PecanSpringsJournal

>>Christmas doings in Pecan Springs

It's holiday time in Pecan Springs, and the whole town is brimming with holiday spirit.

China and Ruby have been unusually busy (it's lucky that there are no mysteries to solve!), and their tea room are decorated floor to ceiling with fresh cedar boughs cut from the local hillsides, pine cones from East Texas, mistletoe from the mesquite and hackberry trees around Pecan Springs, dozens of gingerbread ornaments handmade by the kids the Hobbit House Children's Bookstore, and enough red velvet ribbon to reach all the way to San Antonio. China, Ruby, and Cass have invited all their friends to join them for a Christmas Cinnamon Tea this coming Saturday afternoon. There'll be lots of spicy-laden goodies and a sparkling bowl of cinnamon-cranberry glog circled with a rosemary wreath and red ribbons, and a little take-home herbal gift for everyone: a small bag of Rose Potpourri, which some of China's friends made in a potpourri workshop. You're invited too, of course, so be sure to put it on your calendar!

After you leave the Cinnamon Tea, you'll want to head for Pecan Park, where the town fathers have erected a large Christmas tree decorated with hundreds of lights. They'll be lighting the tree as soon as it gets dark on Saturday night. (When they lit the tree last year, all the lights in Pecan Springs went out, so they've taken special care with the wiring this year. Billy Bob Bunch, who is in charge of city utilities, promises that this won't happen again. Pauline Perkins, the Pecan Springs mayor, promises that if it does, Billy Bob's head will be the first to roll.)

When the tree is lit, the town mothers will be ladling out cups of hot mulled cider (the same cider that Ruby always serves for her Halloween party) and handing out dozens of rosemary cookies baked by members of the Myra Merryweather Herb Guild, who always like to lend a hand with the Christmas doings. When everybody has their cider and cookies, Mrs. Reedy will lead the Baptist choir in a selection of carols. You're invited to join in, of course. (If you don't know the words, fake it--nobody will know the difference.) Santa will be there too, with candy for good children and coals for bad--although we know that there are no bad children in Pecan Springs, where all the children are all above average.

After the carols are over and the cider, candy, and cookies have all disappeared, the merchants on the town square hope you will be feeling warm and jolly and inspired to do some Christmas shopping. The courthouse has been draped with lights, a village of elves has taken up residence in the northwest corner of the courthouse lawn (opposite from the Nativity scene on the southwest corner), and the Sophie Briggs Historical Museum is holding an open house so you can admire the famous Sophie Briggs collection of 257 ceramic frogs. The merchants have agreed to keep their shops open until nine, which is quite a change of pace for Pecan Springs, where everyone shuts up shop at five on the dot and goes home to hearth and family. You're invited to shop 'til you drop, or at least until you run out of money.

They hope you do. That way, they'll have a merry Christmas, too!

>>pick a peck of peppercorns

Today's issue of Susan Albert's new weekly eletter, All About Thyme, includes the recipe for pepper cookies that I served to Ruby's' daughter Amy in A Dilly of a Death. Which brings up the subject of pepper, one of those "invisible" spices that we use frequently and never think about.

Almost never, anyway. How often do you reach for the pepper in the same way you reach for salt, almost unconsciously?

But there are people who say that if you can have only one spice in your kitchen (what a horrible thought!) it ought to be pepper, for pepper adds the greatest flavor to the greatest variety of dishes. Maybe they're right. After all, plenty of people have succombed to the power of pepper. Rome was ransomed with with it (Attilla the Hun demanded 3,000 pounds of pepper to raise his siege of the city in 408 CE), men have died for it, and oceans were crossed in its pursuit. So let's pay a little more attention to it, shall we?

Pepper Times Three

Black pepper, green pepper, white pepper? Three kinds of pepper? True, but there is actually only one true pepper (Piper nigrum). It is native to India but now grown widely throughout the tropics. Three different peppercorns are produced from this plant, depending on how they are processed.

• Black peppercorns have been valued for centuries as a medicine: a treatment for impotence, an appetite stimulant and digestive, a cure for nausea and flatulence, and an antidote to poison. They are harvested green and left to dry for a week or more, shriveling and hardening. Black peppercorns have the strongest flavor, and are best when freshly ground. Also used whole in pickling spices and soup stocks.
• Green peppercorns are also picked green, but preserved to keep them from darkening. Historically, they were pickled; today, they’re freeze-dried. They have a fresh, clean flavor, suited to poultry, vegetables, and seafood. You can crush them between your fingers.
• White peppercorns are allowed to ripen on the vine, producing a large berry with a loose outer shell, which is removed. White pepper is regarded as having a richer, more complex flavor; it is used in light-colored dishes, in sauces, and on grilled poultry.

And then there are pink peppercorns, which (just to confuse you) aren't actually peppercorns at all, but berries of the Baies Rose (Schinus Terebinthifolius), which grows in Brazil. You'll find pink peppercorns freeze-dried or packed in brine or water at gourmet stores. Grind them to release their fruity, peppery taste and aroma. They're used in French cuisine.

Here’s an easy recipe that will introduce you to the variety of pepper flavors. Make it with each pepper separately, or all three peppers mixed in equal parts. Super with vegetables, great with fish and poultry.

Pepper Butter

1/2 cup butter, softened
3 teaspoons freshly ground peppercorns, black, green, OR white (if mixing, 1 teaspoon of each)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh minced parsley

Grind the peppercorns to a medium coarseness (easy in a mortar and pestle, or in your favorite peppergrinder). Add to softened butter. Add garlic and parsley and mix. Place in a small dish, cover, and refrigerate at least one hour before using. If you like, dust the surface with gound pink peppercorns for color.

And if you're looking for a different holiday gift for that herb-lover on your gift list, drop in at Thyme & Seasons and check out our display of pretty pepper pots, grinders and all three kinds of peppers. (Oh, and Ruby says to tell you that she's having a special on Ouiji boards today.) If you can't make it to Pecan Springs, try this for a pretty gift. Purchase a clear acrylic pepper grinder and fill with a mixture of black, green, and pink peppers. Tie on a pretty bow. Include a card with a bit of pepper history and a copy of the Norwegian cookie recipe, and get ready to accept enthusiastic thanks and a hug! If you hint hard, maybe your recipient will even bake you a batch of those cookies!

More reading: Salt and Pepper, by Sandra Cook
A Dilly of a Death, by Susan Wittig Albert, Book 12 in the China Bayles series