fettuccini, linguini, or wide noodles, cooked al
dente in boiling water
Melt oil and butter in skillet. Toss chicken strips with flour-paprika mixture and brown over medium-high heat until just cooked. Remove to a plate. Add chopped green onions to the skillet and sauté over medium heat for one minute. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes, wine, and oregano, scraping up bits of chicken. Stir in half-and-half, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the sauce thickens. Return chicken to skillet to reheat. Season to taste. Serve over cooked pasta. Serves four.
GINGER-PEACHY MELONS
6 fresh peaches, medium-size, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 small cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½-inch
cubes
1 small honeydew melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into
½-inch cubes
½ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons candied ginger, chopped fine
1 tablespoon honey
Mint sprigs for garnish
Mix together the orange juice, lemon juice, grated ginger, candied ginger, and honey. Place the fruit in a large bowl and pour the juices over it, stirring gently. Refrigerate until serving time (up to 8 hours). Serves six.
THE ROSEMARY CAPER
COMPARED to my former life as a Houston criminal defense attorney, where every day was a battleground and every encounter a combat, my life in Pecan Springs flows as smoothly as that sweet sorghum molasses they make over in East Texas. But every now and then there’s a hitch in our git-along, as we say around here, and something happens to remind me that ugliness happens in even the prettiest places.
One Tuesday morning last month, for instance, when Pansy Pride came into the store, distraught. Pansy is the president of our local herb club, the Myra Merryweather Herb Guild, which is named for the energetic lady who organized the Guild back in the ’30s and whose memory is still much loved today. Pansy is a short, bouncy woman with short gray curls. She wasn’t bouncy that morning, though. She was wringing her hands.
“China, something awful has happened!” she cried. “You’ve got to help!”
I went to the hospitality shelf, poured a cup of just-brewed lavender-mint tea, handed Pansy a ginger cookie, and told her to calm down. She was so panicked that getting the story was like teasing a pecan out of a smashed shell. But when I finally pried the details out of her, I had to agree. Something definitely troubling had happened.
That morning, Pansy had gone over to the Guild House, where the club has its office and holds meetings. She didn’t notice anything unusual until she went up to the second-floor library. Most of the books aren’t in the least remarkable—donated cookbooks, herbals, and gardening how-to. But the Guild owns one crown jewel: Myra Merryweather’s Cookery Book, published in 1920. A book dealer in Houston appraised it for ten thousand dollars, because the author herself, a well-known Southern herbalist, had written notes in the margin.
“And that’s the book that’s missing!” Pansy wailed. “Myra’s Cookery Book has been stolen!”
I frowned. “I thought the book was kept in the Guild’s safety-deposit box at the bank.”
“It was, until just a few days ago,” Pansy said. “We took it out to put into the library.”
China likes to offer refreshments to her customers at Thyme and Seasons. Here are the recipes for the cookies and tea she was serving on the day that Pansy Pride dropped in—luckily, as it turned out. As medicinal herbs, both lavender and ginger are often used for their calming, soothing effect.
SPICY GINGER COOKIES
Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Cream the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in molasses, egg, and vanilla and mix well. Sift together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add by thirds to creamed mixture, blending thoroughly. Sprinkle extra sugar on a baking sheet. Drop dough by tablespoons onto the sheet, and sprinkle with more sugar. Bake approximately 15
dente in boiling water
Melt oil and butter in skillet. Toss chicken strips with flour-paprika mixture and brown over medium-high heat until just cooked. Remove to a plate. Add chopped green onions to the skillet and sauté over medium heat for one minute. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes, wine, and oregano, scraping up bits of chicken. Stir in half-and-half, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the sauce thickens. Return chicken to skillet to reheat. Season to taste. Serve over cooked pasta. Serves four.
GINGER-PEACHY MELONS
6 fresh peaches, medium-size, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 small cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½-inch
cubes
1 small honeydew melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into
½-inch cubes
½ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons candied ginger, chopped fine
1 tablespoon honey
Mint sprigs for garnish
Mix together the orange juice, lemon juice, grated ginger, candied ginger, and honey. Place the fruit in a large bowl and pour the juices over it, stirring gently. Refrigerate until serving time (up to 8 hours). Serves six.
THE ROSEMARY CAPER
COMPARED to my former life as a Houston criminal defense attorney, where every day was a battleground and every encounter a combat, my life in Pecan Springs flows as smoothly as that sweet sorghum molasses they make over in East Texas. But every now and then there’s a hitch in our git-along, as we say around here, and something happens to remind me that ugliness happens in even the prettiest places.
One Tuesday morning last month, for instance, when Pansy Pride came into the store, distraught. Pansy is the president of our local herb club, the Myra Merryweather Herb Guild, which is named for the energetic lady who organized the Guild back in the ’30s and whose memory is still much loved today. Pansy is a short, bouncy woman with short gray curls. She wasn’t bouncy that morning, though. She was wringing her hands.
“China, something awful has happened!” she cried. “You’ve got to help!”
I went to the hospitality shelf, poured a cup of just-brewed lavender-mint tea, handed Pansy a ginger cookie, and told her to calm down. She was so panicked that getting the story was like teasing a pecan out of a smashed shell. But when I finally pried the details out of her, I had to agree. Something definitely troubling had happened.
That morning, Pansy had gone over to the Guild House, where the club has its office and holds meetings. She didn’t notice anything unusual until she went up to the second-floor library. Most of the books aren’t in the least remarkable—donated cookbooks, herbals, and gardening how-to. But the Guild owns one crown jewel: Myra Merryweather’s Cookery Book, published in 1920. A book dealer in Houston appraised it for ten thousand dollars, because the author herself, a well-known Southern herbalist, had written notes in the margin.
“And that’s the book that’s missing!” Pansy wailed. “Myra’s Cookery Book has been stolen!”
I frowned. “I thought the book was kept in the Guild’s safety-deposit box at the bank.”
“It was, until just a few days ago,” Pansy said. “We took it out to put into the library.”
China likes to offer refreshments to her customers at Thyme and Seasons. Here are the recipes for the cookies and tea she was serving on the day that Pansy Pride dropped in—luckily, as it turned out. As medicinal herbs, both lavender and ginger are often used for their calming, soothing effect.
SPICY GINGER COOKIES
Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Cream the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in molasses, egg, and vanilla and mix well. Sift together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add by thirds to creamed mixture, blending thoroughly. Sprinkle extra sugar on a baking sheet. Drop dough by tablespoons onto the sheet, and sprinkle with more sugar. Bake approximately 15
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