The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons butter, melted Preheat oven to 350oF. Mix together corn, flour, sugar, salt, and pepper. Beat eggs with milk and melted butter, and add to corn. Pour into a greased baking dish. Bake 30 minutes. Serves 6.



Raylene’s Lemon Chess Pie

Southern cooks were famous for their sweet, egg-rich custard pies, including chess pie (also called chess cake, chess tart, and sugar pie). This recipe (which includes cornmeal for thickening) is for the popular lemon-flavored variation; if lemons weren’t available, vinegar was often substituted, or buttermilk. Food history expert Karen Hess tells us how this pie got its odd name: “Since the archaic spellings of cheese often had but one ‘e’ we have the answer to the riddle of the name of that southern favorite ‘Chess Pie’. . . (The tradition of making cheesecake without the cheese goes back to early seventeenth century and beyond . . .)”—The Virginia House-wife, by Mary Randolph, with Historical Notes and Commentaries by Karen Hess, p. 289

4 eggs 1? cups sugar

? cup lemon juice

? cup butter, melted

1 tablespoon cornmeal

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour ? teaspoon salt

Pastry for 9” pie

In a large bowl, beat eggs for 3 minutes. Gradually add sugar and beat until mixture becomes thick and lemon-colored. Beat in the lemon juice, butter, cornmeal, flour, and salt. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 350°F for 35–40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.



Charlie Dickens’ Favorite Grilled Cheese Sandwich The Vidalia onion is a sweet variety of onion that was first grown—by accident—in Toombs County, Georgia, in the early 1930s. The fact that they are unusually sweet is due to the low sulfur content of the soil in which the onions are grown. (Sulfur makes onions pungent.) The Piggly Wiggly food chain, headquartered in nearby Vidalia, Georgia, put the onions in their produce bins, and it wasn’t long before visitors were taking these oddly sweet onions back home to their friends. The Vidalia onion is now the official state vegetable of Georgia. This recipe makes one substantial sandwich.

3 strips bacon 2 tablespoons softened butter mixed with ? teaspoon garlic powder 2 thick slices bread of your choice 2 slices Swiss cheese

2 thin slices tomatoes

Italian seasoning, salt, pepper 2 medium-thick Vidalia onion slices Fry bacon until crisp in a skillet over medium heat. Remove bacon and drain drippings, saving drippings for another use. Generously spread one side of a slice of bread with butter-garlic mixture. Place bread butter-side-down in skillet and top with 1 slice of cheese. Top with tomato slices and sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Top tomatoes with onion slices, bacon strips, and second slice of cheese. Butter the second slice of bread on one side and place butter-side-up on top of sandwich. Grill until lightly browned and flip; continue grilling until both slices of cheese are melted. (Cover the skillet to help the cheese melt.) Fannie’s Tomato Soup

2 yellow onions, diced

? teaspoon minced garlic 5 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

? teaspoon black pepper

1 (15 ounce) can crushed tomatoes ? teaspoon dried thyme ? teaspoon dried savory

? teaspoon marjoram

4 cups water

1 cup half-and-half

4 basil leaves, julienne cut In a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic in butter until softened. Add sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, stirring. Add the tomatoes and herbs and cook for 5 minutes. Add water. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Set the soup aside to cool. When cooled, puree the soup in a blender. Return the soup to the stove, simmer 5 minutes, and then add the half-and-half. When heated through, sprinkle the basil leaves for garnish.