Articles by Jan Swoope
Show your colors this Fourth of July
Whether celebrating Independence Day weekend with a host of friends or a small gathering of family, add a flourish by showing your colors. Red, white and blue strawberry appetizers or a patriotic potato salad will have the crowd talking. Or how about an American flag cake for dessert?
Training ground: MUW Culinary Camp inspires independence in the kitchen
“Beautiful, beautiful!” praised Chef Vicki Leach, checking Britton Walker’s fried green tomatoes in progress during the fourth and final week of the Culinary Arts Institute’s Culinary Camp at Mississippi University for Women. Tantalizing aromas mingled June 22 as 18 campers at cooking stations industriously went about the mouth-watering business of creating everything from Asian peanut salad to risotto.
In spite of a life-changing injury, ‘can’t’ is not in LeAnn Shelton’s vocabulary
LeAnn Shelton made up her mind a very long time ago it’s better to laugh than cry about what can’t be changed. And please don’t tell her there’s anything she can’t do. The 28-year-old Reform, Ala., woman has been proving that wrong since losing her left arm in a riding mower accident when she was 4 years old.
Join Nash Street for music video
Put the grassroots country music of Starkville-based Nash Street and the grand old Delta Queen steamboat together. Throw in a low country boil, an eager audience, and what do you get? Good times and a music video that will herald the next stage of the talented quintet’s career.
Gene and Dale Robertson make sweet music and memories
For more than a quarter of a century, father and son have shared the stage, performing side by side in the band known as Gene Robertson and the Echoes — Dad on bass and vocals, Dale on guitar and vocals.
Buon appetito! Golden Triangle cook designs an Italian menu for special event
Ah, Italian cuisine. It’s among some of the world’s richest and most varied. From quick late-night snacks to complex culinary creations, Italy’s flavorful foods are frequent favorites of the American palate.
Friday marks local release show for Mississippi John Doude
Even as John Doude studied engineering at Mississippi State University, the music called. After two years of college, the McCool native answered it. His swampy blend of Southern rock, deep roots blues and Americana has been drawing in fans ever since.
‘Plant’ your questions on the ‘Gestalt Gardener’
“There is something terribly wrong if you aren’t growing — and even sharing — at least one or two pretty things you can eat,” preaches Felder Rushing.
Camp Rising Sun remembers one of their own
The chance spotting of a small piece of paper on a bulletin board at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., more than 16 years ago first brought Tara Jo Stover into the lives of Camp Rising Sun volunteers. Bonds of friendship and love firmly kept her there.
The age of Generals: Alums fondly remember Columbus’ Lee High
As ‘Lee High’ nears closing, a building’s history stirs memories
Flying high: With courses blooming in the Golden Triangle, disc golfers think sport poised to take off
The golfer steps up to the tee. Evaluates distance, line, the breeze. Focused on the fairway, he assumes position. His friends stop their easy banter, falling still and silent.
‘The First 55 Years’: Opry veteran preserves a piece of musical history
Fiddling has been a way of life for Jim Brock of Pickens County, Alabama. From the radio and TV show circuits of the 1950s and ’60s, to the revered Grand Old Opry stage, he’s been there. As fiddler with Carl Sauceman and the Green Valley Boys, Bill Monroe and Jim and Jesse McReynolds, Brock helped score an era of authentic country music.
Cookie ‘dough’: Recipe pays off for young woman pursuing the psychology of catering
While Laura Murphy was on her way to graduating magna cum laude from Mississippi College May 8, the psychology major couldn’t keep her thoughts away from the kitchen.
Sounds like success: Starkville native earns Kennedy Center honor in sound design
A Starkville native has achieved a first for his home state. Thomas Sowers, a senior design and technical major at The University of Southern Mississippi, has become the first Mississippi student to win a national Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival award.
Gift of transportation changes student’s life
High school graduation is an exciting time for any senior, but for 18-year-old Kayla Blakeney, the big day had an extra sparkle. Four days prior, on awards night, the Caledonia High School student learned she had been selected to receive a 2006 Jeep Liberty Sport for college.
‘Burnin’ up the road’: The Ride for Life ‘to burn out cancer’ gets personal
In 2007, when Shan Higdon and Bobby Mosley first hatched the idea of getting motorcyclists together to raise money to fight cancer, they couldn’t know the bitter, ironic twists fate had in store. Both Shan’s mother and father, as well as his father-in-law, would go up against the disease. All three are doing well.
Couture Chocolate: Award-winning pastry chef Donald Wressell reveals chocolate’s artistic side
Daniel Wressell, corporate pastry chef with E. Guittard Chocolate Co., tempted the sweet tooth of Mississippi University for Women culinary arts students earlier this spring when he visited Columbus. In a demonstration arranged by MUW’s Chef Erich Ogle, the California-based chocolatier showed how the cacao tree’s luscious product can be transformed into an artistic statement.
Bold print: Two, Columbus artists are among nation’s notable printmakers in new book
They hail from across the United States — Australia and England, as well. Sixty-three contemporary printmakers whose work was chosen to document in the just-released “Printmakers Today,” a 256-page full color compendium on those who create “museum quality work” while translating an ancient art with 21st century vision and technical skill.
