Cooking with Stacy Lyn

GREEK SNAPPER

Serves 6

This dish is incredibly easy to make, but is packed full of flavor. You could substitute any white, flaky fish for the snapper and make the dish a weekly staple. Ingredients:

2 - 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided 2 pounds fresh snapper (about 2 large fillets) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped 1/2 cup kalamata olives 3 Tablespoons capers 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped 1 pint (1 can) canned tomatoes 1/2 cup dry white wine

• Heat oven to 200 F. • Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper fillets and place in pan when oil is shimmering. Cook for 5 minutes and then turn fillets over and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Place gently onto a cookie sheet and place in oven with door cracked to keep warm. • Add remaining olive oil to pan. Sauté onions, olives, capers, garlic and rosemary for about 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes and wine to the medley and reduce for 5-10 more minutes. • Remove snapper from oven, place on platter and pour olive mixture over the fish. Serve with a side salad and crusty bread.

About Stacy Lyn Harris

Stacy Lyn Harris is a best-selling cookbook author, blogger, TV personality, public speaker, wife and mother of seven children. She currently lives in Pike Road, Alabama, with her husband Scott and their children. Stacy Lyn regularly appears on cable and broadcast television as a guest chef and sustainable living expert. Her critically-acclaimed “Harvest Cookbook” was published in 2017 and contains many of her family’s favorite recipes, along with stories from her life growing up in the Black Belt and tips she’s learned along the way.

At Home, On The BY CAROLYN DRINKARD Stage

Karen Dean returned to her hometown of Thomasville to bring Broadway-style theater to this area. Thanks to a grant from the State Department of Education’s Alabama Arts in Education initiative, she started to teach theater classes at Thomasville High School in 2018.

aren Hill Dean has always been at home on the

Kstage. With a melody in her heart and magic in her step, she has danced, dreamed, imitated and imagined all her life.

“Karen loved pretending to be different characters, so she would take my sheets and make costumes,” her mother, Jan Hill, recalled. “Karen could sing as soon as she could talk, and she didn’t sound like a child! It was just a part of her nature, a part of who she is!”

Karen grew up in Thomasville, the only girl among four adoring brothers, in a musical family that often entertained themselves by singing. She performed in school and church musicals, but her parents knew she was destined for more. Before her junior year (and after much begging), they allowed Karen to attend the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, but only if she lived with her aunt in Bessemer. Karen gained her theater degree from ASFA and moved on to UAB to further her studies.

In 1996, she married Andy Dean, who shared her love of the theater. The couple dreamed of settling in Savannah,

After Andy and Karen Dean married in 1996, they dreamed of moving to Savannah, Georgia. The illness of Karen’s father kept them in Thomasville. When Karen started the Arts Council and later directed and performed in many productions, Andy and their four children were also involved, helping and supporting Karen in every way.

Georgia, but those dreams had to be put aside when Karen’s father, Charles Hill, became very ill. Karen knew she was needed at home.

In her hometown, Karen busied herself with four young, talented and energetic children. Sensing his daughter’s restlessness, however, Charles encouraged Karen to start her own community theater. Karen had always been at home on the stage, so this idea fascinated her. She consulted a friend, who had started his own community theater in Birmingham, and she started by forming an Arts Council, to oversee a community theater group and to raise funds. She found six people who were interested, and the Thomasville Arts Council was “on the road.”

For her first production, Karen chose “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” When she held auditions, only four people showed up! Undaunted, she “begged” her friends, individually, to help. Karen wanted to use

Karen directed and acted in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” The production featured an actual moving car, as well as elaborate sets and costuming. Pictured are (l to r, front) Karen Dean, Amy Davis; (back) Randy Nalley and Alex Bradford. adult actors, to differentiate this play and the student performers. Also, she wanted to be behind the scenes, so she hired a director from Tuscaloosa and a choreographer from Demopolis. When the show was almost ready, Karen received devastating news: her beloved father had passed away.

“My daddy wanted me to do this,” she said sadly, “so I promised everyone that I would be back!”

The show was a success, signaling the birth of Thomasville’s first community theater group. She chose the name “Rambling Rose Players” after a weekly column and book by Thomasville native Earl Tucker: “Rambling Roses and Flying Bricks.”

Karen spent the next years partnering with the Canebrake Players, a thriving community project in Demopolis. She directed “Little Shop of Horrors” and jointly directed “The Good Doctor.” Many of the performers and technicians from Demopolis helped in other plays Karen directed in Thomasville.

Karen was a chorus girl in the tavern for “Beauty and the Beast.” She directs and often plays smaller roles in many of the productions.

In 2006, Thomasville opened its long-awaited Civic Center, with the modern Bedsole Theater as its centerpiece. That year, Karen directed the first play to be performed on the new stage, “All Shook Up.” Word spread far and wide that something very special was happening on the hometown stage in Thomasville!

After this, the Rambling Rose Players had their own pool of talented performers. To help even more, Arts Council member Chris Beverly, stepped forward to put together the “Flying Bricks Community Band” which enabled Karen to do musicals with a full orchestra of over 100 talented musicians from Thomasville and surrounding communities.

Through the years, the Rambling Rose Players have enjoyed widespread success, offering Broadway-style productions with elaborate costuming, scenery and lighting, as well as big-theater props like a working car in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and a fire-breathing dragon in “Shrek.” The citizens of Thomasville have em

As part of Alabama’s Bicentennial Celebration, Thomasville hosted “Homecoming at the Boundary,” an American Indian living-history exhibition and stickball game.

Karen Dean (c) welcomed ambassadors from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the Poarch Creek Indians of Alabama. braced the Rambling Rose Players, even allowing them to make the Civic Center their home.

“Karen Dean came home with the dream of sharing the arts and her talents with the citizens of her hometown,” Thomasville’s mayor, Sheldon Day, explained. “Wow! That dream has been realized tenfold! Through her dreams, we have experienced a transformational Renaissance of the arts here that is now an integral part of our thriving and growing community! “

In 2018, Karen’s artistry took her to still another stage. For years, she had worked closely with the drama program at Thomasville High School, but when the school lost funding for a drama teacher, parents and

Karen organized the Dickens Carolers, who have appeared in numerous settings throughout Southwest Alabama. The Carolers perform with the Flying Bricks Orchestra at all Christmas functions, as well as other patriotic activities around July 4th. (L to R front) Maggie Vick, Katy Boyette, Karen Dean, Chloe Drinkard, LeAnn Moore, (Back) Brandon Harvel and Randy Nalley.

community leaders joined to put Karen into this teaching position. Longtime arts supporter LeAnn Moore secured a state grant to fund the adjunct position for one year, allowing Karen to teach two theater classes while continuing to work for the Arts Council. As a result, she was able to expand arts opportunities even more, producing a musical, a play and a senior-directed project each year, while still directing two community productions. In 2021, another grant will set the stage for even more possibilities, as Karen’s students will partner with Career Tech classes for sound and stage improvements.

“This area has so many talented kids,” Karen pointed out. “We have as many students who want to do theater as those who want to go out for baseball. This is just amazing!”

A few years ago, Thomasville honored Karen Hill Dean as its “Citizen of the Year,” not only for her accomplishments in the arts, but also for her efforts to inspire community interaction through the Community Garden, the Ghost Walk and the Dickens Carolers. Amy Prescott, Director of the Chamber of Commerce, has worked with Karen on many of these projects.

“Karen has a deep love for the arts and has done everything she could to share that with our community,” Prescott stated. “She is one of a kind, and for all of her hard work, dedication and volunteerism in our community, we are truly grateful!”

Karen Dean has always been at home on the stage. With a melody in her heart and magic in her step, this amazing artist came back home to spawn a spirit that will sing in the soul of her hometown forevermore.

Karen Dean (l) played the role of Anna Smith in the THS production of “Meet Me in St. Louis.” After the show, Chloe Drinkard (r) presented her with a picture, signed by the entire cast.