Talya Tate Boerner - grace grits and gardening

Breaking new ground in Wilson, Arkansas

April 18, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Back in December, I wrote about some of the exciting things going on in Wilson, Arkansas including plans for relocating the Hampson Archeological Museum. My post appeared on First Security Bank’s blog, Only in Arkansas. If you live in Arkansas (or you wish you lived in Arkansas or simply appreciate The Natural State), you should be reading www.onlyinarkansas.com. Take it from someone who worked in banking for years, a bank blog devoted to food and hometown happenings and sports and festivals specific to the state is a special and rare thing. Now on to news of the groundbreaking.

This is a follow-up to let you know the Hampson Archeological Museum groundbreaking happened last weekend. This is a big deal. According to Wilson Mayor Becton Bell, this groundbreaking marks the first new construction on the Wilson town square in 57 years.

First new construction in my lifetime.

If you aren’t from Northeast Arkansas, you may say you aren’t interested in the goings on of a small southern town in the Mississippi River Delta. Big deal, right? There are new buildings sprouting like weeds in Dallas as 10,000 people move into the Metroplex each month. Northwest Arkansas is growing like crazy, too. Whataburger is coming to Fayetteville. #CanIGetAnAmen?

But everyone should take note. While many small towns are fading, Wilson is doing it right.

And what a beautiful day for a groundbreaking.

An impressive crowd turned out to hear town leaders and visionaries speak.

The new state of the art facility will match the existing Tudor style architecture of other buildings along the square. It will be much larger than the current museum and include outdoor, interactive exhibits. The current building is cramped and houses only 10% – 20% of the artifacts from the nearby 15-acre Nodena site of Late Mississippian Period Native Americans (A.D. 1400 – 1650). Think of all that history in storage just waiting for us!

That’s rich Delta soil there, folks.

Times, they are a’changing.

I think Mr. Wilson and Mr. Hampson are both very pleased.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Times they are a changin’. Wilson Arkansas is doing it right. @FSBank @Artourism #Delta #HampsonMuseum[/tweetthis]

Come gather ’round people wherever you roam and admit that the waters around you have grown…If your time to you is worth savin’, then you better start swimming’ or you’ll sink like a stone. For the times they are a-changin’. – Bob Dylan

Musicial Pairing:

Bob Dylan, The Times They are a Changin’

Fancy Raspberry S’mores

April 15, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Did I mention these Fancy Raspberry S’mores were made with marshmallow Peeps? Oh, yes. Leftover Easter Peeps. And of course, there’s a story, a foodie challenge of sorts. What could I do with the Peeps my sister-in-law sent home with me after Easter lunch?

Before I get to the recipe I created, first the backstory.

My sister-in-law made an incredible Easter lunch including salmon, wild rice, asparagus and all the trimmings included mystery flavored Peeps (just for fun y’all). Since Peeps introduced mystery flavored chicks and bunnies for Easter, we did our own taste-tasting and flavor-guessing, washing everything down with champagne. We guessed the bunny flavor correctly—green apple—but the chick was tricky considering it wasn’t a true flavor at all but fruit punch. Hmmm.)

Anyway…

I couldn’t let the leftovers go to waste, so I came up with a different sort of s’mores. The fancy sort. Something perfect for glamping with the girls or sitting around the backyard fire pit on a nice spring evening. Dessert for our weekly girlfriend supper.

Fancy Raspberry S’mores ingredients.

I used Jules Destrooper Butter Crisps which are thin, perfect for fancy s’mores, and sold in the deli area of my regular grocery store (Harp’s). A few years ago, The Bald Gourmet did a review of these cookies. Even though no mention was made of Peeps, he said they are perfect served with fruit, goat cheese and honey, yogurt, pudding, or with your favorite hot beverage. I concur!

butter crisps - perfect for making fancy s'mores

I wish I had one with my coffee this morning.

Look at that deliciously gooey melted peep. Of course, you could use a regular marshmallow.

I used my garlic baker (perfect size to make four s’mores) and broiled them in the oven.

Fancy Raspberry S’mores

Print Recipe

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

Thin Vanilla Waffle Cookies
1 Hershey Chocolate Bar
Fresh Raspberries
Marshmallow Peeps I used fruit punch chicks
Balsamic Vinegar

Method

Prep: Cut peeps into two pieces. Half raspberries. Break candy bar into sections. Depending upon size of cookies, you may need to break cookies into two pieces.
Set oven to broil.
Place one layer of cookies on cookie sheet. Top with one section of chocolate and one piece of marshmallow.
Broil for 2-3 minutes until melted. This takes no time! Keep a constant watch.
Remove from broiler. Place two raspberry pieces on marshmallow. Top with cookie. Press.
Drizzle with a smidgen of balsamic vinegar.

Decadent and rich. The raspberry makes it extra tasty. The waffle cookie is buttery and lighter than a graham cracker which sound oxymoronic but is true. Just a drizzle of balsamic vinegar cuts the sweet.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Fancy Raspberry S’mores made with leftover Easter #Peeps! Decadent #glamping #dessert. @PEEPSBrand @Hersheys[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing (perfect glamping song):

Otis Redding, The Dock of the Bay

Enchanted Petit Jean Mountain

April 13, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

(My recent trip to Petit Jean Mountain was sponsored by Winthrop Rockefeller Institute which provided food and lodging. As always, opinions are my own.)

Riddle me this. How can it be that I have made fifty-two trips around the sun yet NEVER managed to drive to Petit Jean Mountain? Yes, this oversight has been corrected. Finally.

Petit Jean, where have you been all my life?

Just South of I-40 near Morrillton—only 4 hours from where you grew up.

For shame. What took so long?

Beautiful Arkansas River from Stout’s Point, Mount Petit Jean. A portion of the historic Trail of Tears.

Petit Jean Mountain is paradise above the banks of the Arkansas River, as stunning as anything I’ve ever seen. The mountain and Arkansas’ first state park encompasses over 2,600 acres of natural, unspoiled, pristine forest, streams and geological formations—a clear reminder that Someone else is in charge.

Oh how I love geology.

The roar of Cedar Falls can be heard from the parking lot. I was completely awed and unprepared for such beauty. Last of the Mohicans beauty, for real. Rock shelters, once dwellings for Native Americans, can be found among the bluffs. Evidence of their existence remains in the form of pictographs painted on cave walls. In the thirties, the Civilian Conservation Corps built Mather Lodge (the only Arkansas CCC-built lodge), pavilions, several cabins and bridges within the rugged landscape of Petit Jean Mountain. What an incredible place to spend time with your family hiking, camping (you can rent a yurt!), fishing, swimming, thinking, talking, or just being. “Just being” can often be a great thing.

For reservations and other information on the lodge and cabins, click HERE.)

This stunning area of Arkansas, originally discovered 300+ years ago by French explorers, even comes with its own love story. When Adrienne Dumont, a young Parisian, couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from her love, French explorer Chavet, she disguised herself as a cabin boy and signed on for the New World voyage. Her true identify was discovered months later when she became severely ill. Nicknamed Petit Jean (French for Little John), she died on the mountain and was buried on the bluff where she spent her final days.

This legend is thought to bring enchantment to the mountain.

I’m a believer.

So was Winthrop Rockefeller.

In the 1950s, Winthrop Rockefeller, (grandson of John D. Rockefeller), fell under the spell of Petit Jean Mountain during a visit with his WWII buddy who lived in Little Rock. He bought a large portion of the mountain, built a stunning home and established a cattle farm. From birth, Rockefeller had been instilled with a deep spirit of giving and ascribed to the ideal of “to those whom much is given, much is expected.” In 1966, he became the first Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction, advocating for the regular person. His legacy brought about great change to wages, prisons and integration.

Governor Rockefeller said, “Every citizen has the duty to be informed, to be thoughtfully concerned and to participate in the search for solutions.” Amen to that. Couldn’t our society use a big dose of his philosophy right about now?

Winthrop Rockefeller Institute (WRI), located on Petit Jean Mountain, continues to honor Governor Rockefeller’s legacy by providing a facility dedicated to studying and solving today’s problems concentrating on agriculture, economic development, health and others issues. You will be hearing much more from me about WRI over the next six months as I work with the institute to bring awareness to the incredible work being accomplished there.

But for now just know…on a quiet, inspirational mountaintop, life-changing work is being done.

While walking the gorgeous grounds, I felt a sense of something larger, an urge to get out of my comfort zone and be part of the solution. There is astounding history surrounding Petit Jean and WRI—reminders of how far we’ve come as a state and nation and world. And yes, there is work yet to be done.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Mount Petit Jean. Paradise in the #ArkansasRiverValley. @ARWomenBloggers @Rockefeller @artourism[/tweetthis]