LifestyleSection A, Page 5

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Natchitoches Times

Lifestyle Editor(318) 352-3618

e-mail: lifestyleeditor@natchitochestimes.com

What’s Cooking in

NatchitochesBy Courtney Howard

For quick early supper on ahot summer’s day:Prepare the meal in this orderand it will be ready in less than30 minutes. Preheat the ovento 400 degrees. Drizzle oil incornbread pan and heat whileoven is preheating. Put cornin a pot and cover with water.Cook for 20 minutes. Mix up

jalapeño corn bread (from amix). Pour into hot pan andbake for 20 minutes. Cut zuc-chini, squash, and onion.Steam in microwave, season.Chop herbs such as rosemary,tarragon, oregano or dill andstir into butter for corn. For a refreshing dessert, cut

a watermelon and deseed it.

Puree in blender. Add 6-8ounces of ginger ale and thejuice of one lime; freeze in a 9x 11 glass pan and serve light-ly frozen as a sorbet fordessert. Put in a martini glassto make it look festive. ( Dothis earlier in the day.)

What’s Good To Eat

Here is what some of the folks shop-ping at the Green Market had to sayabout what they look for each week.April and Jody Matt buy purple hullpeas for canning. Jody says, “I liketomato and ham sandwiches.” Theirkids, Jude and Audrey like watermelonand the puppy dogs. Susanne Taylorshops for fresh fruits and vegetablesto make baby food for her daughterAnna Sophia. Susanne says,”AnnaSophia likes goat milk and avocadoblended in the Baby Bullet. She alsolikes stewed fresh carrots with a bouil-lon cube that I put in the Baby Bullet.”

Susanne likes to grill zucchini andsquash with balsamic vinegar and oil.Gabrielle Lovemore, a student at NSUMiddle Lab, likes cantaloupe. Shesays, “We will take it home and eat it.”Just about everyone was taking homea watermelon. Watermelon is both acrowd pleaser and a crowd feeder. Lots of folks stop and taste the beef

jerky that Rick Woodward makes. Hehas formulated a special recipe called“swamp sticks.” This is special con-coction he took five years to perfect.He says, “It makes beef jerky taste likecrawfish.” His beef jerky is a treat that

is worth coming back for each week.While Rick stands and talks to his cus-tomers, Roger Dietrich sits in arelaxed mode next to him. At firstglance he seems to be just hangingout with his buddy, but that is not thecase. It is what’s in his cooler that youwant to try. It’s his tamales that areperked to perfection. He says, “I perkthe tamales. It’s a different processfrom steaming; a recipe from theGalien family in Cloutierville.” He alsosells smoked sausage, Mr. TomBuckley’s recipe, boudin, and doublefried cracklings.

Vegetable Dinner

Walmart has

this adorable

cutting knife to

add to your

kitchen for under

$5.

Audrey shows the tomatoesshe picked out.

Gabrielle Lovemore picks out a cantaloupe.

Kyle Wesley Miller, first year graduate studentin sport’s administration, and his wife

sample salsa.

“That’s good” says Dorothy Jones after tasting aswamp stick.

The Green Market

If you’re trying to beat theheat this summer or atleast escape standing overa hot stove, go visit theGreen Market downtownon the Cane River eachSaturday morning from 8a.m. until noon. ( It closesJuly 28.) You can buylocally grown produce,jams and jellies, honeyand salsa, and a few unex-pected treats like hottamales and beef jerky. While produce markets

along the side of the roador near a neighboring farmhave been a common siteacross the country fordecades, a new trend hasdeveloped over the pastfew years combining a pro-duce market with localvendors who produce, cre-ate and craft other prod-ucts. Green markets nowencompass both fruits andvegetables from localgrowers with local artists

and craftsmen who selltheir handmade creations.That is what you’ll find atthe Cane River GreenMarket.Need a last minute birth-day gift for an afternoonparty? You can find hand-made jewelry or a cutehair bow for a baby show-er. Instead of donuts, pickup homemade bread ormuffins. You can escapethe hot stove for a fewdays with these items. Anadded bonus of going tothe market is seeing yourneighbors and friends.Socialize while some livemusic plays before noonon a Saturday.

Susanne Taylor makes healthy babyfood for Anna Sophia.

Centa Foster shops for honey with hergrandchildren.

Gale Norman (closest) withher visiting sisters (Linda

Hilton and Celeste Bernard)choose Italian pull apartbread for their appetizer.