Mindy Henderson - The Great Southern Food Festival Cookbook: Celebrating Everything from Peaches to Peanuts, Onions to Okra

MINDY B. HENDERSON by Bryan Curtis and Mindy B. Henderson, 2008 All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com. Page design by Walter Petrie Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Henderson, Mindy B., 1960
The great Southern food festival cookbook : celebrating everything from peaches to peanuts, onions to okra / Mindy Henderson, Bryan Curtis.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4016-0361-8
1. 2. 2.

FestivalsSouthern States. I. Curtis, Bryan, 1960 II. Title.
TX715.2.S68H46 2008
641.5975dc22 2008005114 Printed in the United States of America 08 09 10 11 12 QW 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Thank you to my friend for life, Bryan Curtis, for helping me collect information and recipes for this book. Another fun adventure for us to add to our list, Bryan! Thank you also to my mom, Carolyn Jenkins Booth, who instilled in me, through her great cooking, the love of good Southern food. Thanks, Mom! Hospitalitythe friendly reception of guests or strangersdefines the South.

Whether having company over for dinner, taking food to someone who feels under the weather, or maybe just easing someones day with a smile or a wave of the hand, Southerners are famous for their hospitality. But in many places across the South, Southern hospitality gets done up really big once a year when Southerners host a festival that might bring thousands or sometimes hundreds of thousands of people to town for a visit. While you will find all kinds of festivals around the South honoring everything from music to mules, it is the food festival that really helps define a town and its people. These festivals in many cases started as a way to honor local farmers, and thats one reason many still exist today. But the festivals do so much more; they put a spotlight on an entire communitycity government, local cooks, high school bands, and local artists, just to name a few. As you read through the pages of this book, you will see plenty of chances to eat good food at any of the 75 Southern food festivals included here.

But if you stop at the food, youll miss not only every kind of beauty pageant you can imagine, but also such delightful traditions as toilet seat horseshoes, hog calling, cow chip bingo, greased pole climbing, Elvis impersonators, parades, eating contests, and even outhouse races. Southern food festivals reveal the very personality of the town and of the people who throw these huge parties. As I gathered the material for this book, I had the good fortune to talk with many of the people involved in the planning of these Southern food festivals. All of them share one vital characteristic: pride in their community and the festival they help put on. And they were all very excited to know that readers of this book who might never have heard about the Irmo Okra Strut or the RC and Moon Pie Festival will now know a little more about themand even bettermight make a trip there some time soon. AUTHORS NOTE: At the time of the publication of this book, all the information provided about each festival was correct. AUTHORS NOTE: At the time of the publication of this book, all the information provided about each festival was correct.

Before planning a trip to one of these wonderful events, please consult the festival Web site or the local chamber of commerce for updated information. WHERE: Winter Haven, Florida WHEN: Third Thursday in January through the following Sunday
(an 11-day festival) The Florida Citrus Festival began in 1924 and draws an estimated 150,000 people each year to its various events. This festival, a part of the Polk County Fair, combines traditional fair events such as livestock shows, midway rides, and every kind of food you can imagine with activities specific to the citrus festival, including four different beauty pageants, karaoke competitions, a battle of the bands, a citrus cooking competition, and one of the festival highlightsthe grapefruit packing contest. For more information, please visit www.citrusfestival.com.DID YOU KNOW? Almost all of the flowers on a citrus tree fall off. Less than 1 percent remain and become fruit. Southern Lemon Pound Cake Cake:3 cups all-purpose flour1/8 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/2 cup vegetable shortening1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened3 cups sugar5 eggs1 tablespoon lemon flavoring1 cup milkFrosting:1 pound confectioners sugar1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened2 tablespoons lemon juice, at room temperature For the cake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. In a separate large bowl, mix the shortening, butter, and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Add the lemon flavoring and beat for 30 seconds. Add portions of the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, and beat until completely mixed. Pour the mixture into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt or tube pan, and bake for 80 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool. For the frosting, sift the confectioners sugar into a medium bowl. Mix in the cream cheese. Add the lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until the frosting reaches spreading consistency. Spread the frosting on the cooled cake. MAKES 12 SERVINGS Florida Citrusade 6 lemons, divided6 oranges, divided4 limes3 quarts water1 1/2 cups sugar Combine the juice from 5 of the lemons, 5 of the oranges, and the limes in 1-gallon pitcher.

Thinly slice the remaining 1 lemon and the remaining 1 orange and set aside. Add the water and sugar to the pitcher and mix well. Chill thoroughly and refrigerate until ready to serve. Pour into glasses over ice and serve with the orange and lemon slices. MAKES ABOUT 1 GALLON Orange Pecan Pound Cake 1 cup vegetable shortening3 cups sugar6 eggs3 cups all-purpose flour1/4 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt1 (8-ounce) container sour cream1 1/2 tablespoons orange extract1 cup chopped pecansConfectioners sugar (optional) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan.

Cream the shortening in the bowl of a mixer. Gradually add the sugar, beating well at medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.