Mud & Magnolias June.July 2018

Mud&Magnolias October.

November June.July 2018 2013

the food issue

Queen's Reward Meadery Chef Spotlights • Chicory Market

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Contents

Mud&Magnolias

pg. 37

pg. 42

pg. 49

pg. 69

Features Editor’s Letter pg. 10 Extended Recipe Section pg. 15 There's nothing quite like a cherished family recipe and we are sharing a few of our own. We've also included a trendy mezcal cocktail, a one-pot pasta and a kid-friendly snack.

Q&A with John T. Edge pg. 35 Scholar of Southern culture, author and Southern Foodways Alliance director John T. Edge answers our questions about food and the South.

Chicory Market • pg. 37

A grocery store for everyone, with a farmer's market vibe and a focus on local food. That's what two Oxford residents are aiming to create with the Chicory Market.

Oxford Farmhouse • pg. 42

In Leslie and Pat Coleman's sprawling Oxford farmhouse, no detail was unaccounted for. They've built an ode to history while managing to maintain modern sensibility.

Queen's Reward Meadery • pg. 49

Mississippi's first meadery is here. We have the scoop on Queen's Reward in Tupelo and what making mead is all about.

Farmhouse Market and Coffee • pg. 69

Part butcher shop, part coffee shop, all local. Farmhouse Market and Coffee brings high-quality food to West Point.

Chef Spotlights pg. 57 As North Mississippi's food scene continues to grow, these chefs are bringing new ideas to the table – literally.

Kinfolks pg. 64 Saltillo restaurant Kinfolks serves up simple, Southern fare.

Microgreens pg. 74 Tiny vegetable greens grown locally are the specialty of Amory-based One Feller Farms.

We found out what microgreens are and how to eat them.

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Editor’s Letter

I can smell homemade biscuits and bacon cooking anywhere and be transported to the kitchen table in my Grandma Fox's little white house. I come from a long line of really good cooks. They didn't do anything super fancy with a ton of ingredients, but I'd bet all my money (which isn't much) that no one could make a biscuit better than my grandma. I miss many things about her, but her cooking is at the top. It's the way she showed love. It's the way she showed comfort. And anyone was welcome around her table. Preparing for this issue brought back all of the feels as I decided which family recipe to share. The recipe I chose takes me right back to summer lunches prepared with ingredients from one of the family gardens. I don't think I ever fully appreciated the work and effort that went into making a bowl of fresh purple hull peas, because I didn't do much shelling. I do, however, treasure any jar of tomato relish I receive. It is versatile and always adds the necessary touch to peas. I'd like to give a big shoutout to my Aunt Paulette, who is Grandma Fox's daughter, for not only donating a jar of relish for the food shoot, but also sharing her tried and true recipe (pg.15).

We have several other family recipes in this issue as well as features on fresh markets in the region (pg.37 and 69). To quench your thirst, we talked to Jeri Carter of Queen's Reward Meadery opening soon in Tupelo (pg. 49). And in a nod to the one-of-a-kind restaurants in this region, we talked to several chefs about life and creating the perfect dish (pg.57). Happy eating, y'all!

If you have any thoughts about this issue, please email me at editor@mudandmag.com.

Over at mudandmag.com: Shop our style: Our online store features T-shirts, coffee mugs, digital prints and dish towels with art and designs by local Mississippi artists.

Check out our video about Queen's Reward meadery (pg.49). + narratives, videos and extended photo galleries

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Editor-in-Chief Ellie Turner

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Featured Sales Consultants Leigh Knox Bill Spencer June Phillips Darla Webb Shelley Ozbirn Amber Lancaster Teresa McDonald Krystal Anderson

Contributing Editors Ginna Parsons Michaela Morris

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Correction: The Princess Theater barn quilts were incorrectly identified in the previous issue as being located in New Albany. The theater is located on 5th Avenue in Columbus.

This magazine is a monthly publication of Journal, Inc.

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Staff Family Favorites The Mud & Mag staff share recipes that have been enjoyed by their families over the years. Trust us, you are going to want to try some of these!

PURPLE HULL PEAS WITH TOMATO RELISH

I was always pretty indifferent to purple hull peas growing up even though they were a staple around the table. That was until one summer when I had my first taste of tomato relish. Y’all, if you aren’t eating every serving of purple hull peas with tomato relish, you aren’t doing it right. Various family members make tomato relish each year and they all taste a little different, but Aunt Paulette’s version is known as the best.

-Ellie Turner, editor recipe on page 29

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ALL-BUTTER POUND CAKE

My mom always made this pound cake when I was growing up, usually for the holidays. I remember it being a treat to have a slice for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving. I’ve started making it every year for Thanksgiving as well, but I put my own spin on it: Throwing in some fresh cranberries and drizzling an orange glaze over the top. It’s also delicious in the summer with fresh blueberries in it.

-Emma Kent, multimedia editor recipe on page 29

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CHILIES DIP

My family has been making this dip for parties and potlucks since I was a kid. It’s also a very versatile recipe.

-Michaela Morris, writer recipe on page 29 mudandmag.com

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CREME BRULEE FRENCH TOAST

My mom would whip this up whenever we had company over at my family's cottage over the summer. It's deliciously sweet with a perfect caramel flavor and feeds a good number of people. I think it makes a great breakfast dish for the holidays or a lazy Saturday morning.

-Lauren Wood, creative director recipe on page 29

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POTATO SALAD

Potato salad was a staple in our house when I was growing up in south Alabama.

Mama served it with everything from fried chicken and ham sandwiches to barbecue and burgers. The best part is it's even better the next day.

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One-pot mushroom spinach artichoke pasta, recipe on page 29

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Trend Alert: Mezcal Mezcal is making its way onto the scene this summer.

Similar to tequila, but smoky in flavor. The honey balances out the bold flavor of the mezcal in this refreshing cocktail.

Honey and smoke mezcal drink, 27page 30 recipe l on

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Kid-Friendly: Fruit Leather Trade the super sugary snacks from the grocery store with this homemade take on fruit snacks. Making this together would be a great summertime activity.

Strawberry and mango fruit leather, mudandmag.com l recipe on28page 30

Recipes PURPLE HULL PEAS WITH TOMATO RELISH Pea Ingredients: 1 pound fresh purple hull peas water meat of choice (ham bone, bacon, etc.), optional salt and pepper Directions: Cover peas with water (4-6 cups) and add meat. Use whatever meat you have on hand for flavor, but you could do without. Bring to a low boil for 5 minutes and reduce heat. Cook on low for up to an hour. Salt and pepper to taste.

Tomato Relish Ingredients: 6 quarts fresh tomatoes 2 cups sugar 2 cups white vinegar 1 large onion, chopped 1 large bell pepper, chopped salt and pepper 1 can pickling spice Directions: Steam tomatoes and peel. Dice them and add all ingredients except for the pickling spice to a large boiler. Place the pickling spice in a clean piece of flour sack towel (or any thin white cloth) and tie up tightly.

Add it to the boiler. Cook on mediumlow and consistently stir so it doesn’t stick. Cook about 4 hours or until it reaches desired thickness. Makes about six pints.

ALL-BUTTER POUND CAKE Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups butter-flavored Crisco 5 eggs 3 cups sugar 3 cups cake flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 cup milk Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream Crisco and sugar together with either a hand or stand mixer. Add eggs 1 at a time. Mix well. cont. on page 30>>>

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Add the dry mixture to the Crisco/sugar mixture alternating with milk. Add vanilla and mix well. Bake in a greased and floured bundt pan for 50-60 minutes.

CHILIES DIP Ingredients: 2 cans chopped black olives 2 large tomatoes or can of tomatoes, chopped 4 green onions, chopped 2 cans green chilies, chopped 1 green bell pepper, chopped 6 fresh mushrooms, chopped 3 tablespoons of olive oil 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar 1 teaspoon garlic powder salt and pepper to taste Directions: Mix everything together.

Best if made one day ahead. Serve with tortilla chips.

CREME BRULEE FRENCH TOAST BAKE Ingredients: 1 loaf egg bread or bread of choice (we used brioche) 2 cups milk 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed 2 tablespoons maple syrup Directions: Arrange enough bread slices to cover bottom of a 13x9 baking dish in a single layer. Layer remaining bread in dish, overlapping the bottom layer, and set aside. In a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.

Evenly pour mixture over bread. Cover pan and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Remove cover from pan and check that the milk mixture has been completely absorbed by the bread. Bake, uncovered, for 30 to 45 minutes or until lightly brown.

Meanwhile, in a pot on the stove over low heat, melt butter with sugar and syrup, whisking occasionally. Remove casserole from oven and evenly pour syrup over bread slices. Bake five more minutes or until bubbling. Let cool for 10 minutes, then serve.

POTATO SALAD Ingredients: 3 pounds red or russet potatoes 3 eggs, boiled and peeled 3 dill pickles 1/4 cup mayonnaise 2 teaspoons yellow mustard 2 teaspoons white vinegar 1 teaspoon celery seed salt and pepper to taste Fresh chopped dill, for garnish Directions: Peel and cube potatoes. Boil until tender. When done, drain and let potatoes cool. Chop the eggs and the pickles. In a large serving bowl combine cooled potatoes, eggs and pickles. Add mayonnaise (more or less to taste), mustard, vinegar and spices, turning potatoes gently to coat.

Garnish with fresh dill. Refrigerate.

ONE-POT MUSHROOM SPINACH ARTICHOKE PASTA Ingredients: 12 ounces fettuccine 1 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained 8 ounces portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 large onion, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 2 cups baby spinach 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan 2 tablespoons unsalted butter Directions: In a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat, combine fettuccine, artichoke hearts, mudandmag.com

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Recipes

continued

mushrooms, onion, garlic, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes and 4 1/2 cups water; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until pasta is cooked through and liquid has reduced. Add spinach, parmesan and butter and stir in until the spinach has wilted.

Serve immediately.

HONEY & SMOKE MEZCAL DRINK Ingredients: 1 ounce honey simple syrup 2 ounces mezcal 2 ounces ginger beer juice from 1/2 of a lime chili powder margarita salt Honey Simple Syrup Ingredients: 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup water Honey Simple Syrup Directions: Boil water and pour over honey. Whisk to combine and let cool to thicken.

Cocktail Directions: Combine margarita salt and chili powder in a shallow dish, to taste. Coat rim of cocktail glass with lime juice and dip edge in chili salt mixture. Combine simple syrup, mezcal and lime juice in glass; Stir to combine.

Add ice and top with ginger beer. Garnish with lime wedge.

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STRAWBERRY & MANGO FRUIT LEATHER Ingredients: 1 cup hulled and quartered strawberries 1 cup diced ripe mango (about 1 large mango) 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice Directions: Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 175 (If your oven only goes to 200, open the door periodically during baking to cool it down). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Purée strawberries, mango, sugar and lemon juice in a food processor or blender until smooth. Spread purée on lined baking sheet to 1/8-inch thickness. Spread as flat and as evenly as possible and ensure that the baking sheet is not visible beneath purée. Spreading too thin will cause the leather to become too crisp. Bake purée for 3 to 4 hours, until fruit no longer feels sticky but is still lightly tacky.

Begin checking leather after 2 hours and continue to check every 30 minutes. Baking time will vary based upon thickness of purée, oven’s exact temperature and humidity. Remove leather from oven and let cool completely on baking sheet.

Lay a sheet of wax paper on top, then peel wax paper and leather off together. Transfer leather to a cutting board, then slice it into desired strips or sheets. Roll and store or enjoy immediately. M

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Q&A: John T. Edge John T. Edge has served as director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, since its founding in 1999. Winner of the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation, he is author of “The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South,” named a best book of 2017 by NPR, Publisher‘s Weekly and a host of others. We chatted with Edge about cooking, history and the changing food culture of the South.

Q: You grew up in the South. When did you start to become interested in Southern culture and history?

I grew up in the very small town of Clinton, Georgia, about a half mile from a barbecue joint called Old Clinton Bar-B-Q. That’s where my interest in and knowledge of food began. A second beginning came here in Mississippi when I moved to Oxford and began studying at the University of Mississippi in 1995. In those two moments, in those two places, I began to understand how and why food mattered to me.

Q: In "The Potlikker Papers" you explore Southern food culture.

What are some myths about Southern food?

One myth is that the South is a land populated exclusively

by West African and Western European people. If you regard

the South closely, if you look openly at the history of the region and use food as a way of doing it, then you come to understand the story of Greek immigrants in Birmingham, Alabama who arrived to claim jobs in the steel mills and ancillary industries and stayed to open restaurants. They defined what Birmingham food culture is. From barbecue joints to hot dog cafes to seafood diners – Greeks from the Mediterranean have dominated restaurant food culture in Birmingham. That diversity plays out all across the South.

The South has long been more diverse than we think.

Q: Tell me about the work being done at The Southern Foodways Alliance. Are there any upcoming projects or focuses you guys are working on?

We document and study and explore the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. Those words diverse and changing are important. We are a storytelling organization, focused on telling the stories of all Southerners, and in doing that, we pay down debts of pleasure owed to farmers and cooks and waiters and waitresses whose stories have long gone untold. For 2018, SFA focuses our attentions

on food and literature and how creative folk have long employed those cultural forms to weave narratives of place.

Through a May symposium in Lexington, Kentucky, and an October symposium in Oxford, we will bring those stories, supplemented by great food and drink, to the stage.

Q: Is the perception of Southern food changing?

In the broad marketplace of ideas people often think of the South as a bunker of tradition where change is anathema, but the reality is something different. Not that long ago, in Gulfport, Mississippi, I ate lunch at a Mexican cafe that was selling tortas, stuffed with carnitas, as Mexican po boys.

That’s what the future of the South tastes like. I think we can embrace the old traditions and old ways and we can at the same time embrace what the South is becoming. Here in Mississippi, we can embrace Vietnamese boiled crawfish and Mexican po-boys as symbols of the contemporary South. We can do both. I think Southerners are beginning to recognize that duality is

possible, and I think the rest of the nation will catch up soon.

Q: Do you have a favorite type of food to cook or eat?

I love cooking beans, because they transform before your eyes. They start out as a bag of rocks, and, cooked long and slow, they transform into something supple. Beans and rice is a totem of frugality.

And in this moment when we worry about the impact of raising pigs and cows on our environment, the impact of growing vegetables is much less. They’re also versatile.

They can go high or low. For that reason and many others, I love to cook beans. They deserve a white tablecloth.

Q: If you had to choose something to eat as your last meal, what would it be?

Fried chicken — a leg and a thigh — mustard greens, Hoppin' John, and hot water cornbread, fried hard. Those are all dishes that are deeply rooted in the South and they’re also simple dishes that are not simplistic. They’re hard to execute well and they span all cultures. M

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Chicory Market

By Emma Kent

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ocally-grown produce has been sold at 274 County Road 101 in Oxford for nearly 30 years.

According to John Martin, it’s always been a place where all of Oxford’s communities converge, shopping together for fresh tomatoes, greens and whatever else farmers bring to the spot to sell.

Martin and his wife, Kate Bishop, took over the business in 2017. It’s been about a year since they reopened the County Road 101 establishment – which has been a farm stand and a grocery store over the years – as Chicory Market, a grocery with a focus on local food makers.

“This market has been a market of some form or fashion since the early 1990s,” Martin said. “It’s this place that everyone in the community would come to – all socioeconomic levels, backgrounds, races – so we’re trying to preserve that.”

On a Wednesday afternoon, that spirit is alive and well at the market as a diverse group of customers shop for produce, meats and dry goods.

Chicory Market sells items from well over 50 local farmers and food makers including Native Son Farm, Brown’s Dairy, and Clear Creek Produce, to name a few.

On this particular day, there are fresh bundles of kale,

chard and arugula as well as summer squash and zucchini to choose from. Several varieties of specialty mushrooms, fennel, tomatillos, bell peppers and other produce fill the shelves of a cooler.

Beyond the produce, the bulk foods section features grits, polenta, all types of rice, beans, lentils, quinoa, barley – you name it, they’ve probably got it.

A lot of the grains are sourced from the Mississippi Delta, according to Martin.

“We’ve really worked hard to expand the local offerings,” he said.

One of Chicory Market’s most popular items, frozen local peas, can also be bought in bulk.

“People love their peas,” Martin said.

Martin emphasized that Chicory Market isn’t just a place to buy produce or meat, but rather a place where people who care about eating good, fresh food can pretty much get whatever is on their grocery list.

That means things like coffee – from local roasters Heartbreak Coffee and High Point Coffee – as well as breads, honey and house-made nut butters.

The market also works with grocery distributors to get what

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they can’t find locally.

Martin said he felt it was important to stock those things, like avocados and pineapples, despite having them trucked in from elsewhere.

“We try to do it seasonally, that’s kind of the standard,” Martin said.

Outside of Mississippi, Martin said they focus on sourcing regionally. You can find a number of products from North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama at the market.

Market With a Mission

Behind the business is a mission: Support the local food system.

Although Martin and the whole team at Chicory Market are deeply interested in the value of local, organic food in terms of taste and quality, they’re also interested in supporting the local economy.

“Farmers hire people in the community, and they keep money in the community,” Martin said.

They also see the local food movement – and their role in it – as a safeguard against problems that stem from industrial agriculture.

“We think that by diversifying our food shed we can avoid things like the E. coli outbreaks in spinach or like what’s happening now with romaine lettuce,” Martin said. “We think it’s a healthier way to eat from a public health standpoint, and it tastes better.”

But in order to build a support network for local farmers, Mississippians must first understand how to cook with and eat locally-grown ingredients they may be unfamiliar with.

That’s another component of Chicory Market’s work, and something Martin hopes to do more of.

“I think that education piece is very important, because there are so many things that grow here that aren’t part of the native diet,” Martin said.

As for the future, Martin said he hopes to continue expanding local and organic offerings as well as adding to the market’s home and health section.

The market’s kitchen opened in early April, and with that development, more ready-made meals are also on the horizon.

Right now, Martin said they’re keeping things simple with homemade hummus, dips, roasted chicken and other take-home items, a lot of which are Mediterranean-inspired.

“It’s a style of food that uses healthy ingredients you can find locally,” Martin said.

Laurie Stirrat, general manager at Chicory Market, has been drawing on her Louisiana roots, cooking up jumbalaya, gumbo and Creole salad since the kitchen opened.

Stirrat runs the kitchen at the market and used to own Tallulah’s Kitchen, a New Orleans-style restaurant in Oxford.

“This is all just the very beginning,” Martin said. “Our goal is to have a dinner you can take home every day.” M

John Martin and Kate Bishop

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Oxford Farmhouse

by Emma Kent

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mudandmag.com Historic Tupelo 842-6453 | Mall at Barnes Crossing 842-5287 | www.reedsms.com 44 Downtown l

W

hen friends visit Leslie and Pat Coleman’s Oxford home, they often assume the couple bought a turn-of-the-century farmhouse and renovated it.

“That was the biggest compliment,” Leslie said. “There’s something about just feeling a sense of history in a place.”

But in reality, the Colemans’ home was a new build. It’s Leslie’s attention to detail that gives the house its historic charm.

The Colemans bought 150 acres of land just outside of Oxford 27 years ago with the hope of one day building their dream home on it. In December 2016, they decided to go after their dream, making the move from Madison to Oxford.

Many years ago, there was a farmhouse on the land, which the Colemans call “Oak Grove Farm,” not too far from where Leslie and Pat’s home now sits. They paid homage to that old farmhouse in building their new one.

Leslie researched the original structure, aiming to stay true to the farm’s history in her design plans.

“Our purpose in building a home like this was to build a home that looked like it could have been original to the farm,” she said.

The home is full of nods to the farm’s history. A ceiling fan in Pat’s study is a replica of one of the first ceiling fans ever created, which would have been made around the time the original farmhouse was built.

“Most of the light fixtures are antique or made to look antique,” Leslie said.

The floors are reclaimed oak, and the ceilings are bead board, both of which were materials commonly used in the early 1900s. Everything is made from real wood, and all of the doors in the house feature antique hardware.

Subway tile, 1920’s-inspired patterned ceramic floor tiles, antique dressers-turned-vanities and quartz countertops make the kitchen and bathrooms feel modern yet timeless.

Some details weren’t the easiest to execute, like the home’s curved front porch, but Leslie credits their contractor Mickey Babb for being patient and finding a way to bring her ideas to life.

“Not many people are on good terms with their builder when the project is finished, but he got my vision,” she said. “I wanted it to look like the home evolved over time.”

The history element is also at play in the furniture and decor, a lot of which Leslie has been collecting over the years.

“Some of it I had and I didn’t want to get rid of,” she said, pointing to one piece in particular – a dresser that now sits in the living room, passed down from her great grandparents.

It was built in the 1700s and used to be in the hotel her great grandparents owned in Virginia.

There’s also a gallery wall in the master bedroom, which Leslie refers to as her “genealogy wall,” made up of collected photographs of her ancestors.

Many of the home’s rooms are designed around a single piece of furniture or antique accent – like a pair of pocket doors that lead into Pat’s study.

“We kind of designed the study around the doors,” Leslie said.

The house has been a labor of love for Leslie. She had a draftsman create the house plan, but she drew floor plans and made all of the design choices with the help of her husband.

For more photos of the Coleman farmhouse, go to mudandmag.com. mudandmag.com

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“I knew how we live and what we would use our spaces for, so I designed the house around the way we live,” she said. “Everything was designed function-first. Once I got the function and layout down, then I could move on to the aesthetics.”

Leslie even ensured that the house was situated so that each window has a beautiful view of the farm’s fields, trees, gardens and chicken coop.

The project began in December 2016 and took around 18 months altogether. While the house was being built, the Colemans stayed in a cabin they built on the land back in 1997.

They also ended up adding a rental unit to the farmhouse.

It’s connected to the main house but has its own private entrance, kitchenette and bathroom. Leslie said they plan to rent it out on Airbnb, but for now, it serves as extra space when her adult children or other friends and family visit.

“My kids love it,” Leslie said. “When they come here they call it a ‘farm-cation.’”

The Colemans moved in right before Thanksgiving 2017 and hosted their entire family for the holiday, immediately putting their brand new kitchen to the test.

“We had 20 people here, and everyone had a spot to work,” Coleman said. “I thought, ‘We did this right.’”

The farmhouse is a family home. With that in mind, Leslie was careful to factor in dogs, nieces, nephews and grandchildren. They share the home with Molly Jane, a 13-yearold yellow lab, and Elmo, a 20-year-old rescue pup.

She wanted the house to have a “put your feet up” feeling, even with all of the antique elements.

“I wanted it to look like real people live here,” she said. M

Leslie with the family dog, Molly Jane

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Queen's Reward

by Emma Kent

See a video about mead and the bottling process at mudandmag.com.

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J

ust as bees stay busy day in and day out to produce honey, so has Jeri Carter been working toward the opening of her “baby,” as she calls it – Queen’s Reward Meadery in Tupelo.

As it turns out, bees are essential to her

endeavor.

Queen’s Reward, located on McCullough Boulevard in Tupelo, is similar to a winery or brewery, but the final product is mead. It is made at the Tupelo location, and there’s a bar-style lounge area where customers can hang out and enjoy a drink.

Mead is essentially wine made with honey. Instead of

using grapes, honey provides the sugar needed for the fermentation process.

“It’s been around literally forever,” Jeri said. “It predates grape wine and beer by thousands of years. It’s been around, it’s just not been as popular - but it’s on the comeback.”

Currently, Queen’s Reward is operating entirely out of the McCullough Boulevard location. Making the mead, bottling it and creating new flavors in their “test kitchen.”

“It’s a family affair,” Jeri said, joking that her children have permanent spots on the bottling assembly line.

The mead can be bought by the bottle at Queen’s mudandmag.com

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Reward, and they’ll also be able to distribute it to be sold and served at liquor stores and restaurants.

Queen’s Reward has been years in the making. Jeri, who teaches first grade at Saltillo Elementary School, and her husband Geoff Carter began experimenting with making mead several years ago at home.

When Jeri and Geoff first met, Geoff was making homemade wine. He fell out of the hobby for a while until several years ago, when they bought a kit and decided to try it again.

“There aren’t great wine grapes in Mississippi, and I discovered you could make wine with honey – which I had never heard of before – so I said, ‘let’s try it,’” Jeri said.

The Carters experimented and worked at their craft, even traveling to a mead makers conference in Colorado.

Then, they entered a batch of Queen’s Reward mead into a competition. To their surprise, they won two awards.

“We were floored,” Jeri said. “Then we knew we were on the right track.”

Education

With Queen’s Reward being the only meadery in Mississippi, Jeri realizes explaining what mead is will be important to their success.

“A big part of our responsibility is educating people and telling them the history,” she said.

That starts with the packaging. Each bottle is designed to educate. On the label, two small gauges indicate the mead’s flavor from dry to sweet and how the mead should be served, from room temperature to cold.

Beyond the bottle, Queen’s Reward has, naturally, adopted the bee and honeycomb as symbols for the brand. Gold bees and honeycomb adorn everything associated with the meadery, 52

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Finding just the right place to call home is a journey.

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Jeri Carter

from the glasses used for serving to the chair backs at the meadery, right down to the cork in each bottle.

Of course, a visit to Queen’s Reward for a tour will get you familiarized with the process of making it. It takes anywhere from four to six weeks to make a batch of mead from start to finish.

Pretty much all of that time is spent fermenting. During the fermentation process, yeast feeds on the sugar in the honey, producing alcohol. After fermentation comes filtering, which clarifies the mead so it’s clear and ready for drinking.

Mead can be made sweet or dry and infused with flavors, like Queen’s Reward’s lemon-flavored “Pucker Up.” Jeri said they plan to test new flavors in small batches.

She wants to experiment with tropical flavors and juice concentrates as well as berries.

“We can go crazy and we plan to,” she said. “I’m eager for some berries.”

Keeping It Local

Queen’s Reward is what’s known as a native winery, meaning they must use mostly ingredients that are native to the state of Mississippi.

This also applies to specific varieties of honey, like cotton blossom honey, more commonly found in Mississippi.

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For the Carters, it’s an added bonus being able to tell customers exactly where the honey came from.

“That is so cool to me,” Jeri said. “You’re drinking a sip of what the bees are pollinating in your backyard.”

Queen’s Reward’s whole theme is tied to the root of the business – honey – and Jeri wanted to bring that same locallysourced element into the meadery’s interior, too.

“We’ve tried to do as much as possible with Mississippi,” she said.

Bottle labels stacked high in the tank room were made in Jackson. The light fixtures in the bar area were sourced from J. Britt Lighting in Tupelo.

She also had tables custom made by RAW Furniture and concrete tabletops and bar tops created by a craftsman in Saltillo.

It took about six months, but the space has undergone a major transformation. It was formerly a plumbing showroom with no windows, but now it looks and feels inviting with industrial elements like concrete and honeycomb-shaped tiles alongside warm wood, gold and leather accents.

For Jeri, the cherry on top will be a swing hung out front in one of the property’s pecan trees.

“If you need me, I’ll be out there with a glass of mead,” she said. M

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• Chef Spotlight •

Dillon Han City Bagel // Starkville Dillon Han is the chef of City Bagel Café in Starkville. He started his career at the kitchen table with his grandmother, chef and mentor Virginia Lynn. Han, 32, graduated from culinary school in 2008 and has worked with chefs from New England to Mississippi. In 2017, Dillon took the position of Chef de Cuisine at City Bagel Café for a chance to showcase the diverse and flavorful ingredients of Mississippi. After his wife, Emily Lloyd, was accepted into veterinary school at Mississippi State University, he decided to join Ty Thames and the Eat Local Starkville group in Starkville. According to Han,

by Emma Kent

the drive of the restaurant is to create a laid back and familiar atmosphere. Han tries to strike a balance with the menu, making City Bagel a place for all types of people. House-made bagels and creative coffee drinks are served during the day, while nights introduce an Italian-inspired bistro with dishes that include house-made pasta, fresh coastal fish and personal pizzas all using local ingredients. “Italian food is so simple, and that’s what we’re trying to create,” Han said. Han particularly enjoys making the homemade pasta. “There’s a zen to it, and I’m always trying to make it better,” he said.

• Chef Spotlight •

John Mabry Vicari // Corinth Chef John Mabry began cooking at the age of 5 while standing on a stool in his great-aunt's kitchen in Savannah, Tennessee.

"She was an old-fashioned Southern cook," said Mabry, 56.

"She was a baker as well. I'm not."

Mabry has turned that early love of cooking into a profession. In February 2015, he opened Vicari, an Italian restaurant in downtown Corinth.

"The restaurant is named after a town in Palermo in the Italian region of Sicily," he said. "I love Vicari and it's similar in size to Corinth."

Mabry's first job out of college was at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. From there, he went to culinary school at La Mirande in Avignon, France.

"My best friend, who was Italian, decided to go to culinary school in France and I said, 'OK, I will too,'" Mabry said.

He learned classic cooking techniques at La Mirande, but it was his friend's mother and grandmother in Vicari who taught him authentic Italian cooking.

"I learned to make his grandmother's red sauce – it takes five hours – and it's the basis for our lasagna and spaghetti," he said.

"We make 25 gallons a week at the restaurant. There's nothing like a red sauce recipe from an old lady who's been making it for 80 or 90 years."

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Mabry spent 30 years cooking at hotels and restaurants in Manhattan, Florida and Texas. He moved home to Savannah in 2010 to help take care of his mother.

He opened a small restaurant in Savannah, which didn't do well, and then moved to Corinth and opened Chop House at Shiloh Ridge Golf Course, before opening Vicari.

"The response has been incredible from the beginning," Mabry said. "We have a great local clientele and we also draw from a 60- to 70-mile radius."

Customer favorites are steaks, pastas, and the fresh fish, which is delivered three times a week. Offerings include crab and shrimp manicotti, chicken piccata, veal scaloppini, roasted prime rib and lobster ravioli.

"We change our menu every six months, but the standards are always there," he said. "I'd probably get killed if I took them away."

Recently, Mabry added dishes featuring clams, scallops and mussels to the menu.

"I wasn't sure how well they would go over but they've been a great addition to our offerings," he said.

Vicari is a two-story restaurant that can seat 200; it has one private dining room that seats 50.

"Vicari is a destination," Mabry said. "It's a beautiful restaurant and a wonderful addition to Corinth."

by Ginna Parsons

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• Chef Spotlight •

Marshandria Denise Grice Edible Bliss Food Truck & Catering // Baldwyn & Tupelo While living in Chicago, Marshandria Denise Grice had a successful catering business called Edible Bliss. She served mostly gourmet comfort food to her loyal customers.

In 2016, Grice and her husband, Eugene, relocated to Baldwyn for his trucking business. Grice decided to jump back into the culinary field, but she wasn't sure what would go over well in Northeast Mississippi.

"I had done gourmet egg rolls in Chicago and I wanted to do something different down here, but I wasn't sure if people here would accept finger foods," said Grice, 34. "There are limitless things to do with egg rolls."

A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Chicago, Grice began experimenting with a variety of fillings, even doing dessert egg rolls. Today she has about 25 different egg roll combinations that she rotates daily and sells from her food truck, Edible Bliss.

"Our top seller is the the Chicago cheese steak egg roll, which is a mix of steak and chicken with green peppers, onions and Provolone and Mozzarella cheeses," she said. "I have to make sure that one is on the menu every day."

Another popular item is the fiesta taco egg roll, which is seasoned ground beef with salsa and Cheddar cheese that's topped with sour cream, cheese sauce and cilantro.

"We even have a collard green egg roll, which is fresh smoked greens with smoked turkey and a honey hot sauce," she said. "It doesn't get more Southern than that."

Edible Bliss also does private catering (pastas, casseroles, salads, meats and sides) and it features wings from time to time on the food truck as well as dessert cake cups.

"A good one is our Fruity Berry Bliss, which is crumbled strawberry cake topped with cream cheese icing that's drizzled with a strawberry glaze and sprinkled with Fruity Pebbles," Grice said. "It's real simple but it's so good."

Right now, you can find the Edible Bliss food truck at locations in Baldwyn and Tupelo. Grice has help prepping, cooking and cleaning from her husband, and two of her three children, Kison and Khloe (daughter Micah hasn't relocated here yet), as well as other family members.

"Moving down here and starting a food truck was a really great move for me," Grice said. "I think of it as a blessing."

by Ginna Parsons mudandmag.com

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• Chef Spotlight •

Clay Coleman Clay's House of Pig (C.H.O.P.)//Tupelo For the past eight years, Clay Coleman has been selling bait and tackle at a little shop on Veterans Boulevard in east Tupelo.

When he first opened a barbecue restaurant in one side of Clay’s Bait and Tackle a year ago, he was smoking eight Boston butts a week. Now that the word is out, he does somewhere around 75 butts a week, along with four briskets, 40 pounds of sausage, 30 slabs of ribs and 120 pounds of rib tips.

“I could not believe the response and how people were reacting to my food,” said Coleman, 46. “God has just about blessed me to death. But I’m having a ball.”

The meat at C.H.O.P., or Clay’s House of Pig, is cooked on a grill his father made.

“I was probably 6 or so when I helped him build his first grill and we’ve been cooking ever since,” Coleman said. “Me and my brother and my dad are always sharing recipes and rubs and ideas. We’ve been developing our rub for over 40 years.”

His father lives in Tennessee and his brother is in South Carolina. The three used to do the competition circuit, but they’re over that now.

“I’d rather feed friends and family and now customers,” he said. “I always strive to make my food better. I’m a one-trick pony and that’s the only trick I have.”

The grill is on permanent loan from his father.

by Ginna Parsons

“The flavors coming out of Dad’s grill are fantastic,” Coleman said. “I could give somebody that grill and they couldn’t duplicate what we’re doing. I could give somebody my recipes and they couldn’t make it exactly as I make it on their own grill. The grill and our recipes go together.”

The best-seller on the menu is the whole baked potato, which is seasoned with sea salt and black pepper and topped with queso, chopped pork and a Memphis-style barbecue sauce.

Other popular items are the barbecue nachos, ribs, rib tips, brisket, link sausage and, of course, his signature chopped pork.

“We smoke our butts over 100-year-old pecan wood that’s been cured for a minimum of six months,” he said. “When it’s done, it has this black crust on it, so when you chop the meat, you see white meat, dark meat, pink meat and black meat.”

Homemade sides include baked beans, coleslaw and loaded baked potato salad.

“I’d love to be able to serve chicken but I don’t have room to expand the menu because there’s no room to expand the kitchen,” he said. “I’ll expand the menu when I can expand the kitchen.”

Kinfolks

by Emma Kent

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outhern food always pleases. The team at Kinfolks restaurant in Saltillo knows it, which is why they’re sticking to the classics: Think fried chicken, beans, greens and the like.

“We’re just wanting to do simple, countrystyle food like everybody’s used to, like grandma makes,” said Seth Copeland.

Copeland opened Kinfolks along with his chef partner Mikey Hunter and his business partner, Jeremy Lewis.

The three updated the old building on the town’s Main Street to make a home for the restaurant, which opened in March.

Although the building already had a lot of the things needed for it to function as a restaurant, Copeland said they did have to do some work to it before opening.

They totally revamped the kitchen and did some other work, including adding new lighting. The 1930s building features an upstairs and downstairs dining area, with a bar on the second floor. With its historic brick walls, vintage ceiling tiles and other original details, the restaurant feels right at home in Saltillo’s downtown.

The building has been home to several restaurants through the years, including The Elegant Farmer, where Copeland once worked as a server.

Kinfolks serves up a range of country favorites for both lunch and dinner. The restaurant is open for lunch only Monday through Wednesday. Dinner is served Thursday through Saturday, and it is closed on Sunday.

Plate lunches anchor the lunch menu, which changes daily.

The rotating menu can be found posted each day on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

At dinner, steak, shrimp and grits, the porter house pork chop and chicken pasta are favorites.

They’ve also been serving fried quail, a less common dish that Copeland said is becoming more and more popular among customers.

“Everybody that has come in here seems to love everything,” Copeland said.

Copeland said the restaurant has also been dabbling in cajunstyle food, putting that twist on some of the Southern dishes they make.

Although Copeland and Hunter have experience cooking all types of food, Copeland said Kinfolks will likely stick to serving classic Southern fare.

With the addition of the restaurant, Saltillo’s downtown has filled out a little more. The city recently gained Mississippi Main Street status, and its Downtown Main Street Association has been working for a few years now to attract businesses and locals to the area.

“We basically wanted to give these people in Saltillo a great place to eat and a fun place to hang out right here in their own town rather than having to go to Tupelo,” Copeland said.

Kinfolks will eventually host live music and community events. The restaurant can also be rented out for events and occasions.

The trio also own the building next door to the restaurant, and Copeland said they have plans to bring something new to that space for Saltillo residents to enjoy.

“We’re looking forward to growing with the town and seeing which direction they lead us,” Copeland said. M mudandmag.com

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• Buyer’s Guide • The Name That Stands For Quality

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HURRY IN YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS SALE! GIRLS: NEWBORN - SIZE 16 • BOYS: NEWBORN - SIZE 12

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Family Owned & Operated Japanese & Domestic •Complete Automotive Repair •Air Conditioning •Brake Service •Tire Repair Service •Computer Diagnostics •New/Used Tires

Nick Hazel & John B. Hazel

157 Hwy 178 • Tupelo 662-841-2204 (south of Sherman city limits)

• Buyer’s Guide • Make it Special, Make it Sydney’s

ALLEN’S

Heating & Cooling

662-422-8711 | 662-419-8122

3498 Veterans Hwy • Pontotoc

489-7273 Sales, Service and Installation Gas Lines

1114 W MAIN TUPELO, MS 662-841-2839 | 9AM - 5PM

On Location Bridal Party Hair & Makeup. Package Options Include: Hors D'oeuvres, Massage, Lashes, Extensions, & Spray Tans.

Lit’l Sprouts Children’s Consignment Sizes 0-16 (Girls and Boys)

Shabby Chic

Consignment Boutique Sizes 2-26 Janna Grace, Carmen, & Dawson Carnathan

2496 OAK PARK • TUPELO Louisiana Style Home. Offering 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2 half baths, living, dining, den, updated kitchen, breakfast, detached carport, swimming pool, 2 outside storage building.

Many, many amenities. MLS#17-2914.

“FORTY TO FOREVER” SPRING SALE STARTS JUNE 5, 2018

BEA LUCKETT Summer Fashions For The Whole Family That Won’t Break The Bank!

(662) 842-8283 (662) 231-1402

Locally Owned & Operated • Janice & Ken Storey, owners

808 HARRISON STREET • TUPELO (662) 840-9909 404 NORTH GLOSTER | TUPELO, MS 38801

Open Wed.-Fri. 10:30-6:00/Sat. 10:30-2:30

TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI 662-842-8283 mudandmag.com l 67

• Explore Corinth •

Update your space piece by piece.

New arrivals often with unbelievable pricing.

Designer services available.

1009 Taylor Street Corinth, MS 38834

622.287.3770 Tues-Fri 10-5 • Sat 10-3

Fashion for those who love something different. Celebrating our 38th year with women who love superb quality, fit and style.

OF CORINTH

1808 E. Shiloh Rd., | Corinth, MS | 662-287-3606

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Tuesday - Saturday - 10:00 - 5:30

GENERAL DENTISTRY

Edward S. Knight DDS Mark R. Mazurkiewicz DMD C. William Bailey DMD Tiffany T. Hollingsworth DMD Jackie S. McClain DDS 896 Hwy 2 • Kossuth, MS

662.331.2503 www.hazelandeast.com Find us on Facebook!

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Dental Arts of Corinth

662-287-3156 Open Monday-Friday 8am - 5pm 1025 Foote Street, Corinth, MS

516 E. Waldron Corinth, MS

286-5597

Farmhouse Market & Coffee

by Michaela Morris

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Come see Us at Our New Location!!

705 West Main St | Tupelo Between Stones Jewelry & Family Dollar Store

The Perfect Treat for Any Day or Occasion!

We Have Balloons!

FREE Local Delivery

Let Us Help You Design Your Outdoor Space!

Poppin’ it Fresh for 46 years!

702 East President • Tupelo

662-844-1660 www.caramelcornshop.com

SENTER TRANSIT MIX DIVISION OF CONCRETE INDUSTRIES, INC.

401 Elizabeth St., Tupelo 70

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662-842-7305

B

arrett Edens traveled the country in search of birdies, then came home to the cows.

Farmhouse Market and Coffee in West Point was born out of his experiences on the road as a professional golfer and his family’s long history of cattle ranching.

The butcher shop and coffee bar opened its doors in a former bank building in October and has developed a loyal following for locally-raised beef and pork, tasty coffee and creative daily specials “It’s worked out really well,” Edens said. “The amount of support from West Point has been amazing.”

Beef and coffee might seem a surprising combination, but it's working for Edens.

“Coffee goes really well with beef,” he said. Their daily specials have included a steak sauce with coffee and a coffeebased rub.

Farmhouse Market is a unique place, he said. It offers locally sourced dry-aged beef from Edens’ family farm in Okolona and free-range pork from Homeplace Pastures in Como, as well as USDA Prime and Wagyu beef, specialty, single-source coffee and locally made gifts.

“You can drive through and get your latte and two pounds of

ground beef,” Edens said.

When he opened in October, Edens initially resisted cooking, but his customers kept asking him what was for lunch. Bowing to public demand, he began offering one special each day, along with breakfast biscuits and toast. Some of the favorites have included Mac and Cheese burger, steak quesadillas and Philly steak sandwiches. Smoked briskets and short ribs have been a hit, selling out every weekend.

“Everything comes out of our own case,” Edens said.

He loves to keep it as local as possible. The milk for coffee comes from Beason Family Farms in Philadelphia. The shop offers handmade wooden spoons and candles from the Blackford River Company in Prairie, Delta Blue rice and Double D Farms honey, jams and jellies.

The Journey

His appreciation for locally produced foods developed in part through his travels while playing golf for Mississippi State and then on a professional tour. His journey took him to cool towns with intriguing food shops and coffee bars.

“In Mississippi, we don’t have a lot of that yet,” Edens said.

When he decided his future wasn’t on the fairways, he

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leaned on family tradition.

“We’ve been in the cattle business forever,” Edens said.

Edens’ passion for eating local began about four or five years ago when he began focusing on his health. His family started raising a few cows for their own table, focusing on sustainable practices with cows grazing, not just eating grain.

“It was amazing how much better it tasted and how much better we felt,” Edens said.

It takes more resources to produce beef that way, and the finished product costs more.

“I had to convince people (locally, sustainably produced beef) was worth the extra money,” Edens said. “Luckily, I have a lot of friends.”

One of the great challenges for executing his vision was finding an experienced butcher. Edens’ background in cattle ranching didn’t include the art of being a butcher. He connected with Rick Baldwyn, who had worked with his father Pappy Baldwyn to run a family grocery store in West Point for years. Pappy frequently visits to share his secrets of the trade.

“They have 68 years of experience,” Edens said. “It’s been a lot of fun to learn from them.”

While the coffee doesn’t have Mississippi roots, it does have a special story and connection with the farmers that produce it. The coffee comes from Seeds, a Birmingham-based not-forprofit coffee company. Its single source roasts are produced through sustainable fair trade partnership.

“They do a great job of supporting farmers,” Edens said.

Business has done well, and Edens is already considering expanding the kitchen as well as the product lines.

“I’ve got more ideas than I have time for,” Edens said. M

Barrett Edens

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Customer Satisfaction Among QSR Pizza Chains in the American Customer Satisfaction Index ACSI 2015

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Dustin Shields

Microgreens

by Emma Kent

Dustin Shields is the face of One Feller Farms, a small business he has made growing microgreens at his Amory home. Microgreens are young vegetable greens that are harvested early. Shields grows microgreens from purple cabbage, red-veined sorrel, arugula, sunflowers, kale and a range of other plants. So far, Shields delivers his microgreens to restaurants in Tupelo and Starkville. They are also available at Food Giant in Amory and Todd’s Big Star grocery store in Tupelo. This summer, Shields will also be selling some of his greens at the Tupelo Farmer’s Market.

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What are microgreens?

Exactly what they sound like – mini vegetable greens.

Microgreens are young vegetable greens, harvested after sprouting as shoots.

How do you eat microgreens?

Microgreens are so versatile. They can be added to salads and sandwiches in place of other types of greens or paired with meat as a complementary garnish. They can be added to omelettes, smoothies or anything else you might add greens to.

Do they have unique flavors?

While some types of microgreens taste similar, many of them do have distinct flavors. Microgreens grown from sunflower seeds, for example, have a nutty flavor, while arugula microgreens have a bitter flavor.

Some, like wasabi greens, really pack a punch. M To read the full story with Shields, check out mudandmag.com.

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hope

healing

The North Mississippi Medical Center cancer team gives hope for the future.

When diagnosed with cancer, every available resource is devoted toward your recovery. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re the only program in the region that brings together the entire cancer team to review new cases and prescribe the best course of treatment. Add to that the knowledge gained from our association with UAB Health System Cancer Community Network. Now, all the brightest minds, newest innovations and latest breakthroughs are working together to improve your outcome, and your outlook toward life.

What connected feels like ^

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Learn more at nmhs.net/cancer_care or call 1-800-THE DESK

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