We all mourn the loss of editor Ashley Toland’s mother Ellen, a lovely lady who struggled for quite a while with a terminal illness. A group of us traveled on a beautiful Saturday to a memorial service in Jackson, Ala. that celebrated her life. It was nice to put names with faces, meet Ashley’s family and, for me especially, the ladies of the First Presbyterian Church.

They put on quite a lunch. First of all, they had the largest box of Church’s fried chicken I had ever seen, at first I thought they had transported the Crichton Leprechaun to Jackson. True down-home Southern cooking was laid out for us to feast.

My favorite was not only meeting and befriending Buff McDonald and Jean Payne, but tasting Buff’s delectable pineapple casserole. I love that stuff, it goes well chicken and pork. I thought you may want to try it.

Pineapple Casserole

Found in many books, but perfected by Buff McDonald

3 tbsp. flour

3 tbsp. pineapple juice

1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks

1 c. crushed Ritz crackers

1 stick melted butter

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 c. sugar

Mix all ingredients except crackers and butter in greased casserole dish. Mix crumbs and butter and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.

Tasty bits

Edible Arrangements, a national chain of fresh fruit arrangements of strawberries and bananas dipped in chocolate, to exotic fruits which are priced beginning at $35 to over $100 have opened two outlets in the area. One is in West Mobile at the Pinebrook Shopping Center and another in Daphne said to be Jubilee Square. They have a Web site at ediblearrangements.com.

Running for the Bull

I’m told Wendell Quimby’s Southwestern restaurant, the Bull, will be opening with Mark Strickland as the executive chef. Located in the space between Wintzell’s and Café 615 on Dauphin Street in LoDa, they plan to open for business sometime in the next month. They will boast a special tequila menu with exclusive brands. They will be open for dinner only.

Some assembly required

Dream Dinners is in Springhill at Pinebrook Shopping Center next to Minton’s Bridal is also open for business. A meal assembly store, they provide everything you need to assemble meals for your family. They supply everything you need, and the items can be stored in the freezer.

Dream Dinners gives you the assembly and cooking instructions along with fresh cut vegetables and other items for the meal. You need to bring something like a cooler to take home your meals.

They have assembly stations set up where you go down a line with each having all the items necessary including meats and sauces with measuring cups and spoons provided. You then scoop the ingredients into Ziploc bags or baking pans.

If you don’t want to do all this, they do have pre-assembled meals, desserts and always side dishes to go along with any meal. The meals all serve six.

The only drawback I see is that you cannot just go in and prepare a dinner or two, you have to buy a minimum amount, so this is good for families but not single people. The minimum order size is 36 servings in any combination of 6-serving or 3-serving dinners. I hate to think that I will never have a chance to try it!

Once home you freeze them until ready to serve. On their Web site, some of the meals are chicken parmesan with garlic bread, beef skewers with peanut dipping sauce, steak with garlic herb butter, chicken tetrazinni, cheese lovers manicotti. This is a new concept for Mobile that has been successful in larger cities.

Sprouting ‘Shroom

Chad Hicks informs me that by June, the Midtown Mellow Mushroom will open with seating for about 140. This is significantly larger than his Spring Hill outlet. I still predict I will never be able to get in! Maybe Chad can hook me up. Every day someone says to me that they cannot wait for him to open. It is going to be very convenient for me to grab a salad or my favorite pizza – the Magical Mystery Tour – with three types of mushrooms.

BBQ dreams

Fletcher’s, a longtime Mobile BBQ institution who tried a resurgence in LoDa where Janino’s just recently closed, is making another go of it in WeMo. They will open April 15 with the recipes and same style of BBQ they have prepared since 1932 with additions such as seafood and country favorites. The brothers of Fletcher Harvey, the original owner, are entering into this venture.

Truly delicious

I tried the brunch at True on their first day of service with my children and it is superb. My daughter had the best scrambled eggs since some she had in Paris according to her, atop freshly made toasted bread and regular bacon. My son had the shrimp and black grits served at dinner but they also contained some bacon, tomato and three-cheese sauce.

This is some “true” French bistro cooking with most entrees at $15. At our table was some warm zucchini bread with apple ginger (I think ginger) homemade preserves and a triple berry preserve.

My meal was incredible, smoked redfish, sautéed Swiss chard, potato hash all stacked with two poached eggs at the highest level. The bloody Mary has some spices around the rim that make the drink along with pickled garlic, olives and okra.

Chef Wesley also forced us to try the mango French Toast with the triple berry preserves with fresh ripe mango. Surprisingly it was not too sweet like most, but had just a hint of sweet flavor, more fruity than sugar. And the coffee is dark roasted, just the way I like it.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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