It’s struck us all in a deep way. Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, the book that eventually became To Kill a Mockingbird, has shown us that Atticus Finch was more than what we saw through Scout’s child eyes.

If you have read To Kill a Mockingbird (and if you haven’t, shame on you), you may have some strong beliefs about Atticus Finch. He was an honorable man. A man who stood up for a negro man who was falsely accused. Scout told us all of this when she was a girl.

In Go Set a Watchman, we see Atticus through his adult daughter’s eyes… and he isn’t as virtuous as we thought. He is a white man of the time period. He abides by the truth, but he is a racist. And this is causing many fans great upset.

Before we talk food, remember this. Go Set a Watchman is NOT an extension of Mockingbird. It is an entirely different book. It is more about the reality of the time than the awareness of a child. I don’t like this newly described Atticus Finch at all. But he isn’t perfect. None of us are. Read it and think past the Finches to ourselves and our own beliefs. We are our own watchpeople.

And after that serious discourse, I’d like to offer a couple of recipes of the time.

Southern Lemonade

You wouldn’t catch Scout drinking some abomination from a can or bottle, would you?

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 cup lemon juice

3-4 cups cold water

Instructions:

Make a simple syrup with the sugar and water. Place in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon juice (freshly squeezed from about 6 lemons) to a pitcher with the simple syrup. Add cold water to taste. Refrigerate.

Crackling Bread

The cracklings are bits of crunchy bacon. Delicious!

9 ounces (2 cups) cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) buttermilk

1 large egg

1 cup cracklings (or substitute crispy bacon pieces)

1 tablespoon butter or bacon drippings

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Put the tablespoon of fat into a cast iron skillet and put the skillet in the oven to heat. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Whisk the buttermilk and egg together in another bowl, then combine the wet and dry ingredients, whisking just until combined. Stir in the cracklings. Remove the pan from the oven and pour in the batter-it will sizzle. Turn the heat down to 350°F and return the pan to the oven. Bake until golden, 25 minutes. When finished, flip the bread out of the pan so the crispy crust faces up. Slice into wedges and serve. Drizzle with honey if wanted.

Grab your book, a glass of lemonade, and a piece of Crackling Bread and sit down for a read. You might not agree with it, but it will make some great conversation… and great eats!

When you hear “slow cooker,” do you picture the old crock pot your mom had that produced meal after meal of sloppy, bland chili or chicken? It’s time to rethink the slow cooker. With some gourmet shortcuts, you can take a few minutes in the morning for prep and come home to a kitchen that smells delicious.

One of the most common complaints I hear is that time is too short in the morning. I know that I choose sleep over pretty much everything else, but some of these recipes take literally ten minutes or less to toss in. You just need to make a quick trip to Williams Sonoma.

I recently discovered their line of cooking sauces and life is good! I started with the Pulled Chicken Starter. At first I panicked because I had allotted ten minutes to prep before I had to run out the door. Obviously, I hadn’t read the label because it said to quarter a chicken and brown it and then put it in the slow cooker with the sauce. That wasn’t happening, but I didn’t have time to change my plan. I took four frozen skinless, boneless, chicken breasts out of the freezer, threw them in the pot and covered them with sauce. I turned the temp to low and left. About 4 hours later, I gingerly lifted the top. It smelled wonderful. I used two forks and “pulled” the chicken so that all of the meat would soak up the flavors of the sauce. By dinner time, I served it with coleslaw on buns. It was a huge hit. I can’t imagine how using a whole chicken and browning it would make it better… just more work.

Encouraged, I tried the Balsamic and Carmelized Onion Braising Sauce. This one called for sauteeing chicken and then adding the sauce before baking it. What did I do? The same thing as the Pulled Chicken. This time, I didn’t “pull” the mean, but cut it into chunks to serve over rice. It was quite tasty, but the cabernet wine flavor was too strong for some. If you don’t like wine based sauces, you may want to avoid this one.

These sauces are not just for slow cooking. I found one made for FAST cooking! I needed a quick, last minute dinner for my family. When everyone’s plans change at the last minute, mom is left holding the dinner plate. I was able to brown some ground beef that I had in the freezer, add the Williams Sonoma Sloppy Joe Starter (It had been a long time since I’d had a sloppy joe), simmer for a few minutes and everyone had a delicious sandwich in under 30 minutes.

Gourmet doesn’t have to mean difficult. It also doesn’t have to be fancy. The sloppy joes could easily be served as quaint sliders for a picnic or as the main dish for a vintage themed dinner.

Take a look for some gourmet sauces and starters to see if you can use them in your slow cooker or for a last minute meal. Even if you don’t use them right away, it’s handy to have them around just in case!

One of the interesting trends that is emerging in the food industry as well as others, is a food-of-the-month club. It isn’t really called that, it just gives you the general idea. These are great ideas for treats for home or as gifts.

One of the gift box sites is called Mouth. They have gifts for specific occasions, as well as gifts for people who have certain tastes. One example is the “Cocktail Hour Every Month” subscription. Available for 3,6, or 12 months, every month the recipient gets a box of savory and sweet spreads, crackers, pickles, nuts, snacks and even a cocktail syrup mixer. Every subscription is priced differently and there are tons to choose from, including cheese boxes, coffee boxes, cookies and more.

Another subscription food service that is intriguing is Try the World. Subscribers receive a gourmet box of treats from a different country every two months. Each box contains six or seven delicacies curated by an expert chef. A card that describes each food and how to prepare it and a culture guide with recipes and information about the country. France, Italy, Argentina, and Japan are just a few of the countries represented by this company.

For the cook who wants to expand their knowledge and utensils, Food52 offers unique packages delivered every 3 months. An example of a package is the “Let’s Bake!” containing 8 cookie cutters, pastry bags and tips with decorating sugars and more. The “Soup Making” package contains soup socks and herb sachets, a ceramic spoon and spoon rest, and more.

We know there are some of you that cannot get enough of Japan. For those there is Skoshbox. This is aimed more towards candy and snacks and each month is chock full of them for $10 each. If you are craving Hello Kitty candy, this is your package.

ClubW is for curious wine tasters. Before you start, you answer 6 questions about flavors. The questions are not full of snobby wine talk. Just plain questions. Recommendations for 3 wines are made and several others are suggested. Each month they will make new recommendations for you.

Quarterly offers packages curated by several famous people in a shockingly huge array of areas. Some food and others… well… other things. Ariana Huffington will send you things to help you present in the moment. Book Riot sends books, along with book related items like hats and candy. Melissa Joulwan curates packages with her favorite paleo foods. Bill Nye, Pharrell Williams, Rosario Dawson, and GQ magazine all curate packages.

I think this new trend that has extended from the fruit of the month into foods and even more items is genius. It’s a gift that is given anew every month. There are even more monthly subscription clubs out there. Go look around and find one that is right for you or for a gift. You can’t miss with this one. As long as you know what people like, you’ll be sending new tastes or items to try. Happy shopping!

I love to have something sweet to offer guests with their coffee, but some recipes (yes, Martha Stewart, I’m looking at you) take hours to make and seconds to eat. Here are a few sweets that are easy and fast but will leave your guests believing you took hours to make them. Go ahead, let them.

3 Apple Dips

Fresh fruit with a tasty twist

#1

8 oz. cream cheese

⅓c. brown sugar

Chopped pecans

Caramel ice cream topping

Blend cream cheese and brown sugar.  Form into a ball and roll in pecans.  Top with caramel ice cream topping.

#2

Mix:

8 oz. cream cheese

¾ c. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

½ c. crunchy peanut butter

#3

Mix:

8 oz. cream cheese

¾ c. brown sugar

½ c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

6 oz. heath bits

Note:

Fresh apple slices may be cut ahead and tossed with lemon juice to keep them from browning.

Nutty Cookies

You won’t believe the caramel-almond flavor of these!

42 Club Crackers

½ c. butter

½ c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. sliced almonds

Place crackers in single layer on a foil or parchment lined cookie sheet.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add sugar and bring to a boil.  Stirring constantly, boil 2 minutes (mixture looks foamy).  Remove from heat and add vanilla (be careful – when you stir in vanilla, the mix splatters).  Pour mixture evenly over crackers.  Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake at 350°for 10-12 minutes, until light brown.  Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire racks.

Toll House Bar Cookies

Less time consuming than baking a dozen at a time!

2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened

¾ c. sugar

¾ c. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups chocolate chips

Mix flour, baking soda, salt – set aside.

Mix butter, 2 sugars, and vanilla well – add eggs one at a time

Gradually add flour mixture

Add chocolate chips

Spread in jellyroll pan – lining the pan with foil makes cleanup easier

Bake at 375° for 20-25 min

Monkey Bread

This version of monkey bread uses frozen biscuits so the bread is denser. It’s sliced rather than a pull-apart desert.

14 frozen Pillsbury biscuits - thawed

1 ½ cup white sugar

2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ cup margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan.

Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into 4-6 pieces. Shake 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan.

In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits.

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Cut into slices.

Whether you need to throw something together quickly for guests or just don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen, give these simple-yet-delicious recipes a try!