Hi Friends,

I'm finally getting my blog together! So, I hope you'll enjoy it and send comments to let me know.

It has been a long winter. I'm so glad to see Spring even if it does mean yard work. It also means fresh food from the markets around the Charleston area too.

Daniel Island has the first Farm Market scheduled for Thursday, April 30th, so I have that to look forward to. I understand that Rococo Bakery will be here and I am anxious to have some of their bread with my pimiento and cheese.

Boone Hall Farms is also a great place to shop for seasonal items. Right now strawberries are in season and they have plenty. Try the dessert recipe at the end of the blog for Strawberry Amaretto Romanoff and you'll love it. I once had someone at a United Way function tell me that she wanted to jump in the bowl of Romanoff and eat her way out. Hmmm, I must have put too much Amaretto in it that night!

My son Rob has become an incredible food photographer. Since I love breakfast and biscuits, his biscuits photograph (shown) really got my attention and it evoked some very good memories from home. In particular, it reminded me of a night that my sister and I spent away from home and our first fresh milk experience.

We were friends with a girl that we went to school with and one night we were invited for a sleep-over. Our friend's family had a small farm and a milk cow. That next morning we were awakened early for breakfast, and went into a warm and cozy kitchen where our friend's mother was preparing fresh biscuits for breakfast. For children who ate breakfast with their father at 10 Am and usually had toast as part of our breakfast, the biscuits were a wonderful treat. But while eating the biscuits, I took a big drink of my milk. I thought that I would die. It was the most horrible vile stuff I'd ever tasted. Who knew? Until that early morning in the 1950's, I thought that all milk tasted like Dairy Fresh or was white, chocolate or buttermilk. So, I was totally taken aback by the taste of milk that had just come directly from the cow. It's called "raw milk" and "raw milk" has never been pasteurized.

One morning I was doing a radio show on food in Anderson and one of the advertisers was a farm that sold "raw milk." People were calling in from all over the listening area trying to buy the milk. These were people who had grown up on the flavor of "raw milk." And, like the rest of us were looking for that long lost taste which brought back a great memory. It just goes to show you how strong those memories are and how tight our ties are to our past.

Speaking of back home and memories-

Some Day You Will Thank Me For This; The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Being a "Perfect" Mother- Just released by Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays, two Mississippi Delta women, is a good and funny book. They were kind enough to include me on 3 pages along with some of the recipes from my cookbook. This is the third cookbook for Gayden and Charlotte. Their first book, Being Dead Is No Excuse is one of my all time favorite books. You will find the book under cooking or humor at Barnes & Noble. Great book! Congratulations on another one.

Roasted Corn Salad with Tomatoes and Feta- This is a wonderful fresh salad that I made at one of the classes that I taught at Williams-Sonoma. I made it again last week when my son had a barbecue for my granddaughter's birthday.

Wow, my son Ed is a really good cook. His barbecued chicken was delicious and very tender. I learned something about cooking chicken last week and I will never barbecue chicken the same way again. I'll do it his way. My daughter-law-made a mean and delicious mac and cheese to go with everything. It was all gone in a flash. I've included the corn recipe for you in this blog.

Speaking of Williams-Sonoma, Joyce McCarrell and her sister Nancy have opened their new restaurant in Travelers Rest. Go online and take a look at http://www.cafeatwilliamshardware.com/. And, if you are in Travelers Rest, by all means go by there and have a bite of their delicious food. Joyce and Nancy have done everything they can to help you remember the good old days, from serving buttermilk and bread to cookies and milk for after school moms to stop and share.

I'd also like to mention that I reviewed the Old Village Post House in Mount Pleasant for the magazine a while back. It was a wonderful dining experience. Some of the best food I've had in the area. I hope you'll give it a try when you are in this area. It's an excellent restaurant with high standards. You won't be disappointed. The salmon with caper butter sauce was absolutely the best I've had. Chef Jim Walker knows how to cook but most of all he knows how to season. I've always said that tasting and seasoning is the most important element of cooking. If you'd like to know more about the restaurant or the food that I ate that evening, send me an e-mail.

The other restaurant that I recently visited and enjoyed is Chai on King St. My friend and I shared appetizers and I enjoyed every bite of Oysters Rockefellar, Shrimp stuffed with crab and wrapped in bacon, and mini angus burgers ( the best I've ever had) and the atmosphere was nice too. It was not too crowded, and on a night of pouring rain, a glass of Chilean Chardonnay and tapas was just what I needed.

This is the end for now, but watch for the next blog so that I can tell you about the new Farmers Market on Daniel Island. And, check for more good places to eat when you are coming this way.

Oh, one more thing. Please ask me about my new menu planning service. I can provide menus for 7 days, along with recipes and grocery shopping list.

I can provide it online and it is guaranteed to save you from the "what are we going to eat tonight blues." It will also save you money since you will have a menu, recipes and the grocery list to shop from. The costs is weekly and low and there is no contract so you can stop when you like, and restart when you like.

Give it some thought and let me know if you are interested. Wouldn't that be a load off your mind on those busy work days?

Would love to hear from you.

Best, my friends

Linda

Pan-Roasted Corn Salad with Tomatoes and Feta

4 ears of corn with husks and silk removed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped thyme
1 bunch green onions, green portion only, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Salt and fresh pepper to taste
3 cups halved cherry or grape tomatoes
8 ounces feta cheese cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh basil

Holding each ear of corn by its pointed end and steadying its stalk end on a cutting board (I use a Bundt pan and hold the corn in the center hole) cut down each ear with a sharp knife to strip off the kernels with a kernel cutter. You will need about 3-1/2 cups corn kernels. Set aside.

In a large non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm half the butter and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until nearly smoking. Add half the garlic and saute, stirring constantly 20-30 seconds. Add half the corn and sauté, stirring occasionally, until golden and just tender, 3-4 minutes. Add half the thyme and green onions. Transfer the mixture to the bowl. Repeat with the rest of the butter, one tablespoon olive oil, garlic, corn, thyme, green onions. Add to the bowl. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
In another bowl, combine the tomatoes, cheese, the remaining olive oil, salt and pepper and toss gently to mix. Add the tomato mixture, the lime juice and basil to the cooled corn and toss to mix. Taste and adjust with salt , pepper, and more lime juice. serve at room temperature. Serves 4.

Strawberry Amaretto Romanoff
(From my late mother, Ann)

4 cups fresh strawberries, halved if small, quartered if large
1/2 cup Amaretto or your favorite almond liqueur
1/2 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
Toasted almond slices

Stir together the strawberries, Amaretto and sugar. Chill for 3-4 hours or up to 8 hours. Spoon into Champagne bowls or pretty dessert dishes.
Beat heavy cream, sugar and almond extract until lightly whipped. Top the berries with a spoon of the cream. Top the cream with the sliced almonds.