La Revue- My Discovery Path

Not everyone has outdoor areas to enjoy while we are trying to social distance. Truly I am grateful for my garden and outdoor areas. During the walk about with Mennu, I discovered berries were popping up. In a short time I managed to walk around and collect 4 cups of berries.

Berries were screaming, “Introduce me to your mint.” Before I knew it, Grill Man was at the counter offering his two cents about rum selections for the cocktail. Never one to ignore advice from my elders, I grabbed “Papa’s Pilar Rum” for his cocktail.

La Revue Dining With Mimi Cocktail:

Mimi’s Garden Berry Mint Cocktail (recipe for 1)

Tall Vintage Glass
Several springs mint
1/2 Teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup fresh berries (washed)
2 oz Papa Pilar’s Rum
Ice
1/3 cup Simple Syrup

Mint Simple syrup recipe: (Syrup for several cocktails)

Add 2 cups water and 1 cup sugar to a small pot. Allow water to boil and remove from heat. Add in leaves from one sprig of mint. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add a couple of cubes of ice and set aside.

Cocktail

1-Wash mint and allow to dry. Place in a glass until its needed.
2-In a tall slender glass add mint leaves from couple of sprigs of mint.
3-Add sugar to the glass. With a muddler mash the sugar into the mint repeatedly. This friction will help release the mint magic and flavor.
4-Add berries to to the glass and continue to muddle mint while mashing the berries.
5-Add rum to the party guests in your glass.
6-Fill glass with ice .
7-Pour 1/3 cup of simple syrup to the cocktail.

Stir well and taste. Repeat as necessary.

Papa’s Pilar Rum Key West Distillery

Oddly when I saw the berries I immediately thought about the first mojitos that I ever tasted in Key West Florida. They were delightful and I am eager to return to that area so I may paddleboard in that gorgeous water. Something about the berries reminded me of mint although my first mojito did not contain any berries.

Grill Man’s Rum selection of Papa’s Pilar Rum is a perfect match since the distillery is located in Key West. Ernest Heminghay would be proud of the conservation efforts from Papa’s Pilar Rum. According to Markets Insider, “Papa’s Pilar was developed in conjunction with Ernest Hemingway’s estate, and the Hemingway family graciously donates a majority of its proceeds from Papa’s Pilar Rum to charity.“

Certainly, I love this quote from Hemingway, “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is. ” While you’re in lockdown from covid’s contagion tap into your creative side and make do with what you have.

Start with a few ingredients and think about your choices. Consult your cookbooks and see what options you have available. Adjust and substitute as necessary. Plato’s quote “Necessity is the mother of invention” says it all.

So what are you “berry thankful” for?

La Revue- Music

During this covid dilemma, La Revue Dining With Mimi 3 could not miss including music. Of course, 30a Songwriters Festival is all about the music with over 200 plus singer songwriters vying for your time. Once you have the music list and schedule it is hard to nail down who to see . Most important, you have your old favs that you don’t want to miss. Yet maybe a new fav is waiting patiently for you.

Never does the 30a Songwriters Festival ever disappoint. Reverend Shawn Amos and The Brotherhood is my new favorite artist from the January 2020 event. This band is soulful and engaging. Band is filled with talent and artistry that stands out, unique in a world filled with musicians.

The Reverend vibrated the walls with his energy. His confident control of the music and audience exudes that “it” that every musician desires. Before we knew what hit us he sauntered into the audience and blew us away with this harmonica. As if on cue, the crown parted and he perched on top of a bar table with finesse of a sly cat.

A soulful voice that belts out the truth of the world. Since you’re unable to go to church in this covid colored world, check out his soulful songs of love and freedom.

If I could do a house concert with this band, I would be a happy girl. Hello universe and Shawn, are you listening? Music touches our hearts and memories in a way that feeds the soul. When you need a pick me up, check out their music. Reverend Shawn Amos and The Brotherhood have a new album titled “Blue Sky”.

La Revue- Recipe

La Revue Dining With Mimi 3 of course would include loquat recipes. Loquats are still bursting from our trees with wild abandon. Granny’s saying of “waste not want not” shouts at me as I see the fruit hanging waiting their turn to be picked. My breakfast for days has been a loquat and bananna smoothie. I am convinced that it is giving me energy and nutrition.

Yet still the fruit looms waiting its turn. Grill Man has been my official guinea pig with the different recipes that I have created sweet and savory. Loquats are luscious and hold up well in everything. Check out my two latest concoctions.

Sun Kiss Loquat Cobbler

Sun Kiss Loquat Sauce

La Revue – Reading

For the last year I have been reading a ton of non-fiction books for a project that I am working on. In my research for this project, I found Sarah Morgan, The Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman. Sarah started the civil war as a young woman protected by parents and siblings. Soon all of that would change in her world of Baton Rouge Louisiana.

In the reading of this diary, the content has given fine details of life as a southern woman of privilege. For anyone that wants to hop into a time machine, it is always a given that you want to travel back loaded with wealth. As hard as we imagine our life is today, life in the past wins the medal for difficulty.

As I am trying to navigate my covid colored world today, the diary offers a reminder of struggles that our forebears dealt with during the Civil War. Our freedoms that we enjoy today are precious and should not be given up lightly.

Well that’s a wrap La Revue Dining With Mimi 3. Who knows how this covid colored episode will change life as we know it? Do you think anything will change about our day to day life after covid? What are you reading during this time ? What tools are you using to maintain your sanity? Well, I have Mimi’s Garden Berry Mint cocktails.

Stay safe,
With love from Mimi’s Kitchen

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La Revue- Experience

All over the USA, we have a wide variety of activities and events that are offered for our pleasure. (Although at the moment they are shelved until Covid19 settles on down) Yet, I think that sometimes we stay within our little corner and participate only with events that we know well. I urge you to step out of your box and select an activity that is new.

Last week, Chi-Girl, Red, Racer and I met up in Mobile one evening after work. Our mission included a quick bit to eat and then pop over to USA Campus for comedian Erin Jackson. Did I mention the show was free?

We all met at Via Emilia on Old Shell for dinner. This was my first visit to this restaurant and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Although the interior is modest and small they also have an outdoor seating area. Upon entering the fragrant smell of hot baked bread greets you at the door.

Quickly the four of us settled in, ordered our meal and a bottle of wine. While we were waiting for Eggplant Emilia to arrive we were able to catch up and share some girl talk. Over a glass of red medicine we talked and laughed. I for one inhaled my fresh hot bread that I slathered in olive oil and spices. Hot bread with a meal just makes you feel better.

Who is Erin Jackson?

Everyone enjoyed the Italian food, wine and conversation. Before we knew it was time to head over to USA to see Erin Jackson perform. Chi-Girl, Red and I sauntered in with our very own USA Alumni to lead us to our laugh session.

Soon Erin joined the stage and started her routine. The Washington Post describes Erin as “The tell-it-to-you-straight girlfriend every woman should have in her crew.” Erin is from Brooklyn and performs often in New York. All of us laughed at her NYC attitude and Erin-isms.

Certainly the wine and food was good. Erin’s thoughts on life made all of us laugh out loud. My favorite part of the evening boiled down to a night out with my girlfriends. No matter where you live, your local colleges offer free to low cost events. Step out of your box and organize something different for your girlfriends to enjoy. (You have plenty of time to plan while Covid19 is wreaking havoc.)

La Revue- Recipe

This weekend my parents stopped in for a visit before their quarantine started. We had a lovely visit. I cooked a Sunday lunch for all of us including my brother and nephews. Spending quality time with family is important.

For lunch I created a marinated coleslaw, Unprocessed Candied Jalapeno Coleslaw. Whether you call it a crunchy coleslaw, salad or side dish it is delicious. Let me know what you think.

La Revue- Favorite Reading

With the corona virus AKA Covid 19 challenging the world as a pandemic, we have displayed our underbelly in rare form. From hoarding toilet paper and antibacterial gel we have crossed over into dangerous territory. No matter how Covid 19 shakes out in the end, we must get a grip on handling difficult situations.

Covid 19 could create other issues like delivery of our medicines could be impacted. NPR reported “That’s because the vast majority of active ingredients in medicines dispensed in the U.S. are made in factories overseas, many in China. ” How would your health sustain without meds?

Besides the medicine, do you wonder how safe our food supply is? Will the food supply continue to be consistent and healthy? Please read the book, Farmacology by Dr Daphne Miller, M.D. It is “Total Health from the Ground Up.” Dr Miller believes in “food as medicine” and the book reveals how the ecology of our bodies and farms are linked.

Buying from local farms will support the communities and ensures access and sustainability. When is the last time you purchased something from a local farm? If you don’t start supporting them now they may NOT be around later. Do we really want to be dependent solely on other countries or corporate America?

La Revue- My Discovery path

Overall I was a good student. In the 8th grade I struggled with my Math teacher although I was not alone. Her style of hard, fast and then move on quickly did not work well with my brain. Heaven help if you were brave enough to ask questions. She would sigh and then quickly run through the problem on the chalkboard.

This exercise would be directly followed by a glare that would burn holes in your psyche. A temporary burn but I remember it still even today. This teacher loved students that excelled in Math. I needed Math instruction that catered to my brain and its ability to process.

Neither of us understood how to help me. When I finished this school year, I was thrilled to be leaving her behind. It would be a very long time before I realized I had a touch of ADHD. Along with the natural aspects of ADHD a suitcase of stigma and shame ride along as well.

Over time you adapt, adjust and learn how to navigate with the blessings of your genetic makeup. We have an arsenal of tools today to assist us in organizing our lives. If you push through and don’t quit, it is possible to learn how to manage almost anything.

As humans we learn to manage. Yet, I wonder if when nature doles out a flaw does it also provide a secret weapon? Imagine my joy when I discovered this article about The Creativity of ADHD.

“The innovative, original thinking style of people with ADHD may be a great fit for innovative fields where it’s an advantage to be on the cutting edge. ” Holly White

If you know someone with ADHD (spouse, child, college student, co-worker or friend) read this article. The writer Holly White is a research scientist at University of Michigan that focuses on creative cognition and divergent thinking.

That is a wrap on La Revue Dining With Mimi 2.Who is your favorite author and book? Do you have an event that you want to share? Have you read something that made you mad, laugh or cry? What tickles your discovery zone?

Stay safe,
Love from Mimi’s Kitchen

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La Revue-Recipe created

This week I created a new brownie recipe titled Mimi’s Gluten Free Nutty Fudgy Indulgent Brownie with Coconut. Is it good? Well, let’s just say that it was so good I had a square with my morning coffee. Yes, I could not wait until after lunch or snack, I needed it at 6am.

La Revue-Event Experience

This week concluded my Advanced Photography class with Stephen Savage and my new pals. Taking a class at the end of a full work day takes more than the admittance fee to show up.

Photography requires technical skills combined with an eye for art and quick thinking in order to capture the shot. At this point, I know what I know but there is a world of knowledge that I desperately wish I could push a button for.

Do you have a class that you want to take? You are never ever ever to old to learn, darling. I am grateful for Stephens assistance and the camaraderie of my classmates. In the end, we all just want to make pretty pictures, y’all.

La Revue-Favorite reading

I found this poem written by Jenny Joseph and it made me laugh. Check out the entire poem for the full effect, Warning by Jenny Joseph

Here are a few of my favorite lines.

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple.
And make up for the sobriety of my youth,
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

La Revue- Discovery Zone

My discovery zone is unlimited apparently. Yet, I am happy to be a curious although I do remember that curiosity killed a cat. In my curiosity search for writing workshops a friend discovered a workshop at University of South Alabama for us to attend.

Stokes Center for Creative Writing sponsors readings, lectures and other free events that are open to the public. Check out their site for future events. Last week, Stokes sponsored talented author, Patti Callahan.

Patti led a writing workshop on historical fiction that included an open discussion that was very informative. I felt very lucky to be able to participate in this workshop. Patti has written 15 books which seems like a mountainous task. Clearly, she has the secret sauce.

Her book Becoming Mrs Lewis was published in 2018 and includes “the improbable love story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis”. As a avid reader I was familiar with Lewis but not the depth and breath of Joy Davidman’s writing. After the workshop Patti did a reading from the novel and peaked my interest.

Of course, with Patti’s easy manner and story telling abilities I was hooked. The next day I ordered a copy so that I could learn about the literary love story and the woman who intrigued Lewis. Reading a great story is one of my favorite things and I am eager to start.

Well there you have it, La Revue Dining With Mimi, 1. Who is your favorite author and book? Do you have an event that you want to share? Have you read something that made you mad, laugh or cry? What tickles your discovery zone?

Have a great week. I hope that you find joy and peace daily. If not make the brownies, they may help.

Love from Mimi’s Kitchen,

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