and Düsseldorf-Duisburg, she was a guest at the Munich State Opera, in Stuttgart, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Hannover… For more than twenty years she was a principal soloist with the Deutsch Oper Berlin. 

 

Thanks for Shrimp, Jesus! – Let’s round this spiritual theme out with a peek from “The Fruit of the Spirit,” a 2001 cookbook I found on my mom’s shelves. I found a range of shrimp recipes in this book from Eastgate United Pentecostal Church in Vidor. Each one called for 2 cans of shrimp.

From there variations included:

* A pint of Kraft mayo, green onions and cream cheese

* Cream Cheese, mayo, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce

* 1 can golden mushroom soup, cream cheese green onions

Times have changed, but I’d still eat these at a church party.

Bless us one and all.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie wishing blessings. Share your foodie fun at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Patillo's links diners to tradition

Patillo’s links diners to tradition

Ever since that Texas Monthly barbecue editor spoke at the McFaddin-Ward House, I’ve been on a mission to get to Patillo’s in Beaumont. Saturday, after a meatless Good Friday, my family got coated in sauce. We shared some ribs and a link, with the juicy link being our favorite. It’s just fun to go in and breathe in the aromas, visit with the waitresses and watch everyone else enjoying their food, too. It’s another reason to love Southeast Texas and all we have to offer.

Nappa cabbage

I’m mom has always been an innovative cook, serving things that no other of my classmates had ever experienced. She attempted true gourmet dishes way before there were cooking channels everywhere.

She just mentioned she’d never cooked nappa cabbage or bok choy at home, so I went out and presented her with a head of nappa. Knock yourself out, I told her. I had already sneaked off a few outer layers of this delicately, ribbed cabbage to use in salads before I gave it to her. So she invited me to dinner and it turns out she’d used the cabbage to make into “unstuffed” cabbage rolls, with a tomato sauce and meat.

Of course it was good, but I sure thought she was going to highlight this nappa’s beauty in some Asian dish. When I quizzed her, she assured me the last leaves would swing that way.

Onion tips

Pinterest is great for gardeners. I’ve had a little success snipping off the root end of onions and planting them to grow green onions. Word out is that onions from the store are treated to generally prevent this sort of recycling. If I plan 10 roots, maybe one or two of them will begin to grow. Readers, I’m wondering of you all have any tips on this. Let me know at the contact below:

darraghcastillo@icloud.com

This column runs in Port Arthur News