Category Archives: Mississippi

Tupelo Travels

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I’ve found a new favorite place to eat in Tupelo, Miss. Or, rather, my dear husband found it. He asked Ginna Parsons, the food editor at the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (read her blog, Speaking of Food, at http://djfoodblog.wordpress.com/) for lunch recommendations, and she sent us to Southern Ice Cafe, 3952-D N. Gloster, in the shopping center near Barnes Crossing Mall where Bed, Bath and Beyond is. “You’re going to love it,” my husband promised. And he was right! Housed in a former Quiznos’ (the sandwich oven and basic setup are still there), Southern Ice Cafe is a sandwich shop, ice cream (actually, gelato and sorbetto) store and tapas bar in one. I’ve never seen the tapas small-plates format translated to fast food, but it works here. You can order from four different “World Plates”: bistro, from France, featuring quiche lorraine and rataouille (eggplant and zucchini stew); tapas, from Spain, with ham-wrapped shrimp and roasted/marinated vegetables; Middle Eastern,  with hummus, baba ganoush (eggplant dip) and tabouli (bulghur salad); and antipasto, from Italy, with tuna, bruschetta and mozzarella. This is my kind of food! I asked for the addition of grilled bread with olive salad, part of the Spain plate, to my Middle Eastern plate, and it was all fresh and delicious. My husband ordered the Santa Fe Salad, with black beans and chicken, plus the broccoli cheese soup — also fresh and yummy. Southern Ice has an extensive sandwich menu, with subs, wraps, muffulettas and sandwiches made deli-style, toasted or hot. There also are specialty salads and you can create your own with more than a dozen additional ingredients. And we didn’t even get to the gelato and dessert menu, but I’m planning a return trip soon. Most prices were about $6-$7 — reasonable for the amount and quality of food you get. Southern Ice opens at 11 a.m. every day and closes at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 6 p.m. Sundays. Call 662.840.5885. I’m telling you, it’s worth the drive!

Panic at the Pumps

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Lunchtime on Friday, Sept. 12, in Tupelo, Miss., and you could feel — and see — the panic well ahead of any bad weather Ike was bringing. “If you need gas now, you’d better go get it before things get wild,” my husband had called me as I was walking around downtown (OK, I was really shopping, but he doesn’t need to know that). And he was right. As news of shut refineries and hurricane damages and low supplies and rising prices sped through town, lines lengthened at service stations and spilled out to streets — and pumps that didn’t have lines were already empty. I even saw a fight almost break out between two women in pickup trucks competing for vacant spot — but perhaps they had a history between them unrelated to filling up before gas hit $4. Anyway, it was too late. At 11 a.m., gas was $3.57. By 1 p.m., it was $4.20. And rising. Yikes.

Jacket Weather

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Even though the temperature is summer-like today, I still want to wear this jacket. I absolutely fell in love with it when I tried it on at Reed’s department store in downtown Tupelo, Miss., the other day. You know how you put something on and you know immediately that it was meant for you and you for it? There is such a thing as love at first sight. I adore the tailored half-belt in the back and the sort of pleated sleeves and the slash pockets and seaming in the front. I usually don’t like double-breasted jackets — reminds me of Mr. Howell on Gilligan’s Island — but this one doesn’t even seem double-breasted for some reason, even though it obviously is. It fit perfectly (even though it looks square in the photo, it’s definitely not when you put it on) and of course who can resist a pumpkin-colored jacket for fall? I’d never heard of the brand “liquid,” but my fashion-savvy college-age daughter assures me that it’s a hot name, so there you go. Actually, this jacket sort of reminds me of the car coats every self-respecting female had to have in her wardrobe about a million years ago — when I was younger.

Now I just need a day that’s less than 70 degrees. C’mon, fall!

Eating NOLA in Tupelo

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For a taste of New Orleans in Tupelo, Miss., swing by Boondock’s Grill, downtown at 206 Troy St. This casual Cajun/Creole/Caribbean restaurant is a Tupelo favorite, with a fun selection of lively appetizers, draft beer, fried catfish, po’boys, meat-and-vegetable lunch specials, creative salads and soup of the day — all with a Louisiana twist. I especially like the house salad because it’s not your usual iceberg/grated carrot/shredded red cabbage pre-mixed mix. Instead, it’s a taste adventure with walnuts and blue cheese-bits rolled in a spicy herb mixture, cubes of some sort of delicious (smoked?) ham and a creamily firey house vinaigrette. No iceberg in sight. And while your eyes are rolling back in your head with delight, take a look at the exposed brick walls, stone tile floor and pressed-tin ceiling that gives the restaurant its authentic French Quarter feel. Boondock’s is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday and 5-10 p.m. Sunday. Call 662.840.5680.