The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose Read online

  1 teaspoon lemon juice

  3⁄4 cup milk

  Cream butter and add sugar and eggs. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Combine the butter and flour mixtures. Then add the milk, nuts, and lemon juice. Mix well and then drop mixture from a spoon to an unbuttered baking sheet. Sprinkle with additional chopped nuts and bake in a slow oven (about 300 degrees). Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

  Lizzy Lacy’s Buttermilk Pie

  This old-fashioned, easy-to-put-together pie is a longtime favorite in Southern families, for many had their own milk cow. But before refrigeration was developed, milk soured quickly in the warm climate of the South, so the cream was churned into butter, which could be preserved almost indefinitely in brine. Buttermilk, the liquid that remained in the churn after the butter formed, was mildly tart and very refreshing. Cultured buttermilk, the product that you see in the dairy case at your local supermarket, is lightly fermented, pasteurized skim milk. It is not nearly as rich as the buttermilk our great-grandmothers used, but it is still an effective ingredient. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can create an acceptable substitute by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup of fat-free, skim, or whole milk.

  1⁄2 cup butter, room temperature

  2 cups sugar

  3 eggs

  2 rounded tablespoons flour

  1 cup buttermilk

  Dash of nutmeg

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  Zest (grated rind) of two lemons

  Unbaked 9-inch pie shell

  Cream butter and sugar. Mix eggs and flour and beat into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in buttermilk, nutmeg, vanilla, and lemon zest (if you have it). Pour into the pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and the center should jiggle. Don’t overbake—the pie will set as it cools.

  The Darling Diner Grits

  In the South, breakfast without grits isn’t breakfast. Grits (or hominy grits) were adapted from a cooked mush of softened maize eaten by Native Americans. It was likely introduced to the colonists at Jamestown around 1607 by the Algonquin Indians, who called it rockahominy, meaning hulled corn. The word grits comes from the Old English grytt (bran) or greot (ground) and is usually treated as a singular noun. The colonists made grits by soaking corn in lye made from wood ash until the hulls floated off. It was then pounded and dried. Modern grits (also called hominy, derived from rockahominy) is made without lye. Most Southerners prefer stone-ground grits to instant or quick-cook grits because the germ is still intact and it simply tastes better. Grits may be served with sausage or ham, with bacon and eggs, baked with cheese, or sliced cold and fried in bacon grease (my mother’s favorite way of serving it).

  1 cup stone-ground grits

  Water for rinsing

  4 cups water

  1⁄2 teaspoon salt

  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided into 4

  To rinse, pour the grits into a large bowl and cover with cold water. Skim off the bits of floating chaff, stir, and skim again. Drain in a sieve. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large pan. Add salt and gradually stir in the grits. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until the grits are thick and creamy, about 40 minutes. Pour into four bowls and stir in butter.

  Euphoria’s Southern Fried Doughnuts

  Since Euphoria bakes a great many meringue pies, the diner’s kitchen is equipped with an electric beater, which also makes short work of mixing up a batch of doughnuts. (In their 1929 catalog, Sears and Roebuck sold a stand model, manufactured by Arctic, for nine dollars and ninety-five cents.) This recipe makes about a dozen doughnuts, a sweet alternative to biscuits for a Southern breakfast. Other traditional recipes include sweet potato doughnuts, mashed potato doughnuts, and calas, New Orleans doughnuts (rather like fritters) made from cooked rice, eggs, flour, and sugar.

  2 tablespoons lukewarm water

  1 teaspoon sugar

  1 (1⁄4-ounce) package active dry yeast (2 1⁄4 teaspoons)

  3 1⁄4 cups flour

  1 cup milk

  1⁄2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter

  2 large eggs

  2 tablespoons sugar

  1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt

  1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon

  5 to 6 cups vegetable oil (for frying)

  To proof yeast (that is, to make sure that it’s fresh and active), place warm water in shallow bowl. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Sprinkle yeast across the solution and stir until dissolved. Let stand for 5 to 7 minutes. Fresh yeast will bubble. If it doesn’t, toss it out and try again with fresh yeast.

  Combine flour, milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in large mixer bowl and add yeast mixture. Mix at low speed until a soft dough forms, then increase to high and beat for 3 minutes. Scrape dough from sides of bowl and brush lightly with oil. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 11⁄2 to 2 hours, or let rise in refrigerator overnight (8 to 12 hours).

  Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll about 1⁄2-inch thick. Using a doughnut cutter, cut out rounds. (Reroll doughnut centers and recut to make 1 or 2 additional doughnuts.) Cover with a damp towel and let rise until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes (45 minutes if dough was refrigerated). Heat oil to 350ºF in a heavy 4-quart pot. Fry 2 doughnuts at a time, turning once or twice with a slotted spoon, until golden brown and puffy (about 2 minutes). Drain. Reheat oil to 350ºF before frying the next batch. Cool and glaze.

  GLAZE

  1⁄4 cup milk

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  2 cups confectioners’ sugar

  Heat milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan until warm. Sift confectioners’ sugar into milk and whisk until well mixed. Remove from heat and place over a bowl of warm water. Dip cooled doughnuts individually into the glaze. Drain on a rack over a cookie sheet.

  Aunt Hetty Little’s Stewed Okra with Corn and Tomatoes

  Okra (Hibiscus esculentus, a member of the same family as the Confederate rose) grows well in the heat and humidity of the South and is a staple of Southern gardens—and Southern cooking. The plant seems to have originated in Ethiopia, then distributed to the eastern Mediterranean, Arabia, and India. A Spanish Moor visiting Egypt in 1216 wrote one of the earliest accounts of okra’s use as a vegetable, reporting that the young seedpods were cooked with meal to reduce their gummy texture. In the American South, cooks follow something of the same practice, dipping the sliced pods in cornmeal and frying them.

  During the Civil War, okra seeds were dried, parched, and brewed as a coffee substitute. This recipe is from the Southern Banner, Athens, Georgia, February 11, 1863: “Parch over a good fire and stir well until it is dark brown; then take off the fire and before the seed gets cool put the white of one egg to two tea-cups full of okra [seed], and mix well. Put the same quantity of seed in the coffeepot as you would coffee, boil well and settle as coffee.”

  3 to 4 strips bacon, diced

  1⁄2 cup diced onion

  3 to 4 cloves garlic, diced

  8 to 10 pods fresh young okra, sliced

  1 cup corn kernels

  1⁄2 cup diced green peppers

  1 cup diced tomatoes

  1 cup tomato sauce

  1⁄2 cup water

  1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

  1⁄2 teaspoon dry thyme

  1⁄2 teaspoon salt

  1 teaspoon black pepper

  Sauté diced bacon, add onion and garlic, and sauté until onions are transparent. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 35 to 40 minutes or until okra is tender.

  Mildred Kilgore’s Southern Coleslaw

  No Southern celebration would be complete without a big bowl of coleslaw. The word comes from the Dutch words,
kool sla (cabbage salad, usually served hot). This recipe, which features a sharply sweet-sour dressing, is picnic-perfect, a vinegary foil to a platter of fried chicken or barbequed ribs. Celery seed was a favorite Southern flavoring, especially recommended for use with cabbage.

  1 pound finely shredded cabbage

  1 medium red onion, quartered and finely sliced

  1 cup toasted pecans, chopped

  DRESSING

  1 cup sugar

  1 teaspoon salt

  1 1⁄2 teaspoons dry mustard

  1 teaspoon celery seed

  1 cup vinegar

  2⁄3 cup vegetable oil

  Combine shredded cabbage with sliced onion and pecans. Combine dressing ingredients and bring to a boil. Pour over cabbage and toss. Serve warm or chilled.

  Resources

  Blackman, Ann, Wild Rose: Rose O’Neale Greenhow, Civil War Spy. New York: Random House, 2005.

  Farquhar, Michael, “‘Rebel Rose,’ A Spy of Grande Dame Proportions.” Washington Post, September 18, 2000.

  Greenhow, Rose O’Neal, My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington, London: Richard Bentley, 1863. Also available online at http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/greenhow/menu.html (Accessed July 22, 2011).

  Ross, Ishbel, Rebel Rose. St. Simon’s Island, Georgia: Mockingbird Books, 1973.

  China Bayles Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

  THYME OF DEATH

  WITCHES’ BANE

  HANGMAN’S ROOT

  ROSEMARY REMEMBERED

  RUEFUL DEATH

  LOVE LIES BLEEDING

  CHILE DEATH

  LAVENDER LIES

  MISTLETOE MAN

  BLOODROOT

  INDIGO DYING

  A DILLY OF A DEATH

  DEAD MAN’S BONES

  BLEEDING HEARTS

  SPANISH DAGGER

  NIGHTSHADE

  WORMWOOD

  HOLLY BLUES

  MOURNING GLORIA

  CAT’S CLAW

  AN UNTHYMELY DEATH

  CHINA BAYLES’ BOOK OF DAYS

  Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

  THE TALE OF HILL TOP FARM

  THE TALE OF HOLLY HOW

  THE TALE OF CUCKOO BROW WOOD

  THE TALE OF HAWTHORN HOUSE

  THE TALE OF BRIAR BANK

  THE TALE OF APPLEBECK ORCHARD

  THE TALE OF OAT CAKE CRAG

  THE TALE OF CASTLE COTTAGE

  Darling Dahlias Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

  THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CUCUMBER TREE

  THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE NAKED LADIES

  THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CONFEDERATE ROSE

  With her husband, Bill Albert, writing as Robin Paige

  DEATH AT BISHOP’S KEEP

  DEATH AT GALLOWS GREEN

  DEATH AT DAISY’S FOLLY

  DEATH AT DEVIL’S BRIDGE

  DEATH AT ROTTINGDEAN

  DEATH AT WHITECHAPEL

  DEATH AT EPSOM DOWNS

  DEATH AT DARTMOOR

  DEATH AT GLAMIS CASTLE

  DEATH IN HYDE PARK

  DEATH AT BLENHEIM PALACE

  DEATH ON THE LIZARD

  Nonfiction books by Susan Wittig Albert

  WRITING FROM LIFE

  WORK OF HER OWN