A Dinner for Two
in thirty Minutes
by Anjuelle Floyd
by Anjuelle Floyd
2
to 4 ¾” cuts of filet mignon
butter
basil
parsley
1 white onion, chopped
salt
pepper
1 bag of leaf spinach
1 clove garlic, chopped
butter
basil
parsley
1 white onion, chopped
salt
pepper
1 bag of leaf spinach
1 clove garlic, chopped
1
bag of salad of your choice
salad dressing(s) of your choice
salad dressing(s) of your choice
Preheat
oven to 350 degrees. While oven is
warming, place cuts of filet mignon on a sheet of aluminum foil. Salt and pepper both sides of each cut of
filet mignon. Place 1-2 squares of
butter on each cut. Add basil and
onions. Once temperature reaches 350
degrees, place in oven and cook for 15-20 minutes turning once. While filet mignon is cooking, sauté spinach
in olive oil for 5-6 minutes adding salt, pepper and garlic as desired. Remove filet mignon form oven when 20 minutes
is up or earlier. Serve with sautéed spinach
and salad with dressing, both of your choice.
When The Drum
Major Died – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think
With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
“The
thick jungle, and the heat. It was too
much. They had to cut their way through
vines and over growth. No path had been
laid out like usual. It was native
tropical forest, untouched. They had
been through their own war.” Clifford
lowered his head. He teared up, redness
swallowing the whites around his irises.
“Towards the middle of the night the Viet Cong heated up their
firing. We thought it was all over, that
in the next moment their entire company would descend on us. I lost track of Ennis. Like me he was trying to keep focus on his
men amid the fighting and keep them alert.
Firing died down about one the next morning. We began to hope. Then one of my men reported seeing a soldier
dragged off. By morning twenty-five men
lay with their necks slit.” “Not more
than ten yards from me Ennis lay dead.”…. “I never got to say “Good-bye,”
Clifford said, barely audible. Neither
had Florina.
Florina
had met Ennis while in college. They
found themselves deeply in love and married just before he left as a First
Lieutenant in the US Army on his way to Vietnam. Many saw him as a white man but Ennis’s
mother was of both Negro and Cherokee heritage.
This was no problem for Florina since she was of the Negro race but very
light skinned. But due to his heritage,
she decided to keep both Ennis and their marriage a secret from her family
until after her graduation. This never
took place. Ennis was killed in action
while in Vietnam.
Life
goes on for Florina. She found a great
man and husband in Dr. Redmond Austin, one of only 3 black doctors in the small
North Carolina town of Poinsettia… Redmond, his father and Macon Elders. But
as all lives come with baggage...hers
was in continuing to keep Ennis and their marriage a secret, Redmond’s baggage
came in the form of Agnes, Macon’s wife as well as their next door neighbor.
Now
and then I run across a book that has a story that simply tugs at my heart with
its love/hate relationships. This is one
of those books but this is more than just a love story. I grew up with boys I went to school with
being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War.
I grew up with segregation going on all around the little town where I
lived just outside of Atlanta. I also
grew up confused as to the way both white and blacks treated the one boy that
was admitted to my high school. He
wasn’t accepted by either race.
Why? He was light skinned. I never understood the problem. As I read, When The Drum Major Died, after all these years, I have begun to
understand. If you grew up as a baby
boomer, especially in the south, this is a book I recommend you read. It is beautiful, educational and simply a
wonderful book to read.