By Brandi Perry Brooksville, Mississippi, a small farming town of a little more than 1,000, is located on Highway 45, just half an hour from Starkville. But, for nearly 40 years, this blink-of-an-eye town has been home to one of the most popular bakeries in the entire Magnolia State. The Ole Country Bakery started making its mark on the world in 1981, creating a reputation that preceded them throughout the Southeast. During the fall, football fans throughout the south embark on game day road trips to both Mississippi State, Ole Miss and even Tuscaloosa just an hour away. Many of those road trips are timed just right so that a stop in Brooksville is possible. Coffee, baked goods and sweet southern hospitality were just a few of things visitors expected when they entered the doors. The cool winds of fall seem to blow a little colder across the open fields in Brooksville but once you enter the bakery, warmth quickly follows. Shelia Decker and her family called western Kansas home but had relatives in the Macon area. "Every trip we made to Mississippi; my husband would say if that bakery ever came up for sale, he wanted a chance to own it," she stated. "But I wasn't sure that would ever actually happen." But, in November 2011, the couple opened the doors of the bakery as the new owners and in turn, made a seemingly impossible dream a reality. As excited as they were about their new adventure, the Decker's were still a little hesitant as to what their first move would be. "We were told very early on that people in the south don't like change," Decker answered with a smile. But change is inevitable even if it is small doses. The Decker's added new things to the menu and also extended their bakery line but there was no argument from the regulars or the visitors. One major change that occurred in the kitchen was simply to ensure perfectly followed recipes. All the measurements in the kitchen were in cups, but the Decker's decided it would be easier to transition to measuring in weight. "You can send any girl to the kitchen and tell them to measure five pounds of flour and it'll be exactly five pounds. But, if you were to tell them to measure a cup of flour, you're going to get a variety of loose cups and packed cups. This way, there's no discrepancies in our recipes, ever," explained Decker. Today, the Decker's have a well-oiled system that works perfectly. Each item is made fresh daily, with some workers arriving at four in the morning to make sure the daily dough making is done. It's no secret that the Ole Country Bakery is a special place but one reason all their items taste so good may be because they do not use any preservatives. Because of this, the shelf life of the homemade items may not have the shelf life of what you find in your local grocery, but the taste and quality alone will make up for those extra couple of days. In addition, they try to locally source as much as they can. The pecans for their specialty items come from a Brooksville local, the ham from West Point and the milk from Beason Family Farm in Philadelphia, where all their dairy products are pasteurized, not homogenized. The fall and winter seasons bring special items to the menu at the bakery. Fruit cakes and orange slice cakes are already on the shelves, as well as pumpkin bread and pumpkin cream cheese rolls. You will always find plenty of pies and decorated cookies closer to the holidays. Today, their Amish bread is hands down their best-seller, but their pies and caramel cakes run a close second. Before moving to Mississippi, Decker had never even heard of a caramel cake, but she quickly learned how to make the southern favorite. Now, she can barely keep it on her shelves. Breakfast is not the only time you can enjoy visiting the Ole Country Bakery. Lunch is served every day, and Sunday and includes deli sandwiches, salads and soups. These items were also very popular in the middle of the COVID-19 statewide lockdown because the bakery stepped in and acted somewhat as grocery store where the locals could get lunch, milk, bread and other necessary staples. Several varieties of frozen casseroles that are large enough to feed the whole family are also available in the frozen section, giving families an opportunity for a delicious yet easy meal. For nearly 40 years, the community has supported the bakery and helped establish its special reputation. During the lockdown, the bakery was able to return the favor and help the community through a difficult time. Open six days a week, there's a good chance you may meet Shelia Decker on one of your visits. But, she's the first to admit that she's much more comfortable in the kitchen with her hands in the dough. "Owning this bakery has made me get more involved out front and more comfortable with dealing with the public but I am definitely more comfortable in the back making dough," she remarked about her somewhat shy personality. When asked what legacy she hopes the bakery can leave behind, Decker said she hopes it will always be a family-owned bakery but she also hopes things are kept the way they are. "There's something special and rare about a bakery that still does everything by hand. I hope when it's our turn to pass the torch, that part of the business will always remain. We definitely feel like we took over someone else's hard work but we want to keep it like the previous owner had it, too," she remarked. In a world where everyone is looking forward to the next great advancement in technology, Decker and her family continue to push forward and put the goodness of hard work, love and a taste of the past in everything they make. If you find yourself within 100 miles of the Ole Country Bakery in Brooksville, take a detour! From the moment you step through the doors, you will be greeted with smiles, hellos and smells that will take you back to your grandmother's kitchen. Even though they are opened from 6 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday, they are closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's. Make sure to call ahead to find out all about their holiday hours and specials. You can reach Shelia and her staff at (662) 738-5795.

By Brandi Perry Located just a couple of miles off Highway 61 and mere blocks from the churning Mississippi River stands a large, southern-style home perched high on a hill overlooking Adams Street in the Historic Olde Town Vicksburg. Long before this home was built or the world-renowned southern cuisine was served to thousands, the Spanish explored the area and called it “Nogales” for the many walnut trees that adorned the bluffs throughout the area. However, by the time the United States became a country in 1776, the area residents called it “Walnut Hills.” The town changed its name once again when founded in 1811 to Vicksburg. The handsome old house that bears the name of the original settlement was built in 1880 by the Rogers Family. Laying eyes on this marvelous piece of architecture just once keeps visitors remembering the wide porch, mismatched rocking chairs, the tall, shuttered windows and the pierced columns. But the strongest of all memories come when the first-time visitors sink their teeth into the delicious cayenne-laced fried chicken. When you step through the doors and here and creak of the floor under your steps, you are immediately taken back in time. There is no way around feeling as though you are miles away from your daily life when you enter the doors to a true Mississippi culinary adventure. The historic district home opened in 1980 as a round table restaurant. The state has seen very few of these types of establishments, and most have passed from existence. Walnut Hills was very similar to the old boarding house restaurants that became popular in Mississippi around the beginning of World War II. Patrons still have the opportunity to sit at a round table when they visit Walnut Hills. While seated, food arrives to guest in large portions, and the table is spun when someone wants a dish passed their way. One of the best reasons to sit at the round table is that guests may share a meal with someone they have never met, getting to extend courtesy and hospitality to each other while sharing in the south’s favorite pastime, eating. The secret behind the delicious food and 41 years is the longevity of their staff. Miss Herdcine Williams has been the chief cook at Walnut Hills for more than 30 years, and she is the second generation of family members to attribute to the success of this incredible restaurant. Miss Herdcine’s mother, Ms. Alma Robinson, made the salads and slaw every day at Walnut Hills until she retired at the age of 70. Her son, Xavier, has been serving there for more than 15 years, making him the third generation of the Williams Family to play such a critical in the restaurant. Beyond their place on the staff, they each have helped develop the extensive menu and contributed recipes to the community cookbook. For instance, Herdcine is the author of the recipes for the famous fried chicken, homemade biscuits, salad dressing and made from scratch cornbread. Owner Joyce Clingan’s specialties include cakes, pies, casseroles and potato rounds, all of which are favorites at Walnut Hills. In addition to southern cuisine, Walnut Hills also serves incredible steaks, seafood, po-boys and desserts that have won numerous awards. Some of the old favorites include the creole cream cheese cheesecake, the pecan praline pie, complete with pecan liquor, and the Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Pie. If you want dessert, there is something for everyone! After a visit to Walnut Hills, it is easy to see why Delta Magazine awarded the restaurant the title of "Best Fried Chicken" and why they received a certificate of excellence from TripAdvisor. Additionally, they received Best Presentation at Taste of Mississippi in 2015, were named one of Mississippi’s 10 Best Restaurants by Culture Trip in 2015 and Deep South USA listed them as a top 10 places to eat in Mississippi. With all these awards and recognition, there is no wonder they have been featured on Good Morning America, Southern Living Magazine, 1000 Places to See Before You Die and Saveur Magazine, to name a few. Walnut Hills is so much more than just a popular restaurant. There are a couple of sister businesses on the property that deserve mentioning as well. The Nogales House at Walnut Hill, originally built in 1868, is a renovated home next door to the restaurant. This home serves as an event center that specializes in fine dining, a full bar and an extensive wine selection. They also pride themselves on making your private function a success while keeping it within the budget you established. Requests and reservations must be made ahead of the event. The Bakery at Walnut Hills serves freshly made cakes and pies, and guests can choose to have one piece or the entire dessert. The bakery recently unveiled four new delectable creations including, chocolate cake, lemon cake, red velvet cake and even homemade cheesecake. Guests who have previously visited Walnut Hills before may notice some changes upon a new visit. Extensive remodeling has been done to the property, including a new kitchen and a chef for the evening meals. However, regardless of any changes, the hospitality, delicious food and the longing to stay a little longer to experience the spectacular location remain. Take a second when you are nice and full and sit a spell in one of the famous unmatched rocking chairs on the front porch. There is no better way to let your food settle. When you have a chance to visit this Mississippi jewel for yourself, they are located at 1214 Adams Street in Vicksburg and are open Wednesday through Monday and closed on Tuesday. Their hours are 11 am to 2 pm on Sunday, and 11 am to 9 pm the remainder of the week. If you have questions about any of the three parts of Walnut Hills, please call (601) 638-4910. You can view all their delectable menu items and learn more about the restaurant and its colorful history at walnuthillsms.com. All photos in this article were taken by Dori Lowe of “Backroads and Burgers”

With tailgating season ahead, learn more about the history behind a classic handheld. By Julian Brunt There can be little doubt that the hamburger is the most iconic American food, and it is wildly loved around the world as well, with millions being served daily. But where did this steak between two slices of bread come from? Stories vary from convenience food served to workers during the Industrial Revolution to German restaurants in New York, Chicago or even a small town in Texas. But there is one fact that is absolute: it is another example of impoverished people doing what they can to get by on little or nothing. Is the hamburger really a food inspired by poverty? Yup, you can be sure of it. The wealthy were steak eaters, but the poor could not afford such an expensive cut of meat. The solution was simple: small cast-off pieces of meat trimmings were ground up and reformed into a patty. It looks like a steak, tastes good and is far more affordable. Poverty provokes ingenuity. Every town in the South has a burger place that the locals brag about. But when it comes to innovative ideas, burger makers just cannot be topped. Fine dining restaurants use Japanese wagyu beef for their patties, others top theirs with cave-aged Gruyère cheese, perhaps the king of all good melting cheeses, and there is a vast list of other toppings from bacon to fried pickles. More often than not, great burgers are vaunted just by word of mouth or social media. When a good burger is found, word gets out fast, and lines will form. But Hattiesburg, Mississippi, has created the Burger Trail to advertise the city's famous burgers, with dozens of places advertised to attract locals and visitors alike. It is a pretty cool idea. But just where can you find the best burger of all? It is pretty simple to break burgers down into two basic classes: homemade and restaurant-made. There are some pretty amazing burgers out there being made by professional chefs like the Land Mass Burger served at the sports bar at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi. It is an award-winning burger created by executive chef Kristen Wade, made with a smoky, grilled double-patty, American cheese, Mississippi tomato fondue, caramelized onions, crispy bread and butter pickles, a succulent blend of New Orleans barbeque sauce and Alabama white sauce. All of that is topped with a fried oyster. It has got to make you wonder; just how many kinds of burgers are there in the restaurant world? In southern Mississippi, where I live, the po’boy is the most popular sandwich style and, as you might guess, hamburger po-boys are popular. My favorite comes from Fayard’s Marathon gas station on Washington Avenue in Ocean Springs. It is chargrilled and absolutely delicious, but I always order it with extra mayo. Any po’boy that does not require a handful of paper towels is just not up to snuff. The Ole Biloxi Fillin’ Station also has a famous chargrilled burger, The Main Street Burger, made with half a pound of Angus beef and a blend of locally known secret spices and comes fully dressed (meaning lettuce, tomato and pickles). In Ocean Springs, there is a food truck called the Burger Box, which is all about burgers, as the name implies. They have burgers such as the BBQ burger, made with Angus beef, lettuce, tomatoes, caramelized onions, bacon, pickles, cheddar cheese and BBQ sauce. They also serve The Showtime Burger, made with a half-pound Kobe Beef patty, Muenster cheese, hickory smoked bacon, fried pickles, tomatoes, onion and lettuce. My all-time favorite burger in the classic category comes from the Delta Corner in Indianola, Mississippi. It is a small, out-of-the-way restaurant famous for its fried chicken, but the burgers I have had there were sensational. I am not sure what makes this cheeseburger so good and can only guess it is the perfection of each ingredient. The bun is firm (I hate falling apart bread or buns) and tasty, the patty is hand-formed, perfectly seasoned and cooked, the pickles are crunchy. It must be magic. I have ordered the burger with a side of their famous pan gravy, which is typically served with their crazy good fried chicken, and although I get weird looks when I order it, it is a great combination. Just down the street is the Blue Biscuit, so ably run by my friend Trish Berry, and she makes a killer good double burger. Trish was Morgan Freeman’s personal chef for years, and it shows in the delicious food served at the Blue Biscuit. I could go on and on telling you about good restaurant burgers served in the South, but the very best burgers just might be the homemade variety. Restaurants have to make a profit and so must control food and operating costs, but the backyard griller does not have any restrictions. Here are a few suggestions: hands down, the best fire for grilling is made with hickory wood. It is hard to find in some places and takes a while to burn down to the red glowing coals perfect for grilling, but it is worth the wait. Next is hardwood charcoal, followed by regular charcoal, then a propane fire and in last place is in a skillet on the stove. The best beef has a high-fat content (fat equals flavor!) and, of course, Japanese wagyu is probably at the top of the list. Even a cheaper regular grocery store ground beef with the highest fat content can be delicious when well-seasoned. Certified Black Angus is good, too, but make sure it says certified, not just Angus. The number one rule when cooking burgers is do not overcook the patty. Medium is best for texture and flavor. A well-done burger is going to be dry and uninteresting. There is a world of good cheese out there, with Gruyère at the top. A good English or Irish cheddar is good, and, if it is what you are used to, good ol' American cheese, if you use enough of it, is good, too. My favorite toppings include smoky Benton's bacon, heirloom sun-ripened tomatoes, Duke's mayo, crunchy pickles, a fried egg and a side of Zapp’s chips. There really are so many good options when it comes to having friends over for a grill party. Remember that the quality of ingredients and taking the time to do things right will make all the difference in the world.

By Julian Brunt In 2012 when Jason McDonald and Timothy Gipson started the Great Mississippi Tea Company, the outcome was far from certain, but they were confident they could pull it off. The timber farm they owned was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, and they needed to find another way of make a living, but they wanted something that was interesting and challenging, too. They visited the Charleston Tea Plantation in South Carolina while on vacation and learned that the tea plant is in the camellia family. Camellias grow great in Mississippi, so maybe this was the idea they needed. As with any new project, the learning curve was steep. They had visited the Charleston Tea Plantation again, gathered as much information as they could, and the project seemed straight forward enough. The task at hand was to clear 10 acres of the property they already had, buy tea plants, water, weed and start. That’s not so hard, right? Starting a tea farm proved to be difficult, really difficult. The mortality rate of their first plants was extremely high, only 7,000 of the 30,000 they eventually ordered survived. It takes years for tea plants to mature to the point where their leaves can be harvested, so making a profit in the first years of business is near impossible. Obviously, this is not a simple business to get into, and the Great Mississippi Tea Company faced many a dauting task. Jason and Timothy are very bright fellows, have worked profoundly hard and are highly respected in the American tea community. Today, the Great Mississippi Tea Company is considered by many to be the most successful tea operation in the continental USA. Even southern Mississippi’s tea expert, Mimsie Ladner, owner of the tea company “Gachi”, agrees. “Although it’s relatively new, American-grown tea is a growing industry. In recent years, there has been a number of new growers entering the scene, with varying degrees of success. Many of them are flying by the seat of their pants, with little knowledge of the meticulous skills it takes to make a really good cup of tea.” Mimsie explains. “Jason and Timmy set themselves apart with their dedication refining the art of tea making to produce a quality product that competes with the specialty tea regions that have been growing tea for centuries. And their commitment and passion has not gone unrecognized; in the tea community, they are among the most respected American growers, while their tea is considered some of the best in the country.” Their first task was to find the tea plants that would do well in Mississippi’s hot and humid climate. The tea plants that do well in the mountains of China would not do well here at all. There are only two main varieties of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. One is Chinese and one is Indian. All tea plants prefer a rich and moist soil, with full to part sun, but with in the two varieties, there are types, or genetic variations, that prefer different conditions. They caught a break when they discovered that at one time the Lipton Tea Company operated experimental tea stations all over the country, and that one had been in Poplarville, Mississippi. They visited the site and brought home two plants. Eventually they found a source, and were able to order the plants they wanted, but the first two years were a total loss and the next was not much better. There was so much to learn about irrigation, just knowing when to plant, knowing what supplements were needed, even figuring out how far apart the plants needed to be planted. But they learned by trial and error. They even ended up selling their beautiful home and downsizing to save money. Once they had enough plants in the ground, and they were mature enough to harvest, a new learning curve began. They had to learn how to harvest, and they had to learn how to process the leaves into specific teas. Harvesting, at least at first, was done by hand. A full day of picking by hand harvests just over two pounds of leaves. But you don’t just go out there and start plucking tea leaves. If you are going to make green tea, you harvest two leaves and a bud. If you want to make oolong, then it is the third, through sixth leaf and for black tea, its three leaves and a bud. It is a complicated business. But remember, the tea they were trying to grow is no what you buy at the grocery store for iced tea. They were looking to get into the fine tea market. If you want to get an idea of how many different types of tea there are in the world, look at the Imperial Tea Court web page. There are hundreds, and each is different. Some teas go for a few dollars an ounce, other cost thousands. The tea world is like the wine world, its not just reds and whites, and just like in wine, a tea expert is called a “sommelier”. After the leaves are harvested, they must be processed into the style of tea you are trying to make and there is a science to those processes as well. Each type of tea, and there are four main varieties (green, oolong, black and Pu'erh (poo-air)), requires a different technique. The process of making tea from harvested leaves can involve drying, spinning, rolling, oxidizing, steaming, carding and more. It is not a recipe that is just figured out. They took classes, did research, and finally got the recipes right. The Great Mississippi Tea Company has one of the only USDA certified tea processing plants, and they call it the “Tea Shack”. It is unassuming, from outward appearances, but once inside the image changes. There are three rooms, each specializing in a different process, like drying or rolling. Again, it is a complicated business, and the Tea Shack looks like a scientific lab. I am by no means a tea expert, but I do love a good cup of tea, thanks to my friend Norwood. James Norwood Pratt is considered by many in the field to be America’s expert on tea. His first book on tea, “A Tea Lovers Treasury,” came out in 1982. Norwood taught me that good tea was a very special thing indeed. A cup will stimulate you, but with out the ragged edge that coffee can cause. I find it perfect for the early afternoon pick-me-up. My experience with tea is certainly limited, and I relied heavily on Jason and Timothy for tasting notes, but the six teas we tried while on this visit were grand. Each kind of tea requires a different brewing method, different temperature and different brewing time. The first tea we tried was a green tea, called Mississippi Queen. It was a bit grassy, in a lovely way, was not bitter in the slightest and very smooth. Yellow tea was next; it is a fermented tea called Mississippi Sunshine. It was similar to the green tea but lacked the grassy quality. Oolong was next, a buttery and slightly floral tea. Black Magnolia had a delightful sweet potato flavor, not strong, but just enough to be delightful—my favorite. Next were two flavored teas, an adaptation that is popular in the U.S. We tried a smoked tea, with peach and vanilla flavors, and Earl Gray style tea that was sharp with orange, lavender and sage. The Great Mississippi Tea Company is going places. The first year they were in production, they ended up with 40 pounds of processed tea. Last year it was 500 pounds. Today, they sell tea in 19 states and in a famous tea shop in London. They have also won many awards, including two silver medals at the Global Tea Championship in 2018 and 2019. Check out their website, greatmsteacompany.com, to learn where to buy their tea and to see what is going on at the farm. Tours of the farm are also available, contact the farm for further information. The Great Mississippi Tea Company 2575 E Lincoln Rd SE, Brookhaven (601) 823-4295

By Kathy K. Martin Cindy Davis Harthcock and her husband, Andy, of Djinn Spirits have paid homage to their Mississippi roots by naming their whiskey “Beat 3.” Born in Jacksonville, Florida, her family moved to Lawrence County in Monticello, Mississippi when she was seven years old so her father could start his new job with the local paper mill. Located in bucolic Lawrence County, she says that Monticello has been largely conservative and devoutly religious for generations and the citizens voted it dry 14 years before Prohibition, and for the most part it remains that way today. “It was quite a culture adjustment for me,” she says of the move there, which was during the late 60s. She later graduated from nursing school at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she first met her husband, a computer science major from the Jackson area. They moved to Southern Florida, got married, and later moved to Georgia and Texas before settling in New Hampshire about 13 years ago. Around eight years ago while still working in nursing, she read an article in a food magazine about chefs making their own apple brandy. She and her husband began building their dream of operating their own distillery. Distilling at home isn’t legal, she says, but they attended classes to get their license and they may have experimented in their kitchen making whiskey to get started. Their dream was about to become a reality in late 2013, when they realized they needed a name for their “now legal” whiskey. This is when Cindy recalled her childhood. Growing up in a strictly dry county could probably be a poor source for material to name a liquor, she says, but there was intrigue and whispers. Like all Mississippi counties, Lawrence County was divided into “beats.” Each beat was a voting district similar to other districts or wards in other state counties. People of a certain age from Lawrence County knew that when you were looking for adult beverages, Beat 3 was the place to go, says Harthcock. “There were a couple of upstanding families who bootlegged and moonshined, strictly as a public service mind you, and everyone knew it. It was such an open secret that even a seven-year-old girl knew it and remembered.” When the couple opened Djinn Spirits in Nashua, New Hampshire, their first whiskey was a moonshine that sported the Beat 3 name on a map of Lawrence County. Located about an hour north of Boston, Nashua is one of the state’s biggest cities, she says, but without any of the hustle and bustle. “It’s quiet here with lots of farms and apple orchards and we’re within an hour’s drive from the coast and about two hours to Vermont.” Now the distillery manufactures award-winning, aged whiskies, gin, and liqueurs. They also offer a popular new line of pre-packaged cocktails with names like Beachday, Scarecrow and Winter Sun. These cocktails have fun, seasonal flavors available only at the distillery. Krupnik, a Polish spiced honey liqueur, became their fourth product in 2014, using a 500-year-old recipe and help from a Polish friend. “We lost so much in the way of product development during Prohibition and I hope to up America’s liqueur game.” Following that, the next year they launched their first single-malt whiskey, and then introduced their Henry Knox gin. Some of Djinn’s latest products are blended whiskies. “My strength is in blending barrels to get the best taste.” She says that taste is very subjective and although predicting exactly what a combination of whiskies will taste like is impossible, she frequently has a rough idea of what will work, then proceeds to do controlled experiments until she gets the best flavor. The name for the distillery came interestingly enough from a game of Scrabble. She jokes that she doesn’t really like to share the story because her husband beat her in a game after a great score from the word “djinn.” She says that dijinn is the name of a spirit from Middle Eastern mythology. It’s the origin of the word “genie.” “Unlike an angel, a being that has to be good, a dijinn can be good or bad and I think the same is true for alcohol. It can be good or bad and I like that concept of free will,” she explains, “We have a choice.” When she returned home for her high school reunion in 2019, she brought some Beat 3 whiskey to share with her former Lawrence County classmates. “Sharing that with old friends was the height of Southern hospitality.” It was such a hit that she plans to return soon and bring that Beat 3 back home again. Ready to try Djinn’s famous Beat 3? Here’s a recipe using their liquid gold, perfect for gatherings or a weekend cocktail at home. La Louisiane 2 oz Beat 3 Single Malt Whisky (or Rye) 1/2 oz sweet vermouth (we like Punt e Mes) 1/4 oz Benedictine 3 dashes Paychaud's Bitters Absinthe rinse Rinse glass with absinthe and drain. Stir other ingredients over ice and strain into coup. Garnish with a cherry (we like the Luxardo brand).

By Brandi Perry Mississippi State University in Starkville is known for football, baseball, Bully, tailgating and a strong agricultural background. However, many people are not aware that they also have one of the only university-owned cattle herds to make the top rankings. From that herd, the campus produces milk, ice cream and their world-renowned cheese. This is their story. The history of cheese at Mississippi State University is a fascinating one, but none of it would be possible without the Bearden Dairy Research Center. More than 100 cows, a mixture of Holstein, Jersey and crossbred, are milked twice a day every single day of the year. The Jersey herd has been ranked in the top 10 of all categories for groups similar to their size. This includes a number 5 ranking in protein, 4th in milk and 10th in milk-fat production. Total output of milk every year is more than 365,000 gallons. However, these are not the same type of cows your grandparents milked. These cows produce 8-10 gallons a day, while the hand-milked cows from days gone by may have yielded 1-2 gallons a day at best. Currently, the Mississippi State University herd in the second or third oldest jersey herd in the United States. That herd was registered in 1906 for Mississippi A&M. The herd has been continually bred since then. For the first time since the 1950s, a cow was brought into the system in 2014. Kenneth Graves, the dairy herder at Bearden Dairy at Mississippi State, explained the lifestyle of the cows in the herd. "When the calf is born, they are hand raised and fed twice a day. As they get older, they slowly move up the chain until they are here. Our goal is for that cow to have its first calf at 21 months old." Even though the cow may have its first calf at nearly two years of age, most of the goals have a 3-4 lactation goal. In other words, if the cows live to be 6 to 7 years old, they have had a long life. Dr. Amanda Stone, an Assistant Professor in the School of Animal and Dairy Science, explained why the farm only used artificial insemination. "Artificial insemination is the only way we can improve the genetics of the goal. Our goal here at Mississippi State is to genetically improve a cow to the point where it is more efficient, makes more milk and lives longer. Once the older cows are moved out of the milking rotation, their offspring will be taking their place. Not only do those cows come in with fewer years on them, they also have better genetics." Jersey cows have a lot more fat in their milk than what you find in your local grocery store Coming it between 4.5-5%, the milk in the grocery store will be closer to 3%. Holstein's run has 4.2% fat in their milk and are also known for their quantity of milk. Throughout the United States, there's more Holstein cattle milked than all the other cows combined. At the Bearden Dairy, milking is done at 3 am and 3 pm and are handled by the students in the animal science programs. This occurs every single day of the year, including holidays and the most horrendous weather. From the dairy, the milk travels to Custer Dairy Processing Plant where the raw milk (up to 1300 gallons a day) is pasteurized and either gets turned into fluid milk for bottling all over campus, cheese, ice cream or butter. James McClelland has been a part of this incredible process for nearly 30 years now. "In 1938, just before World War II closed the border at Holland, ten teakwood molds were shipped to us. Dr. Herzer was looking for a notable cheese to bring to the university that was just as popular as the football team. That's how the ‘cannon balls’ of edam cheese started," McClellan explained. The mold helps shape the three-pound balls of edam cheese and more than 50,000 are sold each year. There are one and a half pound balls of edam that are included in Maroon and White Gift Packs. Once the cheese is made and put into the mold, it is placed in a salt brine bath before it is covered with wax. However, the cheese is not immediately placed for sale. Edam is aged for three months before anyone can take it home. Cheddar cheese is also made in the processing plant and are made in huge blocks weighing 20 pounds. Two 20 pounds blocks are placed in a wooden crate and aged for three months as well. When the three months pass, the cheddar is cut two-pound blocks and then sold. More than 50,000 of these blocks are sold annually. The most popular cheese produced by the Custer Dairy Processing Plant is called Vallagret. Similar to a Swiss, the cheese is produced in wheels and ages in cold storage. Only 10,000 wheels of this cheese is made annually and it is usually the one that sells out the fastest during the holiday season. Cheese isn't the only delicious product made at the dairy processing plant. "We churn out about 5,500 pounds of butter each year and about 25,000 gallons of the best ice cream on the planet," McClellan educated with a smile. "There are seven flavors of the ice cream but the Muscadine Ripple is by far the most popular." The muscadines used to make the ice cream are actually grown and harvested at the South Mississippi Branch Experimentation Station. It takes 150 gallons of muscadine juice to make a year's worth of the popular snack. From the processing plant, all the delicious products are brought to the MAFES Store on the campus of Mississippi State University. This store welcomes visitors thousands of visitors through their doors every year, the majority from Mississippi but many others from across the country. Additionally, the cheese products are shipped all over the world, especially during the holiday season, where orders may only be two cheese balls or 1,500. Corporate companies, professional athletes and students share these cheeses with those who may not have yet experienced it. Mississippi State University is indirectly extending hospitality worldwide through their cheeses. The MAFES Cheese Store on the campus of Mississippi State University is open from 8 am until 5 pm CST Monday through Friday. The store is closed during regular university holidays but is open for home football game days. The store is located in the glass annex at the front of the Herzer Food Science Building on 925 Stone Boulevard. In addition to products available to order online, the MAFES Sales Store offers a wide range of products for purchase in the store. There are so many incredible places scattered up and down the backroads of Mississippi that should be on everyone's bucket list. This is definitely one of those places. From world-class hospitality to the best milk products found in the southeast, Mississippi State University should be a destination for anyone that appreciates the best of what the Magnolia State has to offer.

Ms. Susan M. Collins-Smith, MSU Extension Service Stoneville, Miss. -- Mississippi rice producers and crop specialists are optimistic about the state’s 2022 harvest despite a high population of rice stink bugs that were difficult to treat. “Overall, it’s so far, so good,” said Hunter Bowman, rice specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and researcher with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. “It was really hot and dry when it was heading out and pollination was happening. But hopefully, that won’t have much of a detrimental effect.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Crop Progress and Condition report released Aug. 8, rice is 90% headed and 15% mature, which is slightly ahead of the 5-year average. Fifty-two percent of the crop is in good condition. Twelve percent is in excellent condition, and 33% is in fair condition. Another worry for farmers this year was the rice stink bug, which showed up in force. Rice stink bugs feed on the rice grain, stunting plant growth and reducing yield. These pests can also transmit diseases and viruses to the plants. To make matters worse, farmers faced poor control from pyrethroids -- the first line of defense and one of only three labeled pesticides available to treat the pest in rice. “Tenchu and malathion are the two other labeled options in addition to pyrethroids, but those pesticides were in short supply and dealers ran out,” Bowman said. This situation led Extension crop specialists to work with the Bureau of Plant Industry to request a Section 18 crisis exemption from the Environmental Protection Agency for an additional pesticide that would help farmers control the insects while not disrupting harvest. A crisis exemption was granted for the pesticide Endigo ZC on July 28. “We were able to get the exemption, but there was a limited supply of Endigo ZC, too,” said Bowman, who is stationed at the MSU Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville. “We had trouble getting our hands on it.” Bowman noted that there was only enough malathion this year to treat 50,000 to 60,000 acres across the entire U.S. While malathion has been in short supply for several years, the COVID-19 pandemic tightened supplies and raised prices on all kinds of pesticides. “If producers were unable to get any of these alternatives, we recommended they run with extra applications of pyrethroids if they could get that,” Bowman said. “That way, it would reduce the number of stink bugs to low levels and help protect yield.” Producers also face other issues each year, including rice water weevils and Italian ryegrass. “Rice water weevils are sometimes a problem for us, but this year, we avoided any major issues,” Bowman said. “Italian ryegrass in Mississippi has developed resistance to many herbicides we use for control in early spring, and herbicide options to control the weed in the fall when it emerges are limited due to plant-back restrictions in rice the following season.” Bowman said Mississippi acreage is down quite a bit compared to the 10-year average. “We expected to plant about 100,000 acres, but we ended up with between 88,000 and 90,000 acres,” he said. “Some people decided to plant soybeans instead because of high urea prices and better soybean prices.” Will Maples, Extension agricultural economist, said supplies are down and prices are higher than in recent years. Current projections by the USDA put the national average farm price at $15.50 per hundredweight, which is $1.80 higher than 2021. Since the first of August, the harvest month rough rice futures contract has averaged $17.28 per hundredweight, Maples said. “Even though rice producers are seeing higher prices, margins will likely be thinner than in years past due to increased input costs,” he said. “The combination of higher input costs and high prices for other commodities limited rice plantings this spring. Long-grain rice supplies are currently projected 5% lower than last year with ending stocks currently 12% lower.”

Check out these great new places that have recently opened in the City With Soul on Visit Jackson blog!

From Family Features In today's world, grocery shopping can seem more like a burden than an opportunity to gather supplies for your family's favorite meals. With prices of everyday ingredients fluctuating almost daily, it's important for many families to make their dollars go further at the store. Easy ways to stretch your grocery budget, like using versatile ingredients, can make the checkout experience a little less impactful on your household's finances. Consider the benefits of mushrooms, which provide a delicious option to enhance flavor in favorite recipes while extending portions in an affordable way. Save Money Stretch your dollars by stretching your meals using a process called "The Blend.” Blending finely chopped mushrooms with ground meat can extend portion sizes of your favorite meaty recipes and help your bottom line. Chop your favorite mushroom variety to match the consistency of ground meat, blend the chopped mushrooms and meat together then cook to complete the recipe. For burgers, use a blend of 25% finely chopped mushrooms and 75% ground meat. For tacos or chili, use 50% mushrooms and 50% meat or an even higher mushroom-to-meat ratio. Savor the Flavor The savory umami taste of mushrooms means a flavorful experience in blended recipes like burgers, where the chopped mushrooms help hold in the juiciness. Or, you can chop, quarter, slice or enjoy them whole in recipes like Garlic-Rosemary Butter Roasted Chicken Thighs and Veggies with Mushroom Orzo Risotto, Creamy Spinach, Mushroom and Lasagna Soup or Blended Pasta Sauce paired with your favorite pasta. One Carton, Multiple Dishes Thanks to mushrooms' versatility, you can buy one large carton of mushrooms to chop up then bulk up multiple dishes, from a morning omelet to hearty soups to blended burgers. Serve Up Nutrition Low-calorie, low-sodium, fat-free and cholesterol-free, mushrooms are nutrient rich and can play a starring role in a variety of meals. With an array of fresh varieties and nearly endless ways to prepare them, they can be your powerhouse from the produce department. Find more recipe ideas and ways to make the most of your grocery store dollars at MushroomCouncil.com. Garlic-Rosemary Butter Roasted Chicken Thighs and Veggies with Mushroom Orzo Risotto Recipe courtesy of Emily Weeks, MS, RD, on behalf of the Mushroom Council Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 50 minutes Servings: 4 Chicken: 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs salt, to taste pepper, to taste 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 16 ounces mushrooms, such as white button, cremini or portabella, quartered 3 zucchinis, sliced in half moons 3 large carrots, thinly sliced 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed and roughly chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced Orzo: 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 small yellow onion, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 16 ounces mushrooms, such as white button, cremini or portabella, finely chopped 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 1/3 cup white wine 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese To make chicken: Preheat oven to 450 F. Pat chicken dry. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. In large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Sear chicken until brown on both sides, 4-5 minutes on each side. In large bowl, toss mushrooms, zucchinis and carrots with rosemary and garlic. On large baking sheet, spread vegetables. Nestle chicken into vegetables. Drizzle with butter and juices from pan. Bake 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender. To make orzo: In small pot over medium-low heat, warm broth. Using skillet from chicken over medium heat, add butter and olive oil. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften, 3-4 minutes. Add orzo and black pepper. Stir and cook orzo 2 minutes. Add white wine and cook until evaporated, about 1 minute. Add broth to orzo, 2/3 cup at a time, stirring until liquid is absorbed. Repeat with remaining broth, waiting until last batch is absorbed before adding next. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan. Serve in individual bowls with chicken and roasted vegetables atop mushroom orzo risotto. Blended Pasta Sauce Recipe courtesy of the Mushroom Council 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 pound mushrooms (such as white button, cremini or portabella), finely chopped 1 pound 80% lean ground beef 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce cooked pasta salt, to taste pepper, to taste grated Parmesan cheese In large pot over medium heat, add oil and cook onions, stirring occasionally, until just soft, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook 5 minutes, or until mushrooms are soft and reduced in size. Add ground beef, Italian seasoning and salt; cook until browned throughout, about 6 minutes, stirring and breaking up lumps. Skim off fat, leaving about 2 tablespoons. Stir in marinara sauce and reduce heat to low. Cook 10 minutes. Serve over cooked pasta, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and top with grated Parmesan. Creamy Spinach, Mushroom and Lasagna Soup Recipe courtesy of Emily Weeks, MS, RD, on behalf of the Mushroom Council Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Servings: 4 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium onion, small diced 8 ounces mushrooms, such as white button, cremini or portabella, sliced 1 jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes 2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 1 tablespoon dried basil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 bay leaf 3 cups vegetable broth 6 lasagna noodles, broken into pieces 1/2 cup heavy cream 5 ounces fresh baby spinach 1 cup whole milk ricotta 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, for topping Heat large pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, onion and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions and mushrooms soften, 4-5 minutes. Add marinara, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, basil, salt, oregano, pepper, bay leaf and broth. Bring to boil over high heat then reduce heat to low and simmer. Add lasagna noodles and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and remove bay leaf. Stir in heavy cream and spinach until wilted, 2-3 minutes. Divide between bowls and top each with dollop of ricotta and sprinkle of mozzarella. SOURCE: Mushroom Council

Love s’mores but hate the gooey, sticky mess trying to make one? This s’more dip is the perfect alternative, with the added bonus of feeding a crowd (about 8 people) all at once. Use any kind of chocolate you’d like and dip with graham crackers, vanilla wafers or even cinnamon sugar pita chips. S'mores Dip Ingredients and materials: Cast-iron skillet or single use aluminum tray 1 tablespoon salted butter 1 pound semisweet chocolate chips 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 8 ounces large marshmallows, halved crosswise Graham crackers, wafers or anything else for dipping Set a skillet over direct medium-high heat of fire. Melt butter, add the salt and chocolate, and stir. Top with marshmallows, cover with a lid or foil, and cook until marshmallows are melted, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from grill and serve warm.

By Jay Reed Dolce. It’s the Italian word for “sweet.” And what’s the sweetest thing ever to come out of Italy? If the answer that comes to your mind is, “my grandmother,” I’m not here to argue. I don’t know her, but I’m sure she’s delightful. But is she creamy, too? And really cold? Because I’m talking about something else: the Italian word for “frozen,” which would be “gelato.” Dolce also happens to be the name of Starkville’s newest place to get something sweet, frozen and creamy. In what is becoming a trend in Starkville, as well as other local business corridors across the state, a historic building was repurposed and renovated on Main Street. It’s owned by the Masonic Lodge, but most people in the area know it as the old Rex Theatre, which operated for decades beginning in the early 1930s and was Starkville’s first air-conditioned building. Most of the current space is occupied by the Glo company, which approached local business owners Robbie and Bonnie Coblentz about putting a small business in the front corner, where the Rex box office used to be. With multiple ties to the culinary community and the broadcast media world, they considered a variety of possibilities but the dimensions of the space—big enough to serve and seat, but not quite big enough for a kitchen—narrowed their options. After lots of thought, brainstorming and consultations they concluded that a gelato shop with a movie theme would fit the playbill nicely. The next step was to find a source for the frozen sweetness, and a series of random events led both Robbie and Bonnie to Hugh Balthrop and his company, Sweet Magnolia Gelato. The idea of serving a Mississippi-based small batch product appealed to them, and after taste-testing a few of Sweet Magnolia’s offerings, it was an easy decision. The current menu at Dolce is simple but growing. They keep about a dozen different flavors in the freezer all the time, served by the scoop. A few classics and local favorites are stalwarts, such as Fior de Latte (a traditional sweet cream), chocolate, honey bourbon, banana pudding, espresso chip and peanut butter cup. The rest of the spots rotate among dozens of Sweet Magnolia options like blueberry cheesecake, pistachio, red velvet cake, or Stracciatella (vanilla with slivers of dark chocolate). Plus, they try to keep a couple of flavors of sorbet such as lemon, strawberry, pineapple or raspberry. Toppings are simple, too: dark chocolate shavings, mini chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs, whipped topping, chocolate and caramel sauces and brown butter bits (an exclusive showing). They can take any flavor in the freezer and make a classic milkshake—for sorbets, they add Sprite or lemonade. The historic location of the shop also inspired a list of Movie Milkshakes such as The Maltese Falcon (chocolate with malt), My Fair Berry (strawberry with mini chocolate chips), Viva Stark Vegas (banana pudding and peanut butter chip, thank you very much), and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (vanilla with a “bang” of espresso). They also offer an affogato, which is a scoop of gelato “drowned” (another Italian language lesson) in a shot of espresso. When certain varieties come along, they essentially beg to be incorporated into weekend specials, layering on the built-in flavor profile. For instance, the lemon buttermilk gelato served with whipped topping and graham cracker crumbs called to mind Robbie’s favorite lemon icebox pie. Ms. Mary’s pound cake gelato topped with sliced fresh strawberries and whipped topping served as a frozen version of strawberry shortcake. A gelato panini recipe—a scoop encased in a brioche bun, heated in a specialized press—is under development. And if you can’t get enough in the shop, pints are available to take home. For those into the details, the difference between gelato and ice cream is essentially three-fold. Gelato has less butterfat, less air and is generally served at a slightly warmer temperature. This trio of distinctions leads to a velvety texture, a flavorful bite yet doesn’t necessarily melt faster. Sorbets are dairy-free (usually just fruit and sugar) while classic sherbet recipes have milk or cream. Dolce has both indoor and outdoor seating and lots of windows, perfect for watching the comings and goings on Starkville’s Main Street while enjoying a scoop, shake, or special treat. Movie posters from the Rex Theatre era line the walls, and a display of vintage movie cameras from Robbie’s personal collection fills a corner. A classic dessert in a classic building. Sweet. Dolce Gelato Treats is located at 101 West Main Street in Starkville. Closed Sunday and Monday, this shop is open the rest of the week from 2 pm to 9 pm, or until 10 pm on Friday and Saturday.

Check out some of our favorite places in Jackson for a classic, Southern blue plate in this Visit Jackson blog post!

By Ms. Natasha Haynes, MSU Extension Service Do you need a grab-and-go breakfast but want to skip the fast food? Overnight oats are a great option. These Banana Pudding Overnight Oats are stress-free and packed with protein for a hunger-free morning. Banana Pudding Overnight Oats Ingredients: - 2 ripe bananas, divided - 1 cup old-fashioned oats - 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt - 3/4 cup skim milk - 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional) - 1 teaspoon cinnamon - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) - 1 graham cracker, crumbled - 4 (8-ounce) glass jars with lids Directions: In a medium bowl, mash 1 banana with a fork. Stir in oats, yogurt, milk, chia seeds*, cinnamon, and vanilla extract*. Divide evenly between the four glass jars. Place the lids on the jars and refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight. Before serving, slice the remaining banana. Top oats with sliced banana and crumbled graham cracker. *Optional ingredients Tips: Personalize this recipe by using your favorite milk and/or yogurt! Letting the oats sit overnight makes them soft, just as if they have been cooked. Thanks to University of Georgia Extension for this recipe! Chia seeds are a great source of fiber, protein, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids. Find out more from Qula Madkin, Extension instructor and registered dietitian, about chia seeds and other seeds that can provide important nutrients that we need every day in our All About Seeds blog post. Don’t like oats? These nutrient-dense Cook’s Choice Muffins are another option for breakfast on the go. Omega-3 fatty acids are one of the five power foods to include in your diet for brain health. Find out more from Qula in our blog post about How to Slow Brain Aging. Follow The Food Factor on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! And if you like our recipes and videos, we’d love for you to share them with your friends! It really helps!

By Julian Brunt Two Brooks farm in Tallahatchie County has an interesting history. Owner Mike Wagner is a pretty interesting fellow, the quintessential Mississippi Delta farmer, with emphasis on being an old school gentleman. As I go over my notes from my winter’s morning interview with Mike, it’s hard to think of any aspect of Mr. Wagner and Two Brooks that is not exceedingly interesting. P.H. Brooks bought the farm from a timber company that had cleared the land in the 1920s, and set about creating a plantation with some pretty lofty ideals. To start with, no juke joints were allowed, a mandate that must have caused some consternation amongst the field hands. Brooks installed a saw mill so his tenet farmers would have access to good lumber to build their homes, and built a church for them, as well. He also instituted a policy of selling land to hard working tenet farmers, an admirable act, but one that eventually broke his farm into two main pieces, Brooks Number One and Brooks Number Two, thus the name that Wagner gave to the sections he bought, Two Brooks. In the 1980s, Wagner found himself in Tallahatchie County and took a liking to the land he considered renting. The soil was what he described as “buckshot:” lots of clay, and sticky, making it hard to work. However, he realized it was on the same longitude as his home place in the boot heel of Missouri. Locals told him it would grow nothing, but Wagner thought he could make a go of it. He explains, "Difficulty breads opportunity. When I first looked at that place, all I could do was dream of getting my hands in that earth. Now, that rich, thick ass earth is part of what runs through my veins, the rest of it is sheer determination.” The whole community laughed at him then, but they are not laughing now. “It’s all about the efficient use of space and water,” says Wagner, but conventional farming was just not going to work. Because of the clay content of the soil, it rutted easily, which requires a lot of tractor time to level. Rice fields have to be level to be efficient, but Wagner figured it out. All of his equipment has tracts, not wheels. They do far less damage to the land. But that was just a beginning. He was the first farmer to land form his fields, making them absolutely flat with the use of a laser. No levees are needed to hold the water in place, just the roads that border the fields. Wagner also conserves water in a big way, capturing the winter rains in lakes and cannels, so only a very small amount of water needs to be pumped up from the aquafers, 100 feet below. Wagner figured out the next step was to flood the fields in the winter, after the harvest. Most farmers burn the rice stubble off or plow it under, both acts that Wagner considers wasteful. Burning pollutes the air, and plowing wastes fuel. The flooded fields attract thousands of geese and ducks which feed there, trampling down the rice stalks so that they compost in the soil, enriching it even more. The birds also leave their nitrogen rich droppings, so very little nitrogen has to be added, an additional savings. The wind causes a small, wave-like action on the fields, something with further levels the land, and means less tractor work is required. “It’s not perfect, but it’s a good system,” says Wagner. An understatement if there ever was one. Two Brooks is all about efficient and innovation, but a lot of what Wagner does there is an attempt to be good to the earth he farms. “Years ago, after watching the overwintering waterfowl population explode, and the benefits they give to the land, after watching the eagles roost around, after watching the deer population go up, I started thinking about what I was doing. I started thinking about the soil microbiology and biology. How, by the fact that we had curtailed tillage and allowed waterfowl to do the tillage, we were beginning to rebuild the soil structure with naturally living organisms that enhance the rice plants health, and require far fewer synthetic inputs (to this day I use no insecticides or fungicides).” Wagner states, “I want to enhance the biological systems that were in place before we cleared this land. I finally realized that we were reintegrating our farm into the ecosystem and environment from which it came. There are a lot of woods and riverbanks and bayou banks on the place. And there is a lot of open farmland, too. I intend for this place to serve both mankind and nature to the maximum capable.” Wagner is turning more and more of the responsibility of running the farm to his children, Abbey and Lawrence, and you can see some of the touches they have added on their Facebook and website. The page opens with, “Tastefully cultivated, naturally,” and goes on to say, “What do you want from your food? What do you want for your environment? For mankind? Surely, the best!” When you take a look at the Two Brooks Facebook page, make sure to look at the many creative recipes they included. Things like rice and tomato fritters, chard and brown rice au gratin, pimento and cheese gritsotto, Thai inspired rice meatloaf and spinach egg and brown rice breakfast. You will be surprised at the number of rice related products Two Brooks sells. There are at least 16 types of rice, rice flour and rice grits from which to choose. There is brown, white, red and black rice, basmati, wild and jasmine rice to choose from, far too many varieties to list here. Mike Wagner is quite the Southern gentleman, but he is also a progressive thinker, a man who loves the land he farms, and is passionate about doing the right thing, for all involved. Visit Two Brooks at www.twobrooksfarm.com.

Are you looking for a new cocktail to sip by the campfire? Or maybe one that’s a bit reminiscent of that rich campfire smoke when you’re stuck indoors one rainy weekend? This drink is just what the doctor ordered. With the smokiness from the mezcal and sweet and punchy taste of honey simple syrup and pineapple juice, this cocktail may just be your new go-to. Pineapple Mezcal Sour Materials needed: Cocktail shaker Strainer Rocks glass, chilled (or any glass, really) Ingredients: 1 ¾ ounces mezcal ¾ ounce pineapple juice ½ ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed 1 ounce honey syrup (recipe below) Honey syrup: 2 cups honey (preferably local!) 1 cup hot, filtered water Add the honey and water together, mix until honey is dissolved and mixture is uniform. Seal in a glass container and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Syrup will keep up to one week. For the cocktail, add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously until well chilled. Pour into your chilled glass filled with ice and garnish however you’d like (including no garnish). Enjoy!

By Brandi Perry Located just a few miles off Highway 61, Doe’s Eat Place has called Greenville home for more than 80 years. Snuggled along the muddy bluffs of the Mississippi River, this iconic restaurant has a history that is nearly as thick as its porterhouse. Dominick “Doe” Signa and his wife, Mamie, opened the famous restaurant in 1941, but this was far from where the history started at this Nelson Street location. Doe’s father had moved to the Mississippi Delta in 1903 and opened a grocery store in what is now the restaurant. The store was a huge success, and the family lived in a house just behind the building. However, the Mississippi River Flood of 1927 dramatically changed the lives of all the residents of Greenville. Two levees threatened to breach in the immediate Greenville area, and the residents here had prepared as best they could for the flood—they all knew it was just a matter of time. The prearranged signal, a fire whistle, sounded on the morning of April 21, 1927. After several years of making ends meet, Signa decided he would open up a honkytonk in the front of the old grocery store, and it was just for local African-Americans to enjoy. Around the same time, Mamie received a partial recipe for hot tamales, and after trying to perfect the recipe, she began selling them out the back door of the building. The Mississippi Delta is known for hot tamales, and many restaurants try to recreate the flavor of what Mamie developed many years ago, but none have been able to replicate it yet. Even at this point, the Signa’s had no idea their cooking was about to put them on the culinary map in Mississippi. A local doctor stopped by once to get something to eat between calls. Big Doe threw a steak on the grill for him, and the doctor enjoyed it so much he began to make regular trips. It was not long before he started bringing others with him as well. Signa knew that word was spreading about his steaks and Mamie’s hot tamales, so it was time to make a decision. Little did he know this decision would take Mississippi’s culinary world by storm, and people would drive up to four hours a night for one of his steaks. Big Doe Signa knew that he could not make this restaurant successful on his own, so after calling his family and in-laws, he shut down the honkytonk, and his restaurant quickly became the talk of the town. Even though Big Doe retired in 1974 and passed the family busy on to his sons, they kept everything as he had originally had it. Guests still enter the front kitchen and pass that grill with steak stacked high and enter the main dining with walls adorned with pictures from Doe’s early years, vintage signage and photographs with signatures marking the visit of professional athletes and movie stars throughout the years. In addition to their hot tamales and chili, Doe’s Eat Place also serves fried and boiled shrimp. However, their steaks are the star of the show. Their menu is small, but the taste of their cuts of beef is gigantic. The ribeye is a traditional favorite, while the filet mignon is the most tender steak on their menu. However, their porterhouse and sirloin are the stars of this show. The porterhouse includes a T-bone and is fresh cut from choice short loins right there in the store. Their sirloin is also fresh-cut and is big enough to serve three or four people. The house salad is something you have not experienced before. They use the perfect blend of olive oil, lemon juice and garlic to create the perfect dressing for their house salad, and it leaves no need for additional dressing. Visitors to Doe’s Eat Place have been sharing all the delicious details about this place for more than 80 years, so it is no wonder that steak lovers outside of the south have come to notice this special place. The porterhouse steak was ranked “1 in 100 Best Things to Eat in America” by Men’s Journal. Southern Living Magazine went as far as to say that Doe’s Eat Place is one of the South’s Best Road Foods in May 2011, while Food Network’s Bon Appetit Magazine called the steaks here “one of the best steaks in America.” All these tremendous praises cannot be wrong but one of the most spectacular awards this location has garnered was the 2007 James Beard American Classic Award, which puts it on a map of which very few restaurants ever get to be a part. Doe’s Eat Place started expanding through several wonderful franchises throughout the south and now boasts fourteen locations in seven states. If you are interested in taking the name of Mississippi’s most notable steak restaurant to another level, the information you need can be found on their website. If you are ready to make the journey to Greenville, Mississippi, and sink your teeth in one of the best steaks you will ever have, they are open Monday through Saturday, 5 pm to 9 pm. If you have any questions or want to study the menu before visiting, please call (662) 334-3315 or go to their website at doeseatplace.com. A trip to Doe’s Eat Place in Greenville should be on the culinary bucket list of everyone that considers themselves a foodie or a steak connoisseur. It is suggested that you make a reservation because getting into Doe’s is often a challenge. The outside of the restaurant could indeed use some work but it just adds to the character of the historic restaurant. From experience, it seems as though restaurants with this type of character offer far better foods than those newer, well-built establishments. There is one thing for sure: you will not regret your dining experience at the original Doe’s Eat Place in Greenwood.

By Kathy K. Martin John and Lauren Stokes host a house party every night in Oxford. Located in an older one-story home along Jackson Avenue, the married couple invites guests to experience Old World comfort food in their restaurant, Tarasque Cucina. “John and I always had a dream to open our own place,” explains Lauren, who recounts how she designed the layout and menu for her future restaurant when she was just a little girl growing up in Maine. Ironically, John had the same dream as a boy and eventually began cooking at a former Oxford restaurant, The Hoka, when he was 15 years old; and then continued to work at restaurants in Dallas, Nashville and Alaska in his early 20s. Their dream restaurant concept came together as they converted the vacant house into Tarasque Cucina in 2014 and opened in early 2015. “We want diners to feel that they’re at the most fun, welcoming house party,” explains Lauren. She believes that they’ve succeeded in that feeling as they welcome regular diners every night and witness the chatter and laughter as the regulars mingle with new diners and transform the place into one big family around multiple dining tables. “We have worked really hard to keep our space welcoming, positive, and inclusive for everyone,” says Lauren, “We just want you to have fun and eat some good food!” They enjoy greeting and feeding guests, especially people who knew John from his growing-up years, and visit to see his dream now a reality. The name for the restaurant comes from French folklore and the story of Saint Martha, the patron saint of cooks. As the story goes, a wild beast named Tarasque terrorized many villages, and the people tried to fight back but couldn’t conquer the beast. Saint Martha overcame the dragon using her grace and charm. John especially loves this parable. “It shows that through honest grace you can make anything happen,” he says, “even tame the beast.” The food at Tarasque Cucina centers on salads; classic pasta dishes such as spaghetti and sugo di pomodoro and pappardelle Bolognese; and rotating small plates. The couple uses ingredients from local sources as much as possible, along with vegetables from their own garden at their home in Water Valley. “We really love food ourselves, so we cook what we want to eat,” says Lauren of their mission to just make delicious dishes prepared with care. Their rendition of a Caesar salad is a particular favorite of guests. Instead of the traditional Romaine, theirs is made with chopped napa cabbage and sunflower shoots grown by Nathan Richardson, a farmer in Water Valley. The dressing is made with roasted garlic and an Italian fish sauce. Another customer favorite is the house-made sourdough ciabatta, which is baked daily using a sourdough made by a family of bakers in Alaska, which Lauren’s mother gave to John over a decade ago. The variety of small plates, especially those that feature fish, are always enjoyed as well. Some of their featured summer vegetable small plates were squash blossoms stuffed with mozzarella and fresh oregano over a green strawberry vinaigrette and a green bean panzanella with aioli, local tomatoes and their homemade bread toasted into chewy yet crunchy croutons. The restaurant also features a variety of dessert choices such as chocolate cream puffs, vanilla bean panna cotta and vanilla wafer tiramisu, which they call “nillasu.” Alcohol is not on the menu, but a liquor store is just a few steps away from the restaurant. Guests are welcome to bring their own bottles with a $2 per person glass fee. John and Lauren are grateful for staff members who feel more like best friends; and they are thankful that their restaurant weathered the COVID pandemic. “We have dealt as gracefully as we possibly can with the same issues everyone else is dealing with across the board,” explains Lauren. “It’s good to have a five-year plan and a 10-year plan, but we’ve learned the importance of staying flexible and staying positive.” Realizing the dream of their restaurant coming to fruition leaves the couple feeling humbled and joyful. And much like their favorite Saint Martha parable, they also bring charm and grace to serve diners like friends over for a house party. Visit www.tarasque.net for more information and the full menu. Tomato Toast Recipe and foreword from Lauren Stokes Here is our "recipe" for tomato toast. It sounds silly to have a recipe for something so simple, but just a few extra steps really make an already perfect dish go from delicious to next level! You'll need: 1 perfect tomato Bread (ideally a sourdough or sturdier bread, sliced white bread has its time and place but won't hold up as well in this dish) Salt and pepper 1 garlic clove Mayo Olive oil 1. Peel the tomato (trust us, John's Mimi does this and she is never wrong!), then slice into chunky rounds and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let them sit. 2. Glug olive oil onto a cutting board and rub your bread slice all around in it (both sides) until it is covered. 3. Toast the bread. 4. When the bread is toasted and still hot, rub one side with a peeled garlic clove. The garlic will melt into the bread. 5. Add mayo to your toasted bread on the garlic side. 6. Top with tomato slices and basil if you're feeling extra. Enjoy!

By Brandi Perry Located halfway between Quitman and Waynesboro in Clarke County is a farm that may have the largest muscadine crop in the entire world, but their story does not end there. These grapes are just a small sampling of what makes up this large farm. The former owner had set up the vineyard and production facility for his new venture to create jams, syrups and other muscadine products. He even collaborated with Mississippi State University to find more types to be used for the juice market. But his dreams for the vineyard never came to fruition. Owner Charley Phillips bought 900 acres of land from the Meridian businessman without much thought of what it truly took to run a muscadine farm. Before he became the owner, the farm had fallen into disarray with major overgrowth throughout the property. After some hard work and dedication to the grapes, they were off and running, even though at that time they were not truly sure what that meant. What resulted was the largest muscadine vineyard in the country that ships its valuable juice all over the East Coast, particularly the Carolinas. Ever had good Carolina wine? There is a good chance that the juice to make that wine came from Mississippi. Even though they pick around three million pounds of the tasty fruits a year, not all of them are sold and shipped in bulk. Farmers markets throughout Mississippi have enjoyed their muscadines and not just because they are delicious. Native to the southeastern part of the United States, muscadine grapes have been utilized for more than 400 years. Native Americans would not only dry the muscadines for a food source but would also use the blue hue found in the juice of the grapes as a source of blue dye. Even though they continue to grow wild in areas throughout the south, especially along creek and riverbanks, many people are not aware that there are so many types of these delicious fruits. For instance, scuppernongs were named for the area in which they were discovered but just represent the bronze-colored muscadines. Dark fruited muscadines are usually referred to as “bullis” with variations such as Bullace, Bullet Grape or Bull Grape. While the bronze and black varieties are the most recognizable, 100 years of muscadine breeding has yielded a dozen or more new strands. So, when the Phillips say they grow nine or 10 different grape varieties on their farm, it is not a stretch to understand how that happens. Like most fresh fruits, there are a great deal of health benefits from consuming muscadines and their juice. First, they are fat-free and high in fiber. Additionally, they are high in antioxidants, especially ellagic acid which has demonstrated anticarcinogenic properties in the colon, lungs and liver in studies. In 2020, the family decided they would enter the produce world and started using 20 of their acres to produce fresh vegetables for sure. The farmers market on their property is open from mid-May until mid-September. At any given time, you can find purple hull peas, crowder peas, tomatoes, watermelons, blueberries, okra, corn, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, butter beans and snap beans, in addition to jellies, jams, pickles and even muscadine ice cream. However, even during the off-season when the actual farmers market is not open, you can still buy the juice, syrup and jams and jellies from them. A new addition to their farm just in the last month is the You Pick Flower Garden. There are very few places that visitors can visit and pay to pick whatever variety of flowers they want. That is exactly why the Phillips introduced this new trend that is sure to catch on for all ages and all special events. Breckenridge Farm is no stranger to events. They hosted A Day on the Farm in July and offered food, music, produce and shopping with more than 20 vendors. The turnout was spectacular and that has them very excited about what possibilities may be just on the horizon for them. Their Touch the Truck event that was scheduled for June 25, brought in a police car, ambulance, tractors, harvester, motorcycle, firetruck and a helicopter in addition to live music from Brooks Wood. For just $5, kids had the opportunity to get up close and personal with the vehicles they see nearly daily and ask questions of those who drive and work on them. While the kids were occupied, the parents found time to relax and enjoy some good food and music. There is no doubt these two events will pave the way for many more at Breckenridge Farms! If you are going to visit, follow the signs to the farmers market. They are open Monda through Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm from mid-May to mid-September. There is nothing quite like picking up fresh fruits and vegetables that are still hanging on the vine just a few hours before. The taste is unmatched, and you will be not only helping a locally owned business but also ensuring local farmers can continue to provide for their families. Every year, the number of farm families in Mississippi diminishes, and we must do everything in our power to support them. Breckenridge Farms is located at 181 Americana Drive in Shubuta, Mississippi. Check out their Facebook, where they post when they have events scheduled and when there is a new crop available at the farmers market. If you have any questions before making the trip to Clarke County, give them a call at 601-776-7477 or email them at breckenridgefarms@yahoo.com. If you have more questions or want to learn more about their farm and what they do there, go to their website at breckenridgefarms.net and it should answer most of your questions! Do not make any other plans for the day when you head out to Breckenridge Farms because you are going to want to spend the day!

By Brandi Perry It is no secret that Mississippi has some of the strongest literary roots of any state in the country. With names like William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, John Grisham, Greg Iles and more hailing from the Magnolia State, it is easy to see why there was a desperate need to have a book festival not only to pay homage to the ones that have come before but to help pave the way for the literary legends of the future. The Mississippi Book Festival is held in one of the most iconic and beautiful scenes in the state, complete with shade trees and streets full of stories, a perfect setting for storytellers, writers and readers. The Mississippi Book Festival was founded in 2015 and launched that August on the grounds of the State Capitol in Jackson. Nicknamed the “literary lawn party,” it is not uncommon for nearly 10,000 people from around the country to converge. By the fifth year of the festival, they drew 9,300 visitors with 47 official panel discussions, in addition to activities at 10 different locations. The music, food and social scene give visitors a nice vibe as they wander through the grounds, meeting some of the top authors in the country. Hundreds of authors from around the country, state and locally converge on Jackson to meet with fans and new readers and are given chances to explore a more in-depth look into the themes and characters in their books through panels. But the contemporary authors are not the only ones involved in these spectacular events. Authors Alley is the hub for self-published and small press authors. The growth of this incredible event can only be attributed to how well organized the event is. For example, in the first year, the event launched with John Grisham and Jackson State’s “Sonic Boom of the South” marching band. Over 100 authors, including Greg Iles and Curtis Wilke, and 3,750 people attended. Since then, the event has grown exponentially every year and has included nationally known authors such as John Meacham, Jesmyn Ward, Rick Bragg, Charles Frazier and Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Even with COVID-19 closing the in-person portion of the event in 2020, it did not stop the festival from happening. Instead, they took the event online through one-on-one interviews, group conversations and Reader Features with community guests from across the state. The result was staggering, with 2,500 online sessions and 27 authors on 28 panels. Their dedication to the event during one of the most difficult years proves just how special the Mississippi Book Festival is to everyone. This event is full of family-friendly activities, making it the perfect place to spend the entire day with the family. Young readers will have a ball in the Kid’s Corner. The focus of books and authors here is to ignite the imagination of young readers and encourage a lifelong love of books. Additionally, capitol tours are available that day as well as a variety of delicious culinary offerings from food trucks throughout the southeast. The 2022 Mississippi Book Festival will be held on August 20. The event is free to attend, and the official panelists for this year’s event are going to be some of the most popular to ever attend. Alice Walker, an internationally celebrated author and poet, will be an official panelist this year. Author of “The Color Purple,” the novel was first published in 1982 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year. Walker was the first African American woman to win this award. In 1983, she won the National Book Award. “The Color Purple” is commemorating its 40th-anniversary release this year. Other official panelists include Matt de la Pena, who is a Newberry Medal-winning author of seven books, Jennifer Eagan, who won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction for her 2017 novel, “Manhattan Beach,” and Robert St. John, who is the author of 11 books and the owners of Crescent City Grill, Mahogany Bar, Tabella, Ed’s Burger Joint, The Midtowners and El Rayo Tex-Mex. This is just a sampling of the 26 authors that will make up these spectacular panels. Additionally, booksellers from across the state will be joining in on the fun and assisting authors and visitors alike with books. Having them in attendance also gives self-published and small press published authors an opportunity to introduce themselves to the bookstore owners and staff and maybe land an event or signing at their respective stores. There are so many ways you can make a difference in this special event. Without contributions from around the state from businesses and individuals, this event would not survive. If you are passionate about books and the people who write them, head over to the Mississippi Book Festival website (msbookfestival.com) and contribute. They are a 501c3 nonprofit organization. The Mississippi Book Festival also would not be successful without its contingency of volunteers that help every year! If that is something you are interested in, you can sign up on their website as well. From there you can choose a day to help, an available task and a time slot. All the work begins on Wednesday, August 17, and wraps up Saturday, August 20. The options for you to help include the pre-event, author hospitality, the kick-off event, Kidnote, special events, set-up, information tent, check-in, book signing tent or cleanup. Finally, if you want to join the Mississippi Book Festival as an exhibitor, they offer an incredible opportunity for individuals, retailers, organizations and vendors to sell or distribute books, goods or information. The directions on how to sign up are also on the website. If you are planning to attend the Literary Lawn Party, get there early and plan to spend all day! The Mississippi State Capitol is located at 400 High Street in Jackson, Mississippi, and the event will start at 9 am and end at 5 pm. It is free to the public so prepare to have one of the best times of your life. It will be an event you return to year after year.

By Chere Coen When we caught up with Jerome Trahan, General Manager of the Threefoot Brewing Company, Mississippi was in the grips of brutally high pressure, causing temperatures to soar. Trahan laughed it off. “That’s why I stay in a cold, cold brewery,” he said. Mississippi’s latest craft beer company — Trahan claims it’s the state’s first microbrewery — opened in August 2021 in a renovated Merchant and Farmer’s Bank in downtown Meridian. The 10,000-square-foot space was built in 1924 and still announces the bank’s slogan of “Safety, Strength, Service” above the front door. But it’s the three-foot walls that keep both heat and air conditioning inside. “This place is solid,” Trahan said. “It’s the best place to be in a tornado. I always tell people when the weather is bad, come in and have a beer.” Threefoot owners John and Bridget Purdy began brewing as a sideline to their careers — Bridget works as an educator and John, an architect. Over time, as they established their beers, they looked to a location to expand the brewery and offer a taproom for visitors. Threefoot beers may be found in regional restaurants, but 80 percent of the beer is served in-house. “Everything is brewed here in the brewery,” Trahan said. “We’re brewing Mondays through Fridays and constantly running out of beer and making new ones.” Brews run the traditional gamut from sours, Old Worldstyle beers and IPAs, to browns, ambers and stouts. Many sport fun names like Mr. Blue Sky blueberry sour, Midnight Train chocolate raspberry stout, Patrick Hayze IPA and Dark Sarcasm coffee stout. The beer menu changes according to seasonal ingredients and the brew master’s imagination. Sometimes, they offer something fun to the mix. During that recent heat wave, John Purdy combined two thirst quenchers, serving up a mango sour ice cream float. In addition, the taproom serves up what Trahan calls “comfort food.” Items include tater tots, burgers, Reuben sandwiches and a unique chicken and waffles dish consisting of Belgian waffles and chicken strips in a creamy and sweet jalapeno sauce. The brewery also caters special events and private parties. One wedding rehearsal dinner menu consisted of boudin and cheese eggrolls, Mississippi “hummiss” (purple hull peas, garlic and tahini), beef brisket and chicken tarragon with roasted Brussel sprouts. THREEFOOT TRADITION Threefoot Brewing is not connected to Meridian’s newly opened Threefoot Hotel, although the name is related. German immigrant Abraham Driefuss and his family moved to Meridian in the 1800s and changed their name to the easier “Threefoot,” since “Driefuss” means tripod or three foot in English. Descendants later built the multi-story, art deco building in 1929, making the Threefoot Building the tallest in Mississippi. Ripley’s Believe It or Not played on its name, calling it “a 15-story building on a three-foot lot.” The building became vacant in the 1990s, but a recent restoration effort by Marriot turned it into the elegant Threefoot Hotel, a Tribute Portfolio property. The unique name was never lost on the city of Meridian. The town hosts the annual Threefoot Festival every spring in the downtown district. Threefoot Brewery takes advantage of the name — plus there are those three-foot walls — and has created a pilsner specifically for the hotel. They also contribute to downtown festivals, such as the Threefoot Festival. Family-Forward The taproom may sell alcohol, but it’s family and pet-friendly. The open bottom floor of the historic building offers plenty of seating space, plus a large bookshelf of games to be enjoyed. Televisions showing sporting events grace a bar at the end of the room. Visitors can view beer being made in the massive tanks off the side. For those who visit with four-legged friends, Threefoot created a special dog treat from the brewery’s spent grain. They combine peanut butter and bananas to the grain for “The Hound Dog” dog biscuit. “It’s just like Elvis would have loved,” Trahan said. For a quieter experience, the mezzanine level seats 40 with a view of the taproom below. The outside Beer Garden includes a space for live concerts. “We have three goals,” Trahan said. “We offer a chilled environment, we’re family-forward, and we serve quality beer.” Threefoot Brewing Company is located at 517 23rd Avenue in downtown Meridian. Taproom hours are from 4 pm to 10 pm Tuesday through Friday; and 11 am to 10 pm on Saturday. The taproom is closed on Sundays and Mondays. For more information, visit www.threefootbrewing.com. For information on taproom concerts, special events and beer and food specials, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ threefootbrewing.

By Mrs. Qula Madkin, MSU Extension Service Most children tend to go through picky eating phases. Sometimes, there’s more to picky eating than simply not liking a food. There are many things that could cause a child to be selective about what they eat, including unpleasant food textures, odors, and allergies. Here are a few tips you can try to entice your picky eater: Let them help. There are many age-appropriate ways to get kids in the kitchen. Allowing children to touch, prepare, and grow food is one of the best ways to get them to try new dishes. You may be pleasantly surprised with some of the great recipes they come up with! Make food fun. Use fun shapes, sizes, and bright colors. Appealing to their eyes is a great way to get to their stomachs. Creativity in the kitchen can go a long way. Keep things calm. Children are easily distracted. If mealtime is a struggle, limit distractions and allow your picky eater to focus more on the meal when it’s time to eat. Examine your own eating habits. Children are observant. It may be challenging to get them to eat foods you don’t prepare because you don’t like the food yourself. So, remember, they are watching and can pick up similar food preferences and habits. More tips: For most toddlers, picky eating is normal. It may take up to 8-10 attempts of offering a new food to a child before they try it. So, don’t give up. Be sure to serve food in small portions. Large portions of food on a plate can be overwhelming for a child. For more information and tips for coping with picky eaters and planning nutritionally balanced meals and snacks, visit the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the MyPlate websites.

By Susan Marquez If you’re looking for a barbecue sauce with a funky history, look no further than Bootsie’s Delta Funk BBQ Sauce. Pete Grumbles runs the distribution operation from the funky worldwide headquarters in Pope, Mississippi. He says he slid into the barbecue game in a roundabout way. Raised in Arizona, Pete got a job in Arkansas after college. He moved to Mississippi from Little Rock in 2011. “We have family from Mississippi,” he explains. Soon after arriving in the Magnolia State, Pete met Adrian Boyd, and the two became business partners. They started as a catering company. The sauces were so popular people were asking if they could buy them. They kept the name, Bootsie’s, and let people know they were all about southern funk! “Adrian had the recipe,” says Pete. “It dates back to the 1920s. His people were sharecroppers who left Mississippi during the great migration to Chicago. The recipe was passed down through generations. Adrian moved back to Mississippi from Chicago after he retired from the Navy.” For eight months, the duo worked to make the barbecue sauce recipes something that could be mass-produced. “We were determined to keep as close as possible to the original recipes. They didn’t have preservatives in the 1920s, so we don’t use preservatives today. We source all of our ingredients as local as possible, and as natural as possible.” Pete estimates that 90 percent of the ingredients used to make the sauces are sourced from either Mississippi or the South. “We went to local farmers markets and talked to the growers about what we were looking for.” Right out of the gate, the funky sauces were a hit. The company has been in business coming up on six years, and already they have won numerous awards, including the Delta Regional Authority Entrepreneur Fellow in 2017, Silver Medal Scovie award for best fruit barbecue sauce in 2018, Yahoo’s Lifestyles Must-Have Sauces of the Summer for Bootsie’s Hi-Tone White BBQ sauce in 2019, and a Bronze Medal Scovie award this year for the best mustard barbecue sauce with their Pineapple Xpress sauce. That’s not bad for a kid who aspired to be a saucier after watching a movie with his dad. “We watched Apocalypse Now, and one of the characters was a saucier from New Orleans. I had never heard of such a thing but soon became obsessed with sauces,” says Pete. Putting himself through college working at Outback Steakhouse gave Pete a strong education in food. He became even more obsessed with sauces, an obsession that continues today. “Every time we develop a new product, I take it to local chefs to try. I want their feedback; then I make adjustments.” There are currently eight products in the Bootsie’s product line. “We are currently working on developing hot sauces.” Bootsie’s is a small manufacturer with big dreams. “We use only organic ingredients, but we are not highfalutin,” laughs Pete. “We just want to be true to our roots.” Everything is hot cooked in a kettle. “That first taste should be as smooth as listening to Sly and the Family Stone,” says Pete. “We use local honey that dissolves as it goes down. You should taste layer by layer, then get that back heat.” Bootsie’s products are sold throughout the state as well as on the company’s website. The barbecue sauces in the Bootsie’s product line include Pineapple Xpress, Sweet n’ Smoky, Hot as Funk, Hi-Tone White and summer peach. They also carry a line of rubs which include All-Purpose Spice n/ Rub, Sweet Heat Funk and Whiskey Lemon Fusion Funk.

By Ms. Natasha Haynes, MSU Extension Service Most of the time water is the best choice before, during, and after physical activity. However, there are times when you might benefit from a sports drink. You can save a considerable amount of money by making your own homemade version. You may even feel better about what you and your family members are drinking, because you know exactly what ingredients you put in it! Homemade Sports Drink (Makes 4 Servings) Ingredients: - 1/4 cup sugar - 1/4 teaspoon salt - 1/4 cup hot water - 1/4 cup orange juice - 2 tablespoons lemon juice - 3-1/2 cups cold water In the bottom of the pitcher, dissolve the sugar, salt, and hot water. Add the remaining juices and add water. Chill in the refrigerator before your next sporting event or physical activity! Thanks to University of Georgia Extension Food Talk Blog for this recipe! If you aren’t a fan of plain water, there are ways to enhance the flavor without adding sugar. Try out these Three Flavored Water Recipes to Beat the Heat for water infused with fruit and herbs. These tips from Qula Madkin, Extension instructor and registered dietitian, can help you get more water in your diet. Follow The Food Factor on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! And if you like our recipes and videos, we’d love for you to share them with your friends! It really helps!

By Brandi Perry Long gone are the days when family-owned general stores dotted Mississippi’s backroads and byways, taking with it the sense of community and the ability to buy your hardware or houseware right down the road. Fortunately, there are still a few general stores still standing throughout the state, but very few of them are still open for business. However, just 20 minutes north of Meridian sits the small town of Kewanee. Population counts have not occurred here in a long time, and besides the rumble of trucks passing by or the whine of a train as it comes through town, things move a little slower here. That may be exactly why the Simmons-Wright Company survived all these years. The original store was made of solid wood and was built here in 1884 by William Simmons and Tom Wright. What is now the back of the store was facing the Old Dixie Highway and ran from Meridian down to Key West, Florida. The location of the store was not only important for the highway but also for the railway. Being so close to the railroad allowed the train to stop and deliver goods needed by the farmers in the area. This one general had such an incredible impact on the livelihood of the people in this community. By the 1880s, the store included a blacksmith shop, a gristmill for grinding corn and wheat, a cotton gin, and a sawmill, plus it carried everyday items such as groceries, clothing and other necessities. Money was a funny thing back in the day because farmers from the community were able to pay off any debt, they had in the store by using the cotton from their fields. In return, the farmer and the store owner get exactly what they needed. Even though farmers nor anyone else can use cotton as currency here anymore, that seems to be about the only thing that has truly changed here in Kewanee. The original store burned to the ground in 1926 and was replaced by the one that is standing now, a two-story brick structure the same year. Success continued for the store even through the Great Depression and wars but in the 1950s, ownership of the store slowly started to change. Ms. Bernice Simmons took over the store in the mid-1970s and ran it until she passed away in 1998 at the age of 96. She had lived in the Kewanee area all her life and left just briefly so she could attend college. After her studies were finished, Bernice returned home to be the bookkeeper of the store and then the owner. After she passed away, she left the store to Gary and Manning Pickett in her will, and the store is currently run by Gary and his wife, Janice. The store has not changed much in the last 138 years. When visitors walk into the store, they undoubtedly feel as though they have just been transported 100 years in the past. The bottom floor of the store is the sales floor, and it is packed full of history, antiques, hardware and food. Yes, the store still carries all the necessities their neighbors may need. The creak of the old screen door sent this writer back nearly 30 years to hearing that exact same sound on the front porch of my grandmother’s house in Neshoba County. I knew in that instant that this would be a special experience. Coming from the brightly lit exterior inside will make visitors squint in the dimly lit room. But, once their eyes adjust, they can see why thousands of visitors from around the world step through those doors every single year. A spiral notebook just inside the door has hundreds of signatures in it. While flipping through the pages, it was easy to see visitors from nearly all 50 states, Australia, South Africa, Britain and Canada. No matter where you are from or how long you intend to stay, the history of the store beckons you to every nook and cranny. Old home remedy bottles have found their home under a glass cover after being pulled off the shelves many years ago, while farm tools and seeds are ready to be picked up by whoever is planting the latest garden. Upstairs there are so many incredible antiques that may have been there since the first store existed. It is so important to take your time while you wander around Simmons-Wright because you do not want to miss anything! In 2011, Gary and Janice decided to open the 1884 Café, a nod to the year the store was open. Between the catfish, fried chicken or Mr. Gary’s pecan-smoked pulled pork, there is not only plenty of delicious items to enjoy but just as good conversation. You see, the general store has become the place the local men have their coffee or lunch and share the news of whatever is going on in the community. Sit a bit and enjoy the conversation. They will make you feel like friends no matter how far you traveled to be there. In addition to the delicious food, there are plenty of Mississippi gifts for sale as well such as candles, soap and books. If you want to take a little taste of Mississippi home with you, there is also local salsa, pickles and chowchow. If you are just stopping in for a snack, grab a piece of homemade fudge, freshly fried pork rinds or some hot boiled peanuts. That and an ice-cold bottled coke can fix any problems you may have! Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Simmons Wright Store is located at 5493 Highway 11/80 in Kewanee. From Interstate 59, just follow the signs. The store is open Monday from 7:30 am to 4 pm, Tuesday from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, Wednesday from 8 am to 4:30 pm, and Thursday and Friday from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm. If you have any questions before your visit, reach out by phone at 601-6321884 or by email at info@thesimmons-wrightcompany.com. For more information, check out their website at www.thesimmons-wrightcompany.com.

By Ms. Susan M. Collins-Smith, MSU Extension Service I love having fresh herbs to use while cooking in my kitchen. This fact was the catalyst that led me to plant my first herb plants a few years ago. For the most part, they’ve been easy to grow. While every attempt hasn’t been successful, I’m learning more as I go. You’ll always find these three herbs in my herb garden: Rosemary: This evergreen shrub comes in two types: upright and creeping. It is a hardy perennial, but you may find that you need to replace it after a few years. Our hot, humid climate can be brutal on herbs. Basil: This annual herb comes in several different flavors, but sweet basil is my go-to. I use this a lot, especially in the summer when I have fresh tomatoes. If you like flavored vinegars, the purple leaf types make for a pretty presentation in glass bottles. ‘Purple Ruffles’ basil (Ocimum basilicum) was featured among the 2004 Mississippi Medallion winners. Dill: This is an annual that prefers cooler weather, so it does well in the spring and fall. You can make dill pickles or try it on eggs. But if you enjoy fish, this is an excellent herb to grow and elevate your dishes. Herbs get their flavors and scents from oils. Over fertilizing, over watering and planting them in shade will lower the oil content, making them less flavorful and aromatic. Any of these herbs will do well in containers, so put them on the back porch so they’re within easy reach when you’re whipping up a meal. For more about herb gardening, visit the Extension website. Herbs can be used to make a variety of flavored vinegars. For a video and step-by-step instructions for making flavored vinegar, check out our previous blog post.