It is a glorious fall in Mississippi with cool, crisp air and the perfect time to enjoy an easy dinner with a few friends you have missed over the summer. Serve flavorful food favorites among a feast for the eyes of seasonal décor of rusty orange tulips, alstroemeria lilies, lime hydrangeas, and ruby-colored berries arranged in gold-leaf containers placed on a bed of autumn leaves, lush green fern frons, pinecones, berries, dried seed pods, bittersweet, and feathers.
The table is a vision of a collection of colors and textures gathered from a walk in the woods. Place settings layer the natural beauty of Juliska Forest Walk dinner plates encircled with vines, berries, ferns, and feathers topped with cream linen hem-stitched napkins held by rustic vine napkin rings featuring ferns, feathers, berries, and bark accents resting on golden wire laurel leaf charger mats with Cambridge contemporary golden stainless flatware. Guests discover their places at the table by small golden leaf place-card holders with bittersweet berries. To complete each place setting, leaf-shaped biscuits and butter pats are offered on fall-hued Juliska leaf plates.
The meal begins with savory Cheese Soup and Harvest Salad featuring roasted butternut squash, green apples, and walnuts. The main course menu offers Chicken Turnovers, Wild Rice with Cranberries and Pecans, Asparagus with Pine Nuts, and Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups, creating a pretty presentation on each plate. The dessert is White Chocolate Bread Pudding, a favorite family recipe from the mother of Christy Gant of Winona. Christy says, “The first time I ate my mother’s White Chocolate Bread Pudding, I was pretty sure I would be in Heaven when I opened my eyes! It was that good! My mother was beautiful and a wonderful cook. She didn’t want compliments on her looks, but she did want compliments for her cooking.” And when you serve this bread pudding, you are certain to collect many compliments. It really is that delicious.
Enjoy a Mississippi fall evening of special fellowship, a beautiful walk-in-the-woods natural table, and delicious seasonal food. Memories are made of pleasant moments in time, such as those with special friends.
Menu
Cheese Soup
Harvest Salad
Chicken Turnovers
Wild Rice with Cranberries and Pecans
Asparagus with Pine Nuts
Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups
Biscuits
Apricot Nectar Tea
White Chocolate Bread Pudding
Cheese Soup
3 tablespoons margarine
1 bunch green onions, chopped (including small white bulbs)
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 (14.5-ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 pound Velveeta cheese, cut into pieces
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups milk
Dash Tabasco Sauce
Salt, black pepper, and white pepper to taste
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt margarine, and sauté onions and celery until tender. Whisk in flour. Add broth, soup, Velveeta cheese, cheddar cheese, and milk. Stir until melted and combined. Add Tabasco Sauce, salt, and peppers. Heat over low heat until soup is warm. Add a little additional milk if soup is too thick.
Yield: 14 to 16 servings
Harvest Salad
1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Salt to taste
16 ounces spring salad mix with fresh baby spinach
1 green apple, cut into small pieces
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts
Vinaigrette Dressing:
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For squash, in a bowl, toss together squash, 1 tablespoon oil, cinnamon, and salt. Spread evenly on a parchment-lined baking pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until fork tender and caramelized; set aside. For vinaigrette, in a bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper. For salad, toss greens, squash, apples, cranberries, and walnuts. Drizzle with dressing just before serving.
Yield: 8 servings
Chicken Turnovers
4 cups cooked chicken breasts, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
¾ cup mayonnaise
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 (8-ounce) cans crescent-roll dough sheets
½ stick salted butter, melted
¾ cup fine breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, place chicken; drizzle with lemon juice. Stir in soup, mayonnaise salt, and peppers until blended. Unroll each package of crescent rolls, and cut them into 4 equal pieces. Place ½ cup chicken mixture in the center of each dough rectangle. Fold dough over filling, and press dough edges together to seal—place packets on parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Yield: 8 servings
Wild Rice with Cranberries and Pecans
1 (6.2-ounce) package long grain and wild rice ready rice
1 (8.8-ounce) package original ready rice
½ stick salted butter
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
1 (6-ounce) package dried cranberries
In microwave, prepare each rice package according to package directions. In a bowl, place both rice packets, and stir in butter, salt, toasted pecans, and dried cranberries.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Asparagus with Pine Nuts
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1½ pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper.
In a skillet, toast pine nuts stirring constantly until golden; set aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Arrange asparagus in a 9×13-inch baking dish greased with olive oil. Sprinkle with zest and salt. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once. Season with pepper, and sprinkle with pine nuts.
Yield: 8 servings
Gayla Stone, Ridgeland
Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups
2 (24-ounce) packages frozen steam-and-mash sweet potatoes
½ stick salted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons orange zest
½ teaspoon salt
4 oranges, cut into halves, fruit removed
½ cup toasted pecans
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Steam potatoes according to package directions. In a bowl, with a potato masher, mash cooked potatoes and butter. Stir in brown sugar, maple syrup, orange zest, and salt. Pour into greased 9 x 11-inch baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and spoon into hollowed orange cups. Sprinkle with toasted pecans.
Yield: 8 to 12 servings
Biscuits
3 cups buttermilk biscuit mix
1 stick salted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, add mix and butter pieces over top. With a pastry blender, cut butter into mix. When crumbly, add milk and mix in with a fork. Form dough into a ball and knead on a floured board a few times. Let dough rest for 5 minutes. On a floured surface, roll dough with a floured rolling pin to 1-inch thick. Cut dough with a cutter and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush biscuits with melted butter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Yield: 16 biscuits
Emily Black, Indianola
Apricot Nectar Tea
6 family-size tea bags
4 sprigs fresh mint
¾ cup sugar
1 (12-ounce) can frozen lemonade, thawed
4 (11½-ounce) cans apricot nectar
1 teaspoon almond extract
For garnish: fresh mint
In a gallon container, place tea bags, mint, and 2 cups cold water; set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Remove from heat, and pour over tea bags—cover and steep for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags and mint. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Add lemonade, apricot nectar, and almond extract. Chill, serve over ice and garnish with fresh mint.
Yield: 1 gallon
White Chocolate Bread Pudding
This is Winona’s famous bread pudding recipe from Christy Gant’s mother that “will make you think you have died and gone to Heaven.”
1 (16-ounce) loaf French bread torn into pieces
4 cups milk
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla
Ground Cinnamon
Sauce:
6 ounces white chocolate chips
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place French bread pieces into greased 9×13-inch baking dish. In a bowl, stir together milk, sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla. Pour over bread and let bread soak until saturated. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes until bubbly and golden brown. For sauce, place chips and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on low at 30-second intervals until melted. Remove, and whisk in confectioners’ sugar and whipping cream. Drizzle sauce over individual servings.
Yield: 12-14 servings
Christy Gant, Winona
Resources
Wire laurel leaf gold charger mats from shopartisantablewareco.com;
Juliska Forest Walk china available at BellaChes, Ridgeland, Everyday Gourmet, Jackson, and The Finery, Jackson; vintage linen napkins from Bloomingdeals, Jackson
Napkin rings are created from 3-inch rustic grapevine wreaths wrapped with tiny gold ribbons featuring ferns, feathers, berries, and bark accents attached with hot glue.
