I ran across this cookbook a few summers ago when I was working at Lemuria. I would now say it is one of the most used cookbooks I own. Simply Salads by Jennifer Chandler is just what you need to go along with any meal. It gives you a zillion different salad recipes and they are all so easy.

I must first tell you that these recipes include prepacked greens. Talk about easy. I am all about eating locally, after all I’ve grown up with it. My mother writes a local food blog, Ms. Cook’s Table. Check it out here. So you can use the greens suggested or you can always go to your local farmer’s market and get your own.

There is a section for every kind of salad imaginable. Poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit and slaws are just a few. There are such good dressings that include few ingredients so I feel certain you can make from what you have in your pantry.

I’ve made several salads from this cookbook. My favorite-and one that many people have asked the recipe for- is the hearts of palm salad. For this salad, you are to make a red onion vinaigrette. Prior to serving, the onion rings soak in the vinaigrette for at least 30 minutes. It is delicious.

Langdon Clay, a favorite of ours here at Lemuria, did the photography for this book. As if the recipes are not good on their own, his pictures help sell this book.

Here are a few other great recipes in this book:

Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs and Fig Vinaigrette

BBQ Chicken Salad with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Grilled Pork Tenderloin Salad with Apricot Balsamic Vinagrette

Pink Lady Apple Slaw

Hungry yet?  -Quinn

A Guest Blog by Author Mike Frascogna

Played November 7, 1964 at Scooba, the undefeated Lions were beaten by arch-rival Jones County Junior College 32-13 to spoil East Mississippi’s trip to the Junior Rose Bowl and a shot at the National Championship.

During the game Scooba’s All-American quarterback, Bill Buckner, was sent to the hospital with a severely broken jaw. Public opinion seemed to favor the notion that the incident on the field involving Buckner’s injury was an intentional act of violence to get him out of the game. The teams discontinued playing each other for ten years before resuming play.

JUCOS: The Toughest Football League in America

Signing: Thursday, December 15 at 6:00

About 30 years ago, on my daughter’s 4th birthday my friendship with Barry Moser began in Dallas, Texas. Being a new dad and not wanting to be away from Saramel, I took her to the bookseller market. A cocktail party for Barry was in our hotel, so off we went. The tuxedo clad Moser and Saramel in her yellow dress hit it off, Barry signed Alice prints for Saramel that night and they have hung in her room ever since.

Barry and I maintained our friendship and in a few years he came South for his Wizard of Oz. Barry was all into One Writer’s Beginnings, so we went to visit Eudora for an afternoon beverage of old weller. The result was the illustrated edition of The Robber Bridegroom, which Lemuria opened nationally.

A few years later, after reading Willie Morris’s Baseball Prayer, Barry collaborated with Willie on a book. The result was the special A Prayer for the Opening of the Little League Season. My 11-year-old team was the subject of the illustrations as Barry hung out at the ball fields, taking photos to influence his paintings. Barry gave the original art to Lemuria and it still hangs in OZ-our children’s room.

Through the years Barry has given Lemuria much art that hangs in our store including a self-portrait in a Lemuria t-shirt. Barry also graciously dedicated his children’s book illustrations for Appalachia to Lemuria: A Voice in the Wilderness.

A celebrated Moser event was when his master work The Holy Bible came out. We chose the trade edition for our First Editions Club. The limited edition in two volumes is the most beautiful book we have in our inventory for sale.

So to say that Barry is our pal seems too slight, for he is truly a Lemurian. He loves our store and we all love Barry and his work. Lemuria is excited to have him hanging around and signing books this weekend.

And we must not forget, he absconded one of Lemuria’s pretty booksellers, Emily, to be his wife and became a Yankee bookseller at Odyssey Bookshop in Massachusetts. Emily will be hanging around too, once again selling books for Lemuria.

.

Old friends and new ones come to meet and visit with this special couple who love to talk, share and live books as an integral part of their lives.

Saturday at Noon Neil White will be signing Mississippi’s 100 Greatest Football Players with Kayo Dottley.

Neil tells the story in this Lemuria guest post:

Kayo Dottley ran a 9.7 second 100-yard dash in 1946. Two college coaches attended his high school graduation — Bear Bryant and Johnny Vaught. Both were desperate to sign Dottley. His father wanted him to sign with Bryant; his mother, Vaught. Kayo did what his mother said.

In 1948 at Ole Miss, Dottley rushed for 1000. But he and Vaught had a scare the following summer. Dottley’s name came up for the draft. Vaught wasn’t going to hear of his top running back going off to Korea. So the legendary coach let Dottley borrow his car so he could go sign up for the National Guard in his hometown — and stay in the U.S. for the following season. Once at the National Guard recruiting center, the officer in charge of physical fitness tests asked Dottley to do a deep knee bend. He bent down, winced with pain and let out a yelp (he’d injured his knee in practice).

When Dottley returned to Oxford, Vaught asked, “Did you get signed up?”

“No,” Dottley told him, “they said I was unfit for service.”

The following fall, Dottley rushed for 1,312 yards — still a single-season Ole Miss record.

As a rookie running back in the NFL, Dottley led the Chicago Bears in rushing. It’s a little-known fact that he was the first rookie ever asked to play in the Pro Bowl.

Kayo Dottley might very well be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame but for a freak accident on a windy Chicago night. As Dottley was waiting for his car outside a Chicago hotel, a drunken valet ran a car up on the curb and pinned Dottley’s legs between two cars.

George Halas, certain Dottley’s career was over, wrote that he was the finest running back he had ever coached.

.

Meet the legend at noon on Saturday at Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson.

He’ll be signing Mississippi’s 100 Greatest Football Players of All Time (Nautilus: $45).

BeanFruit is something that everybody at Lemuria is really excited about. In this blog post we’re going to tell you a little bit about our own experience with BeanFruit coffee.

First, here’s Joe:

I know the exact day I met Paul Bonds. It was April 26 and I was selling books at a Millsaps event. Paul was there giving away coffee samples and once the event started and the crowd cleared out I made my way over to check it out. Two things – one, love at first sip, the coffee is amazing. Two, Paul is a great guy, unassuming, and the best representative for a coffee roasting company that I could imagine. Basically Paul is a coffee genius – sometimes when I’m drinking coffee I try to think of any coffee related questions I can imagine, but I can’t stump Paul. Not only does he have an answer, but he patiently explains things over and over until I get it – he’s a great teacher. One final thing – I keep telling Paul that he has changed my life but he just shrugs me off. But seriously – everyday I get to wake up to the purest, freshest (he stamps the roasting date on each bag) most lovingly picked and roasted cup of coffee imaginable. Pretty great.

Here is a little blurb to tell you more about BeanFruit:

BeanFruit Coffee Company is small roasting company located in Flowood, Mississippi. They select & roast high quality coffee from around the globe. BeanFruit Coffee Co. is Mississippi’s only Fair Trade Certified roaster & primarily works with small farms and/or Fair Trade farms ensuring that the producers at origin receive a fair price for their coffee. They focus on offering high quality Single Origin/Single Estate coffees. BeanFruit Coffee Co. believes in keeping the spotlight on the coffee farmers where it is rightly deserved & works diligently to build a connection between the producer and the end consumer.

BeanFruit Coffee has a heart for the local & international community. They donate 15 cents of each pound of green coffee purchased to We Will Go Ministries in downtown Jackson, Mississippi & Grounds for Health a non-profit who provides cervical cancer screenings & treatment for women of coffee producing countries. Paul, the roaster at BeanFruit Coffee, believes that every cup of coffee we enjoy tells a story about a country, a person, their hard work and sacrifice. Hence their motto: Coffee. Character. Cause

Lisa: I was not a coffee drinker until I drank BeanFruit. So not only has the world of coffee been opened up for me, but I have forever impressed my sweetie with a new coffee. Right now, Lemuria is really busy and we had a late night with David Sedaris. All I can think is that I wish I had a cup of BeanFruit. But that we’ll be remedied, at least for tomorrow. Paul will be setting up a coffee tasting bar in Banner Hall right outside of Lemuria. You can learn all about the coffee and taste the different beans. Lemuria is also proud to announce that on Saturday we start selling BeanFruit Whole Bean Coffee in the store.

Join us and Paul at the coffee tasting bar in Banner Hall on Saturday from 10:30 – 3:00. See you there!

Click here to learn more about BeanFruit Coffee.