Sunday Dinner Tickets in Small Towns by Pepper Phillips

When you live in a small town in Louisiana, you will be approached to buy a Sunday dinner ticket.

It’s usually Civic Organizations, Churches, Special Interest Groups and the meals are generally the same.

BBQ Chicken, and/or Pork. dirty rice, baked beans and coleslaw. A slice of white bread or maybe a roll and that’s dinner.

Every now and then there are fried catfish dinners. You might get French fries with that or maybe not.

The dinner comes in a white plastic plate with a folded cover, which they ask local businesses to donate. They also ask for donations of all the ingredients.

Cost?  The price has gone up through the years and is generally $7 or $8 dollars apiece.

Every now and then you get really lucky and can get a piece of cake to go with it.

There are a few food establishments where you can purchase a Sunday Dinner in the same method.

Generally the food is delicious, and sometimes it’s not.

If you own a business, the ticket sellers will hit you up first.  We have Sunday Dinners for ten for one day in August.

The dinners are generally generous, so I will strip the plates, keep what we like and toss anything or add ingredients to make it what we like.

There’s nothing better than dirty rice with added eggplant, which I have frozen in the freezer.

Dirty rice…it’s a staple in Louisiana.

Here’s a good recipe from Paula Deen.

In my books, I try to give the flavor of Louisiana and what we really eat. I hate it when I go somewhere and see a dish marked “Cajun” only to realize it’s something I’ve never heard of or seen. It’s false advertising and I generally tell the restaurant that they got it all wrong.  Sure we like our food with a touch of kick, but throwing hot sauce on everything isn’t it.  It’s the flavor that counts.

For my book Naomi’s Heart, I took several recipes for White Chocolate Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Sauce and came up with my own.  Men Love It!!!  I love it.  And it’s easy to make.  If you want to try some delicious goodness, check it out:  White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Naomi’s Heart is a romance for the mature woman…something truly different that is set in Boggy Bayou. It’s available at Amazon, Nook, iBooks and Kobo.

“Pepper Phillips clearly understands the customs, cuisine and conversation of the Deep South, with the first novella in her Boggy Bayou Series. Naomi’s Heart portrays the developing romance of an older couple, who prove that age has nothing to do with love.  Ms. Phillips’ obvious knowledge of Southern culture is highly entertaining and informative, and along with her endearing and well-developed characters, leave the reader reluctant to leave the world she’s created.”